The Buyers Handbook: Fill & Download for Free

In addition to the vey comprehensive answer Gerardo Dada has given, I’d like to add two more things:Buyer expectationsMaintenance20 years ago I met an engineer from Mercedes-Benz. She told me about the two most frequent complaints from the buyers of their top of the line SL roadsters: “Brake pad dust on the front rims. And, especially from the buyers of the SL 600 - a lack of engine power.” A Mercedes SL of that time used to be a 2 ton luxury roadster with all the bells and whistles you can imagine. It was capable of running 155 mph and therefore needed high performance brakes. These brakes would produce dust on the rims. The engineer told me: “We could have used brake pads which do not produce dust but then the brake would be less powerful, something we did not want to risk on such a fast car.” and those who complained about a lack of engine power with the SL 600, complained about a 6 liter V12 4 valve power plant which would crank 400 BHP into the gearbox.What I want to say: If you spend an enormous pile of money on what is sold you as the best car on the planet, you may be very intolerant about even the slightest faults. Right now we see Tesla fans buying the S-Type sedan with a mediocre body finish - and not complaining about that, because they were not expecting better body finish on such a revolutionary car. And if you buy a 25,000 USD japanese sedan, your expectations may be lower than if you buy a 50,000 USD Mercedes - and have realized that this car still does not make you look better in the mirror.Maintenance is a big issue for German cars. They are designed to work with a thorough service session at least every two years. This should be done by a factory certified workshop. So if you follow the maintenance suggestions in the handbook and have the tasks done by certified mechanics which know the cars and use the right tools and spare parts, then German cars are very reliable. One should keep in mind that less than 3 percent of all cars in the US are made by Mercedes, all Germans together have less than 10 percent market share. So, in the U.S. a German car is quite an unusual thing which not every mechanic may be familiar with.

To quote the JPM Credit Derivs Handbook (Dec 06):The credit default swap (CDS) is the cornerstone of the credit derivatives market. A credit default swap is an agreement between two parties to exchange the credit risk of an issuer (reference entity). The buyer of the credit default swap is said to buy protection. The buyer usually pays a periodic fee and profits if the reference entity has a credit event, or if the credit worsens while the swap is outstanding. A credit event includes bankruptcy, failing to pay outstanding debt obligations, or in some CDS contracts, a restructuring of a bond or loan. Buying protection has a similar credit risk position to selling a bond short, or “going short risk.”The seller of the credit default swap is said to sell protection. The seller collects the periodic fee and profits if the credit of the reference entity remains stable or improves while the swap is outstanding. Selling protection has a similar credit risk position to owning a bond or loan, or “going long risk.”There are 4 parameters that uniquely define a credit default swap1. Which credit (note: not which bond, but which issuer)• Credit default swap contracts specify a reference obligation (a specific bond or loan) which defines the issuing entity through the bond prospectus. Following a credit event, bonds or loans pari passu with the reference entity bond or loan are deliverable into the contract. Typically a senior unsecured bond is the reference entity, but bonds at other levels of the capital structure may be referenced.2. Notional amount• The amount of credit risk being transferred. Agreed between the buyer and seller of CDS protection.3. Spread• The annual payments, quoted in basis points paid annually. Payments are paid quarterly, and accrue on an actual/360 day basis. The spread is also called the fixed rate, coupon, or price.4. Maturity• The expiration of the contract, usually on the 20th of March, June, September or December. The five year contract is usually the most liquid.In the event of a credit event (bankruptcy, failure to pay, and in some cases restructuring or other events), the protection buyer is entitled to exchange their bonds for a payment of par value from the protection seller. Some CDS contracts can also be cash settled, with the protection buyer receiving a cash payment equal to par minus the market price of the reference bond at the time of settlement.Some credits (this may now be the market convention for all names? Someone more directly involved in the market please comment) now trade what is known as "points upfront" - rather than have variable spreads which are unique to each contract, spreads for that name tend to be some standard fixed amount, with the protection buyer making or receiving a payment upon entering the contract to compensate for the NPV of the difference between this fixed spread and the market value of the protection changing hands.

The best pitches are tailored to client needs.I was a freelance writer on Fiverr for a period of about a year, and I will say that only a small portion of my business came from responding to buyer requests.That being said, I honed my pitch skills on UpWork, and before that, Elance. It can be tempting to write a pitch that you really like, then pepper the buyer requests page with it copied and pasted for every job that looks worth taking.That may actually work if you can effectively scale it and send out a seriously high number of pitches, but that approach generally has a history of being a low converting strategy.Buyers can smell a copy and paste pitch a mile away, and it reflects poorly on your personal brand.Furthermore, it exposes you to risk in the form of too many open pitches. What if all of a sudden 70% of your open pitches accept? Then how do you deliver all of that work on time and to your regular quality standards.Take a look at the following tips to get the most out of your Fiverr buyer pitches.Read the Buyer PitchThis may seem like bad advice but it is literally the one thing you can do that is guaranteed to increase your pitch accept rate.So many times I would see other freelancers pitches on a request, and out of twenty or thirty, only a handful would use details from the request itself.Those pitches were the ones that got accepted.I even saw on UpWork some clients would include a sentence in their posting that read ‘Please include the world ‘purple’ at the top of your proposal to demonstrate that you have read this posting completely.’And there would be a dozen pitches that didn’t have the word purple in them, and those pitches didn’t survive the first round.Read the posting, or the buyer request, or the creative brief. Whatever it is, read it. Then, when you are composing your pitch...Make Every Word CountBe succinct and concise. Fiverr is known for their character limits—which despite being frustrating, really are good for both buyer and seller—so make every word count.Tailor your pitch to the stated needs of the client (buyer).Clearly state how your solution meets the client’s needs, and be consistent and professional in your client relations.Remember, you are not the only freelancer bidding on this request, and your buyer's time is valuable. More often than not, excessively wordy bids are passed over anyway.Focus on Benefits (not features)If you have years and years of graphic design experience, great. That in itself does not provide value to a buyer. Take a page out of the copywriter’s handbook and frame everything as a benefit, not just a feature.Being talented and experienced is a feature. The benefit (what this means to the buyer) is that you work quickly, professionally, and require little guidance.Put Your Best Foot ForwardI have heard some not-so-good freelancers recommend phoning in boring jobs or not committing to pitches they are not in love with. If you don’t want to do a job or you are not confident you will be motivated to complete it as agreed, don’t pitch it.It’s that simple.Customer satisfaction is a huge component of a successful Fiverr business because customer reviews play an important role in the freelancer selection process. While it may not help you craft a better buyer request pitch while you’re writing it, your buyer will check your profile and they will look at your reveiw history.A great pitch backed up by a spotty record won’t be accepted, just as a great record with a tone deaf pitch will likewise be passed over.Don’t Use an Excess of Technical LanguageDon’t be afraid to demonstrate your knowledge of your field, but don’t overload buyers with jargon.People come to Fiverr to buy services, and in many cases they are shopping for graphic design work because they lack the skills to complete the work themselves.This means that throwing a lot of industry specific language or other technical terms at them will be confusing and unhelpful rather than demonstrate your proficiency.A Sample PitchThe following is a sample buyer request and pitch that I would write to a buyer in need of copywriting services.Buyer RequestI am in need of 500 words of copy for a product description for my workout enhancing supplement. Budget $15.My PitchMy name is Ben and I am a professional copywriter who specializes in site copy.I have written compelling product descriptions for a variety of products in an array of industries that drive sales conversion. I stand by 100% of my work, and my history of thrilled customers speaks for itself.I look forward to bringing your workout enhancement supplement to life. Standard rate is $5/250 words, delivery in five days - express delivery available for a fee.Annotated Sample PitchMy name is Ben and I am a professional copywriter who specializes in site copy.People do business with people, and a part of my personal brand development included my name and face.Friendly but never unprofessional was my approach on Fiverr (and is my approach in all business dealings). In the second half of the sentence I mention that my skill set is a good fit for the buyer’s needs. I know what the buyer’s needs are because I have read his request.I have written compelling product descriptions for a variety of products in an array of industries that drive sales conversion.Here I am mentioning a feature and a benefit.The feature is that I have done this work extensively. The benefit is that my product descriptions drive conversions.I stand by 100% of my work, and my history of thrilled customers speaks for itself.Here I am invoking social proof in the form of customer reviews. I had an excellent track record as a freelancer on Fiverr, and my customers left glowing reviews.I look forward to bringing your workout enhancement supplement to life.This is another benefit (as opposed to a feature).No company wants a flat, boring product description.They want fresh content that excites their own customers, and this is a concise way to demonstrate value on that front.Also note that I again referenced the buyer's product, further evidence that I have read the request, and further evidence that my pitch is not a copy and paste bid.Standard rate is $5/250 words, delivery in five days - express delivery available for a fee.Include a brief summary of your terms.This demonstrates that you are professional, and it signals to your buyers that you are an experienced freelancer who values your buyer’s time.The Bottom LineThe bottom line is that you will figure out what works best for you and your business. In the meantime however, use these tips to improve your buyer request game.The enclosed sample pitch is not guaranteed to get anyone gig sales. It is very similar to the exact wording I used to close buyer request gigs in my time on Fiverr, but not everyone’s business works in the same way.Best of luck on Fiverr, and ABS (always be selling).