General Client Relations

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Old 05-03-2008
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Default Traveling while working?
Do any of you travel extensively/continuously while working? If so, what do you tell your clients? Do you let them know when/where you're going in some way or do you just pretend to them that you're in one spot all the time?

I plan on traveling pretty much full time once I get my business up and running so I'm wondering how to present that to my clients. Mostly from the point of view on how fast I'll be able to return calls/emails if I've just flown to the other side of the world and am now on an opposite schedule.
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Old 05-03-2008
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Default Re: Traveling while working?
We did travel globally and almost constantly for the first few years of our practice and have only recently returned to the States, but are still pretty mobile.

We worked really hard to always find hotels, airports, and living accomodations that would facilitate being connected even if it was in a rudimentary sort of way - unless we were on vacation of course.

And we also always communicated with our client early and often about where we would be, how long we would be offline (while getting settled somewhere new) and how the time change would impact deadlines, etc. Fortunately, being abroad you're for the most part a good chunk of time ahead of your clients' waking hours so it's a bit of an advantage actually...

With a bit of planning ahead and lots of communication you should be just fine.
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Old 05-03-2008
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Default Re: Traveling while working?
I was hoping you'd answer Tess. Did you put anything on your site about your travels? I'm just curious because when I talk to people and tell them about my travels they're always really curious and ask tons of questions.

I wonder if on the "about me" section I should have a small link at the bottom to my travel blog so they can get an idea of the personal side of me... Or maybe have it as a hidden page on my business site that you can only get to through clicking that link... That way when people come across my blog they'll also be on my business site.
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Old 05-03-2008
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Company name: Codehead, LLP
Latest blog post: SEO Q&A
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Portland, OR
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Default Re: Traveling while working?
I only had a professional site for maybe a year, and although we did mention briefly where we were and what our next locae would be it wasn't something I advertised because it had very little to do with business and we didn't want to scare anyone off. I have a personal blog where I sometimes write about our travels and experiences but I've never really mixed the two things, aside from a random once-in-a-while missive on how much I love being virtual and the freedom it affords me.

I think a link to your travel blog from the 'about us' page would be a nice invitation to learn more about you without bringing up the question of your availability. (I never did have a potential or newly contracted client express a worry about it, but i do think that's because our travels were kind of like background story rather than something we really advertised. Clients always do get a kick out of what we're up to and where we're headed though! )
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