Most of my clients are small businesses, and I have lots of them. Remote computing helps me to support sometimes 4-5 clients at one time. It's ideal for those software upgrades that require much time just waiting for the install to complete. Still, it is very true that you need face-to-face contact sometimes. Customer relations can ususally generate new business or expanded projects especially with existing clients. The real challenge is charging them fairly. Some customers do not feel they should pay the same rate, so I charge a "travel fee" that covers gas, wear & tear on my car, and my time to travel to their office. Of course, these are not charged if I remote connect. My problem is that I also charge a lower "remote per hour rate" that I am getting away from.

Paul J. Montenero
Clear-Cut Computing
www.clearcutcomputing.com