I'm afraid of blocking due to Skills Are Not in Demand

[elmani]

Hi, 

Over the past year I have had low activity for family reasons. I worked with old clients and did not look for new ones. Since the beginning of this year, circumstances have allowed me to work more and I began to look for new jobs. But my marketing effectiveness do not look very good now. Ok, I don't worry about it because I’m not a golden coin to please everyone and I suppose someday I'll find great contract. But than I read about "Skills Are Not in Demand" account suspending, and realized that this could happen to my account. And now I'm really affraid to submit proposal because every new proposal without interviewing or hiring is like another step to the abyss for me. 

Maybe someone here have some information about the criteria of this suspending? I applied to about 40 jobs since the beginning of this year, have 7 active proposals now and   2 new small contracts. I applied carefully, but the result is not great. Also I continue working with my old clients, but they have no many job now. Do i need to worry about it? 

[jr-translation]

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Svetlana E wrote:

Do i need to worry about it? 

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No, you are a professional. But skills aside, there are many freelancers that have Photoshop and probably offer lower rates than you.

Forget about personal reasons as a reason why you only 5 jobs last year. You only work with clients that feel right and of cause you have other clients as well incase someone asks you about it.

The only thing I would change is your photo. It is so blurry and contradicts with the service you are offering.

[elmani]

Jennifer, thank you for your answer. 

Of cource, there are many Photoshop specialists now here, and many offer mush lower rates. Honestly, I see not many very good jobs posted here, I suppose that many really serious clients don’t publish works, but invite artists directly. Looks like I need to improve my search results somehow to win great contract. Maybe different profile photo can help ))

[jr-translation]

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Svetlana E wrote:

Jennifer, thank you for your answer. 

Of cource, there are many Photoshop specialists now here, and many offer mush lower rates. Honestly, I see not many very good jobs posted here, I suppose that many really serious clients don’t publish works, but invite artists directly. Looks like I need to improve my search results somehow to win great contract. Maybe different profile photo can help ))

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I never said the others are Photoshop specialists. That is your selling point.

I would target e-commers clients with a steady workflow and check what they paid in the past. If the average hourly rate is far below yours, skip them. They only care about the money, not the quality.

[richard_wein]

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Svetlana E wrote:

Maybe someone here have some information about the criteria of this suspending? I applied to about 40 jobs since the beginning of this year, have 7 active proposals now and   2 new small contracts. I applied carefully, but the result is not great. Also I continue working with my old clients, but they have no many job now. Do i need to worry about it? 

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Upwork has said that they no longer suspend accounts for that reason. Since all proposals now cost money (via paid connects) they seem to feel that freelancers will no longer continue to submit large numbers of proposals if they're having no success.

[elmani]

Thank you, Richard, this is such a weight off my mind!