Warning: Had a chat with an old freelancer at a coffee shop yesterday

He told me I was spending too much time perfecting my portfolio and not enough time actually pitching clients. He said 'you're building a museum, not a business' and that hit different because he showed me his notebook with 50 cold emails sent that week alone. Anyone else get told to stop polishing and start selling?

3 comments

3 Comments

cameroncarr2mo ago

Fifty cold emails is just noise if they're all going to the wrong people or have a weak pitch. Spending time on your portfolio builds credibility when you finally do reach out, so those calls actually lead somewhere instead of bouncing off. I've seen guys burn through hundreds of emails with no results because their work was sloppy and clients didn't trust them. What does a pile of sent emails matter if nobody's converting?

robert_smith362mo ago

Fifty cold emails in a week proves he's right, stop polishing and start testing the market today.

evab521mo ago

Totally been there. My turning point was forcing myself to send just five real pitches before I let myself tweak my site again. I blocked one afternoon a week for nothing but outreach, no polishing allowed. What clicked was realizing my portfolio was never going to feel "done," and every client conversation gave me better feedback than any redesign ever did. After a few months, I had a solid base of work and actually knew what clients wanted to see. The museum looks nice on a shelf, but the real practice happens when you're out there getting told "no" a few times.