I consult for Bay Area startups. The perception of risk with a remote worker is still there. I battle that.
Offer up an initial short term contract to mitigate risk. Make it a liberal termination clause for both parties - if either is unhappy you just walk away.
It'll put your client/employer's mind at ease.
And it allows you to demonstrate your value without having to discount upfront.
This is how I do it as well, although I'm only mostly remote. My initial contract is usually 520 hours (3 months of full time, longer in wall-time, as I prefer to work with 2 clients at any given time) with a 10 day no-fault termination for either party. I've yet to have a client which didn't extend after the first 3 months.
Offer up an initial short term contract to mitigate risk. Make it a liberal termination clause for both parties - if either is unhappy you just walk away.
It'll put your client/employer's mind at ease.
And it allows you to demonstrate your value without having to discount upfront.