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Using a throw-away account, I've been doing exactly this for the past 6 months. Living with my parents in their pretty nice house in Africa. And I'm saving a de
by thrwaway_remote 10y ago
Using a throw-away account, I've been doing exactly this for the past 6 months. Living with my parents in their pretty nice house in Africa. And I'm saving a decent amount.
My clients are from all over the US - all 4 timezones. I work in the Pacific Timezone (SF) - Sleep at 6 am my local time and wake up at 2 pm. I know I can do this right now as I am young but it's not good for health (Or maybe it's fine if your body adjusts?).
Not once has any client asked me to come over and meet them and that works for me. I've also mentioned to some of them them that I do travel and work but never told them I'm actually out of the country.
I've ported my US number to Google Voice and that works perfectly.
EDIT:
I think there are 2 things clients worry about if the freelancer is not in the US:
1) Will he be able to work in my Timezone, will I be able to call him when I want?
2) Can I trust the quality of the developer?
I think it's weird, that if a freelancer is based in SF working remotely, he can charge $X/hr but if that same freelancer moves to a different place (Singapore or Tokyo or Mumbai or Arusha) offering the same level of quality and service, he can only demand $Y/hr where X>Y.
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Ask me anything :)
- kohanz 10y agoI mean, if they never asked where you live and are just assuming, then I suppose it's fair. However, if you told them or did not deny that you live somewhere other than you do, that would seem professionally dishonest to me. I don't think I would stake my trustworthiness and reputation for a few dollars.
- thrwaway_remote 10y agoYes, to keep my conscience clear, I never lie to them. When something like this comes up, I just tell them I take advantage of working remotely and live nomadically as I like traveling - which was true when I was in SF and still is. It is just that they talk to me on my US cell phone number during regular US hours and I'd think they assume I'm in the US. Yes, I might be walking on a thin line of being unethical/unprofessional.. But my clients are really happy with my work. So I tell myself, as long as I am providing value to them, they should pay me what I deserve and not based on my location. Also, I don't really have an option, I did not want to get a regular H1B visa and so because of that, I thought it would be better I continue work living outside. The clients were remote even before I left.
- kohanz 10y agoWould their bookkeeping (taxes, etc.) be affected by this if they are under the impression that you are U.S. based? Do you provide invoices with an address on them?
- thrwaway_remote 10y agoIt should all be normal. I have a registered California LLC with an agent and an address. I am legally allowed to operate this company from anywhere and the invoice goes out from my company's address - everything is legal.
- j_s 10y agoI think the big question is always 'how do you get clients?'.
- thrwaway_remote 10y agoI think it helps to already have a good history / portfolio. With my 3 years of remote working experience, I think the initial low paying struggle is more of an investment for the future better clients and money. I now have a pretty good reputation on Upwork and get a lot of work from there. Also, giving talks at relevant tech meetups and having Youtube videos for those helps in getting leads.
- borplk 10y agoIf you don't mind I'd be interested to know how much you charge.