Hello everyone, just a very quick comment today about the importance, when transcribing, of making sure what you transcribe makes sense contextually. I've just proofread a document where the transcriptionist didn't really make sure that what she typed fitted in to the context of the work. The speakers were talking about copies of a document and one man said "Could you please bring me more copies?" and what the transcriptionist transcribed was "Could you please bring me more coffee?"
Please I want to urge every transcriptionist to pay attention to this. Being able to make contextual sense of things is what sets us apart from things like Google Voice and other automated transcription services.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Working from Home as a Transcriptionist in South Africa
Updated: 29 August 2012
If you are a transcriptionist starting out in South Africa, why is it necessary to own a book such as Working from Home as a Transcriptionist in South Africa, which I've listed on Bidorbuy.
The simple answer is that it tells you all the ins and outs, and provides the answer to your questions.
- How do I start up as a transcriptionist?
- How do I get that first client?
- How do I keep those clients?
- What administrative procedures are necessary?
My ebook, which retails for R120, will tell you the answer to all these questions, and more.
The reason I came to write this book was that after a chat with my colleague, we realized that we would have benefited greatly and got our businesses off the ground so much faster had such a book been available when we started out in the virtual field in South Africa. We realized that we had gained a lot of experience along the way, and that others could benefit from what we had learned.
Today, if you want to work as a transcriptionist in South Africa, there is no need for you to go through the difficulties and hassles I went through when starting out. Your questions can be answered easily.
Working_from_Home_as_a_Transcriptionist_in_South_Africa
On a personal note I would like to mention that Bidorbuy has become my supplier of choice. There are many things available on there that are pretty much impossible to come across elsewhere, such as the anti nausea bracelets I found on there when my husband had hepatitis and needed them badly. I was unable to find them elsewhere although I spent an afternoon searching.
If you are a transcriptionist starting out in South Africa, why is it necessary to own a book such as Working from Home as a Transcriptionist in South Africa, which I've listed on Bidorbuy.
The simple answer is that it tells you all the ins and outs, and provides the answer to your questions.
- How do I start up as a transcriptionist?
- How do I get that first client?
- How do I keep those clients?
- What administrative procedures are necessary?
My ebook, which retails for R120, will tell you the answer to all these questions, and more.
The reason I came to write this book was that after a chat with my colleague, we realized that we would have benefited greatly and got our businesses off the ground so much faster had such a book been available when we started out in the virtual field in South Africa. We realized that we had gained a lot of experience along the way, and that others could benefit from what we had learned.
Today, if you want to work as a transcriptionist in South Africa, there is no need for you to go through the difficulties and hassles I went through when starting out. Your questions can be answered easily.
Working_from_Home_as_a_Transcriptionist_in_South_Africa
On a personal note I would like to mention that Bidorbuy has become my supplier of choice. There are many things available on there that are pretty much impossible to come across elsewhere, such as the anti nausea bracelets I found on there when my husband had hepatitis and needed them badly. I was unable to find them elsewhere although I spent an afternoon searching.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Business procedures
Hi everyone, today I want to talk about the importance of procedures to your business. Procedures are vitally important in any business, but perhaps in a virtual business they are of tantamount importance. A procedure in essence is a plan, and generally speaking, to use the old hackneyed phrase, failure to plan is to plan to fail.
I believe any business must start with a business plan. Even if you don't intend to use it to obtain a loan, it would be something that allows you to clearly state your intentions about what it is that you are trying to do. It's a mind clearer. And the natural next step (or even included in your business plan) would be to plan your procedures. This means you sit down and think of eventualities and plan how you're going to deal with them. What are your steps to follow when a query comes in? What are your steps when an order comes in? How are you going to invoice? These are things that, I believe, every newbie VA and transcriptionist should document.
Here comes the challenge, though. Your first client comes in, followed by your second, and your third. And suddenly, you're very busy. At this point it is easy to let go of procedures. And this is a danger to your established business. Much as you are tempted to go straight to bed after a 4 hour transcription, do not do so without at least blocking out some time the following day to do your admin. It's important, because doing it regularly does save you time in the long run, and consider that admin left for two or three days, or longer, can begin to make you feel overwhelmed.
Procedures can also be revised, as you get busier or add new services or products to your business. But the bottom line is - stick to your procedures.
I believe any business must start with a business plan. Even if you don't intend to use it to obtain a loan, it would be something that allows you to clearly state your intentions about what it is that you are trying to do. It's a mind clearer. And the natural next step (or even included in your business plan) would be to plan your procedures. This means you sit down and think of eventualities and plan how you're going to deal with them. What are your steps to follow when a query comes in? What are your steps when an order comes in? How are you going to invoice? These are things that, I believe, every newbie VA and transcriptionist should document.
Here comes the challenge, though. Your first client comes in, followed by your second, and your third. And suddenly, you're very busy. At this point it is easy to let go of procedures. And this is a danger to your established business. Much as you are tempted to go straight to bed after a 4 hour transcription, do not do so without at least blocking out some time the following day to do your admin. It's important, because doing it regularly does save you time in the long run, and consider that admin left for two or three days, or longer, can begin to make you feel overwhelmed.
Procedures can also be revised, as you get busier or add new services or products to your business. But the bottom line is - stick to your procedures.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Learn Transcription Ebook
Links and email updated 2025
This E-book is packed with everything you need to know about working from home as a transcriptionist in South Africa. I started out as a transcriptionist in 2005 and I’ve included everything I’ve learned along the way that I wish someone had told me. How do you get that first client, how do you keep your clients, how do you invoice, and quote? What about where can you find support? What equipment do you need? All this information and more is available in my E-Book. Buy it today. This is information I wish somebody had told me – I would have been able to get going so much faster.
These are my tried and trusted methods. There are many American transcriptionist guides but “Working from Home as a Transcriptionist in South Africa” has challenges and obstacles all its very own and answers particular questions faced by South African Transcriptionists.
Which other author will happily provide after sale support to you about how to get into the transcription field after you have read the book?
Buy my book today!! Much cheaper than other shorter publications on similar topics. Only R120! Contact gaynor@typewritetranscription.co.za to purchase.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Minute taker / recorder
Hi guys,
TAVASA is looking for a minute taker or alternatively somebody who can record meetings (using at least four microphones) IN JOHANNESBURG ONE SATURDAY A QUARTER. IF YOU CAN'T COMPLY WITH BEING IN JOHANNESBURG OR WORKING SATURDAYS QUARTERLY, OR PLAN TO RECORD USING YOUR CELL PHONE, DON'T CONTACT US ....
If you can, then please get in touch with Gaynor - gpaynter@telkomsa.net. This would be ongoing work.
TAVASA is looking for a minute taker or alternatively somebody who can record meetings (using at least four microphones) IN JOHANNESBURG ONE SATURDAY A QUARTER. IF YOU CAN'T COMPLY WITH BEING IN JOHANNESBURG OR WORKING SATURDAYS QUARTERLY, OR PLAN TO RECORD USING YOUR CELL PHONE, DON'T CONTACT US ....
If you can, then please get in touch with Gaynor - gpaynter@telkomsa.net. This would be ongoing work.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
A VA for You.
Hi guys,
I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long. It has been quite a difficult time, what with my husband going down with Hepatitis A and then it being school holidays. With this in mind, what I want to stress today is the importance of having a good support structure in place. It's all very well happily going along as you are, but when things get hard, can you continue running your business the way that you do in peaceful times?
For us who work from home, it's particularly difficult if for whatever reason, we cannot do our work. No sick leave or paid annual leave for us, and for the most part, no other staff to help pick up or slack! So I'd urge you that now is the time to sort out a back up system, if you haven't done so already. Have somebody on standby who can assist you so that in the event of a disaster, your business can still run ... or, should you wish to go on holiday, you still can ...
It's no good waiting until the worst to happen to try to sort something out. Now is when it should be done. It's not only in the case of emergency that we work at homers need support. All too often, I've heard the lament "I just don't have time for myself. I can't get away from my work. My admin takes up every spare second".
So what can we actually do to ease our loads? Consider a concept which I have been turning over in my mind with great interest since it was first suggested to me three weeks ago.
A VA for the VA.
Think about it. Chew on it and mull it over.
Transcription companies have transcriptionists to help them complete their work. VAs have contractors to help them complete their typing work. So why can't it work the other way too? Why can't we use the concept that we use to sell our services to our clients - that having somebody virtual to assist is immensely beneficial, allowing potential clients more time to do their core business - to ease our own load? It's a concept that is taking off internationally and I can't see why it shouldn't work here too.
So - A VA for the VA. What better way for the experienced VA / transcriptionist to mentor somebody else, teach them the right ways and also take a massive load off their own plates? Seems so simple, really when we think about it, doesn't it? And it opens up a whole new avenue of potential employment for newbie VAs, with the added benefit of a first hand teacher, who actually pays you!
So - if you're a VA or transcriptionist with too much on your plate, contact TAVASA and we can find someone for you.
Please note though that Alison and I are not looking for VAs!
I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long. It has been quite a difficult time, what with my husband going down with Hepatitis A and then it being school holidays. With this in mind, what I want to stress today is the importance of having a good support structure in place. It's all very well happily going along as you are, but when things get hard, can you continue running your business the way that you do in peaceful times?
For us who work from home, it's particularly difficult if for whatever reason, we cannot do our work. No sick leave or paid annual leave for us, and for the most part, no other staff to help pick up or slack! So I'd urge you that now is the time to sort out a back up system, if you haven't done so already. Have somebody on standby who can assist you so that in the event of a disaster, your business can still run ... or, should you wish to go on holiday, you still can ...
It's no good waiting until the worst to happen to try to sort something out. Now is when it should be done. It's not only in the case of emergency that we work at homers need support. All too often, I've heard the lament "I just don't have time for myself. I can't get away from my work. My admin takes up every spare second".
So what can we actually do to ease our loads? Consider a concept which I have been turning over in my mind with great interest since it was first suggested to me three weeks ago.
A VA for the VA.
Think about it. Chew on it and mull it over.
Transcription companies have transcriptionists to help them complete their work. VAs have contractors to help them complete their typing work. So why can't it work the other way too? Why can't we use the concept that we use to sell our services to our clients - that having somebody virtual to assist is immensely beneficial, allowing potential clients more time to do their core business - to ease our own load? It's a concept that is taking off internationally and I can't see why it shouldn't work here too.
So - A VA for the VA. What better way for the experienced VA / transcriptionist to mentor somebody else, teach them the right ways and also take a massive load off their own plates? Seems so simple, really when we think about it, doesn't it? And it opens up a whole new avenue of potential employment for newbie VAs, with the added benefit of a first hand teacher, who actually pays you!
So - if you're a VA or transcriptionist with too much on your plate, contact TAVASA and we can find someone for you.
Please note though that Alison and I are not looking for VAs!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Dispelling some fallacies.
I was chatting to an office worker friend of mine yesterday and it started coming across that she was actually quite sorely jealous of me both as a happily married woman (she is going through a divorce) and as a work at home mom. She seemed to think that I spend all day playing with my children. Now one of the reasons this attitude irritates me highly is that I know I spend more time working now than I ever did at any office.
Marriage aside, I know many if not all work at home moms have come across this attitude during their work at home careers. Nonetheless, I was quite bemused by my friend's attitude. Now I have a number of unpleasant, stressful issues at the moment myself that I am trying to resolve, but it would never ever cross my mind to say to someone "my problems are greater than yours". I believe that all problems are relative and everybody has different things to cope with. Nobody can judge another's problems until they've walked a mile inthat person's shoes.
But after this friend had almost trivialised what I was saying, the age old "you're so lucky, you get to spend time with your children", came up.
Undeniably there are advantages to working from home, and it's a choice that I made after due consideration. But I have yet to have one successful work at home mom tell me that she is regularly able to spend more time or even quality time with her children. I'm also yet to encounter the successful work at homer who sleeps until 11 am, gets out of bed at 12 and may put in a few hours of work in the afternoon. If you work from home and are successful at it, you're pulling 12 and 13 hour days regularly, and 18 hour days when the need arises. And weekends and public holidays - what are those? I work in South Africa for international clients. They don't have the same public holidays as us and don't care if we are having a public holiday. Two weeks leave? What's that? If I want time off I have to arrange it weeks in advance and then it's not always possible as my clients actually need me to work - they don't have stopgap people who can pick up the fall. And there's no such thing as paid leave. We get burnout, we get repetitive stress injuries and frozen shoulders - and we can't take time off to recover. I'm not denying that office work is also very hard or that there are some undeniable advantages in what we do - we don't commute or pay for childcare. But there are advantages in office work too. You have a regular salary and you have a knock off time. I'm not complaining about it - those of us who choose to work from home know all this before we begin. But weigh up the pros and cons of what you want to do - and give us work at homers our dues.
Office workers, if you want to work from home because you want to spend more time with your kids or think that it's going to give you more freedom, then in my opinion transcription and virtual assistance are not the fields for you - and neither, probably, is any work from home job. If however, you want to work from home because you are entrepreneurial, like to type and are customer driven, and are prepared to put in the hours, then yes I'd recommend it.
Marriage aside, I know many if not all work at home moms have come across this attitude during their work at home careers. Nonetheless, I was quite bemused by my friend's attitude. Now I have a number of unpleasant, stressful issues at the moment myself that I am trying to resolve, but it would never ever cross my mind to say to someone "my problems are greater than yours". I believe that all problems are relative and everybody has different things to cope with. Nobody can judge another's problems until they've walked a mile inthat person's shoes.
But after this friend had almost trivialised what I was saying, the age old "you're so lucky, you get to spend time with your children", came up.
Undeniably there are advantages to working from home, and it's a choice that I made after due consideration. But I have yet to have one successful work at home mom tell me that she is regularly able to spend more time or even quality time with her children. I'm also yet to encounter the successful work at homer who sleeps until 11 am, gets out of bed at 12 and may put in a few hours of work in the afternoon. If you work from home and are successful at it, you're pulling 12 and 13 hour days regularly, and 18 hour days when the need arises. And weekends and public holidays - what are those? I work in South Africa for international clients. They don't have the same public holidays as us and don't care if we are having a public holiday. Two weeks leave? What's that? If I want time off I have to arrange it weeks in advance and then it's not always possible as my clients actually need me to work - they don't have stopgap people who can pick up the fall. And there's no such thing as paid leave. We get burnout, we get repetitive stress injuries and frozen shoulders - and we can't take time off to recover. I'm not denying that office work is also very hard or that there are some undeniable advantages in what we do - we don't commute or pay for childcare. But there are advantages in office work too. You have a regular salary and you have a knock off time. I'm not complaining about it - those of us who choose to work from home know all this before we begin. But weigh up the pros and cons of what you want to do - and give us work at homers our dues.
Office workers, if you want to work from home because you want to spend more time with your kids or think that it's going to give you more freedom, then in my opinion transcription and virtual assistance are not the fields for you - and neither, probably, is any work from home job. If however, you want to work from home because you are entrepreneurial, like to type and are customer driven, and are prepared to put in the hours, then yes I'd recommend it.
Friday, May 01, 2009
Have a great Resumé
Why is it so important to have a great CV or Resumé?
1. Often your CV or Resumé is the first indication a potential employer has that you are interested in working for him. As we all know, first impressions count.
2. Your CV or Resumé is probably your first opportunity to show a potential employer what you are capable of. It is in effect a presentation. An untidy, inaccurate one will present a bad impression of you but a neat, accurate, grammatically correct professionally presented one will show the employer you mean business. Having a second person with expertise in presentation draw up your CV or Resumé is added insurance that you will not make grammatical errors.
3. It’s a written testimony to your capabilities, your achievements, what type of personality you have, your experience and your education.
4. It’s a one stop document where a potential employer can see all he needs to know at a moment’s notice. It’s imperative to make sure all that information is there.
All of the above points will make your resumé stand out from the crowd.
Have a great Resumé!
Contact me at gpaynter@telkomsa.net / www.typewritetranscription.co.za to do a great CV or Resumé for you!!
South African Medical Transcriptionists Alert!
If you are a South African medical transcriptionist wanting to a) contribute to upholding standards and procedures in the industry, and b) have the potential of new medical work from us, then Alison and I invite you to sign up at our forum TAVASA. http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/tavasa/. When you've done so, drop us an introductory mail saying you're an MT.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
How to move from cassettes to digital dictation.
Hi everybody, I've just had an interesting query from a gentleman and I thought it would be beneficial to publish my answer here.
The query ran: " I use a typist for my small business but now I am moving away and wish to use the same person. How can i get documents or folders to her by e mail to type for me and send back using modern technology? At the moment I still use tapes and adictaphone but this will not work when I am 150kms away. Can you guide me on what I can use to go electronic? I can see you do such work but I am hoping you would not mind guiding me?
My answer to him ran as follows:
Most of my clients use Olympus to dictate their work into mp3 format for me (I think it's Olympus 5000), which they then send to me via www.sendspace.com, and I've recently implemented a system whereby they can upload files to my website. I then transcribe it and send it back to them using email, so the entire process is done digitally. There are also other digital dictation machines available I've done a google search for you here - http://www.google.co.za/search?hl=en&q=digital+dictation+machines&btnG=Search&meta=cr%3DcountryZA and you see Olympus comes up tops.
If you or your typist have any further queries I will be happy to help - I've even got an ebook available for R90 which shows how I set up and started, which could be very useful to her.
Good luck with the move, and if ever you have any excess transcription or somebody else enquires, I'll be happy to oblige!
Further to this, I looked up the suppliers of Olympus digital recorders here in South Africa and their details can be found at http://www.maynards.co.za/olympus.php
The query ran: " I use a typist for my small business but now I am moving away and wish to use the same person. How can i get documents or folders to her by e mail to type for me and send back using modern technology? At the moment I still use tapes and adictaphone but this will not work when I am 150kms away. Can you guide me on what I can use to go electronic? I can see you do such work but I am hoping you would not mind guiding me?
My answer to him ran as follows:
Most of my clients use Olympus to dictate their work into mp3 format for me (I think it's Olympus 5000), which they then send to me via www.sendspace.com, and I've recently implemented a system whereby they can upload files to my website. I then transcribe it and send it back to them using email, so the entire process is done digitally. There are also other digital dictation machines available I've done a google search for you here - http://www.google.co.za/search?hl=en&q=digital+dictation+machines&btnG=Search&meta=cr%3DcountryZA and you see Olympus comes up tops.
If you or your typist have any further queries I will be happy to help - I've even got an ebook available for R90 which shows how I set up and started, which could be very useful to her.
Good luck with the move, and if ever you have any excess transcription or somebody else enquires, I'll be happy to oblige!
Further to this, I looked up the suppliers of Olympus digital recorders here in South Africa and their details can be found at http://www.maynards.co.za/olympus.php
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Pet Peeves
Hello everybody,
After a day of transcribing on a new client system that is absolutely horrible - it's taking me three times the amount of time to transcribe the work - I wanted to discuss a couple of pet peeves I have:
1). IM etiquette. If I hang up a busy sign in my IM profile, this means I am BUSY - don't interrupt me! People will ask then, why if you are busy do you sign into IM, and the short answer to this is because if my clients need to contact me, they can. They know that the busy sign up there does not apply to them. Unfortunately, it does apply to everyone else. That's why I have email - you can email me and I can get back to you in my own time. If there's a "Do Not Disturb" hanging on an office or a hotel door, people do not disturb them - this folks is the 21st version of the same thing.
My frustrations are not limited to the virtual world.
2). Doorbell ringers. In South Africa we have a combination of factors that can become really annoying to some poor transcriptionist trying to work out of the back office of her suburban home. Factor one - horrible crime rates mean that we live behind big, high security gates and walls. Factor two - high gates necessitate an intercom on the outside gate. Factor three - unemployment, which leads to many hawkers walking the streets trying to make a living for themselves.
Hence you have me, the transcriptionist in the back office of her house working to a deadline and trying her hardest to get through a string of things before the kids come home from school - just recovered from the interruption of an IM coming through a busy sign - when - bing bong, bing bong!! Off go the headphones, and up I get to peer through the window to see who is at the gate. Turns out this is not somebody I'm expecting, and moreover, it's a hawker, selling a ware I don't need, and I've given my last R2 - yes, my last - to my son for charity at his school that morning. I ignore the bell. Yes, I know you can see me through the window. The fact that I've looked at you and walked away should be some kind of hint that I'm not interested. So why, why, does the hawker ring the bell again - and keep ringing it, until I'm forced to get up again and say something impatient throgh the intercom? If I market my service to a client, and I don't get a response, I realise that now just isn't the best time, and I move on. I'm not alone in my feeling on this. See what author Damaria Senne has to say about this: http://damariasenne.blogspot.com/2009/04/drafted-6-poems-as-part-of-poem-day.html
Next blog post will be on pet peeves particularly related to transcribing.
After a day of transcribing on a new client system that is absolutely horrible - it's taking me three times the amount of time to transcribe the work - I wanted to discuss a couple of pet peeves I have:
1). IM etiquette. If I hang up a busy sign in my IM profile, this means I am BUSY - don't interrupt me! People will ask then, why if you are busy do you sign into IM, and the short answer to this is because if my clients need to contact me, they can. They know that the busy sign up there does not apply to them. Unfortunately, it does apply to everyone else. That's why I have email - you can email me and I can get back to you in my own time. If there's a "Do Not Disturb" hanging on an office or a hotel door, people do not disturb them - this folks is the 21st version of the same thing.
My frustrations are not limited to the virtual world.
2). Doorbell ringers. In South Africa we have a combination of factors that can become really annoying to some poor transcriptionist trying to work out of the back office of her suburban home. Factor one - horrible crime rates mean that we live behind big, high security gates and walls. Factor two - high gates necessitate an intercom on the outside gate. Factor three - unemployment, which leads to many hawkers walking the streets trying to make a living for themselves.
Hence you have me, the transcriptionist in the back office of her house working to a deadline and trying her hardest to get through a string of things before the kids come home from school - just recovered from the interruption of an IM coming through a busy sign - when - bing bong, bing bong!! Off go the headphones, and up I get to peer through the window to see who is at the gate. Turns out this is not somebody I'm expecting, and moreover, it's a hawker, selling a ware I don't need, and I've given my last R2 - yes, my last - to my son for charity at his school that morning. I ignore the bell. Yes, I know you can see me through the window. The fact that I've looked at you and walked away should be some kind of hint that I'm not interested. So why, why, does the hawker ring the bell again - and keep ringing it, until I'm forced to get up again and say something impatient throgh the intercom? If I market my service to a client, and I don't get a response, I realise that now just isn't the best time, and I move on. I'm not alone in my feeling on this. See what author Damaria Senne has to say about this: http://damariasenne.blogspot.com/2009/04/drafted-6-poems-as-part-of-poem-day.html
Next blog post will be on pet peeves particularly related to transcribing.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Writing, proofreading and editing blog posts as a new service
I read a few blog posts last night and was quite shocked by the poor quality of them, particularly one as I happen to know the author of it is quite capable of writing in grammatically correct, properly spelled English. I have a theory about it. I think that people who are the best of professionals in their every day lives tend to get rushed and overexcited when writing blog posts - I know from experience it can be something you hurry to fit in at the end of a busy day - and I do think it's a shame that these errors occur, as a poorly written blog post can tarnish the author's otherwise brilliantly professional image.
In the rush, after one has worked an 18 hour day, "Their computers" become "there computers" or worse (to me) "they're computers" ... or "Don't get worn out by long hours" becomes "dont get warn out by long hours" ....
Full stops become commas in the rush to get the text down ... "I transcribed 14 hours of audio today. The client was really pleased, and I have more for tomorrow. He needs it back by 6pm." - this looks so much worse written as "I transcribed 14 hours of audio today, the client was really pleased, and I have more for tomorrow, he needs it back by 6pm."
Another pet hate of mine is incorrect capitalisation. I did a grammar and spelling quiz on Facebook, and my result was "English Professor Material" - which amazed me, because one of the questions actually had no correct answer! It read:
They took ________ dog for a walk and afterwards _________ going home. Which are the correct words to fill in here?
a) Their, they're
b) there, their
c) They're, there
d) there, they're
I picked a) and hoped for the best as it was, I supposed, the most correct, but it too is not correct. If you slot the words in, there is a horribly incorrect capitalisation in the sentence.
If you are unsure whether you can get your spelling and grammar correct on your blog, outsource this function. I will from now on be offering writing, proofreading and editing of blog posts and entries as a service to my clients.
In the rush, after one has worked an 18 hour day, "Their computers" become "there computers" or worse (to me) "they're computers" ... or "Don't get worn out by long hours" becomes "dont get warn out by long hours" ....
Full stops become commas in the rush to get the text down ... "I transcribed 14 hours of audio today. The client was really pleased, and I have more for tomorrow. He needs it back by 6pm." - this looks so much worse written as "I transcribed 14 hours of audio today, the client was really pleased, and I have more for tomorrow, he needs it back by 6pm."
Another pet hate of mine is incorrect capitalisation. I did a grammar and spelling quiz on Facebook, and my result was "English Professor Material" - which amazed me, because one of the questions actually had no correct answer! It read:
They took ________ dog for a walk and afterwards _________ going home. Which are the correct words to fill in here?
a) Their, they're
b) there, their
c) They're, there
d) there, they're
I picked a) and hoped for the best as it was, I supposed, the most correct, but it too is not correct. If you slot the words in, there is a horribly incorrect capitalisation in the sentence.
If you are unsure whether you can get your spelling and grammar correct on your blog, outsource this function. I will from now on be offering writing, proofreading and editing of blog posts and entries as a service to my clients.
General Recording Tips
Nothing is more stressful than receiving poorly recorded audio to transcribe. You just know that try as you might, you are going to struggle to give your client the quality transcript you usually return. Therefore, I urge clients to look at the following, and for transcriptionists to distribute the following general recording tips to clients.
• Ask participants not to speak simultaneously. If possible ensure that each person has a microphone to speak into. One recorder placed in the middle of the table is not sufficient.
• Mikes should be placed close to the speaker and pointed at him or her. If there is only one mike and one respondent, point the microphone towards the interviewee as it will be of less consequence to lose what the interviewer is saying than the interviewee. Spell out difficult names or references.
• Ask each speaker to introduce him or herself clearly at the beginning and spell out their name.
• Send a list of commonly used jargon or names to us. Agendas and notes help greatly with transcribing conferences. If the interviewer has used a list of standard questions, please send that along too. If you're concerned about the quality of the recording, ask the interviewer to repeat what the respondent has said.
• Try to minimize background noise. Some common sources of background noise include: Traffic, construction and other street noise Noise from other rooms or hallways through open doors. Machinery running in the background TV sets and radios. People making noise in the background. Pets or other animals. Clocks that chime. Doors shutting or slamming. Coughs, sneezes, etc.
• Try to minimize people leaving or entering during the event, but if they must ask them to do so quietly and to not bang the door.
• Conduct a thorough sound check before the event.
• If possible, encourage speakers to make some verbal reference to things they may be indicating visually.
• Although we accept recordings in most formats, we prefer mp3 as this format is standard, works on most digital playback software, and does not usually require conversion.
• Ask participants not to speak simultaneously. If possible ensure that each person has a microphone to speak into. One recorder placed in the middle of the table is not sufficient.
• Mikes should be placed close to the speaker and pointed at him or her. If there is only one mike and one respondent, point the microphone towards the interviewee as it will be of less consequence to lose what the interviewer is saying than the interviewee. Spell out difficult names or references.
• Ask each speaker to introduce him or herself clearly at the beginning and spell out their name.
• Send a list of commonly used jargon or names to us. Agendas and notes help greatly with transcribing conferences. If the interviewer has used a list of standard questions, please send that along too. If you're concerned about the quality of the recording, ask the interviewer to repeat what the respondent has said.
• Try to minimize background noise. Some common sources of background noise include: Traffic, construction and other street noise Noise from other rooms or hallways through open doors. Machinery running in the background TV sets and radios. People making noise in the background. Pets or other animals. Clocks that chime. Doors shutting or slamming. Coughs, sneezes, etc.
• Try to minimize people leaving or entering during the event, but if they must ask them to do so quietly and to not bang the door.
• Conduct a thorough sound check before the event.
• If possible, encourage speakers to make some verbal reference to things they may be indicating visually.
• Although we accept recordings in most formats, we prefer mp3 as this format is standard, works on most digital playback software, and does not usually require conversion.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Working at Home as a Transcriptionist - During School Holidays
WORKING AT HOME AS A TRANSCRIPTIONIST – DURING SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
By
Gaynor Paynter
Owner: Typewrite Transcription and Typing Services CC.
gpaynter@telkomsa.net / www.typewritetranscription.co.za
Gaynor Paynter is a writer and transcriptionist living in Johannesburg, South Africa.
I have two sons aged 8 and 10, and I work from home as a transcriptionist. It’s now school holidays … so I thought it would be fun to tell you about a day in our lives. I’m hoping to dispel the notion that we work at home moms don’t actually work, and all the other rumours out there that just make me laugh!
Now I don’t know about all of you but when its school holidays I tend to relax routine a little bit for the kids – and since I’m a night owl I find I naturally slip back into my work all night, get up a tad late routine. This also works quite well since I have clients in Australia. Anyway, after working until 11pm last night, at 07:30 am I am still asleep. … not for long.
Two missed calls on my cell phone have me awake. Well with no message left there’s nothing much I can do, but I drearily stumbled out of bed. Immediately, I feel something is wrong. It’s very quiet … why? Where are the kids? I make my way through to the kitchen and find them playing with the dogs, one has his hand in the dog’s water bowl and is trailing water around my kitchen making it look as though snails had been there all night, and the other is gleefully looking on, no doubt relishing the trouble his little brother would get into.
I make them breakfast, stumble through to the office and turn on the computer .. now I’m never at my best in the morning but when a client is trying to explain a complicated computer system to a fuzzy brained me, well – we progress to the point where we realize that it was their client who hadn’t set the system up correctly. This took us two hours, in between interruptions, my son running in yelling “There’s a big yellow van at the door!” and since I’m still in my nightie, I leave my client hanging on Skype, run through and dress faster than I ever have before, while sending my 10 year old out to appease the delivery man … run out there, sign for CDs (the story of their arrival is a whole other one, but suffice to say the lady who has sent them to me is very relieved about their arrival – and people get very angry with you when they are trying to deliver something to you and your doorbell is not working) – to pick up my client on Skype.
Phone rings, it’s my son’s friend.
20 minutes later, bellow at son to get off phone as he’s blocking potential business calls.
10:30 am – a skype from one of our TAVASA ladies asking me if she should start up in medical transcription, general transcription or if it doesn’t matter. I’ve answered the same question from the same lady three times over – and the answer always remains the same, if you want to do MT great, but you have to study for it … and if you want to be a general transcriber you don’t need to study a medical course … (all of these details are available in my book, “Working from Home as a Transcriptionist in South Africa)
Phone rings. It’s Damian – trying to help me set up the system. Client skyping continually – and we decide, okay, we’ll do it the old way for today until we can get their client to sort it out. So I log into the old system. Only to discover that this is going to be ultra confusing as the client is dictating in the NEW way, and I’m transcribing in the OLD way … all the while at the back of my mind is, “I’ve got to start on those CVs, and I’ve got to market my business more … “ (Until a few months ago I was using a free website host and the host took it over, thereby directing all of my traffic to a bunch of garbage … anyway that’s nearly sorted out but in any case marketing is something that should be done on a daily basis in this field).
2pm - file spell checked and uploaded. I’ve promised to take my kids for milkshake and nobody’s had lunch yet –so off we go to KFC about 6 – 7 blocks down the road. (we walk as we only have the one car and Damian uses it for work). This is a thing the boys and I do every school holidays – our tradition and we love it.
3pm, back home to 3 emails and 2 skypes that need answering … so, I settle the kids down to their various activities – Andrew wants to play his new computer game and Brandon is playing with the toy KFC kindly just gave him – and I answer them – actually as the moderator of TAVASA I’m feeling a bit guilty that I can’t always get to the questions as quick as I’d like – but still, we keep on trying and will keep on trying to support others in our field.
The boys begin to fight – I’m always hoping my oldest will find a pastime different to that of making his little brother scream by taking his toys away, and that Brandon will learn to ignore him and not play up to him – so I develop my lung capacity by screaming the full length of the house at them (heaven knows what the tenant must think). All is calm for about five minutes, and then the same again. There comes a time in every school holiday when any siblings even if they are the best of friends have had enough of each other’s company. I go to remove the oldest from the youngest’s room. This only works on dire threat that he will be made to wash the dishes the whole week if he does not desist.
After that, eventually get to make a start on the four CDs I have to transcribe before Wednesday, guess what it’s terrible audio and the kids are being noisy too (but not fighting), and I soldier on and will proofread at the end of it …
Which gets us to 16:30 – Damian’s home, and since we need to eat and have no food in the house, and the kids need meds, I’m off out to buy those things while he starts supper – unfortunately, it’s been raining and it takes me half an hour to travel 3km, and the queue in the chemist is just as long … I don’t particularly like driving in the dark so I’m getting more and more antsy, but eventually I get out of there.
So kids are fed and bathed, and it’s 18:50, and here I am ready to carry on working for another hour or so! And that’s a day in the life of a working general transcriptionist mom, when her kids are on school holiday! And let that dispel any notion anybody may have that
a) Work at home moms get to spend more time with their kids than other moms
b) Work at home moms spend all day going to shops or having their hair done
c) Work at home moms watch TV all day.
d) Work at home moms have it easy.
So then you may ask, why do we keep on doing this? There are many reasons. We like to be in control of our own destiny. We like to provide our clients with quality service. We like that we are own bosses and that the work we put in becomes what we get out. We like the idea that somewhere down the line we will have something to provide our children with. I like to think that for children with an uncertain future in an uncertain political environment, this is something invaluable for them. And yes, although it’s hardly ever possible, I like that I can have an hour off to take my children for lunch, even though it means I must work until the small hours to make up for it sometimes. That small investment in quality time with them is worth more than the things I could give them if I was a highly powered corporate. And as for TAVASA, yes it can be demanding and questions and issues come up at times when we find it hard to answer them timeously. But try we always do, and we always will, because I’d like to feel that for that one moment, that one email, that one second where we are advising somebody or giving assistance where we can, we are making a difference in the life of that one person. And that’s worth more than money can buy.
Gaynor Paynter
Typewrite Transcription and Typing Services CC
Cell: +27834424689
Web: www.typewritetranscription.co.za
TAVASA Cofounder and Moderator http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/tavasa/
ASK ME ABOUT BUYING MY EBOOK 'WORKING FROM HOME AS A TRANSCRIPTIONIST IN SA"
By
Gaynor Paynter
Owner: Typewrite Transcription and Typing Services CC.
gpaynter@telkomsa.net / www.typewritetranscription.co.za
Gaynor Paynter is a writer and transcriptionist living in Johannesburg, South Africa.
I have two sons aged 8 and 10, and I work from home as a transcriptionist. It’s now school holidays … so I thought it would be fun to tell you about a day in our lives. I’m hoping to dispel the notion that we work at home moms don’t actually work, and all the other rumours out there that just make me laugh!
Now I don’t know about all of you but when its school holidays I tend to relax routine a little bit for the kids – and since I’m a night owl I find I naturally slip back into my work all night, get up a tad late routine. This also works quite well since I have clients in Australia. Anyway, after working until 11pm last night, at 07:30 am I am still asleep. … not for long.
Two missed calls on my cell phone have me awake. Well with no message left there’s nothing much I can do, but I drearily stumbled out of bed. Immediately, I feel something is wrong. It’s very quiet … why? Where are the kids? I make my way through to the kitchen and find them playing with the dogs, one has his hand in the dog’s water bowl and is trailing water around my kitchen making it look as though snails had been there all night, and the other is gleefully looking on, no doubt relishing the trouble his little brother would get into.
I make them breakfast, stumble through to the office and turn on the computer .. now I’m never at my best in the morning but when a client is trying to explain a complicated computer system to a fuzzy brained me, well – we progress to the point where we realize that it was their client who hadn’t set the system up correctly. This took us two hours, in between interruptions, my son running in yelling “There’s a big yellow van at the door!” and since I’m still in my nightie, I leave my client hanging on Skype, run through and dress faster than I ever have before, while sending my 10 year old out to appease the delivery man … run out there, sign for CDs (the story of their arrival is a whole other one, but suffice to say the lady who has sent them to me is very relieved about their arrival – and people get very angry with you when they are trying to deliver something to you and your doorbell is not working) – to pick up my client on Skype.
Phone rings, it’s my son’s friend.
20 minutes later, bellow at son to get off phone as he’s blocking potential business calls.
10:30 am – a skype from one of our TAVASA ladies asking me if she should start up in medical transcription, general transcription or if it doesn’t matter. I’ve answered the same question from the same lady three times over – and the answer always remains the same, if you want to do MT great, but you have to study for it … and if you want to be a general transcriber you don’t need to study a medical course … (all of these details are available in my book, “Working from Home as a Transcriptionist in South Africa)
Phone rings. It’s Damian – trying to help me set up the system. Client skyping continually – and we decide, okay, we’ll do it the old way for today until we can get their client to sort it out. So I log into the old system. Only to discover that this is going to be ultra confusing as the client is dictating in the NEW way, and I’m transcribing in the OLD way … all the while at the back of my mind is, “I’ve got to start on those CVs, and I’ve got to market my business more … “ (Until a few months ago I was using a free website host and the host took it over, thereby directing all of my traffic to a bunch of garbage … anyway that’s nearly sorted out but in any case marketing is something that should be done on a daily basis in this field).
2pm - file spell checked and uploaded. I’ve promised to take my kids for milkshake and nobody’s had lunch yet –so off we go to KFC about 6 – 7 blocks down the road. (we walk as we only have the one car and Damian uses it for work). This is a thing the boys and I do every school holidays – our tradition and we love it.
3pm, back home to 3 emails and 2 skypes that need answering … so, I settle the kids down to their various activities – Andrew wants to play his new computer game and Brandon is playing with the toy KFC kindly just gave him – and I answer them – actually as the moderator of TAVASA I’m feeling a bit guilty that I can’t always get to the questions as quick as I’d like – but still, we keep on trying and will keep on trying to support others in our field.
The boys begin to fight – I’m always hoping my oldest will find a pastime different to that of making his little brother scream by taking his toys away, and that Brandon will learn to ignore him and not play up to him – so I develop my lung capacity by screaming the full length of the house at them (heaven knows what the tenant must think). All is calm for about five minutes, and then the same again. There comes a time in every school holiday when any siblings even if they are the best of friends have had enough of each other’s company. I go to remove the oldest from the youngest’s room. This only works on dire threat that he will be made to wash the dishes the whole week if he does not desist.
After that, eventually get to make a start on the four CDs I have to transcribe before Wednesday, guess what it’s terrible audio and the kids are being noisy too (but not fighting), and I soldier on and will proofread at the end of it …
Which gets us to 16:30 – Damian’s home, and since we need to eat and have no food in the house, and the kids need meds, I’m off out to buy those things while he starts supper – unfortunately, it’s been raining and it takes me half an hour to travel 3km, and the queue in the chemist is just as long … I don’t particularly like driving in the dark so I’m getting more and more antsy, but eventually I get out of there.
So kids are fed and bathed, and it’s 18:50, and here I am ready to carry on working for another hour or so! And that’s a day in the life of a working general transcriptionist mom, when her kids are on school holiday! And let that dispel any notion anybody may have that
a) Work at home moms get to spend more time with their kids than other moms
b) Work at home moms spend all day going to shops or having their hair done
c) Work at home moms watch TV all day.
d) Work at home moms have it easy.
So then you may ask, why do we keep on doing this? There are many reasons. We like to be in control of our own destiny. We like to provide our clients with quality service. We like that we are own bosses and that the work we put in becomes what we get out. We like the idea that somewhere down the line we will have something to provide our children with. I like to think that for children with an uncertain future in an uncertain political environment, this is something invaluable for them. And yes, although it’s hardly ever possible, I like that I can have an hour off to take my children for lunch, even though it means I must work until the small hours to make up for it sometimes. That small investment in quality time with them is worth more than the things I could give them if I was a highly powered corporate. And as for TAVASA, yes it can be demanding and questions and issues come up at times when we find it hard to answer them timeously. But try we always do, and we always will, because I’d like to feel that for that one moment, that one email, that one second where we are advising somebody or giving assistance where we can, we are making a difference in the life of that one person. And that’s worth more than money can buy.
Gaynor Paynter
Typewrite Transcription and Typing Services CC
Cell: +27834424689
Web: www.typewritetranscription.co.za
TAVASA Cofounder and Moderator http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/tavasa/
ASK ME ABOUT BUYING MY EBOOK 'WORKING FROM HOME AS A TRANSCRIPTIONIST IN SA"
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Proofreading Services
Writing and proofreading services now offered:
South Africa, Republic of (Press Release) March 26, 2009 -- The established transcription and typing entity Typewrite Transcription and Typing Services (www.typewritetranscription.co.za) has added proofreading to the list of services it offers. Gaynor Paynter, owner, says "Proofreading has always been close to my heart and what with the current recession, I feel that many businesses who have downsized will benefit from this service, because they will have had laid off staff, and flustered secretaries and other staff members, upon whom extra duties will fall, will simply not have the time to write and proofread documents as diligently as they did before."
Although the ocmpany is based in South Africa, this too is of benefit to international clients. Because of the South African time zone, work can be done overnight and completed by the following morning. In addition to this the rates will be cheaper. The outsourcing of this service will save businesses time and money. Gaynor Paynter can be emailed at gpaynter@telkomsa.net for further information.
http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200903/1238057223.html
CV Writing Service
The established typing entity Typewrite Transcription and Typing Services CC, www.typewritetranscription.co.za, is offering CV writing services to recruitment agencies (a retainer agreement will be available) and to individuals needing their CVs done in a professional manner during the recession.
Gaynor Paynter, owner, says "Prior to starting Typewrite Transcription and Typing Services CC, I worked for five years in a recruitment company as a CV writer. During that time I gained masses of experience in both the writing and proofreading of CVs, as well as preparing correspondence for clients, etc. During the recession companies will be downsizing and it makes sense to outsource CV writing."
Gaynor Paynter is contactable at gpaynter@telkomsa.net
South Africa, Republic of (Press Release) March 26, 2009 -- The established transcription and typing entity Typewrite Transcription and Typing Services (www.typewritetranscription.co.za) has added proofreading to the list of services it offers. Gaynor Paynter, owner, says "Proofreading has always been close to my heart and what with the current recession, I feel that many businesses who have downsized will benefit from this service, because they will have had laid off staff, and flustered secretaries and other staff members, upon whom extra duties will fall, will simply not have the time to write and proofread documents as diligently as they did before."
Although the ocmpany is based in South Africa, this too is of benefit to international clients. Because of the South African time zone, work can be done overnight and completed by the following morning. In addition to this the rates will be cheaper. The outsourcing of this service will save businesses time and money. Gaynor Paynter can be emailed at gpaynter@telkomsa.net for further information.
http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200903/1238057223.html
CV Writing Service
The established typing entity Typewrite Transcription and Typing Services CC, www.typewritetranscription.co.za, is offering CV writing services to recruitment agencies (a retainer agreement will be available) and to individuals needing their CVs done in a professional manner during the recession.
Gaynor Paynter, owner, says "Prior to starting Typewrite Transcription and Typing Services CC, I worked for five years in a recruitment company as a CV writer. During that time I gained masses of experience in both the writing and proofreading of CVs, as well as preparing correspondence for clients, etc. During the recession companies will be downsizing and it makes sense to outsource CV writing."
Gaynor Paynter is contactable at gpaynter@telkomsa.net
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Working from Home as a Transcriptionist in South Africa E book - R90
E-Book “Working from Home as a Transcriptionist in South Africa”!
This E-book is packed with everything you need to know about working from home as a transcriptionist in South Africa. I started out as a transcriptionist in 2005 and I’ve included everything I’ve learned along the way that I wish someone had told me.
How do you get that first client, how do you keep your clients, how do you invoice, and quote? What about where can you find support? What equipment do you need? All this information and more is available in my E-Book. Buy it today. This is information I wish somebody had told me – I would have been able to get going so much faster.
These are my tried and trusted methods. There are many American transcriptionist guides but “Working from Home as a Transcriptionist in South Africa” has challenges and obstacles all its very own and answers particular questions faced by South African Transcriptionists.
Buy my book today!! Much cheaper than other shorter publications on similar topics.
How to provide a quality transcription
Hi everybody and welcome to the new blog for Typewrite Transcription and Typing Services CC! Here I hope to bring you news about the company, interesting articles and general things of interest to the transcription industry in South Africa. Since one of my main aims is to attempt to increase standards in the industry in South Africa, both from the client and transcriptionist point of view, I thought I'd kick it off by giving you the general procedure I try to follow to attempt to ensure I give a quality product to my clients.
1. Ensure that you have a quiet place to work and a quality set of equipment (headphones, speakers, dictation software)
2. Ask your client if they have any documentation you can refer to - speaker names, a programme if it is a conference, or a website you can refer to.
3. Ask your client if they have any specific grammatical preferences.
4. In all instances where your client does not have grammatical preferences, ensure that you adhere to general grammatical rules.
5. Establish from your client whether he or she would like you to timestamp unclear sections.
6. Pay attention to the context of the work and ensure what you transcribe makes sense. This is the advantage transcriptionists hold above voice recognition software, and nothing is more frustrating for a proofreader than nonsensical work. I once had a 3 hour transcript returned by one of my transcriptionists, and none of it made any sense. For example, the people were talking about constitutional issues, and one person said "They were discussing the issues". The transcript came to me as "they were discussing his shoes". This can be funny in one instance, or two. But by the time there has been 3 hours of it, I can tell you it wears thin.
7. Do a spell check, and ensure you have got the words placed correctly. For example, nothing drives me crazier than seeing for example "the men played there guitars." It's "the men played their guitars" ...
8. Proofread your own work. If this means going back and going through it again for the whole length of the audio then so be it. Some audio is clear and can be proofread at 1.5 times the speed. Either way, your work needs to be checked before you send it back to your client. Of importance is that you ensure that you have googled or double checked difficult terms.
Hope this has been beneficial to you,
Gaynor
1. Ensure that you have a quiet place to work and a quality set of equipment (headphones, speakers, dictation software)
2. Ask your client if they have any documentation you can refer to - speaker names, a programme if it is a conference, or a website you can refer to.
3. Ask your client if they have any specific grammatical preferences.
4. In all instances where your client does not have grammatical preferences, ensure that you adhere to general grammatical rules.
5. Establish from your client whether he or she would like you to timestamp unclear sections.
6. Pay attention to the context of the work and ensure what you transcribe makes sense. This is the advantage transcriptionists hold above voice recognition software, and nothing is more frustrating for a proofreader than nonsensical work. I once had a 3 hour transcript returned by one of my transcriptionists, and none of it made any sense. For example, the people were talking about constitutional issues, and one person said "They were discussing the issues". The transcript came to me as "they were discussing his shoes". This can be funny in one instance, or two. But by the time there has been 3 hours of it, I can tell you it wears thin.
7. Do a spell check, and ensure you have got the words placed correctly. For example, nothing drives me crazier than seeing for example "the men played there guitars." It's "the men played their guitars" ...
8. Proofread your own work. If this means going back and going through it again for the whole length of the audio then so be it. Some audio is clear and can be proofread at 1.5 times the speed. Either way, your work needs to be checked before you send it back to your client. Of importance is that you ensure that you have googled or double checked difficult terms.
Hope this has been beneficial to you,
Gaynor
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