[andy_adams]

Sure, the article is applicable primarily to US-based freelancers. YMMV in other places.

If it's any consolation, I live in a tiny town in the US and have rarely met my clients in person. Many of them have no idea where I work from or that I occasionally wear pajama pants on video calls, because my webcam is from the waist up.

[thisisdallas]

> I live in a tiny town in the US and have rarely met my clients in person

This is awesome. I feel like it's more of the exception than the rule though. Just out of curiosity, I assume you primarily work off of referrals now, but how did you get your first few clients? Or I guess a better way of asking is how did you get enough clients to where you had enough referrals coming in?

[andy_adams]

2 places:

1. Premium job boards. AuthenticJobs used to carry much more freelance work, but basically I'd find places where people had paid to post a job, and I'd do my darndest to impress them with my opening email.

2. My professional network. A couple of old contacts referred me to excellent agencies. Those connections still pay dividends today.

Hope that helps. These comments are giving me ideas for "Everything I know, part 2".

[OJFord]

'Everything I didn't realise I knew' :)

[enobrev]

Just chiming in to add a similar but different experience. Been freelance for nearly 20 years and I've always lived in major US cities but very rarely do I take on local clients. This is absolutely intentional. I don't care if the client is on the other side of the planet or 6 blocks away, I work when and where I want with no expectation of "on-site".

Of course, if I happen to like the client personally, that's another story. But those visits are off the clock.

[balfirevic]

That's cool to hear :)

Thanks for the good article in any case, and best of luck!