- Don't make promises you can't fullfil short term
- Avoid using Fiverr
The platform is basically the worst type of costumer you could imagine: Top tier quality demand but cheap prices and quick turn around times.
Most of people I've met working on Fiverr had to underprice themselves for ridiculous numbers in order to get gigs, and they very quickly were overwhelmed with orders that were not fullfilling at all and neither justified the hard work.
Not to mention, that you don't get the money in an instant, you'll have to wait until it unlocks and another time in order to transfer it to your virtual wallet and/or bank.
Not to mention that you end up with an even smaller sum than the price you provided because the site has several fees that'll be charged during the different transactions you have to make.
I would recommend first focusing in school, or getting a job that actually has a big demand and that'll allow you to make an income: Like Hairdressing, cleaning services, babysitting, cashier or repository in supermarkets.
Making a living out of art is hard if you don't meet certain criteria:
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Accessible/Easy to find Social Media (For example, there is no social media nor portfolio with more works attached to your Fiverr profile, so people are only limited to see the few samples you put on your service offer, for all they could know you're someone with no working experience, nor art experience in general, or even a scammer)
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Keeping all those socials active and constantly making new art (Because let's be honest, if someone sees a person's account and notices this person only post every few months, they are going to assume you don't work, or that you're going to take very long to finish their piece. And as well, there is people making art every single day and posting, through the entire year, you kinda have to work if you don't want to be buried especially now with all the algorithm and such)
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Having an appealing artstyle, sadly this is very important, a lot may say "Oh well, I've seen people that make amateur drawings and that look badly, still sell those works" but the truth is that the person that made them probably got commissioned 2 or 3 times through the entire year. So having an appealing, aesthetic and even borderline professional style actually helps more. Visuals are the most important part, and you kinda need to express without saying it directly why its worth commissioning you and not someone else.
Personally I would recommend, leaving art and trying to make a living out of it your 3rd or 4th option, try to have something more achievable that will guarantee your comfort and family to remain unconcerned.
Focus first in your obligations and responsabilities, keep art as a hobby but while building the path to eventually be able to rely on it, which basically is starting to post a new artwork at least once a week, sharing said artwork in different communities, groups, servers, forums, etc. Making content that will be seen more often, like fanart, trends, challenges and such, grow a fanbase and your presence online, because to put an simple example, from 100 followers, maybe 1 or maybe none can support you financially.
Then maybe once a month sharing your commission sheet so people that like your work know that they could hire from you to support you.
When it comes to commission sheets I recommend the following things, of course this is something extremely general.
Appearance
Well, of course, presentation is a very important thing when it comes to commissions, first impressions matter a lot.
When it comes to your Commissions Sheet it's recommended to have a few samples of your work, mostly each of the services and offers you provide.
Generally, I recommend being able to have everything in a single image, but you can do up to 4 if possible, more not since a lot of people just don't like to open galleries or swipe too much.
As well, try to make it easy to read, to not have a bunch of text, images, numbers or assets around. Mostly try to keep it at one sample per service you offer.
While is understandable to have different variations try to not make confusing prices and add-ons. Try to keep it either like: Sketch - Lineart - Fully colored and then an extra price per character and/or background. Or separating prices by Shots like Head shot - Bust - Fullbody, avoid having both at the same time since it usually gets confusing for some clients, especially if they have to read everything from an image.
As well, when it comes to the commission sheet, try that the text is easy to read, to have a legible font were letters and numbers don't get mixed up and get harder to read be it in small or big size, at the same time that is important to avoid very strident or saturated colors.
While it may be true that vibrant colors attract people's attention, when it comes to commission sheets, the idea is to keep it subtle so the art stands out, the text can be read easily but most importantly, it doesn't tire the interested person's eyes too much.
As well, avoid text and background colors being close in values, since again, it gets harder to read
Pricing
If the appearance is solved then another thing that you should keep in mind is the price, now this is going to be a bit hard but is a lie the whole "Put the price you want for your work~ UwU"
While to a certain extent you're actually allowed to do that it doesn't reflect well most of the time. When it comes to pricing you'll have to check out different international markets, groups and communities before coming with a price for yourself, you'll have to compare your abilities to others with a similar level to yours, calculate the amount of time it takes you, keeping in mind if you actually get a lot of demand from people about if you're taking orders, if you're popular, for how long you've been around and building your online presence and as well, the country you are from.
Is important to calculate all these things to avoid commentary mocking your prices, people either complaining you or complimenting you and encouraing to raise the prices, usually none of the people that argue over the prices are clients, some people may step up for you but their actual goal is for you to raise your price so they are the better option for actual clients.
It's a lie that one individual pricing their stuff a bit cheaper is the reason why artists are disrespected or always asked to go cheaper, it literally happens in any career, so no... you start somewhere, and sometimes it's low.
Is just like hairdressing, if you're a recently graduated is logical you'll charge (This is an example, not actual price) $3 USD for a haircut compared to that other Hairdressing Salon that has been around for 20 years and charges $30 USD for just cutting your split ends
Self-Promotion
Now, this one is the simplest thing. Basically, sharing your work daily and making a mention you have open commissions or adding a link to your commissions in your post.
An artist that post weekly has more chances to get commissioned than someone that only posts a single artwork every few months.
Every new piece, share it in different places, be it FB groups & fanpage, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, Youtube, art forums, Discord and literally any platform that you have and that allows self-promotion or sharing content from your account instead of posting it over and over.
Maybe 1 or twice a month you can share your commission info like your other illustrations, and at the same time, checking your socials and groups from time to time is good, there is always someone looking for art, and even if you see 200 people already commented, give it a shot, share your commission sheet and link, you never know from where someone may contact you.
Sometimes is not even other commissioned work, a lot of times people will hire you either because they saw you doing a trend, a challenge, original artwork or even fanart.
A more detailed Commission info
Now, is good to have a commission sheet to easily share accross social media or comment sections, but it'll also be good to have a more detailed explanation of your services. Be it via Carrd, linktree or a platform that accepts both text and images so you can easily access.
Not only that, but you can have more offers or explanation of your commission, mentioning approximate turn around times, Terms of Use, Policies, contact information, Do's and Don'ts, and so on.
For example, this is the commission sheet that I usually share via comments whenever there is someone looking for art. These are of the most commonly requested stuff, I charge for the Main item and the 2-3 extra that appear a bit under it are the add-ons.
Meanwhile, I have all the information detailing my services in another page
