Open Thread: Where Are Most of Your Clients Located?
Posted September 26, 2010 in Open Thread
Are your clients mostly local, are they mostly international, or both? How do you adjust your business practices to accommodate where your clients are?
From comments I’ve read on our forum, Facebook fan page, and blog posts it seems that many freelancers work mostly with people in their local area. Even though we all have an Internet presence, it seems like many prefer to work with clients who are located nearby.
Others, however, are like me and work with clients from all over the United States and even from all over the world. For me, this means I mostly communicate through email and over the phone.
It’s important to know where your clients are from, because (as we’ve discussed here before) there are special challenges when it comes to dealing with international clients and different challenges that have to do with working with local clients.
Where are your clients located?
Leave your answers in the comments. Share any challenges that you’ve faced.
Related posts:
- Open Thread: Where Are You Located?
- Open Thread: Where Do You Get Your Clients?
- Open Thread: Where Do You Get Health Insurance?
- Open Thread: Do You Have Business Cards?
- Open Thread: What Is Your Biggest Freelancing Struggle?
About the author: Laura Spencer is a freelance writer from North Central Texas with over 20 years of professional business writing experience. If you liked this post, then you may also enjoy Laura’s blog about her freelance writing experiences, WritingThoughts. Laura is also on Google+.
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35 Comments
Kavyansh
September 26th, 2010 at 9:06 amMy clients are from USA and I am from India (+5.30 GMT), the biggest challenge is communication (your time adjustment)
Exciting to see others comment
Andrew
September 26th, 2010 at 9:14 amIt’s been a wide spread for me lately. The last 5 people have been from Jamaica, Canada, India, Australia ( which is there I am. ) and Beijing.
I have a .com with Google geotargeting to Australia, no other regional influences. Previously I noticed basically all my traffic came from google.com. For the last month+ I’ve been getting referrals from google search engines for dozens of countries.
Couldn’t say what caused the change though.
Ramona
September 26th, 2010 at 9:21 amOur local market is almost dead because of the recession, so my clients are from abroad. Most of them from the USA.
Jen @ Adrinah Design
September 26th, 2010 at 11:05 amMy local market is one of the most lively markets in the US (central Texas) but I work with clients all over the US. I’ve never worked internationally (and don’t want to at this time). In my opinion, I think it’s important to have your clients spread throughout the US (or world) in case something happens to your local market…”don’t put all your eggs in one basket” sorta thing.
basicxman
September 26th, 2010 at 11:13 amI’d say about half and half, I get most referrals for non-local clients from local clients anyways.
Marian Schembari
September 26th, 2010 at 1:19 pmI’m “location independent” at the moment as I was based in NYC before moving to London and then I’m off to New Zealand in December. Since everything’s via email it really doesn’t matter where I am, especially because the time difference means there are periods during my workday when things online are quiet. This is nice. The only times it gets difficult is when I need to schedule phone calls or interviews. One time I was interviewed for a podcast at midnight my time because the interviewer was based in California. 100% of my clients are based in the States, mostly because that’s where my blog traffic comes from. That said, each time I move to a different place my blog traffic grows to encompass people from whatever country I’m in. Depending on how long I’m there I’ll do networking events and whatnot so I’ll get the occasional “local” client.
Heidi LaFleche
September 26th, 2010 at 5:38 pmHi Laura, nice to “meet you” at the freelancers’ shindig!
Good blog post topic here. I’m a freelance writer with a half dozen “regular clients.” Of those — 2 are in the Boston area (where I’m based), 2 in New Hampshire and 2 in other states. I visit the local clients regularly (I’m old school, I like face-to-face contact when possible). But I haven’t met the clients in far-away states in person. Looks like lots of your readers have clients in other countries, too. Goes to show you how email, the Internet and “telecommuting” have made the world a smaller place for freelancers & clients. :-) Pretty cool actually … getting to work with people we never would have otherwise known.
milosh
September 26th, 2010 at 5:41 pmmost of my clients are UK / US-based, while i am in argentina. not much local clients. like marian, i’m location-independent
Stephanie
September 26th, 2010 at 8:54 pmI’m based in the Philippines where 80% of the market do not turn to freelancers for services like corporate writing, business consultancy, etc. Because of this I’ve focused solely on clients outside of the country like those in the US and the UK. It’s got its challenges like payment, time zones, and communication but I’ve been freelancing for foreign clients for two straight years so I’ve gotten the hang of it.
Laura Spencer
September 26th, 2010 at 11:04 pmGreat discussion!
Thanks to everyone who shared. It looks like, at least for the readers here, most people have clients who are scattered throughout the world.
The Freelance Geek
September 27th, 2010 at 12:38 am99% of mine are local. That’s partly because most of my work comes through recommendation. It’s also partly because I’ve allowed myself to be lazy when it comes to promoting myself further a·field. Something which I’ve been working on more in the last couple of months. You guys at FF have really helped so hopefully I should have an international Client soon.
maochiyu
September 27th, 2010 at 2:00 amhttp://www.grandhandbags.com/ Hermes Handbags
Victor Dewsbery
September 27th, 2010 at 2:37 amI’m based in Berlin/Germany, but my clients mainly come from all over Germany, and sometimes from other countries in Europe. I hardly ever meet clients face-to-face, even if they are in Berlin. Contact is almost always by e-mail and phone.
Only twice (in nearly 20 years) have I had jobs for clients in the USA. But that is not surprising, because I come from the UK.
I am a freelance translator (German to English).
Juan
September 27th, 2010 at 3:11 amGreat post! Looking forward to the replies.
I’m based in Bangkok now (I’m location independent) and I’ve worked with clients from Spain. I’m trying to get into the local market, but Thailand is a bit… different :)
dixit
September 27th, 2010 at 3:54 ammost of my clients are UK / US-based, while i am in argentina. not much local clients. like marian, i’m location-independent
Kevin Lossner
September 27th, 2010 at 4:40 amLike Victor, I’m a translator based in Germany near Berlin. My clients are in fact spread out internationally, but they are concentrated in Europe, probably about 70% in Germany and Switzerland lately. Although I translate into US English, I have worked very little with US clients for years, because the backward banking system and perpetual confusion about tax reporting requirements (some think a W-9 is required for foreign-based service providers) tries my patience.
It’s rare to meet a client, though it has nearly always been a great pleasure when this has happened. Most communication is by e-mail and telephone. Only on a few occasions have I had projects which were carried out on site, and I must say that the dynamics of that were very interesting and productive, especially for marketing texts where rewriting and cultural adaptation were called for just as much as translation.
Because I screen my clients with some care, I have been fortunate to have very few situations where legal jurisdiction or collections become a concern.
Sharon Hurley Hall
September 27th, 2010 at 6:25 amGood question. My recent client list has included people from the US, UK and Canada, though in the past I’ve worked for people in Australia, Spain and Brazil, among others.
Dediu Fanel Florin
September 27th, 2010 at 6:43 amSame think that says Ramona. For the moment ( i hope not for a long time ) our local market is down, so almost 90% is from aboard.
Stephan
September 27th, 2010 at 6:43 amAbout 7 years ago I relocated from the Philadelphia area, where most of my clients were, to the Boston area…I’d say at this juncture more of my new business is coming from the Boston market, but my clients and relationships back in the Philly area are still very strong.
There are a few clients out West, nobody international though. I prefer a local clientele simply because it means I can schedule face-time with them, and that’s what builds long-term relationships.
Aaron Moody
September 27th, 2010 at 6:49 amMost of my clients come from the UK or the USA.
I am from the UK :)
TheAL
September 27th, 2010 at 7:54 amSo far, all of mine have been in the US. A lot of them have been in my native Michigan.
Freelance FactFile
September 27th, 2010 at 8:22 amI live in London and all my clients are from London/the South East of England.
Melissa
September 27th, 2010 at 9:12 amI’m in Austin, TX as are 80% of my clients. I have a few in VA, CA and other parts of TX. I’ve never done work internationally and don’t really have a desire to.
Patricia Lane
September 27th, 2010 at 9:36 amAs a copywriter, translator and intercultural trainer based in France, the preponderant majority of my clients are local, the remainder from various Western European countries.
This is consistent with my business model and approach to client service. It has been a pleasure getting to know most of my clients in person and to develop a depth of communication, understanding and mutual trust that can be hard to achieve in a purely virtual world. This has proven crucial in partnering with clients, becoming immersed in their corporate culture and business strategy, and being perceived as a “go to” professional who provides solutions, not simply a service.
And, it’s more fun!
Chris @ SyracuseCS
September 27th, 2010 at 12:53 pmWe are currently split about 50/50%. I enjoy working with local clients, but because of the economy here the projects tend to be a smaller/cheaper. My other clients are other web companies that outsource their work to us including companies from NYC, CA, and FL.
Stephan
September 27th, 2010 at 3:33 pm@Chris, I noticed that up here as well…the budgets seem to be a bit higher due to a higher cost of living.
Julian
September 28th, 2010 at 12:07 pm90% – USA
5% – Canada
4% – Other (Europe, South America)
1% – UK
100% – International!
I’m based in Jamaica (-5 GMT), which is convenient since most of my clients are in the US.
In the past I did mostly data entry/research work to get my foot in the door, now however, I do mostly web development and couldn’t be happier.
gordon anderson
October 2nd, 2010 at 10:40 pmIm a freelancer based in Melbourne Australia – I develop custom data driven apps for iPhone iPad and the Web.
My first standalone project was for a local entrepreneur, for whom I developed Melbourne Gig Guide iPhone app.
Most of my other clients have been overseas – the spread is roughly :
- UK 40%
- US 40% [ East and West coast ]
- AUS 10%
- EU/Asia 10%
London based clients seem to work well, perhaps because I’ve lived and worked there, and also due to the high cost of living and relative strength of the currency, it means Im cheaper than other high end developers based there.
I tend to give an initial consult where I prepare a project plan, design the underlying data model and give a definite quote and dev plan. After that I deliver weekly progress updates in the form of a working demo.. because of this the time difference seems to be not an issue [ although I make sure to turn around emails very quickly, and am online a lot of the time anyway ]
Great to read about other freelancers,
cheers, gordon.
Commandoalarms.com
October 5th, 2010 at 4:54 pm60% – USA
38% – Canada
2% – Other (Europe, South America)
The Canadian Market has really opened up for our Company. In the past when the Canadian dollar was weak it was very difficult to find customer in that Country.
Web design Company
October 18th, 2010 at 11:10 amGreat Post Laura,
Our Company clients are local.
Thanks
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