If get want to get work from home as a transcriptionist, Craigslist is a great place to find job postings and promote your transcription services.
It is one of the best known and most popular online classified sites with a large section for job seekers.
So, how can you use Craigslist to get transcription work from home?
There are two basic ways you can use Craigslist to get transcription work from home. The first way is by looking for job postings. The second is by posting yourself on Craigslist offering your transcription services.
1. Search for transcription jobs that are posted on craigslist
By searching the Job and Gig listings and using the right keywords you can find many transcription job leads. Since you are looking for transcription work from home, you can check Craigslist ads in different cities and countries. NOTE: You can conduct searches in different areas but you can only post your own ads in your local area.
To perform a search, go to Craigslist.org, select your location, and go to the Job Section. You can narrow your search even further to find work from home jobs by checking the “Telecommute” (for telecommuting jobs) and “Contract” (for contract jobs) boxes. Also look for project announcements under Jobs – Admin/Office.
Use the Search box and keywords to search for the type of transcription work you want to get.
In addition to doing searches on Craigslist, you can use targeted keyword searches to find transcription jobs on other classified sites, job boards (e.g. monster.com and indeed.com) and search engines as well.
Be aware of scams
Always use your best judgment when looking for work from home jobs and watch out for work-at-home scams on Craigslist and other classified sites. Here are some things to look out for:
- If a job or business opportunity looks too good to be true, chances are it is.
- Be careful if someone is asking for personal information.
- Don't pay any fees to get a transcription job.
- Don't buy equipment from people offering a job and requiring you to buy equipment or software from them. Transcription software you’ll need will vary depending on the type of work and employer. But employers shouldn't require you to buy transcription software from them.
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2. Place your own ads to promote your transcription services
Placing your own ads on Craigslist is a great way to promote your transcription services and can be really effective in getting your own clients. And it’s free. Here are some tips on getting the best results from placing ads on Craigslist:
- Target your ads to your audience. Write different ads targeting different audiences. Use a variation of keywords to target different prospects. Check the keywords mentioned above to get some ideas.
- Write compelling ad copy.
- To get ideas of what to mention in your ads, check what other transcriptionists and transcription companies are posting on Craigslist in other areas and on other job sites. Although you're only allowed to post in your own geographic area, you can search and view ads in other areas.
- Craigslist can detect which geographical location (or your IP's location) you're posting from and they only allow you to post ads in your local area. Some people use Craigslist ad posting services to post in other areas but it's against Craigslist rules and those postings are often deleted by Craigslist.
- Advertise your services in one or more suitable categories that are relevant to your services. Looking at where your competitors are posting will give you a good idea of what categories work best to promote your transcription services. Categories may change over time. Here are some categories you might want to check:
In Services Offered / Writing/editing/translation
In Services – Computer
In Gigs – Computer
In Small Biz section – Services
In Services – Legal (if you’re providing legal transcription)
- Also consider the “Barter” section if you’re new or don’t have enough work. You can barter for a laptop, computer repair, auto repair, construction work, massages, and many other products and services you want or need.
- Don’t spam. You can get banned for spamming. Craigslist detects and removes duplicate content. So, don't overdo it. Don’t post in unrelated categories. Don’t post in other geographic locations. Spread out your ads over several days. When putting up several posts in a week, only post one ad per day and write variations of the ad.
- Don't give up if you don't get a response the first week. Keep posting ads every day but remember to make the text of each one somewhat different.
Craigslist can be a goldmine if you use it regularly. It’s a good way to market your transcription services locally and a good alternative (or addition) to knocking on doors, cold calling phone solicitations, or public speaking. You should definitely try it.
In addition to Craigslist, you can post ads on other major online classified sites as well.
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Want more strategies to promote your transcription services?
There are many other ways to promote your transcription services.
To get in-depth training to become a professional transcriptionist
I recommend Janet Shaughnessy’s detailed, online, multi-media, online general transcription course
Janet's course provide many marketing strategies to get the best paying transcription jobs. The course also provides transcription skills, transcription formats, grammar skills, lots of practice files and more.
To learn more about starting a work at home general transcription career,
Explore a career in general transcription with this FREE general mini-course
TRANSCRIPTION RESOURCES
- FREE General Transcription Mini-Course.
- Detailed, multi-media General Transcription Course.
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- 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.
Disclaimer: If you purchase a product through a referral link, I will get a commission at NO extra cost to you and it helps me to keep providing you with quality information.