The demand for transcription is huge. Not only are there unlimited opportunities for transcriptionists but there is plenty of well-paid transcription work.
Doing transcription for companies like CallGraph/Scribie, Quicktate, Transcribe Me, and Rev doesn’t pay well but working for them provides an easy way to get started in transcription and build up some experience. Then, when you feel confident that you can do the job correctly, you can double and even triple your pay by getting your own clients. Authors are good prospects for transcription work. And they’ll pay much more than transcription companies.
How authors use transcription
- Authors use transcriptionists to help them save time.
- Authors use transcripts to create easy content for their books, web sites, reports and newsletters. Using audio and video and having them transcribed helps authors create books fast.
- Many authors conduct interviews for research. Many are also public speakers and speeches create additional opportunities for transcription work.
How best-selling author, Judy Cullins uses transcription
Now I want to introduce you to best-selling author Judy Cullins and illustrate how she uses transcriptionists.
Judy is a book coach, public speaker and author of many successful print books and ebooks. She has taught book writing to many aspiring author-entrepreneurs in the last 16 years. She conducts teleseminars, sells ebooks online and provides individual book coaching. She saves time by recording her thoughts when writing a book rather than typing it.
She says: “I speak faster than I can type so dictating content and having it transcribed saves a lot of time.”
How Judy Uses Transcripts
Judy explains here how she uses transcripts and how she reuses the content of the transcripts in many different ways.
- I dictate and record content for my books and have the dictation transcribed. Speaking is faster than typing and provides a more conversational style.
- I turn transcripts into ebook chapters.
- I dictate content and use transcripts for blog posts. Google likes content and transcripts of audio and video are better for SEO than audio or video.
- I conduct and record interviews with experts on my book topics and have the interviews transcribed.
- I put audio interviews and their transcripts on my blog to provide content.
- I record my teleseminars, have them transcribed and give attendees a transcript.
- I use transcripts to create reports I sell.
- I use transcript to create free reports to build my email list.
- I use the content of some transcripts to write my online newsletters.
What Makes a Great Transcriptionist?
Judy expects a transcriptionist to have the following qualities:
“I want a transcriptionist to be dependable and deliver the transcript within the required deadline.
Accuracy is very important. I won’t tolerate mistakes in common words. I will not use a transcriptionist again who misses deadlines, provides inaccurate transcripts and doesn’t know the difference between “its” and “its”; “your” and you’re”’ or “there” and “their.”
A transcriptionist must communicate with me and understand my purpose. I want a transcriptionist to discuss what type of transcript I want, e.g. verbatim, semi-verbatim or edited transcript. If a transcriptionist is not asking what type of transcript I want, then I question her experience. Some transcriptionists stand out from others by their common sense and good judgement.
My transcripts must be easy to read. The purpose of most of my transcripts is to create content for my books, reports and website. I want easy-to-read transcripts to generate readable book chapters , reports and newsletters. I don’t deal in legal content so I don’t need a verbatim transcript. I want a “cleaned up” or “edited” transcript that removes non-words that do not contribute meaning (e.g. as “like,” “you know,” “really,” “kind of,” “so,” and “OK”), stutters, false starts, repetition and filler words so that the final product reads smoothly.
I don’t want irrelevant content transcribed. If the recording mentions something that doesn’t provide real content that’s related to the topic, I don’t want it in the transcript. For example, if an attendee of a teleseminar mentions that there is an issue with the sound, I don’t need that transcribed. I don’t need the transcript to mention that I’m coughing or that my phone is ringing. I realize that other clients may have different requirements. That's why communication is so important.
A transcriptionist must be willing to research unfamiliar words. The ideal transcriptionist would be familiar with the basic vocabulary of my industry. Of course, transcriptionists can’t be familiar with all industries and I don’t expect someone to be thoroughly familiar with book writing and publishing but I want someone who is willing to research unfamiliar words and is willing to learn.
If I mention words she’s not familiar with, I want her to research them. I will usually provide a list of unusual words and names. And if I forget, it’s okay to ask me. If a transcriptionist is uncertain about a spelling of a word after looking it up, I want her to indicate that in the transcript.
Final Words
Many authors use transcription to help them research and write books. Authors outsource transcription to transcriptionists because it saves them time. Some authors are slow typists or don’t like typing. Some find that talking makes their writing sound more natural.
With millions of print books and ebooks published every year, plenty of general transcription work is available in that market alone. I have personally transcribed dictation and interviews for many authors.
Interested in learning more about transcription as a career?
Janet Shaughnessy can help you get an edge by becoming an excellent transcriptionist. She will also show you how to get higher-paying clients.
Noticed that Judy mentioned “verbatim”, semi-verbatim and “edited” transcription styles? A transcriptionist must know the differences and be able to use type of transcript that's appropriate for the industry, client and project.
Janet Shaughnessy includes a full lesson on the different types of transcripts in her intensive, multi-media general transcription course, General Transcription: Theory and Practice™. Taking her course can help you get better paying clients.
Ready to get started in transcription? Check out her General Transcription Course here.
To learn more about starting a work at home general transcription career,
Subscribe to this FREE general mini-course
TRANSCRIPTION RESOURCES
- FREE General Transcription Mini-Course.
- Detailed, multi-media General Transcription Course.
- General Transcription Practice Files.
- FREE Legal Transcription Mini-Course.
- Medical Transcription Course.
- Check out this complete transcription starter kit at Amazon.
- Grammarly is the best online spelling and grammar checker to help you edit your transcripts. Grammarly has a free version and a premium version. Check it out here.
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