When I started freelancing, I relied on local Craigslist. I would find people that needed my service, reach out to them, schedule an in-person meeting, drive to wherever they are and see if we could do business.

For every 10 meetings, I landed a decent client. At the time, it wasn’t that bad for me, I was young with no real responsibilities. Life’s good, right? One day that all changed.

I met a potential local client who was super busy and told me “I don’t have time to meet, let’s just have a call”. It was a little odd because this is the first person who didn’t want to meet with me. We had the call and it went well but, at the end, he mentioned he will be back in town in a few months. Then proceeded to send me a deposit via PayPal.

I was in shock, did I just land a client without seeing them face-to-face?
A client who isn’t even in the same timezone?
Did this only block 30mins out of my day compared to the typical 3-hour minimal?

Yes, yes, and yes. For that reason, I’ve never handled business the same.

Since that time, I have yet to work with anyone in my state. Half of my work came from overseas.

I say this because I come across many freelancers who think of their local area as their playing field. Fun fact of the day, the world if your playing field. Target every single human who fit as your ideal client.

Language barrier? We have translators.

Timezone differences? Google calendar will handle that for you.

Currency differences? PayPal works just fine.

In summary: Don’t limit your reach for new business.