Ramit Sethi and Patrick McKenzie on Getting Your First Consulting Client

Re:Ramit Sethi and Patrick McKenzie on Getting Your First Co... by patio11 on Monday September 17, 2012 @05:18PM (#4534944)

Yes, I think it is possible. US paperwork for dealing with contractors abroad is extraordinarily lenient: you are hireable for exactly the same amount of work it takes to hire non-US-located-US-citizen me, or less, if the party doing the hiring has their act together. (This is decidedly not the case for on-site engagements: if it would require traveling to the US, having a US passport makes life much, much easier for all parties.)

Oftentimes, I feel like I could bring a lot to some company's table, but no one will even consider my offer because of my geographical situation.

How are you identifying clients? How are you pitching them? Do you have problems with leads when you get to the "By the way, I'm in Russia" question? Does that happen a lot? I think you can probably finesse the location issue if you pitch a) more prospects and b) better prospects.

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Re:Ramit Sethi and Patrick McKenzie on Getting Your First Co... by xentronium on Monday September 17, 2012 @05:53PM (#4535093)

> How are you identifying clients? How are you pitching them?

To be honest, I just responded to some web-published offers for contract work I saw anywhere, and I didn't have any measurable progress at all. Most of them just didn't respond, but those who did told me that they weren't interested because I wasn't from US, so it disappointed me (after all, I'd spent non-trivial time writing a reply, not just blanket-bombed them with my resume) and hurt my confidence. For now I've got a regular job, but when I decide to move on, I will certainly try to do more and better prospects.

Thank you for the answer, Patrick, it means a lot to me.

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