| p>While growing your new virtual assistant | | | | How fast you can complete the job depends on a |
| business, if you have the skills and experience, | | | | variety of factors. Is the audio clear? Do you |
| transcribing is a great niche, or a great area to | | | | have to start and stop to look up words a lot? |
| focus on while building your clientèle in | | | | Best case scenario, it takes me three to four |
| other areas of virtual assisting. | | | | hours to transcribe one hour of audio. This |
| Contrary to popular belief a transcriptionist is | | | | INCLUDES proofreading time. Worst case |
| more than just a "typist." An effective | | | | scenario, it has taken me up to six hours to |
| transcriber, must be excellent spellers, be patient, | | | | transcribe one hour of audio - it was horrible. |
| be able to decipher various accents and dialects. | | | | Speakers weren't speaking in the microphone; |
| We have to have a great eye and be a good | | | | multiple speakers with very heavy accents, I had |
| proofreader. We have to be able to listen to | | | | to keep going back to try and figure out what |
| people speak, use a foot pedal, type at the same | | | | was being said. You get the picture. Some |
| time, and be relatively quick about it. Also, a good | | | | transcribers will simply put "inaudible" and continue |
| transcriber should be an intermediate to advanced | | | | moving forward, and sometimes so will I. but it |
| user of a word processing program such as | | | | absolutely drives me crazy to not be able to |
| Microsoft Word or WordPerfect. | | | | figure it out. So most times, if I feel I can do it |
| There are a wide variety of areas where your | | | | and still meet the deadline, I will try to decipher |
| transcription skills can be put to use, some | | | | the word(s), and clients appreciate the extra |
| requiring experience in the area, such as legal and | | | | effort. |
| medical transcription, and some not, such as | | | | If you type less than 65 wpm accurately and |
| transcribing meetings, focus groups, and | | | | can't say honestly that all of the above attributes |
| interviews, author's notes, podcasts, et cetera. | | | | apply to you, transcribing is probably not a good |
| However, both specialized and non-specialized | | | | area for you to focus on! |
| areas have at least one thing in common. Each | | | | Before accepting a transcription assignment, you |
| requires the ability to be able to follow directions! | | | | should ask the client these questions: |
| Although general punctuation and grammar | | | | 1. Is the audio fairly clear? |
| guidelines are expected to be adhered to, each | | | | 2. Do you have a sample format? |
| client will have their own set of guidelines that you | | | | 3. Is there a lot of non-standard jargon (i.e., |
| will have to follow as far as how they want their | | | | scientific, medical, et cetera?) |
| projects completed. | | | | 4. Do you require a thorough proofing (i.e., reading |
| As a transcriptionist that types projects | | | | the document while listening to the tape after |
| frequently with a lot of scientific and medical | | | | you've finished the transcription) |
| jargon, one resource I have found has truly been | | | | Depending on the answers to those questions, I |
| a lifesaver is one of Google's many resources. | | | | then determine how long it is going to take me to |
| Google Suggest . As you type a word it | | | | complete an assignment. |
| "suggests" correct spellings. There hasn't been a | | | | Anything that needs to be completed in 48 hours |
| word yet that it hasn't found for me (well maybe | | | | or less, I charge a rush fee. The reason being is |
| one or two doozies!). Clients often comment on | | | | transcription is a time consuming task, and if |
| how impressed they are with how well I do with | | | | transcription is what you are focusing on, for that |
| spelling the difficult words. The cat's out the | | | | block of time, you really do not have time to |
| bag-Google Suggest is my secret weapon. A | | | | focus on non-transcribing projects. When charging |
| good transcriber will not riddle their documents | | | | for this service, you have the option of charging |
| with a boatload of "inaudibles" or "unintelligibles." An | | | | per audio hour, per page, or per line. Sometimes |
| efficient transcriber will take the time to look up | | | | the client has a preference. My preference is per |
| the words they aren't sure about, and as a last | | | | page. |
| resort phonetically spell it and indicate with [sp] or | | | | Transcribing can be a great niche to focus on; or |
| [sp?] that they aren't sure if the spelling is correct. | | | | if you find you thoroughly enjoy it; you might |
| How Fast Are You? | | | | want to make that your complete focus; |
| The question should be, "how fast do you need | | | | however, if transcription is the only serve you |
| to be?" The answer depends on your client. I | | | | provide, I don't think you can officially call yourself |
| have some clients who require a fast turnaround | | | | a virtual assistant, by definition. One thing is for |
| of 24 to 48 hours on two to four hours of audio. | | | | sure, you're not "just a typist. |