• Sent cold emails (including WhatsApp) to 3 potential clients
• Started updating Instagram portfolio
• Started updating Facebook page

📚 What I Learned

Yesterday, I found a promising freelance opportunity on LinkedIn and decided to give it a shot. Surprisingly, I made it past the first screening, and today, I received an email from the HR team asking for a short self-introduction video — in English.

Honestly, this was a huge challenge for me. English isn’t my first language, and expressing myself clearly under pressure isn’t easy. But I wrote a script in advance and did my best to answer all their questions with my broken English.

This was my first time experiencing a remote hiring process like this. In Malaysia, most companies still strongly prefer on-site work, so it’s rare to encounter fully remote opportunities that include steps like this. But going through this process made me realize something important:
My portfolio might not be the problem — it’s my communication and language skills that need work.

There’s always someone better out there, but maybe I’m not doing as badly as I thought. I just need to show myself more confidently.

🤔 Reflections

Aside from the second-round interview email, I also got a random inquiry today from someone on Facebook asking about my design services. Unfortunately, after I replied, they just ghosted me. Still, I’ll take it as a tiny sign of progress.

Right now, my biggest wish is to land my first long-term client.
After updating my Instagram, Facebook page, and PDF portfolio, I plan to start testing an affiliate strategy and a “free design in exchange for reviews” campaign. Hopefully, that’ll help me gain traction faster.

🧭 Tomorrow’s To-Do

• Continue uploading design works to Instagram
• Continue updating posts on the Facebook page
• Start building the PDF portfolio

• Completed daily website updates, cleanup, and testing
• Sent cold emails and WhatsApp messages to 5 potential clients
• Updated my Behance portfolio as another way to showcase my work
• Published my 4th blog post: “Free logo maker VS hiring a designer”

📚 What I Learned

Cold emailing might really not work that well — at least not in Malaysia. Except for one small success yesterday, I’ve had almost no responses to this kind of self-promo outreach.
Another issue I’m facing: my leads list is drying up fast. I’ve combed through nearly every job post from the past few weeks, but new posts aren’t appearing fast enough to keep up with my pace.
Now considering switching tactics — maybe offering free design in exchange for reviews and shares.

🤔 Reflections

I saw a promising freelance job post on LinkedIn today and immediately applied. But after I hit send, I noticed that many others had already shared their portfolios in the comments — and honestly, their work looks great.
It shook my confidence again.
Where am I really headed?

🧭 Tomorrow’s To-Do

• Update Instagram with portfolio content
• Post new visuals to the Facebook Page
• Finalize PDF version of my portfolio

• Sent cold emails (including WhatsApp messages) to 5 potential clients
• Improved my follow-up messages for those who show interest

📚 What I Learned

After a few days of observation, I noticed something odd: although most of my cold emails are being opened (based on tracking), there’s barely any activity on Google Analytics. This suggests that many people might simply glance at my email and close it without clicking on the website link.

Possible reasons:

1. Malaysian business culture isn’t very email-driven — people may not be used to checking links and prefer attachments instead
2. Many are cautious about links in emails, fearing scams or phishing
3. My email content might be too bland, causing readers to lose interest before even finishing

🤔 Reflections

A bit of good news today — after days of silence, I finally got two replies, one even showing interest! Though nothing concrete has happened yet, it’s still a small win and proof that I’m heading in the right direction. The results may be slow, but I’ll keep moving forward.

🧭 Tomorrow’s To-Do

• Since most potential clients don’t seem to click on my site, I’ll work on a PDF version of my portfolio
• Update my Behance portfolio as another way to showcase my work
• Finish and publish the 4th blog post: Free logo maker VS hiring a designer

• Wrote the 4th blog post: Free logo maker VS hiring a designer
• Refined my cold email template and sent it to 10 businesses
• Updated my LinkedIn “About” section to better reflect my personal journey

📚 What I Learned

By using Hunter.io to track my cold emails, I discovered that most of them were actually opened — which is far more encouraging than I expected. Instead of assuming I was being ignored, I now see more clearly where I can improve.

🤔 Reflections

I felt a bit down today after reading the latest news about ChatGPT’s updates. It made me wonder if I’m slowly becoming obsolete. I spent quite a while feeling low, but in the end, I told myself to stop overthinking and just keep going — focus on what I can do, and leave the rest to fate.
This log is my first step in documenting the journey and gradually building a circle of trust around my work.