I second this. As a freelancer I've found regular communication and "showing up" to be the most important thing I can do for a client (next to commiting code of course!)
I think that even for remote work, it's important to learn how to leverage the asynchronous written communication, because be always actively aware on Slack or other chat channels can disrupt the focus needed to work with software. Basecamp (more known as 37signals) brings some tips about it on their Remote book.