Transcripts
1. Lecture One - Introduction: Hi, my name is Amanda Fichter and this is Step-by-Step Start Your Home Transcription Business. This is our first lecture, which is the introduction. Thanks so much for signing up for the class. And I really hope that I will bring something to your life to get you where you want to be in the world of transcription and get a business going. So who am I? I am that person there on the right, that is me, Amanda Fichter. And the reason I'm doing this course and feel completely able to do so is that I have been a transcriptionist actively since 2002. I started transcribing when I was pregnant with my daughter. And I decided at that time that I want it to be able to do something from home to try to make some money. And even though life has changed and things have gone on, and my marriage is no longer, I still have been able to find my way and I've been able to work at home and be a transcriptionist solidly since 2002. Let's see, I have always been based in a home office. The reason that that's important to note is that there are different ways that you can be a transcriptionist. You can, there are some transcriptionists who work out of medical offices and that sort of thing. But I actually have always been based in a home office. Now, the beauty and we'll talk about that a little bit later, the beauty of working as a home transcriptionist and taking care of your own schedule is that on occasion I've also been known to transcribe in a library study room, or while away, kind of on vacation, a working vacation. So I have been based out of home office, but there is some flexibility there too. I am an expert on what it takes to be a transcriptionist and I will give you my honest experience. That's important because I think there's a lot of sugar-coating about working from home. There are some wonderful things - we will get into all that, but there are always some downsides too, just like anything, there's good and bad. But you can count on me to tell you exactly what I've experienced and what pitfalls to watch out for, what things to make sure that you do. And hopefully, my experience will help you get on your way a little bit easier. So what will you learn in this course? Well, in this course, step-by-step, I will teach you how you can put a transcription business together from office set-up to equipment, to training, to obtaining clients. We will go through all of those things there. So at the end of this course, you'll have a pretty good idea of what you need to do and maybe have already started putting some things into implementation. And at the end of this course, you will actually have a roadmap to setting up and starting your own transcription business. And that will be done by the education that I'll give you as well as the reference materials that you'll have as well. So to start off the class, your lecture one resource that we're gonna have you do is to download and print out the course outline that is in the course materials. So you can go ahead and print that out, take a look at what will be coming up in the course. And I will see you in the next lecture. Thanks.
2. Lecture Two - What is Transcription and Who Needs It?: Hi class. This is Amanda Fichter again here for lecture two on Step-by-Step Start Your Home Transcription Business. And this lecture is entitled "What is transcription and who needs it?" So we're gonna take a look at what transcription is to start with. So what is transcription? Transcription is the process of converting an audio file. So that's otherwise known as dictation, into a typed document. So if someone tells you they have some dictation for you, what that means is that they have an audio file. So that is that. And then the transcription is what we are going to be doing to that file. A transcriptionist listens to the audio and types up what is heard. So that is the active part there of transcription. Although cassette tapes were formerly used, dictation now is recorded on handheld recorders or on a cell phone through the app of a transcription company. So believe it or not, I have done this long enough where I actually still have, collecting dust somewhere, a cassette tape dictation machine because I would run into those every once in a while. It is still possible that a cassette tape transcription might be something that someone needs. But generally because that is not the norm, what would happen is whoever you're doing the work for, whoever you're speaking with, they would probably go ahead and get that cassette tape turned into a dictation recording, an electronic dictation recording, and provide it to you. If you're working with a client yourself, and they were to tell you that they have an audio on tape and they would like you to transcribe it. It's going to be kind of up to you if you think you can work with that. The tape dictation machines are kind of hard to come by now. And but again, it's just not something that I think you're going to run into much, so I don't think you'll need to worry about that. Let's see. And the finished product is called a transcribed document or completed transcription. So we start with the dictation or the audio file. It is transcribed by the transcriptionists and the final thing is called a transcribed document or completed transcription. So who needs transcription? There are a lot of opportunities for transcription services. The more traditional areas are medical, with some special training needed, legal may need some special training. and general. I will tell you that when people think of transcription overall, they typically think of it in these three areas, medical, legal, and general. There are full courses dedicated to medical transcription. I have never done that because I frankly haven't needed to. I've always been able to find transcription needs in my life that were not medical. And frankly, I haven't had the time or the want to go ahead and get that training done. But if you're someone who already has a medical background, it is possible that you may not need the additional training. Just depends on what is being asked of you or if it's a specialty that you're already familiar with. Now, legal, I have on there may need some special training. And the reason that I have that is - I just so happened to, when I first began as a transcriptionist, way back when in 2002, one of the first companies that I did some transcribing for had a lot of legal clients. And so although it was not the heavier legal, like it was not major legal documents, it was the correspondence of the attorneys, and so a lot of legal terms were used, but I was able to learn those on the job. And I went ahead - and I guess I would consider myself definitely a transcriptionist at this point, with a specialty in legal transcription. In other words, if there's some transcription that comes around, that is going to be on the legal side, it does not terrify me. So that's, you know, I have on there may need some special training and that's why. And then of course there's general transcription as well, which is everything else. So also there are focus groups. There are people who write books, there are dictated notes on classes, interviews, and many more. So I want you to really broaden your thought about what it is that transcription can be used for. It's not just these traditional things on the top, but also different areas here. Like I said, there are authors, for example, who I've heard before that take walks in the woods, for example, to kinda open their mind and they're dictating a book on a recording device while they're walking along. So definitely they will need transcription. And as well as someone's who's telling about notes on a class or actually recording a lecture. Though they can use transcription, as well. So there are a lot of other ways that transcription can be used and it's important to realize that, as well. So lecture two, your resource for this lecture is to print out and work on the brainstorm transcription options page. Basically what I've provided for you is a document that is gonna let you take a moment to think about who is in your immediate world that may need some transcription. Doesn't need to necessarily be family or friends, but those in your neighborhood, those in your town, those that you have prior connections with or would want to approach. At this point, we're kind of just starting to open the door about what your transcription business is going to look like. What are some options for you? We're definitely going to look at the online side and talk a bit about that because there are so many opportunities there and so many companies that you can connect with and, and get some work from there. But also there are those local places. Like I said, colleges, whether they're students or even professors who may need some transcription done, various things. So if you take a look at that worksheet, I have on there some different ideas, but I want you to take a moment, think about your local area, your local connections or where you could make connections later on, just make some notes, thinking about that kind of broadening your world. As you're going about your life, if you happen to think about stuff as you're driving by somewhere and you think about it, add that to your list. And then as you get farther along and you're starting to get established and getting a plan and ready to kinda spread your wings a bit. You can dig this back out and maybe go ahead and try to activate some of those brainstorm ideas. So we will see you on the next lecture. Thanks.
3. Lecture Three - Working from Home: Hi class. This is Amanda Fichter on "Step-By-Step Start Your Home Transcription Business." This is lecture three, working from home. So I wanted to touch base with you here and give you some information about what it is actually like to work at home every day. There are definitely work at home joys like I'm going to show you here. And then there's some not so great and that balance between. So we're going to kind of go over that so you have a good idea of what it's gonna look like. So we'll start with the work from home joys. Take a look here. So basically what I can tell you is you are in control of your day and you can structure it around your work and life events. That is a really great thing. So if something comes up, you know that you're going to need to do something in the morning, you'll just know you're going to work a little later in the afternoon or possibly at night, and you have that sort of freedom to do that, which is very nice. If you have children, you are available for sick days as well as needs at school. I will tell you that with my daughter, I feel really good about the fact that as she grew up, she was always home with me if she was home sick. So yes, I was still working, but I would be able to go into her room, take a quick look at her, give her medicine or whatever she needed, and I was able to have her stay home for those sick days. So that is very nice, as well. Home chores can be worked on through the day, as well. This is a little bit of, I think what people have as a fantasy about if they work at home. Not that home chores are necessarily fantasy. But the thought being that if you are at home and dishes need to be done, and laundry needs to be done, that the mere fact that you are at home means that you'll be able to get that done in between your working. That is possible. But I would think on a general sense, it's not really practical. Because if you are working and you're trying to get a project done or you're doing a few hours on something, It's not going to be quite so easy to get up and do that. So definitely you have that ability. If you need to get something in the laundry, you can get that done and finished over the course of your day. But I would not be so hard on yourself if you find that, at least for a while, you're not able to do anything but get that work done and then kind of fitting those home chores in on the weekend. Less costs in gas and lunches out, as well as day care. This is very true. I'm not driving the car off to a job, so I don't have the gas there. Lunches out, only if I decide to do that while I'm running errands or something. And daycare - Again, like I said when my little one was small. I had her here before she went to school and definitely saved on that daycare. I did take advantage of the drop-in daycare every once in a while. Either she was a little bit under foot and I just really had to get something done or I just needed a break or she needed a break. You can kinda tell that sometimes if you're just kinda grumbly with each other. So that's something too that you can look at. But in general, I did save those daycare costs. So that was a great thing. If you need a day or two off, it may be easier to take it as a freelancer. Now, I note the word freelancer there because there will be some transcription companies, if you decide to work with them online, that sort of thing, who will want to a little bit of an availability schedule from you. So not necessarily like a locked in, you know, how many hours a day, but just to kind of let them know, yes. I'm going to work Monday through Friday, probably in the mornings, something like that. And if you have that sort of commitment with them, you can definitely let them know you're taking a day off. I mean, you're generally going to be an independent contractor, not an employee. So it's a little bit different relationship there. But as a freelancer where you're just taking projects as you, as they come up, or things that you want to get done. That would be easier, and you'd be able to take a day or two off, people basically would be none the wiser. So that is possible. And then this is one of my favorite right here. If you need a nap, you can take one. I have had more than once where I have been a bit sleepy in the day. And I've decided that I'm not really going to be worth much if I don't get a little bit of rest, and I've definitely done that. So that's one of my favorite things about working from home. The tougher things about working at home. And again, none of these are terrible, but they're just some things to think about. Sometimes the days are very long, depending on projects, or you're simply forgetting to stop for a while. That happens a lot, especially in the beginning, because you will have a learning curve. Just like any new job, any new thing you take on, there will be a while there where you will be working on getting better at transcription, getting up to speed with what you'd like to do, understanding the rules of the companies that you're working with. And all of that takes some time. So it may mean that for a while there you're working longer than you would like. And that could mean that the day goes flying by and you forget to stop, take a break or, you know, even look at the clock. So that can be a tough thing. And also unhealthy. Speaking of unhealthy, there is no sick time that is paid for or vacations when you're an independent contractor and you're working at home. So if you don't feel well, you can definitely go be sick. I mean, that's what you need to do, rest and get better. But you will not have a paid sick day like you would in a paid job. So you have to remember that. It may mean that you're working a little bit on the weekend or you're working a little bit extra here and there to kind of cover that, if you need to. Same thing for vacations. It's easier to take a vacation because you don't really have to clear it with anyone generally. But again, you'd have to have that money put aside because it will not be covered by any sort of vacation fund or paid vacation days. So that's something to think about. May be noisy in the home some days, which can slow down work. This really was making me go back and think about when my daughter was small. It's a tough thing when you're trying to listen to transcription and you've got a kid yelling your name or something else going on. And if you have more than one and maybe they're having an argument or something like that, that can kinda slow things down. But that's just more about kind of dealing with an environment of working at home. Let's see. No scheduled breaks, so they may be missed. This kind of joins up with that first one. So if your day is flying by and you don't ever stop, or you just grab a drink of water and go right back to it. You're going quite a while without giving yourself some time. And so that can be a tough on you psychologically, as well as physically. Working from home can be solitary, somewhat solitary, and that's very true. I do find that I make a point, whether or not I know it, to be around people on a pretty regular basis. Not necessarily every day, but I do get those - Again, I don't even know that it's really something I can put my finger on at the time. But I may feel like just going off to the library for a bit, or the coffee shop, or watching my daughter in karate class just so I'm around other people. So it can be somewhat solitary. I wouldn't necessarily say lonely because I generally I'm too busy to feel like that, but I'm also happy to be here. So that part I don't really feel, but, you know, it is a little different not working with people every day that you can talk to you, or that are right there. And this one here I would - It is the big caution. This is something that I have run into myself over time, and it's something that I would really want you to think about. If you are not self-driven for a day, it is very easy to lose money. So basically if you just decide one day that you just don't want to work that day. Well, that's fine. And, you know, you probably can do that, but do understand that you will lose that money that day. There's, you know, it's not so easy to make up money once you get behind a bit. So you kind of need to be your best friend on that and making sure that you stay on task. So finding a work-home balance, it is possible and that is true. It is, I think the number one rule, and it's going to come up here. And I've told other people this, who've worked from home. The moment that you let yourself understand that there is no such thing as a normal day, you will be better off. So as I say here, I find that having a set amount of work I want to do, an amount to make, as a goal to go for, rather than set hours. But this can vary for different people. So if you know that you are only going to have from eight to one, for example, every day to work, then that's what you do and you make sure that you're working solidly from eight to one. A little stretch here and there, but you're, you're working from eight to one, that may work very well for you. For me, it tends to be that if I say I'm going to work from eight to one and there may be nothing in my life that should impede that eight to one, something inevitably happens or comes up or whatever. And then I used to get very annoyed about that or think, oh forget it, I can't get this schedule right. I've written many, many a schedule for myself over time. And so I've kind of figured out, for me at least, that as long as I let that definition go of a normal day, there's no such thing for me is that. There's always a fluctuation, always something going on. But if I know how much money I need to make or how much work I want to do, what project I need to finish, and I get that done, that works better for me than trying to have a schedule. So that to me is a big part of that balance. Let's see. When you need to get out you can take a walk or sit in a coffee shop for a while. That me time is very important. This is coming from years of experience because I definitely did not do that at the beginning. I was 100% focused on working. I was 100% focused on working through that learning curve, getting some stuff done. But you do reach burnout if you're not careful and you will not be feeling well or run yourself down and get sick. All of those things that can happen. So I really do encourage you to make sure that you get some of that me time to take care of yourself, that you're thinking about that. Remembering that when you're working from home, those mandated lunch breaks and breaks that you would have had in the working world are no longer mandated when you're here at home. And so it's very easy to forget that. It's very easy to let time go by and not give yourself a break. But you will pay for that somewhere. Whether that is that you're sick or you're just sick of work, whatever it happens to be. So you want to avoid that as much as you can. Make sure that you respect your work day and that others do as well. Just because you work from home does not mean that you can stop whenever. Be protective of your new career and location and others will too. So it is very possible, it happens a lot, that people think that if you work from home, that you're kind of sitting around doing a little bit of work, but if somebody wants you to go with them somewhere in the middle of the day that you definitely can drop everything and go do that. Sometimes you can and when you can, that's great. But sometimes you can't. And so people have to start to look at you instead of someone who's working out of their home, just hanging around home and happens to make some money, instead of someone who's office business location just happens to be located within the home. So if you can't take calls during the day from friends and family that you normally would take calls from, they have to understand that. Making that sacred, like I said. And if you're a really respectful of that and you tell your friends and family, I'm sorry if you call me today from eight to two any day of the week, I'll I'll have to get back to you later on in the afternoon. I have a lot I have to get done and I just don't have time for that. And they'll they'll understand that. You just have to make sure that you believe it and then other people will believe it too. Okay. And so we've got here, oh, yes, this is my favorite one, too. Remember to be grateful. Many want to work from home, but few do. That is very true. You will have, once you start working from home, you will have a lot of people ask you what you do, how you do it, how you got started. That's a big reason why I'm actually making this course because I have dealt with those questions over many years. Not everybody is able to do this sort of thing. The job they can't necessarily do. They also can't handle the balance of working at home. It can be very stressful, believe it or not. Just because you need to balance so many things and make sure that your bills are getting paid and that you're doing the work you need to do. But it also can be very wonderful. And so I do try to remember to be grateful that I am in control of my life a lot more than many people are, and I just don't even know if I could go back to the regular working world at this point. So, yes, remember to be grateful. So your lecture three resource, what I want you to do is you're going to go ahead and print out the break time document and plan some time for yourself during your workdays. So basically I've made up a document for you with a couple ideas there. But I'd like you to go ahead and think about all the things that would be fulfilling to you within a day. You know, if there are 10, 15 minutes or even something that takes 30 minutes that you could consider for a lunch time. For example, I had on there take a bath, so that could be 30 minutes. If you're having a rough day, being able to take a bath at 11:30 in the afternoon for a half an hour is a luxury. So that sort of thing is stuff that you, it's nice when you can fit those things into a work from home day. And I'll tell you that it makes your life a lot better, andit makes your new job a bit more exciting. So taking out the transcription piece, this is going to be a part of your life too, is fitting in working from home and balancing. So go ahead and take some time, make some of those plans for what your breaks might look like, some things that you can do and then you can dig that out when you get started. Thank you so much for attending this lesson and we will see you at the next lecture. Thanks.
4. Lecture Three Extra - Full Time Transcription: Hi class. This is Amanda from "Step-By-Step Start Your Home Transcription Business." This is a bonus lecture. Can I work from home full-time? I wanted to go ahead and add this into the course to make it even more comprehensive, because I know that this is something that I wondered as I was working on my transcription business. And I thought you might be curious about it as well. So I'm going to give you some more information there. First of all, there is a learning curve, as we've talked about before. Just like any new job or skill, it does take some time to get proficient at being a transcriptionist. So you do need to understand that you're probably not gonna make money as quickly as you would like, especially in the beginning or for a little while, while you're learning some new skills. Typically, you will work longer hours and not make as much when you start due to this. So for example, you might work on a file and have it done in a certain amount of time. And it might take a proficient transcriptionist, or someone who's been doing this a while, maybe two or three times less than what it took you. So, you know, you might turn something in quite a bit later than they would. Your turnaround would be slower. And so because of that long amount of time you're putting in, and transcription in general, you are not paid by the hour, you are paid by the work that you produce. So it might take you, like I said, three times longer to do something than it would take someone else, but you would both get paid the same amount. So your three hours is going to obviously be less, end up being less money paid to you per hour, especially when you start and as you're learning. As your speed increases, however, and you pick up additional skills - So you've been doing it more. You pick up skills taught to you or are given to you by your, maybe a transcription company that you're working with, your income will reflect that. So you may decide that you're going to work the same amount of long hours that you've been doing, but you're going to end up producing more work during that time. So you'll end up making more. Or you may be happy with the amount of money that you're making, but you just don't want to work as long. So as you get faster, you would then eventually would not have to work quite as many hours to make the same amount of money that you're making. Overall though you are going to need additional support for a while and that would be financial support. For me, I was pregnant with my daughter in 2002 when I began as a transcriptionist. And then I was married for about five years after that, got divorced, and I had some alimony support for a little while in addition to the child support. So in that way, I was able to go ahead and move from being in a two income situation with my ex-husbanc, to going to being on my own, and then with his financial support, being able to work on this business and grow it, and then eventually become full-time. But it was not instantaneous. It has occasionally meant support from family, as well, when things just don't meet up. And definitely hasn't been the most extravagant lifestyle a lot because I've been trying to make those ends meet and do what I need to do. So while you are working to increase your skill set, speed and accuracy as a transcriptionist, you will need additional support. If you have another job, you may find that transcription is best suited for you when you arrive home each day or on the weekends. This will allow you to earn a consistent income, but work on your transcription career, as well. So if you know that you have a job outside of the home that you're doing and then you want to come home at night, work on transcription in the evenings, or work in the very early mornings before work, on the weekends, or a combination thereof, that may be a way then that you can keep that money coming in consistently from your regular work, but then you're also working on this career, this side job at the time, to increase, produce more money there and then maybe get yourself in a position where you can go more full-time later on. So that's something you want to think about. If you are a two-income household, you may do as above and work transcription on the off times. Or if you're not currently working, you may be able to dedicate more time and focus to transcription and eventually add more to your household's finances. So what I'm thinking of here, just because I've run into it a lot, for those who are not currently working, there are a lot of times where parents who are home with children will find that as those children have gotten a little bit older and they're maybe taking longer naps or they're actually out of the house at a preschool, or whatever's going on with them, and the parent at home finds that they have some more time, if you have another - a partner, husband, wife, who is out of the house working a regular job that can finance and take care of those everyday bills, and you're finding that this is something that you want to do to supplement or get some extra money for your home, then you might actually have the luxury of finding a little more time to focus on this business, to figure out what you need to do to get better at it, and not really affect too much with the family because you're kind of working it around the children. But I wanna note also on that second bullet here, that most transcription companies, well, I would say almost maybe all of them, totally understand and would not bat an eye if you said to them that you can only work in the evenings or on the weekends. That's a very common thing in the transcription world. There are a lot of people who do transcription just as a way to bring in some extra money. And so they do it at off times and you won't find very many companies who are too shocked about that. So transcribing full-time, it is possible to do so, but it can take years to achieve. Or if you get a great position somewhere and have adequate skills, it can take less time. So if you already have some skills coming into transcription, let's say, or you just pick it up really fast, or you have the luxury, like I said, being able to focus on it maybe a little more solidly if you don't have a job outside of the house and you have that support, it is possible that you could be a little bit quicker in your learning curve. And you could find a position somewhere with a transcription company or something locally and maybe be able to get in and do something more full-time. Now again, something locally would mean - unless you're going to go work outside the house as a transcriptionist, which is possible - In this vein, because we're talking about working from home, I'm talking about having a client in town who you would take some work from or they would send work to you. So that's a possibility too, but again, coming around to full-time, it is possible to do. It is a lot of work, but it is something that you might be able to do after some time and some investment in figuring this out for yourself. A lot of it depends again on your financial needs. So for me, not overly extravagant with raising my daughter, it was pretty tight on here. A shoe string budget a lot of times. But that's how I made that work. Your speed and skill. So then the quicker you are, the faster you are, the more you can make per hour for yourself, and of course the pay. So if you find a company that pays very, very little for starting out, which quite a few of them do, but you may find ones that pay a little bit more depending on the situation. They're all very different. If you do go full-time, you will need to make sure - and this is if you go full-time, and I would say this first sentence here, and do not have any other, someone else in the house bringing in an income, you will need to make sure that you can consistently bring in the money that you need each and every work day, or that your support system, if you have a partner or husband, wife, is there with the funds needed for those fluctuating times. So transcription, if you're with a few companies, you might be able to ride out some of the up and downs that happen. But everyone' once in a while, especially things, for example, around holidays. I worked for a legal, like I said, a legal vein for a while there where I was doing a lot of legal work and those attorneys would go on holiday vacation a lot, and it would go away in the summer a lot. So we just kind of knew, as our group of transcriptionists, that work was going to be a little bit tighter in the summer and work was going to be a little bit tighter, meaning less availability, around the holiday season. So that's just something that's part of the industry. You can fill that in then with some freelance work or whatever you would need to do. But that is something that you'll need to understand as well. And like anything, transcribing is a skill. As you work and get better, you will know more what is possible for you. So all I can do here, and what my goal is in this course, is to get you the skills, and be honest with you, and help you set up a viable home office, and get things going and understand what's expected of you, and what you need equipment-wise, software-wise, and all of that. But just like anything, you are the only one who's going to know how quickly you're picking this up. You're going to know how much time you can put into it to do better. And you'll understand what your financial needs and requirements are for your home and for your life. So with all of that in mind, I'm just here to give you the best education that I can. Kind of coming around from someone who has been doing this, like I said, for over 16 years now. So that I explain to you and I'm real with you, so you understand what this world looks like. So again, transcribing full-time. It is possible, but there is a lot of work that comes up to getting to that point and a lot of variables and factors. And so you'll just want to be aware of that as well. But that's no reason not to get going and to get working on getting those skills polished and working on it. Because the longer you wait and don't work for anyone, then definitely the idea of transcribing full-time is not even a possibility. So something to look at. Thanks for attending this course and we'll see you in the next one. Bye-bye.
5. Lecture Four - Preparing Your Home Office: Hi everyone. This is Amanda from "Step-By-Step Start Your Home Transcription Business." This is lecture four, preparing your home office. I included this lecture in the course because I wanted to make sure that I'm giving you the foundation, the place to start your work every day, finish your work every day, and have that set up. It is very easy to get excited in this business to jump out there and apply for some transcription companies, as an example, get hired and then not really have a dedicated place to work. So you're kind of floating around and setting stuff up haphazardly. And so I wanted to give you not only the training that you need to do the actual transcription work, but the foundation, the beginning process of where we're gonna go ahead and set up an office so that you're ready to go. You can be professional, you can feel good about what you're doing. So that's what we're going to work on here. Just enough space. Being a transcriptionist or transcription work does not take a lot. Like I'm showing here on the right. Basically a desk, a computer, and a little storage, that's pretty much all that you need. There isn't a lot else going on with transcription work. You may have some reference materials if you are working for a transcription company and they provide you some, some reference. So I've had very commonly a binder where I've printed up some things to look out for different companies I've worked with. So that may be on my desk or on the side, but generally, you just don't need a lot. And like I said, a desk and maybe a little storage. It is best if the location is dedicated as your workspace so you can fully settle in and come to work each day. I say this for a couple of reasons. One, because then it's kind of a sacred spot there that, you know, this is where you get your work done and this is where it happens. Everything can remain in place. And if you think about when we talked, for those of you who will be starting this out working after work, after a regular job, out of the home or doing this on the weekends, the last thing you're going to want or need on a on a busy work day is to come home and then drag out your laptop or get your computer set up, put it on a table that you're using at the moment, and every single time that you wanna do transcription, have to set up that work environment. That will sap your energy. That will take away your wanting to do that. And it's just not something that you need in addition to everything else. So having a dedicated place as your workspace, you can fully settle in and be ready for that each and every day. So if you have an office in your home, or a spare room, those would be ideal, an office, obviously, and a spare room, that would be a great thing if it's not used a lot. Other locations to think about could be an unused dining room, the corner of a large room, maybe with a partition. Partition, you know, some way just to kinda cover so that you're not right out there in the open. I think that, you know, especially in the beginning when you're trying to work on all these skills, you just don't need any additional distractions. So if you're able to put up some sort of a partition or a way to divide yourself off a little bit that could be helpful. And again, even a walk-in closet. Just so little is needed, just a place to type and to be settled. It is possible that if you have a large enough walk-in closet, you could go into a corner of that, or on the side, and that would be enough. One thing that you do need as a transcriptionist, you need to be able to find some quiet. So I'm not talking about absolute silence. I think that's nearly impossible. Even if your home was completely quiet, your neighbors might be noisy. So looking for complete silence is not what we're talking about here, but the ability to hear yourself think, as we would say. So if you're listening to an audio and it might be particularly tough, the voices fading in and out a little bit, it's going to be really difficult for you to be able to hear that, to focus in on that, to pick up what you can pick up if you have a lot of other noises going on. So you're going to want to think about trying to find some quiet. Again, you don't need much space, but you'd do need some quiet. You will be wearing headphones as a transcriptionist, but they will not cancel all sound. So we're not talking the expensive, at least in the beginning, noise canceling headphones. We're talking pretty basic, pretty standard over-the-counter, buying at the local store or getting online headphones. For some even they actually use the very inexpensive just earbuds kind of headphones. So you will be wearing those, but they will not cancel all sound. So quiet is important. There will be noise in your home. As I stated, that's pretty impractical to think that there won't be. But if you can pick an office spot that will at least have moments of quiet, this will enable you to get settled earlier on. When I first began as a transcriptionist, even in the dead of winter, I used to work very early in the morning before my baby would get up and before my husband would get going for the day. So I would be very often down in my office, my home office at like five in the morning, maybe a little earlier even, a lot of times it was dark, getting started. Well, my wisdom was that I was going to go ahead and be really out of the way. I went into a corner, got a little desk and went into the corner of our unfinished basement. That was a great idea for sound. Yes, there were some running maybe going ahead over my head on occasion. But in general, it was a pretty out of the way spot and didn't have a lot of noise going on. But it wasn't the most comfortable because in the winter it was extremely cold. It was unfinished, so it had cement floors and I was in in Nebraska. In the middle of winter it can be very chilly there. So some things to think about. Something to consider that you may want to think about not only quiet, maybe a little comfort. Or, you know, for me, I just had a little space heater I would bring down and I made sure that I was dressed warmly. You do what you have to do, but those are things you're going to want to think about. So your lecture four resource and this is gonna seem a little, maybe a little bit silly, but honestly, I'm trying to honor you here. I've just made up for you a little "Quiet please" sign. And I'm asking you to download and go ahead and print that out. If you can print it on card stock, that would be great. Or you can back it with cardboard to make it stiff. The reason that I've done this is because as a resource, there isn't a lot extra here to give you, but I do think that starting to honor the space that you choose to be your place of work, to be your place where you try to find a little quiet, this is just a little token to kind of start respecting that as your new workspace. I've made it so that you could actually cut out the circle on the top, hang it on a doorknob, or you could just cut the sign out altogether and stick it up somewhere, or put a ribbon on it and hang it, whatever works for you. But instead of looking at it as a little silly thing, we wanna sort of change that mindset to understand that this is a serious thing. And if you're going to go ahead and dedicate a little space, it's going to remain that dedicated space, then that is a place of work and it does need to be quiet. And even if it's just you and you see that, and it makes you just a little more reverent, a little more respectful about what the space is, that's helpful. So that's your lecture four resource. Go ahead and print that out, get going on that, start to work on setting up that office, and I'll see you back for the next lecture. Thanks.
6. Lecture Five - Essential Equipment and Supplies: Hi everyone. This is Amanda from "Step-By-Step Start Your Home Transcription Business." This is lecture five, equipment and supplies that you will need. So in the previous lecture, we talked about setting up your home office. Where it should be located, what you'll be looking for in the way of quiet, that sort of thing. And now we're gonna go ahead and talk about the essential pieces that you need to have as part of your office. So equipment and supplies so that you can get going and have just what you need. I will tell you that - I said to you before that I had a bit of a shoestring budget. So what I recommend here and what I tell you are the things that I know that I use every single day. I'm not going to recommend things that you won't use, that you won't need. And I'll be honest with you about how often you'll use items. So kind of keep that in mind as we go through here. And then we're gonna go ahead and start to get your office set up. So let's start with the first item that I have, which is a laptop or desktop computer. So you will be primarily conducting word processing. So I put that here because if you do need to purchase a computer, whether it's a laptop or a desktop, anyone that you have help you may ask you that, what are your requirements? And there are so many kinds. I am not at all a laptop, or, I'm sorry, a computer expert, but I do know that when I purchased mine a couple years back, they asked me if I was in need of like gaming, that sort of thing, because they know how quickly things need to process for those sorts of computers. So I did not need that and I ended up getting something that was not quite as fancy, for lack of a better term. Because the main thing that I was going to be using this for is word processing. So that is really what you're going to need. We'll talk about software in the upcoming section after this, the next lecture. You need to be able to work with high-speed internet, or at least not the slowest connection, as that will affect your productivity. So you wanna make sure that even though you may not be doing gaming or needing something fancy like that, that you will be able to work with high-speed internet, that it can connect. If you have a sluggish connection that does slow down your productivity. It may even mean that if you're trying to pull audio, if it's audio that's coming from online, for example, you may have stops and starts and sluggishness in the audio. And that's going to be a problem for you as you're working. So you're going to want to look at that as well. And if you already have a computer, you're going to want to know about your internet connection if you maybe need to upgrade your speed a little bit. And these are all things that you can kind of put on your future list. Maybe you want to try out this first, go ahead and get started with the company or do some transcription work a bit and see what your needs are. I know for me, as I've developed over time, I would do the bare minimum. And then as it would become very evident to me that I was probably losing time and money because I was doing things in maybe a backwards or slower way just to save money, then in the long run, I probably wasn't saving much money because I was costing myself money in efficiency and time. So something to think about, but again, I'm gonna go over all of the things that I know here about what you need and then you can make those decisions for yourself. I will tell you that I do prefer a laptop for the portability if I need to work somewhere else. So I mentioned before about being quiet and one of the quietest places in my town would be the library. So on occasion, just for a change of scenery, I've actually booked the study rooms that they have. And I will go in, grab my laptop, grab the other equipment we'll talk about here, and that is definitely portable. And I have set myself up here and there. Not always as comfortable as it is at home, but it's mainly for those times where I just feel like I've been stuck in one place for awhile, especially the winter or something like that where I feel like I've been locked in and I just need to get away a little bit. So these are just some of the highlights on a laptop or desktop computer. I have had a desktop. That was what I had first. I had that for several years and I think I didn't think that the laptop would be effective enough for me, that it would work as well. I don't know what my perception was there, but once I had a laptop, which I did for financial reasons, it was cheaper at the time than another desktop when I needed to replace it years ago, and once I went that laptop route, I have not gone back to the desktop. I just really enjoy, like I said, the portability. And since I'm just basically doing word processing, it's something that can be well contained within a laptop, especially with today's technology. The next item, and this is essential, is a foot pedal. So a foot pedal is the way that you will play the audio as you transcribe. With the foot pedal you are able to play the audio, stop and pause it, rewind or fast forward. Having your hands free to type is essential as a transcriptionist. So you can see on this picture here, and this is actually the foot pedal that I currently use, it does get plugged in by a USB there. So you would plug that in. It has software within it. Usually it will upload it into your computer. And then it works in conjunction with your audio player, which again, we will talk about software in the next lecture, but it works in conjunction with that. And so when you have an audio, your press down on the foot pedal, it begins to play the audio. You lift your foot up a little bit, it stops. You put it back down again, it skips back just a little bit and begins playing again. On the left and the right, those upper bumps there, that is fast forward and rewind. I'm not sure which is which. Well, actually you can change which does which by setting up some keys when you first get the pedal. So that can change. But anyway, the bumps on the left and the right are for, you kinda rock your foot over to one side or the other. or scoot it over and tap that and that rewinds or fast forwards that audio. Once you have used a pedal, similar to the laptop for me, once you've used this pedal, you will understand why not using a pedal, it seems awfully silly to use manual controls. But this does cost money. And it is, it would be an investment for you. So it is something that you want to think about. I have bought both used and new pedals. You can look for reviews online which are good ones. And some transcription companies actually can refer you for these purchases. So if you're starting with a transcription company and you ask them, you know, do you know of any place where I could get a really good foot pedal? They may have some recommendations for you. And just doing some searching online, looking around, getting some reviews, that will also be helpful to you. So that's a good idea there. And it is possible to type without a pedal. That is possible, but you will be using manual controls on the audio, which is cumbersome and can be confusing. So the biggest piece for me on this, what I mean by cumbersome and confusing, so if you imagine if your foot is on the audio, your foot is controlling the playing of the audio, you actually, your hands are focused on getting those words in there, making sure, you know, what is being said is being typed in. If you do not have a pedal and you're using your hands, I'm not sure which keys, but it's usually like those function keys, the F1, F2, things like that, that control the playing. That means that you're typing a word and sticking your finger up to fast forward and you're going back down to type and you're putting your finger up again to go rewind or whatever you need to do. It's hard enough to pick up this skill. It makes it much, much harder to go ahead then and do it without without a pedal. So again, it is an investment. I'm not sure the cost. Somewhere in the 50-75, maybe a little more range, I believe. And that may be brand new. But don't hold me to that because I am not sure. You would need to go look and research. These pedals do last quite a long time. The one that I have currently is my second pedal that I've had over my career. So if you remember, I started in 2002, I'm at about 16 1/2 years now. I have been doing full-time transcription work for many years now. So if you get a good one, I was able to use my last one for for quite a while. Probably, I don't know, maybe eight or ten years. So they can last for a long time. Granted, if you're harder on them, you stomp down a little bit, that might lessen their life. So I'm not saying that yours will necessarily last that long, but that just is kind of an idea to let you know, you probably will not be buying a foot pedal for $50, $75, and then replacing it in a year. If you did, I would wonder if something was wrong with the foot pedal to begin with. So just kind of a thought there. I would say that I do highly recommend the purchase of a foot pedal as an investment in your transcription career. Now just like other things, if you wanna go ahead, get your office set up, get your items that you need, just collect up what you currently have, you can get away with getting hired into a transcription company, if that's something you want to do, and initially do the work without a foot pedal, which may be the right thing for you. Maybe you need to earn enough money from the transcription to pay for the foot pedal. That could be something that you do as well. But I will tell you that once you move into that foot pedal, and using that on a regular basis, you will not want to go back to those hand controls and you'll wonder how you survived for long enough without it. So that's a second piece here. Next step is headphones. Headphones are also important. They are helpful in transcription so you can focus in on the audio you are transcribing. Playing the audio over speakers makes for a lot of leaning in to listen, which is not at all ideal, and you will likely miss some of the information. Now I have always used headphones, not necessarily the kind that we're looking at here with the ear covering headphones, but I have always used some form. The reason I know about leaning in, however, was very early on, when I was back down in my home office in the basement, I would have, I lost my ear buds or something happened with them, and I remember for a time there where I thought that's fine, I can do it without it. And I would play the transcription through my normal speakers on my computer. And then if it was really clear audio, I might be okay, but I still would have to lean in to really hear. Did I hear that right? And that it does make it where you may not be as accurate as you could be. Plus, it's noisy and your family is hearing that all the time, and for privacy, for whatever's going on with that, that may not be something that you want. You never know with transcription, you are taking care of projects for other people. If you're doing a report, for example, and there's a violent act, you know, someone's crying or something's going on, you're not going to want to be playing that in the home. You need to be private. So you're gonna wanna think about that. Not just for the toughness of doing that, but also exposing your family or exposing whoever to those noises. So anyway, that's something to think about as well. The headphones that I currently have right now are similar to the ones that are here in the picture in that they cover the ear overall. So that's something you may want to think about. There is no need to buy expensive headphones to start. And I would say what I'm wearing right now actually are not expensive headphones even though. So to start is one thing, I would just say you don't need to buy them expensive at all. Earbuds would be okay. Although I prefer headphones for comfort over hours of wearing. So I will say with the earbuds, when I did wear those, I don't know if it was little fuzzy coating, the little spongy coating on the outside, or even if they didn't have a coating, my ears would get irritated after awhile, they would almost ache, because I would wear those headphones for such a long time and sometimes having to push on them a little bit if I couldn't quite get that, hear where they were saying. So those ended up causing me just a little bit of discomfort. The headphones that I have that have slipped on over the years, that are the more traditional kind like here on the right, they're more comfortable and they do tend to last quite a while. It depends of course, on the brand. But I really don't spend too much on headphones at all. And I've been okay. And again, you may get recommendations from transcription companies that you work with. I have always purchased my headphones at office supply stores and they have worked fine for me. I don't think I've spent more than $30 maybe on headphones. And they might last, depending on the kind, but they might last a couple years. I've had a couple that maybe lasted a year, and I've probably had over the course of my 18 years I bet maybe six or so headphones over time probably. So just kinda give you an idea there. Again, in a pinch, if you wanna go with just some cheap earbuds that you have around already, that would be fine. If you want to try to listen over the speakers of your laptop or on your computer, that would be fine as well. Just know that that's not going to be your most ideal situation and you're going to want to add these headphones to your list as something that you might want to get for the future if you plan on doing quite a bit of transcription. So additional supplies and furniture that you would need in your office. And again, I'm not putting anything on a list here that is whimsical or not pretty essential. So kind of keep that in mind. The first one up is a small file cabinet and files. That is from over time. Now if you only have one client going on, you're only dealing with one transcription company, you may not need that. But if you do find that you end up freelancing, or you end up working for various agencies, sorry, various companies or various organizations, you may want a file cabinet so you can kind of keep some of their things separate from each other. So if you have some resource materials for one and something else from another, you can kind of keep them all separated out. So you might find that handy. And again, that doesn't need to be expensive. That can be the smallest file cabinet they make. It can be whatever you have available, and just some files, meaning some inserts to go in that file cabinet. A comfortable office chair. This you really want to look at, because if you are spending a good amount of time, you do not need to end up with a backache, or you do not need to end up feeling really uncomfortable for long spans of time in an office chair. So there are a lot of options for office chairs. You can always look, and certainly when there are sales, I always take a peek if if I'm needing something like that. I've probably again gone through office chairs, probably five or six over the years, and maybe less than that. There have actually been times too where I was in a pinch and I was using like a dining room chair. But I will tell you that what I'm using those dining room chairs, I feel it. My lower back starts to ache. I stand up stiffly. It's just not made for that purpose. So that's not the greatest situation. But do what you need to do for now. And again, if you need to, just add this to your list of something that you're going to want to look at later. Printer, you do need a printer or that goes along with your computer. If you do not have one right now, you'd probably be okay getting along without that for a little while. But there will be things you might want to print up. You might want to print up your reference materials from different clients. You might just have other things that you need to print up, or stuff that's sent to you. Or even when you're signing up in the beginning for these different companies, they may have you some tax documents that they're having you fill out, you know, W-9 forms, I believe, that sort of thing. So you're going to need to be able to access a printer for that. And then in conjunction, ink for the printer. I say that only because I can't tell you how often I run out of ink, and it's always at the most inopportune moments. So if I'm ever on top of things, I have a little extra ink for the printer. That's something to have. Paper, same thing, run out of paper, not a great deal. Pens and pencils, I have there pencil singularly, but more than one is great. Just your basic stuff. So if you look at this, Honestly, it's very simple supplies that you need to do transcription work. There is just very minimal to do. And then also a calendar or an organizer for deadlines and job notes is great. When you have that, as you're working with someone, if they tell you, let's say if you're in training, you start at a new company and they said we want to have training on Monday morning, then you very professionally can say, "No problem." And you can enter it on your calendar or organizer, whether that be electronic or paper. I'm a paper person, so I would jot it down. But wherever it is that you need to enter that for deadlines and job notes, that's a good thing to have in your office. So now we're gonna go into the lecture five resource, which in this case is an office needs checklist. So you're going to go ahead and print that up. It will have on there the things that we talked about. It also has the software that I'm going to discuss in the next lecture. That's there as well. So on that checklist you can go ahead and mark down, like I said, collect up the supplies that you have, maybe research the ones you do not. Maybe make some plans for things that you want to purchase in the future, or if you are a wait and see type, which I definitely have been more than once, I want to maybe get hired somewhere. I want to see if this is viable. And then, you know, in my case like let's say my back is aching, I think I need to get a chair. If that's the way you need to go, that's the way you need to go. But go ahead and start working on getting that office needs checklists, collect up some of those items, bring them to the home office that you've established from our last lecture, and go ahead and make some notes, get some pricing, and understand what purchases you may want to make now or in the future for the other items that we discussed. So that's the end of lecture five. I will meet you up in the next one. Thanks.
7. Lecture Six - Software Needs: Hi class. This is Amanda from "Step-By-Step Start Your Home Transcription Business." We're up to lecture six now, which is covering your software needs. So in the last lecture we talked about what equipment you need, what you might want to invest in in the future, what's important now, and I gave you some information about what it is that I use now, and what I've used in the past. So now we're gonna move on to the software needs, which again are pretty minimal. Transcription is a pretty simple business as far as what you need to get it going. But I am going to let you know what I have currently, what I've used in the past, what you're going to want to look at, and we'll kinda go from there. So on to this lecture. So we're going to start with word processing software. That's going to be our first step. Obviously as a transcriptionist, you're going to be doing a lot of word processing. And so this is something you're going to want to look at. The majority of my work is done on Microsoft Word. I used an older version for a long time and rarely needed to upgrade. I now use Microsoft 365, a subscription service, but I only moved to this as my latest computer seem to have issues with my older Word software. So basically I've always had Microsoft Word. It comes on a lot of computers, of course, and that's the primary software that I have used, and what companies have asked me to use when I work with them. And like I said, I used an older version for a long time, and it would update itself until it got so old that it wouldn't do that, and then I would have to upgrade. But the last time that I upgraded my computer, I just basically ran my last one into the ground and needed to start with a new one. When I did that, it seemed to be having some issues with the older software. And so to get around that, I did some research. I didn't want to purchase the full new Microsoft Word Suite and all of that, which is quite a large cost. And they do have a service, this Microsoft 365, that I did go ahead with mainly because I thought it took away my worry of constantly updating the software, or having the latest update. Yes, it is a charge per month, but for me it was worth it just so I didn't have to think about it. But again, I used the software that I had for a very long time and that absolutely could be feasible for you as well. So just something to think about there. Back when I first started transcribing I used Word Perfect. That was for some legal work for documents and things like that. I really doubt that you will even hear WordPerfect being used, or being asked for that. So I wouldn't be too concerned if you don't have that, haven't heard of it. It's not too big of a concern. But that is another software out there that is used in the transcription world, although very rarely. Transcription companies may also have their own word processing platform that they will want you to use. So it is possible that you could work for a company who might actually have something you'll log into, you'll type the transcription in a space that they have you log into, and then you won't be using actual word processing software, but their actual internal software that they have for the company. So be flexible about that. So basically taking from this document here, from this screen, I would say if you have Microsoft Word, you're probably in good shape. And the great majority of who you work with is probably going to expect to get a Microsoft Word document from you, if you're not doing something internal. So now we're gonna move on to the audio players because those are obviously going to be necessary since that is what you're going to be doing your transcription from. You're going to have your dictation file and you're going to have your audio played through players. So let's take a look at what you might need there. The majority of my audio is played through ExpressScribe. ExpressScribe is an actual name of a player. You can Google it, take a look online, type in ExpressScribe just like that and you'll you'll find the location of that. They do offer a free version. I do believe that I have the paid version that I got a few years back only because it had some additional features I was needing for another client. But I used the free version for quite a while. There may be a time limit on the free version, I'm not sure about that. But again, there's no reason for you to go ahead and pay something. Now if you want to download it, get started, you could even get on with a company or get started with transcription. And then once you're using it for a while and you realize it's something that you want, you can either continue with the free, upgrade, or however they have you do that. So that's something to look out for. For The Record or FTR is another player that is used by typists. This can be handy to play tougher audio through another player in an effort to pick up additional words missed. There is a free download available for this. In fact, I think it is only free. So For The Record is not something that I have used very often, but this came to me, or how I heard about it, was through people who do legal work. They would use, I think For The Record is largely, it's kind of legal-slanted. That's where it comes from, I believe. But it is really handy to have on your computer. So if you have an audio that seems to be a little tricky, maybe there's some background noise that's causing a problem or you're just not sure quite if you heard that right. It's never a bad idea to go ahead and play the audio through another player because that player may have different ways of playing that audio. You may be able to quiet the back and bring up the front, just kinda playing with the different audio pieces of that. So this isn't a bad idea to have on your system as well. And again, it is free. Now the other purchase that I have made, and I'm putting this here because I had a hard time finding software that would do this for me, that would play these files. So you may just want to make a note of this software. If you run into this in the future, it'll save you some time. So I have purchased Bytescribe WavPlayer because I do get what are called DS2 files. In doing some research, it seems that these DS2 files, I believe, come from a handheld recording device that a lot of people use. And so it's a certain kind of file. It does not get played on ExpressScribe, ExpressScribe will kick it out or say it can't play it. And so I needed to have something that would play that software when it would come to me. Not a great thing to tell a client of yours that you can do some of their work, but not all. So if you have something like this, where you have a certain kind of file that keeps coming to you, it's a good idea to make sure that you have the software that can handle it. And I use it enough that it definitely wasn't a wasted purchase. My big thing for this, that I enjoy too, was there was another one in the past that I had used that also played the DS2 files, but it would make me pay a yearly fee to have access to the software. And this particular one, this Bytescribe, I purchased it once. And I think that was it. And it was maybe, I think it was maybe 30-40 dollars. Again, I'm not sure on that, but just an idea. Not horribly, horribly expensive. But again, this is something I would make a note on because I don't know that that's going to be something that you ever even run into that you need, but in case you do, you may want to have a note that this is a player that you can purchase once and that does play these files. Because like I said, it took me a while to discover this software. But yeah, those are your three audio players. So now we're gonna go into your lecture six resource. This one is going to take a little bit more work from you. But we're getting now into the meat of getting ready to train and we're gonna start training on the next lecture. We're gonna start talking about how to do transcription, the nuts and bolts, and then we're going to actively move you into transcribing some audios and practicing. But we're right at the verge here of finishing up our foundation, of having the office ready and ready to process the work. So the lecture six resource is, I'm going to have you download and print the purchases worksheet. This worksheet is divided out into three different sections, noting what you have already purchased, what you're planning on purchasing, and then purchases that you might want to purchase in the future. So things you're not sure about. Now in these purchases, we're talking about software, we're talking about items, like in the last lecture we were talking about maybe a file cabinet or different things, an office chair, a printer, different things that you may or may not have now. And so I would like you to go ahead and note down on this worksheet for yourself what it is that you have already purchased. If taking this course has made you decide when I'm done with this, I'm gonna go out and buy a pedal, I'm gonna get headphones. Then go ahead and, or you already have, go ahead and note that down. If you think it's something that you want to hold off on a little bit, get some transcription under your belt per se, try it out, and then you're gonna go ahead and maybe make those purchases later, you can make some notes there and then also the ones in the future. So if you think your office chair's great for now, but you may need something in the future, you might wanna write that down as well. Do some research on the pricing on your upcoming and possible items. The reason for that is you have a little time right now. It's a good idea to do that just so that you're not shocked about it later. So that software, for example, that I mentioned, if you don't need to purchase that Bytescribe or something like that, that plays those special files, you definitely can write that on the possible because it may be in a future that you're thinking to yourself, or they're asking you to play an audio and it's just not working on ExpressScribe, and it occurs to you, hey, maybe I need to look at getting an additional software, you'll have some notes about it. You'll know how much it costs and you'll already have that written down, so it will save you some time. So go ahead and do that. Now, if you have your file cabinet already, if you have something like that, or even just a little file area, you might want to make a file then to contain this worksheet that you've completed or that you're in the process of completing, the research that you've come up with. So if you've printed out some pictures of some chairs that you like or, you know, you've printed out some different things or made some notes for yourself, you want to go ahead and put that with the worksheet. And then if you've made some purchases, you want to go ahead and keep those receipts with that as well. I am not going to consult you in the tax area of the world because that is not at all my forte, and I am not qualified to give any of that information, but receipts are always a good idea to retain. So here I'm having, you know, you may want to keep your receipts for purchases that you have made and put that in this file. In addition, as you're doing the software thing, there may be items or times where they say, go ahead and download. And then here's your product key or your software key to unlock that. And passwords that you have or however you want to do that, it might not be a bad idea to make an additional file that's separate that's for your software related to the logins. I don't know if you wanna do the password there or not, but that sort of thing to kind of help you out. There will be times where you might have a computer glitch. And it's not fun if you don't have access to those kind of emergency documents for yourself somewhere. So this is a lot to work on, but it's all worth it. This is the planning and getting in there. Like I said, nuts and bolts kinda thing to get you going. So go ahead, take some time with this, and then we're gonna move into lecture seven where we're going to start getting ready, or actually beginning the process of learning what transcription is and how to do it. So I will see you there. Have fun with this worksheet. Do a really good job of being thorough for yourself. This will be something that you'll be grateful for that you did later. It's great foundation work. Thanks. I'll see you in the next lecture.
8. Lecture Seven - Learning to Transcribe: Hi class. This is Amanda from "Step-By-Step Start Your Home Transcription Business." We are at lecture seven, learning to transcribe. First of all, I want to congratulate you on getting to this point. You've done a lot of work up to now, figuring out what transcription is, the best place for your home office, getting the equipment and supplies that you need for that office, and then the software as well. So you've done a lot of work getting that foundation ready. And now we can go ahead and work on the skills that are going to help you build this business for yourself. So let's get started. We're gonna begin with audio player and pedal practice. Your audio player and pedal, or hand controls, need to be familiar to you so that you know how to handle receipt of audio, loading it up, and then playing and working with it through a pedal or hand controls. Take some time at the conclusion of this lesson to work with the audio program and pedal/hand controls so that you feel confident in operating both. And I'll make a note here, the reason I have indicated hand controls is because I realize that not everyone will have ordered a pedal at this point, or you might be holding off altogether. Or you have ordered one, It hasn't arrived yet, and you'll need to use the hand controls. So that's why I've indicated that here in the description. Look at the product manuals and or online sites for the software and pedal. If you run into questions or problems these are your best resources to get any kinks out of the way so that you are ready to type in the next lecture. So this is very important. You want to be very familiar with that audio software and with the way that your hand controls, what keys to hit, or the pedal works in conjunction with your software. So take some time, and I will put a reminder at the end of this lesson. But just kind of a note to self that you're gonna wanna make sure you take a good amount of time to really familiarize yourself, to press some buttons and look stuff up online if there's things that you have questions with so that you really feel like you have a pretty good idea of how all of this works. Types of transcription, there are two main styles of transcription that you will produce. These are standard and verbatim. Standard is transcribing an audio file with light editing, skipping any stutters, ums or such uttered by the person dictating. For example, in this transcription, If a person speaking starts a sentence over, you will correct as they ask and go on. So for example, if I said, dictating, and I say, well, Mr. Jones came with me. Oh wait, Mr. Smith came with me. The part about Mr. Jones you would remove and you would just continue on with the Mr. Smith part as if that had never been spoken. So it's just a consistent light editing throughout the dictation, not changing meaning, not changing the document, just taking out those things that are not needed - the ahs, the ums, things like that. Verbatim transcription is just as it sounds. Everything heard must be transcribed, including ums, uhs, coughs and laughs. I have found that verbatim transcription a lot of times is related to interviews. For example, insurance interviews. So like if someone was in a car accident and they're being interviewed, that insurance company would want everything that they're saying. So if they're asked a question and they say uh, uh 3, 4 times, the insurance company wants that notated. So those are the sorts of situations where you might see verbatim. You can find transcriptionists who prefer each one. It is really a matter of opinion or what works best for them. For me, I've done standard for most or all of my work time, or at least that's what I seek out if I have a choice. So that is something that I like a lot more. It kinda comes natural to me at this point. I don't think I really even think about it. I just automatically edit. So for that same reason, that's why verbatim is tough for me. But I do know that there are other people who really enjoy verbatim and it's a lot easier for them, because on the flip side they do not have that edit that they're doing all the time. So they are just hearing the words and spitting them out onto that transcription just in a constant flow. Where for me, I kinda have to throw on the brakes because I do automatically edit. So I'll have to go back and make sure I didn't miss some sounds or miss some of those utterances that normally I would have skipped. But again, you'll probably find yourself that you have a preference. Go ahead and try different files over time. Try different offerings and see if you have one that you kind of gravitate towards. Developing an ear for transcription. Transcriptionists who do well have a very good ear for transcription. Basically, this is a great attention to detail as you listen to an audio. This ear can be developed, and is, as you start out as a transcriptionist. Being focused on the audio as you work will enhance that ear and help you pick out things over time that you might not have been able to in the past. Developing your ear is a part of the learning curve that I have mentioned before. It is a skill just like transcription itself. Keep working on it and it will improve along with your transcription skills. So you will hear that term pretty frequently in this industry that, you know, she's got a very good ear and you hear that in other places as well. But in transcription that means that you really are hearing something maybe in that audio that other people might not pick up. So for example, if someone's word dips, they're saying a sentence and they get a little quiet and the word dips, you may be able to pick that up, where maybe even not too long ago you might not have been able to. So it is something that develops. It as something that you will watch yourself improve over time as you work in the transcription field. That's something to look forward to. Transcription process for a file. There are some steps you should take with each and every file that you handle. Following these steps in order each time will help to ensure that you have good results consistently. Now I've made a note here that you may need to add steps to your procedure as your clients dictate. This is just a basic plan for now. So basically what this is about is in order to keep your consistency high, to really make sure that you're turning in things that you're proud of and that are completed. It's a really good idea to have a set plan that every single one of your files goes through. So for example, if you happen to miss spellcheck and you send a file off to your client with a glaring error or two or three, and they send it back to you and say, you know, you need to run spell check. That's embarrassing for you. It wastes time for your client and just not something you want to have happen if you can at all avoid it. So instead, if you have a plan that includes that spellcheck and you run each and every file through that plan before it leaves you, you can hopefully lessen or eliminate that from happening. So let's take a look at a general plan. General steps for transcription. Receive your audio and load it in a player. Complete the initial transcription of the document. Run a spell check on the document and save it to your computer. Proof your work. Play the audio again and read along with your transcription, looking for errors, and obviously checking and correcting those errors. Then run one more spellcheck, save the file again, and submit it to your client. So you'll see in there I have a double spellcheck, but better safe than sorry is how I feel pretty much about that. So in this way you're saving the file, saving it a couple times it looks like, doing spellcheck a couple times, and you're making sure that you kind of have some safe guards all the time with what's going on with that work. So again, like I said, this hopefully will help you out so that when you submit this then later on to your, to your clients, they won't be surprised by something that you've missed and you hopefully caught it with this procedure. Lecture seven resource. So I'd like you to download and print out tips for transcriptionists, which I've put together for you. I've listed some random tips for you that I've picked up over the years and that I feel will be helpful for you as you get to work in transcription. You will note that I literally put on there that these are in no particular order and that is true. It's just things that I've kinda mulled over and thought about - how would I want to help you the most? And these are some of the ideas that came to me or things that I have implemented over time. I have also left space for you to add your own tips that are helpful to you. And as that reminder, Don't forget to work with your audio player and pedal/hand controls so you are very familiar with their operation. So go ahead and get to work on this. The tips for transcriptionists, take a look at what I said, add some tips for yourself here that you might need to add, and then spend some time with your audio player and the pedal/ hand controls so that when you go onto our next lecture here you will not be intimidated by how to do that, on top of figuring out how to do transcription in general. So we're on to typing for the next lecture and I will see you there. Thanks.
9. Lecture Eight - Practice Transcription - Set A: Hi class. This is Amanda from "Step-By-Step Start Your Home Transcription Business." This is lecture eight, practice transcription Set A. So now we're actually going to get into transcribing itself. We're going to start with a couple of audios that I'm gonna work with you here on as samples. And then at the end of this lecture you will be given two audios yourself to download, to put into your player, to use your pedal or your keys, whatever you choose to do, and go ahead and give transcription a try. So we'll take a look. We'll talk about some of the different areas here, things to look for, but let's go ahead and get started. So for this lesson, this Set A of transcription, this set will allow you to work with clearly dictated audio. We will hope that you often have clearly dictated audio. That won't always be the case, but it's definitely a good way to begin. And it is very possible that you will get that. For some of the more professional people who dictate a lot, for example, they know that it's not really worth their time to give you a really difficult audio that you can barely hear. So you will find people that make a point of being clear. And so that is certainly something you can work with. On the first example that we will go through, the dictated audio will be spoken to include paragraph breaks and punctuation. And again, those who dictate a lot, those record themselves a lot, and who want really good transcription will often take the extra time to go ahead and put in those paragraph breaks and punctuation because they want it set up in a certain way. The second example that we will go through will be dictated clearly, but as the transcriptionist the paragraphs will be broken up by subject change. Now if your client asks that you not break up into paragraphs, of course you want to follow those instructions. But in this case, we're going to be listening for when the subject changes of what the person who is dictating is talking about. And at that point, we'll go ahead and do those breaks. Now as this audio is not being played through a player, this is primarily to show the finished product of the audio given. So you may not necessarily be able to type along with me during this lesson. But basically what I'd like you to do is take a look, listen to the dictation that I'll be giving and take a look at the results up on the screen and how those came out. So let's go ahead and get started with the first one. And again, this is going to be a document where the person is letting you know about paragraphs and punctuation. And so we'll go ahead and get started on that. Dear Andrew, colon. New paragraph, indent. It has been a long time since I've seen you, comma, but I believe we need to have some discussions when we next meet, period. Paul told me that you would be in town on Tuesday, period. Please give me a call when you arrive, period. New paragraph, indent. I was very excited to learn that the museum will be hosting the exhibit next month, period. I think it will be a wonderful, it will be wonderful to teach others the history of our family, period. We certainly worked hard to get the exhibit together, comma, so this truly is a blessing, period. New paragraph, indent. If I do not hear from you before Tuesday, comma, i wish you safe travels, period. I look forward to seeing you next week, period. New paragraph. Sincerely comma new paragraph. Sam. So here, if you take a look, this is what the finished result would look like. Of course, you would be typing along as you were listening. But this way, I hope you get a pretty good picture of what that spoken word is going to translate into. Do note that not every transcription company or person will want you to indent paragraphs. So you may find that they do not want you to do that, but you'll be told that as you get started on work. So let's move on to the next one. This one is going to have no paragraphs or punctuation given to you. This is just someone who is going to be talking about a meeting and they're just giving information. And again, we're gonna go ahead and switch paragraphs when there's a subject change. Now, I will tell you that, as we talked about in the last lecture, the last step of your transcription process is the proofing process. And that's when you're going to go through your document, you're gonna proof it against the audio, playing that audio again, looking at what you typed, and making sure it matches up. If you like, and if it's easier for you, and this might be the case for always or just for awhile, if you have someone who doesn't break up the paragraphs and it's going to slow you down to go back and forth and try to listen, you can go ahead and just keep typing in one big long block. And then, unless something is really obvious to you and then you break it up. And then when you're going through that proofing process, then you can go ahead, fine tune that, put in those paragraph breaks where you see them as you're going along. That might make things a little bit easier for you. In this example, however, what I'm going to do is we're gonna go through this. I'll probably talk on a little bit before I show you the break. That way you can kind of hear yourself where the subject change has happened, and when I chose to break up the paragraph. So let's go ahead and get started on this one. Now I am going to go ahead and dictate how I want the title of this document to appear, because people will do that. But we'll go ahead and do that example, and then we'll get started on the no paragraph breaks and no punctuation dictation. All caps on, center, underline. Report on club meeting, February 21, 2019. On February 21, 2019, we met at Parker's coffee to discuss current club events. Susan gave a report on the upcoming bake sale and the amount of attendees that we expect. She asked if we could get additional volunteers to cashier, and Timothy said that he would do so. Club President Paula let us know that she will be giving up her position in a year, as she and her family will be moving to Florida. We determined that we would hold another election in June to fill her vacant seat. We ended the meeting at 04:55 p.m. Okay. So here you can see that I went ahead and broke up the paragraphs when we had changes of subject. So at the top, just a very general, then talking about Susan and the bake sale, then switching to Club President Paula and her decision to leave, and then the piece about what time the meeting ended. So in this case, you know, like I said, you could go ahead and type it all up in one big block. And then as you're listening to proof, making sure that there aren't other errors, you would also go ahead and break this up at the same time. So there we go. There was two examples there. Not too tough, hopefully. Hopefully pretty easy to understand. So your lecture eight resource, you're now gonna get to practice and work on what we've been talking about all this time, what you've been preparing that office for. First, you need to download the two audio files that are labeled Set A - Article and Set A - Grocery Store. You will load them in your audio player, and then you'll wanna pull up a new Word document, one for each of them, obviously. Do the first one and then do the second one. And this is all for you. I'm not going to be grading these or looking at them. I want you to feel comfortable. I want you to take your time with them, and I want you to do them more than once, if you feel that you need to, as many times as you as you would like. You may also download the results documents now. There will be a document that corresponds that is actually exactly what was transcribed, or what was dictated, I'm sorry, onto a transcription document. So you can see how I chose to break things up and all of that. Again, on this one, Set A for the article, I believe that one, Set A for the article, does have the paragraphs and punctuation dictated as part of it, and then Set A - Grocery Store is going to be like the report on the club meeting. It does not have paragraphs or punctuation. So you'll be able to work with both of those types of dictation. So you can download those documents, but you might wanna just stick them to the side, turn them over, the results documents, and not take a look. Give yourself a chance to see how you do without any sort of results at all. Give that a shot. And here's what I said. Yes, so the examples here. Article is, has paragraph breaks and punctuation. Grocery Store will be dictated without and should be broken up by you as the transcriptionist. And just like on this example, you can choose to do that when you proof the document, as that may be easier. Off you go. Good luck to you. So go ahead and get those audios pulled, get the results done, pull up your Word document, get ready with your pedals, or your fingers or your keys, whatever you're gonna do, and get started. And I hope you enjoy. Have fun, and I'll see you in the next lecture.
10. Lecture Nine - Practice Transcription - Set B, Verbatim: Hi class. This is Amanda from Step-By-Step Start Your Home Transcription Business. We are on lecture nine, practice transcription Set B, verbatim. So if you'll recall a couple lectures ago, verbatim and standard were the ones we were talking about. And verbatim was the kind of transcription that included the ums, the ahs, sneezes, coughs, that sort of thing that normally we would filter out of the standard or traditional dictation. Let's go ahead and take a look at what we're going to be doing with our samples today. So Set B, verbatim transcription. Transcription, excuse me. This set of transcription will allow you to work with verbatim audio. These are more conversational in nature, so there will not be paragraph breaks or punctuation dictated. The focus on these is capturing everything uttered, laughs, sneezes, um, ah, and such. And note here, although your clients may direct differently, for our purposes, we will be putting noises such as sneezes in brackets in the transcription. Look for that on the following sample files. And just like before, as this audio is not played through a player, this is primarily to show the finished product of the audio given. I do want to make one additional note. That second block there, talking about conversational in nature. When you're doing this work for a company, you may find if you're doing an interview, for example, even though it might be verbatim, it's going to be a little bit more structured in that there'll be a question asked by an interviewer, and then the person answering, you still would do the ums, ahs, all of that, but it would have a little more form then some of this free-flowing. So the samples that I've done for you are free-flowing, but you might find something a little bit different when you get into the work zone itself. Okay, let's go ahead into the first sample. And just like before, I'm gonna go ahead and dictate to you. I did go ahead and break up the paragraphs, but you may want to do that after you type out your samples, go back during your proofing time and break them up. But I'll show you how I did that here. So let's get started on the first one. So we were driving down the road and then he, well, out of nowhere, this deer jumped out of the tree, out of the forest, I mean. We had to swerve really fast to avoid him, but we did. [laughs] I could not believe it. It was so, so crazy. I was totally really pretty scared. Anyway, we get back on our way, deer is good and all, and we head down to the train station. Man, it was so freakin' crowded. It took us like, I don't know, 30 minutes, maybe 45, to find a, uh, parking space. Allan was so mad because we were so late. He ran on ahead and was looking for Lauren. He was, like, calling out for her. Like she would hear him, right? [coughs] Okay. So there we go. There's our first one. And as I mentioned before, we're gonna put those sneezes and I'm sorry, we don't have a sneeze on this one. The laugh and the cough, we put those in brackets. So that's what I meant by that. And again, somewhere that you work for may not want you to do that. They may want them in parentheses are set out some other way. But for our purposes here, this is what we're gonna do and that's what you'll see on the sample documents when you have those later on for your audios. So here's the first one and now we're gonna go on to the second and get that ready here. Okay. I did not think it was okay when she, uh, made a deal out of that. I didn't think it was really, well we, I mean, she said it was okay. [sneezes] Sorry. But I think we should go because we already planned on it. Did you ask what happened last Tuesday? That was super funny, and then she was like [coughs], um, she like, uh, oh, I forgot. [laughs] Anyway, I heard about it from Lana and it was so cute. I was serious though, that we should make a point of getting together for the holidays. I miss you guys and stuff, you know? Um, and then, uh, anyway, let's make that happen. We will be, it'll be super fun. Okay, so in that one you got some dramatic sneeze, coughs, and laughs out of me. But you can see here again how we set those up with brackets. So there's your two samples to kinda reference or take a look at. And now let's go on and get you set-up to doing this on your own. So your lecture nine resource, I need you to download the two audio files labeled Set B - Award Ceremony and Set B - Best Friends. Load them into your audio player and pull up a new Word document. Just like before, you may download the results documents now, labeled the same, but if you can, do not take a look at them until you have attempted the audios yourself. And as these are verbatim, they are a little more free-flowing and paragraphs and punctuation are not dictated. You may find it easiest to type in one block and then break up into paragraphs when proofing. So there we go for the verbatim, go ahead and give that a try. Again, it may be something that you actually really like. There are definitely typists who do prefer verbatim. So I wanted to give you exposure to all kinds of files. That way you'll have some idea when those come up in work situations in your future. So enjoy, give it a try, and we will see you in the next lecture. Thanks.
11. Lecture Ten - Practice Transcription - Set C, Difficult Audio: Hi class. This is Amanda from Step-By-Step Start Your Home Transcription Business. This is lecture ten, practice transcription Set C, difficult audio. So you may be cringing a little bit as we talk about difficult audio. Probably doesn't sound like much fun to you. And honestly it isn't always all that fun, but it is something that you will come into contact with during your transcription career. So in order for this to be a full and complete class, I think it's important to expose you to some of that, as well. And, in addition, to kind of give you some ideas on how to handle that, what you need to do, that sort of thing. Let's take a look and get started. So first we have how to handle difficult audio. Well, difficult audio does happen, but you can't deal with it. The first step is to see if there is anything to transcribe. Well, we can be talking about difficult audio that is so difficult that you don't hear anything. There's also a possibility that sometimes you'll get an audio and it's accidentally a recorder turned on. So you're only hearing background noise of an office or a car or something like that. So you want to take a listen to that as well. If the audio is so terrible that only a word or two can be made out, you'll want to let your client or the transcription company know. They may not want you or anyone to handle the file at all. If you are someone who is paying for an audio file to be transcribed, and the audio was really terrible, and there was only a couple words here and there that weren't even making complete sentences, or just parts of sentences. It probably wouldn't want to be, wouldn't be something that you would want to necessarily pay for. And so those transcription companies are going to keep an eye out for that. They don't want to just send needless bills to people or their clients who cannot even use what's received. So in those cases, more than likely, you'll let them know, they'll tell you not to worry about it and they'll get in touch with the client. If it's your own client that you're dealing with, you would definitely want to let them know and say that, you know, you didn't want to waste their money or their time or your time handling something that you really can't make out well. So if the audio is simply poor, meaning people, as examples, people at a distance, a lot of background noise, faulty machinery, and by that I mean, like if the dictate the education piece itself, the microphone is clicking on and off or something like that, but words can be made out, you can probably get that transcribed. It may take a little more time, but it can be done. So if you're listening to the audio and it sounds like you've got quite a bit there, maybe just the occasional word here and there sounds difficult, there's ways to notate that. But if the gist of it itself, the gist of the dictation itself can be made out, then you're going to want to go ahead and probably work on that. But again, if in doubt, ask your client or the transcription company what they would like you to do. In this case, it is better to fault on the side of contacting those companies, I would say, or the client, than it is to go ahead and produce something that they might not have wanted you to work with. So it's best to just ask and have them direct you what to do. So tips for tough files. Once you have been given the go-ahead, get started and take your time. That is a big thing there because rushing a file that's difficult anyway is not a good combination. It's gonna be tough enough to make sure that you can hear everything. It's definitely not going to work if you are rushing and pushing yourself quicker than you should. For words that you cannot make out at all, you will need to indicate that with an unclear or something similar. Follow the directions of your transcription company or client on this. So each transcription company or client, their own clients, or even a client you work with - One that you work with might not necessarily have a way that they want you to handle those unclears, but transcription companies definitely will. They have standards and ways that they do their work, and sometimes that includes you'll be making a note at what time you heard that unclear within the audio. But again, that is detail that I'm not going to cover here because I want you to pick up and not have to retrain yourself if I tell you something one way and then a transcription company tells you another. So this, in this instance, you're just going to know that you're aware of that. You obviously wouldn't want to just skip past words or phrases and not put any sort of notation at all. So you're gonna want to see what the transcription company directs you to do on that. And if it's your own client, you just let them know and maybe tell them I was going to mark an unclear and just give them a heads up on that. After your first time through the audio, so that's your first time through the audio and trying to transcribe it, you may want to run the audio through another audio player, as noted in lecture six. If you remember in lecture six there was an audio player, there were a couple more mentioned, but one of them was one called For The Record, and that was another free player. I know a lot of transcriptionists who will run audio through that player as well. I believe it has some more controls about the level of volume and playing, being able to play around with the treble and that sort of thing. Don't mark my words on that, but I believe that's correct. And so it does allow for a little more flexibility to try to hear parts in a difficult audio that you may not pick up through your normal ExpressScribe or regular audio player. So you want to definitely take some care and run that audio through another audio player. If it is a really trying file for you, meaning you are about to rip your hair out on occasion, make sure that you take a break or do especially before the proofing process. Your fresh ears and mind after a break may be able to pick up more. Very true. As much as you might just want to wash your hands of this, proof it, get it done, get it off your desk, if you're able to get up, take a little walk around, splash a little water on your face, get a drink, do something just to kinda change the scenery and break away for a little bit, that would do well for you and well for that file. So by the time you come back, you've got some perspective, you feel better, you feel fresh. You can tackle the final part of that, which is the proofing, and you may be able to pick up some more there because you are relaxed. So above all, keep positive and think of this as a learning experience. Now if you were to get a whole bunch of difficult files in a row, you would just want to let that company know, or figure out if that's something you can handle or not. Again, that would not be a typical thing. Transcription companies are not going to want to burn you out on that sort of thing, but sometimes if they get a batch in and you're working a whole bunch of files in a row, you may find that happens. Just inform that transcription company and let them know what's going on. And like I said, think of it as a learning experience. For you to ask them if they want you to go ahead with it, they tell you that they do, and then you take extra care to do your very best job. That's an impressive thing and it makes you a valuable person, a valuable transcriptionist who's at least gonna give their very best even when the audio isn't ideal. All right, your lecture ten resource, I'm going to give you an opportunity to work with a couple somewhat difficult files, so you can see what I mean by things that are not ideal, situations where we don't have that recording exactly right. I will tell you before we look at this real quick that I myself have had dictation where I could hear someone was in a car. I've had where they are on a train and I can actually hear the stops from the speaker in the back. I have had people dictate in heavy, heavy rainstorms where they must have been outside because I could hear lightning and hail and all of that. Busy restaurants. Definitely where a microphone was certainly not placed towards the speaker, so it sounds like they're way far off in a tunnel. You'll have a lot of different experiences and a lot of things go on. So it does happen, and you just want to kind of be ready for that. And so here we'll go ahead and give you some practice. Go ahead and download the two audio files, labeled Set C - Meeting and Set C - Book Sale. As usual, load them in your audio player and pull up a new Word document. You may also download the results documents now that are labeled the same. But if you can, do not take a look at them until you have attempted the audios yourself. And Meeting has been dictated with paragraph breaks and punctuation in a noisier environment. Book Sale does not dictate punctuation or paragraph breaks and is recorded at a distance to the speaker. So in each of these, we do not have an ideal recording situation. We have a noisy environment and also the audio kicks out a little bit here and there. So it sounds like there's something going on with the recorder, as well. Book sale, the person speaking is at a distance and is just kind of talking in a casual manner. So you want to catch what you can on those. As I noted on the results documents, there could certainly be a lot missed on both of these and that is completely fine. You are learning after all. Be patient with yourself and just do your best. Do not let your performance on these determine how well you think you will do at transcription. Rather, I want you to hear what might come your way so you're ready just in case. So get brave. Don't worry about it. Give these a try. Like I said, there's nobody watching you on these, so you can absolutely take your time. And I as I noted on my sheets for you, my results documents, I went ahead and wrote what both of the dictation was on each of these items. So I definitely know every word. It doesn't mean that I caught every word on the audio, I just knew what was being said. So just do your best and kind of see how well you do and when you compare your final document against what you have on your results document, you could very well be pleasantly surprised. And if you're not, then, you know, it's just one of those experiences. And at least now if something comes your way when you're actually working transcription, it will not be like you have never experienced anything like this before, just perfect audio all the time. So tackle it. You'll be fine, and I look forward to seeing you on the next lecture. Thanks.
12. Lecture Eleven - Finding Transcription Work: Hi class. This is Amanda from Step-By-Step Start Your Home Transcription Business. We are all in lecture 11, finding transcription work. So you've got that home office set up, you've got some supplies that you need, you've got your software taken care of, you've done transcription, you've tried some different kinds of files, and now it's time to put all of that into practice, get the wheels moving, and go look for some transcription work. So let's get started and see what I have for you here on this lecture. So we're going to start by updating your resume. As you search for transcription companies to work with or local clients, you will probably be asked for a resume. It is important to be honest about your lack of experience professionally with transcription for the moment. But you can note things that show how well you would work in the field. For example, you can note as strengths, your attention to detail and that you are self-driven. You must be that to work from home, after all. Make sure that you note somewhere as well that you have been studying and working on your transcription skills. Confidence is huge and if you convey that willingness to learn, along with a nice resume, you may see yourself on the way to a testing, and then hiring process. And we will talk about this on the next slide here. But there are many transcription companies online that know that they are going to be receiving a lot of applicants, applications from brand-new transcriptionists. So it is not unheard of to apply and not have this experience before. You have to start somewhere. Online transcription companies. This will probably be the best way for you to start. It will let you learn the ropes, allowing you to get more experience and take on other clients and projects later on. There are many, many online transcription companies, and many of them will take newer transcriptionists as well. If your application is approved, the next step for most companies is to complete a test for them. Take your time in completing the test so you put your very best foot forward. If the company sees high accuracy with you, they may very well offer some work your way. And now I have a big note here. It is bolded, it is italicized because I do want to make sure you pay attention to this. If a company asks you to pay to apply, so note that word "apply," just even getting considered or not, just getting the application in the door, that is not a legitimate request, and you should walk away from that immediately. Now, it's not really just to apply, if they ask for money in general you don't want to apply for that, but this you, you don't wanna go through with that. Sorry. But this apply, there was a scam that was going on for a while where people were taking advantage of the fact that so many people want to work from home. And they were asking if you wanted to submit an application, there was a fee for that. And even if it was just a small fee, you know, $5 or whatever, if you times that times how many people, how many applications they were probably receiving, and it's just crazy numbers. So do be wary of that. You should not have to pay anything to submit an application for someone. Let's go back to bullet three. I want to give you a bit of a heads-up and kind of let you know what the test that I'm talking about there is, so that you'll get a little bit insight from someone who's been there. So basically the way that it works is once you go ahead and you're approved, or I'm sorry, apply for a position, you send that resume and if they're interested in you, and sometimes it can take a little while, depending on the company and depending on the need, but sometimes they have just tons of applicants and it takes awhile to work through. But whenever they get to that, if they are interested in talking to you, or interested in maybe seeing what you have to offer, they will reach out and they'll tell you that they got your resume and that they're interested, but they would like to have you complete a test first before they go further. So what the test will usually consist of is just, they will send you an audio file. They also will more than likely send a sheet along with it, some sort of instructional sheet, kinda maybe letting you know how to set up the transcription or some special instructions or just, you know, information. They're basically wanting to make sure that you're reading and paying attention. And they're also wanting to make sure that everybody has the same opportunity. For example, on the paying attention, sometimes it'll actually say on there, go ahead and save the file as Bob Smith 123. Well, if you don't read that and a lot of people go in and they type up the file and it's let's say it's absolutely perfect, but then they save the file Amanda's test file, immediately that online transcription company will probably kick that application right out the door because the first thing that you've told them, whether or not your transcription is well done, is that you do not pay attention. And there's that detail-oriented that's flying out the door. So take your time on the test. Read over all the materials. When you do the transcription it's just a piece of that, you know, it's a big piece, but it is just one piece. But make sure that everything else- you're reading, making sure it's covered, you're doing, maybe even going through that procedure that we talked about where you're doing a spell check and then saving and all of that. And when you finally feel like you're ready and it's your best foot forward, go ahead and send it off to the company. And then after they take a look at it, if they're happy with it, they'll get back to you and they'll offer you a position, if available, or at least, you know, some some ability to take some work on. And again, that could be a little bit, so don't get too discouraged about that if you don't hear after, you know, a little while. And by a little while, it's hard to say. It could be days. It could be weeks. It's just really hard to tell. So anyway, that's what that testing purpose is about, what's going on with that. So that'll give you a little bit of insight. Okay. Local opportunities. We talked about this earlier on in the lectures. As mentioned early on in this course, and as you have a completed worksheet about, there are also opportunities locally that you may be able to take advantage of. If this is something you would like to look in to now, pull out that worksheet and try to reach out and make some contacts. If you are unsure of pricing for your services, take a look online and see what rates are. You may want to tackle this after you get some experience with an online company, which is understandable. However, remember that local is an option for you as well. I think that that bottom bullet is really what I would recommend, mainly because you need to work on one thing at a time. And if you're working for a transcription company, they're going to be dealing with clients, with keeping them happy, with getting work turned around, and your sole job will be to receive a file, get it done, and get it back properly well done to the client, to the transcription company on time. That would be your sole job to do. And so as you do that, you get faster at it. Unless somebody locally approaches you, I would say that you probably want to get your feet wet with the with the online company. Then when you're feeling a lot better, you feel like you have some idea what you're doing, if you want to go out there and try and get some local opportunities, you certainly can. So that would be my recommendation there. So the lecture 11 resource is to download and print the job opportunity list. This is something I created for you. Pull it up here. In addition to what I talked about in this lecture, there are some other areas online where you might be able to locate transcription work. These are not really obvious places, so I have made a list of some you may want to check out. So go ahead and download that, take a look at it. And you could also look at some of those resources that I talked about. They are things that are not incredibly obvious, but places where I have located transcription work in the past. So you may want to take a look. So that's it for this lecture. We will see you in lecture 12. Thanks.
13. Lecture Twelve - The Start of Your New Career: Hi class. This is Amanda from Step-By-Step Start Your Home Transcription Business. We are at lecture 12, the final lecture of this class, the start of your new career. I'm very proud of you for getting this far. You've learned a lot and worked really hard. So let's take a look at what I've got for you as my final kind of send-off onto your new career. So the first thing is kinda some advice. Continue to practice. As you wait to hear on your applications, make sure that you are consistent with practice so your skills continue to improve. You can go back over the transcription lectures in this course or record some audios of your own to work with. Every time that you work with your audio software, your pedal and hand controls, and listen with your headphones, you are training your ear and getting more proficient. So definitely do that. Keep up the training. Keep practicing, working on getting faster all the time, getting more and more used to using that audio software and the pedal or the hand controls. Every time you do that, you'll just get farther along in your training and you'll be even more ready when you have some transcription work to handle. Apply, apply, apply. Rather than apply on one job and wait, you may find it better to apply to a few companies at a time. Some companies take longer to get back to applicants. So you may have better odds if you get your name out to several companies at a time, then if you hear back from more than one, you may pick and choose, or choose more than one to work with. It's a nice problem to have. So I mentioned this in the last lecture. Some of the companies do take a little while to get back. They get quite a few applications, or are they just are busy and don't have a lot of time. So it really is wise to go ahead and just apply, get your name out to several companies at once. And you can even make that as part of your work at the moment. So where you might normally be typing after work, let's say, after your normal day, instead of typing, your job at the moment is to go ahead and get applied to, you know, two or three places each evening. And I would also recommend that you make a spreadsheet, or you make a note for yourself, or some sort of log, or however you want to do it, of where you've applied and what date you applied on. So that way you won't be reapplying at the same company more than once. Some of them are a little more sophisticated. And if you were to go ahead and try to apply, it might tell you that you're already in their database. But I don't think that's the case for everyone. So it's probably a good idea if you just go ahead and make a note for yourself about where you've applied and what date you applied. And so congratulations, you have worked really hard and learned a lot through these lectures. You now have a home office, a set-up for transcription work, transcription training in several types of files, and you are reaching out to companies or clients to get your first job. You are on your way with your new career in transcription. And I want to say for myself, thank you so much for entrusting me to show you the way and congratulations, i'm looking forward to hearing from all of you about your successes. Thank you so much for taking this course and I wish you a wonderful career. Thanks.
Amanda Fichter, A Transcriptionist Since 2002
