How do you combat loneliness?

Hi everyone. It's been some time since I've blogged and I wanted to come back with a fresh blog post that might make people sit back and think a bit. I didn't want to blog about something that has been blogged about a thousand times before. It crossed my mind that the reason why my blogging has taken a little bit of a back seat lately is because I have been networking in a different way - a way which is very meaningful to me and that is what this blog post will be about.

Making friends, building a community garden.

By the very nature of our businesses, we as virtual assistants have a different work set up to office workers. We don't have a knock off time, we must find our own work, and ... we don't have the social setting of office colleagues around us.

There are several ways which we can combat this if loneliness begins affecting us.
We can join groups such as TAVASA , we can build up our contacts on Skype and other instant messaging systems, or - and it's this third that I want to discuss in further detail - we can join community assistance organisations for the areas where we live such as the I Love Kensington Assocation

I didn't join I Love Kensington for business purposes and that's not why I'm a part of it now. I joined because I could see the area around me, where I live and where my children live, sinking - and I wanted to see what I could do to help. What I found was a band of dedicated, committed people crying out for voluntary help on projects that they were doing - a handful of people working to enrich the living area, and lives, of 5,000.

So I joined them - and I soon found that in between getting stuck into all of the wonderfully rewarding community projects that I Love Kensington are involved in, firm and fast friendships are formed between like minded people. I have been able to assist with the upliftment of our community by assisting newbie Virtual Assistants in our area, using and referring service providers that I would have had to call from miles away in the past ... and I find it's reciprocated, with two transcription jobs having come my way from this source in the last few months. Winner all round!

How do you combat loneliness in your business?

Hi guys,
It's been quite a while since I've blogged and I wanted to come back to my blog with a fresh idea, something which may not have been blogged about much in the past.

We virtual workers have a different set up to the office worker in many ways in that we don't have a knock off time, we don't commute, and we don't have many coworkers - some of us may miss the social aspet that an office affords. How do you combat the loneliness that working by yourself might bring about?

There are several ways we can do this:
1) We can sign up with groups such as TAVASA

2) We can build up a network of contacts on Skype and other instant messaging services.
3) We can become involved in community activities.

It's this third that I want to talk about in more detail, as the first two have been blogged about extensively, and it's the second that I've more recently become involved in.

Getting involved in community activities has numerous benefits - it leads to making numerous friends and thereby reducing the loneliness, particularly when you end up involved in activities such as teaparties, walks and community garden planting initiatives. An added benefit is networking - you get to know what others in your area, and others get to know what you are doing. Although making money is not my primary objective of community assistance, through being involved with the I Love Kensington Association I have obtained two clients and also been able to assist a Virtual Assistant who also wants to start up in the business. We have been able to accomplish some pretty amazing things, too - see pic of the community garden we planted. My life was pretty full before, with kids and work - now it's full to the brim and I'm finding I also have a bit of a social life - the loneliness factor does not intrude much now.

Have a good week, guys!

Virtual was rough this week

It's been rather an interesting week. Last week, my son had bronchitis and I made the mistake of mentioning to a friend of mine, who accompanies me and other members of our suburb on a regular walk through our suburb (click for more information) that by this week, my whole family should be healthy enough to attend.

After jinxing myself like that, of course, I caught bronchitis within the next two days.

The single worst part of working from home is that there is no sick leave - soldier on is what you do, so I did, with a course of penicillin as my army mate. But Tuesday night I hit rock bottom with raging fever and dizzy spells to go along with the sore throat. Luckily, I felt better by Wednesday morning and was able to get most of what I had to do done, but not without refusing point blank to take on any work for that evening and in so doing, upsetting one of my customers (being virtual, we also can't prove show very effectively that we're ill, and he is one of the customers who does not allow me to outsource).

Thursday I was back to chugging speed, and today, up to about 75 kph if the norm is 100 kph, and I've managed to stay up to date and keep most of my customers' work up to date, except the one mentioned above - who I have a long history with and I know I will hear from him in the next week or so.

A particular transcription I received in this week reminded me of the fact that I truly am virtual (with discussion groups like TAVASA, a great forum for South African VAs and transcriptionists, this can slip one's mind occasionally). My client records his files on site, and this one was done whilst under the attack of a swarm of horseflies!

Doing the things you love is a way to keep your mind fresh for work

Earlier today I was chatting with my friend Damaria Senne about why, lately, I am striving to keep Sundays free to keep up and touch base with the people and things that I love. I am an avid reader, and I call myself a writer, and an artist. But it struck me that the reading I do is between 12:00 and 01:00, usually - and who can remember anything they've read at that time? The last art I did was to make a Christmas card, and writing ... well ... there's something slightly offbeat, and probably inaccurate, if you call yourself a writer, yet the last time you WROTE anything worthwhile was in 2005.

I have a busy life running my transcription business and being a wife and mother - there's no doubt about it. But of late, I've come to realise something. It's very important to find a time to keep doing the things you love. And for me, for now, I've decided that time shall be Sundays - so, on Sundays, for the foreseeable future, I shall be retiring from the world, as I have been for the past two weeks.

And here is where I come to the part that makes this relevant to transcriptionists - and, I believe, others who work in a stressful industry. Taking that day off, to yourself, to unwind, and spend with your family and with doing the things you love, makes your mind clearer, sharper and more focussed on MONDAY - and through the rest of the week. Now, Sunday might not be the best time for you - but I do urge you, yes, your business is important, but find that time for you, too. You'll value it, and thank me for this advice, later.

Would Belinda Carlisle have made it if it hadn't been for the Gogos?

Commenting on blog posts

Hi everyone,

Today I wanted to draw attention to something that I feel is an important part of a small business' marketing strategy today.
Commenting on blog posts.
There is an art to this, in my opinion. It's no good just picking up on a blog and going on there and saying something inane and then posting a link to your website. You have to say something intelligent, lucid, and relevant to the post. Otherwise, you just irritate. So, make sure that your comments add something to the article and are informative. If you don't do this, there is a good chance that your comment will simply be deleted, anyway, and then you will just have wasted your own time and the blog owner's time.

What I'd suggest is the following:
- Pick interesting blogs to follow, blogs that are relevant to your industry or your interests.
- Check back on them on a relatively regular basis.
- Read the posts.
- Think of something valuable to add - maybe something from your personal experience, or add your expertise.

If, for example, the post is about switching from using a tape recorder to using a digital recorder, don't just go there and say "I transcribe, send your recordings to me". Chances are that the person has been doing their own transcription for some years anyway. But if you go on there and say something to the effect of "yes, you've made a good choice with regards to your choice of digital recorder, and this is why", and use your link in your identity, then you'll have planted the seed in the mind of the author and anyone else who happens to see the post that you are an expert in this field - and that maybe they should consider approaching you to save themselves some time - by giving you their transcription. Intelligent, informative comments are appreciated by bloggers, simply because they bring a variety of phrases that may well be picked up by search engines - in other words, they bring traffic to the person's blog. So be careful and think about what your comments are - don't be an irritation, be an asset.

Haiti Disaster

Hello everyone, Typewrite Transcription wishes to express its condolences to the people of Haiti after the terrible earthquakes and subsequent loss of life.

South Africans can help by donating to Gift of the Givers

Please show the giving spirit of South Africans.

Outsource your tweeting and blogging to a transcriptionist

Hi everyone,

"Social media" was one of the watch phrases of 2009. It has become one of the most important marketing tools of our time and making use of it correctly is a necessity for the survival of businesses today.

Yet, like everything else, it is time consuming. How many times have you been in your car or another environment where it's not possible to get to the internet, and have thought to yourself "oh I must tweet or blog about such and such a thing", only for the thought to drop from your mind, never to return?

Imagine how easy it would be to note your ideas down or to make a digital recording of that thought or dictate your blog post as you are on your long commute, send it to your transcriptionist to type up, and have it placed on the relevant social network without having to do this work yourself - and freeing yourself up to handle your core business, or to simply relax.

Make the most of this opportunity by outsourcing this work to me.

Proofreading professional

Hi guys,
Proofreading is of exceptional importance in every aspect of a virtual business. Remember, what we are producing is a document, whether we are doing it by transcribing, or by typing, or by researching - and this document has to be 100 per cent correct in every way - including grammar and spelling.

Sometimes, it is hard for a person to spot their own grammar and spelling mistakes, and this is where it is beneficial to enlist the services of a professional proofreader.

In this age of computerised voice recognition software, and other computer generated documents, I believe it is vitally important to pay attention to proofreading. At this stage, software for the most part is not clever enough to differentiate between, say, 'there', 'their' and 'they're'. We are - and that is what sets the human brain ahead of the microchip!

I am promoting this arm of my business:

Get your CV ready for 2010!

Hi everyone.

I would like to wish everyone a very happy new year! I would like to point out that if you are a jobhunter, now is a great time to get your CV up to date, as within the next week or two, the job market is going to be saturated when people who have hung on for their December bonuses and leave make their move for their new job.

Most business owners are also motivated at this time of year to employ new staff, because a new year is new beginnings.

It's important to have the very best CV you can have, simply because often your CV is the first impression a potential employer will have of you, and therefore, if you don't feel comfortable that you yourself can prepare a professional CV, it's wise to enlist the help of professionals who have worked in the recruitment industry, such as Typewrite Transcription and Typing Services CC. Contact me today if you would like help in this regard.

Is this an easy job?

Somebody who had seen one of my brochures rang me yesterday to say she was considering finding a work from home job, and was what I do easy?

I stopped to look at my situation before considering my reply. I had just developed a head cold and was not feeling at my best - sinussy, clogged, sneezy. I was busy with transcribing a two day conference for a regular client who doesn't usually send regular work, but who contacted me yesterday to say it was urgent and she needed it back this morning (which I have completed - with the help of fab sub contractors). I am the mom of two and it's rather a choppy period for them at the moment - one is battling with his schoolwork and the other changing schools next year.

Before I could answer, the lady continued to say that she wanted to spend more time with her children and therefore wanted to work from home. And I always feel like I'm letting people down when I tell them that since starting doing this, I spend less time with my children and that no, it's not easy. I spent about 6 months when I first started out working 24/7 on my business and some days I still have to do that, depending on my clients.

When you get those regular clients in, it becomes a bit easier, but just like a boss in an office, a client wants his work back - whether or not your child has a difficult homework project, etc. And regular clients are not that easy to find and must be treasured when you do find them.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to put people off, it's just that I have five years experience doing this and I call a spade a spade. If you want something for nothing, to spend all day long with your children, and to be able to nurse yourself back to health in bed when you have a cold, this job is not for you. But if you want to be your own boss, build a business for yourself and a heritage for your children and have good typing and grammatical skills and a professional manner - then yes!

World AIDS Day

Hi there, I would just like to say I support the sentiment behind World AIDS day and that I make the following pledge:

For every confirmed transcription order I get in today, I will donate 10 per cent of the proceeds to The AIDS Foundation of South Africa http://www.aids.org.za/index.htm

I'm willing to extend this to say that even if it's the 2nd of December in South Africa when you place your order, if it's the 1st in your country, then the deal is on.

When do you sleep?

A friend asked me this yesterday and I'm still pondering the answer. The truth is, as a mom of two, a wife, the owner of a busy transcription company - and a person who also likes to have her own life outside of all of this - sleeping does not get the time it should, really.

I find exhaustion is my constant companion, but it's all self imposed, so I don't resent it. I don't have a boss or someone telling me which hours to work, when. So yes, if I work late in the evenings when it's quiet and peaceful in my house, even though I know I have to be up early the next morning, it's my choice, and I believe this is what makes the exhaustion tolerable. Besides, when clients need something done, or there is a transcriptionist with an emergency to sort out, or you have a child with a problem, sleep is not really an option.

I do value though the odd moments of peace and sleep I do get. I guard them fiercely and this I believe is what keeps me going.

Afrikaans transcribing, yes, typing in Afrikaans!

Hello everyone, from a very cold and wintry Johannesburg. Who can believe temps of 14 deg Celsius in summer! I've my winter clothes out again.

Today I feel I have surpassed myself. Late afternoon yesterday, a client got hold of me and said that she had a transcription for me and please would I pull out all the stops to try to get at least some of it back to her as the gentleman being interviewed actually passed away this week and they would like to use some of the transcript for his memorial service.

Of course, I couldn't say no to that, and anyway I'm not in the habit of saying no to my clients. I will always go the extra mile to try to meet a client's requirements, and so I said "of course, send it along".

I received it. It was 198 minutes of Afrikaans transcription.

Now ... I sat there contemplating this. Yes, I'm an English speaking South African, and usually when I start speaking Afrikaans, Afrikaners speak back to me in English. But my vocab is not bad, I've recently begun working on my Afrikaans again and in fact I reread Dalene Matthee's book "Fiela se Kind" last week, in Afrikaans. And the client only asked for a portion of it back this week and she said that I can have 10 days to complete the rest of it. Ordinarily my first thought with Afrikaans work is "outsource it".

But to be honest, I like the Afrikaans language. I find it poetic and descriptive, and since rereading Fiela se Kind I find I actually think in Afrikaans. So I thought, I'll take this on. I may only get through 10 minutes of it, and if so can always outsource it, but let me give it a try.

I've faultlessly typed 30 minutes of it (without a spell checker, I might add - the lack of Afrikaans spell check options is a whole other potential blog post) and I'm in the happy position of being able to tell my client she will be able to have at least an hour of it if not more before Saturday. And here is the moral of the story:
Don't underestimate yourself. Try things. Have a back up plan in place, but trust yourself and try things. Your clients will appreciate this.

Reading and Transcribing

Hello everybody,

Today I would like to make a point that is very close to my heart - that reading good literature can be very beneficial to transcriptionists.

Reading teaches a variety of things that are essential to transcriptionists in their daily jobs. A good book is edited before being published and therefore is a good source reference for students of English (something all transcriptionists should be, whether they are English speakers or not, for the pure and simple reason that transcription is not just typing. It requires thought, and getting things right). Reading teahes the following skills essential to transcription:
- Getting things contextually correct. Pay special attention to where 'there', 'their' and 'they're' are placed. Yes ... they all mean different things! Getting this right is what puts humans apart from voice recognition software.
- Spelling (by reading the same word over and over a sufficient amount of times, you will learn how to spell it when encountering it in dictation).
- Grammar (ditto the note next to 'spelling').

Having said this, Typewrite Transcription and Typing Services CC would like to align itself and state its support for a new initiative promoting reading in South Africa, Read South Africa.

Here is a bit more about this initiative:

The pursuit of information, the desire to "broaden ones horizons" has unfortunately and tragically remained a "Western" and "elitist" construct.

We as the writers of our time would like to move beyond these artificial barriers and create literary awareness and a passion for reading among the majority of South Africans.

We want to use our profession to reach the oft ignored South African classroom, the beleaguered minds of young and old alike.

We want to offer other paths that could be followed to somehow stem the tide of violent rhetoric that has permeated and diminished the lives of South Africans, where ignorance plays a major role in perpetuating this violence, where it becomes cyclical and passed on from generation to generation.
(read less)

The pursuit of information, the desire to "broaden ones horizons" has unfortunately and tragically remained a "Western" and "elitist" construct.

We as the writers of our time would like to move beyond these artificial barriers and create literary awareness and a passion for reading among the majority of South Africans.

We want to use our profession to reach the oft ignored South African classroom, the beleaguered minds of young and old alike.

We want to offer other paths that could be followed to somehow stem the tide of violent rhetoric that has permeated and diminished the lives of South Africans, where ignorance plays a major role in perpetuating this violence, where it becomes cyclical and passed on from generation to generation.

Mission: Encouraging everyone who has interest in the future of South Africa to read.

This innovative initiative can be contacted and supported at:

http://www.readsa.co.za
http://readsa.book.co.za/blog
http://twitter.com/readsa
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo#/pages/Read-South-Africa/146421296979?v=info&ref=mf

Working From Home in the Czech Republic by Pearl Harris

Today we have the pleasure of a guest post from the accomplished author, second language English teacher, proofreader and editor, Pearl Harris who has recently written a book "From Africa to Bukova"

Born within sight of the red sand dunes of the Kalahari, PEARL HARRIS lived most of her life in South Africa, until taking the drastic step of emigrating with her husband, Ian, to the Czech Republic (with their Labrador and cat).

Teaching English as a Foreign Language to the Czechs—a new career for the author—has its joys and trials, which Pearl shares with the reader in "From Africa to Bukova".
You will also learn about her early childhood on an isolated South African farm and about her British Settler ancestor who chose to emigrate from England to Africa as a 19-year-old, spending the rest of his life in South Africa.

Pearl’s travel articles have been published in South African magazines, "Diversions" and "Your Family", and in Czech magazines, "Lifestyles" and "Bridge", as well as on the websites, http://www.timetravel-britain.com/ and http://www.transitionsabroad.com/

Pearl taught English at the České Budĕjovice branch of POLYGLOT from 2002 to 2007. At present, she works from home as an English teacher, proofreader and travel writer. The Czech Republic has become her permanent home.

Working from Home in the Czech Republic
by
Pearl Harris

Nearly eight years ago, my husband and I emigrated from East London to Buková, a tiny village in South Bohemia, near the Czech border with Austria.

I started off teaching English (EFL) at a private language school which was situated 30km. from Buková in the city of České Budějovice. Teaching was the last career I ever wanted to follow, but this was the only employment available to someone without the slightest Czech language ability.

English is in great demand in this country, especially since its inclusion in the EU. In former days (the communist era lasted for 40 years) only Czech and Russian were taught at school. Czechs were not allowed to travel and were totally isolated, so now there is great hunger to learn English as an international language.

In South Africa, I worked as a Radiographer and later as a Medical Transcriptionist for Radiologists. The latter work was particularly stressful as I worked under extreme pressure in a very busy X-ray dept. of a private hospital.

I had to type at such a rapid rate, for so many hours on end, that I developed osteo-arthritis in my fingers!

Before leaving S.A., Ian and I did a crash course in TEFL at the Cape Town TEFL Institute, so that, when thrown in at the deep end of teaching here, we had a slight inkling of what it involved. I taught for five years at the private language school, travelling to and from České Budějovice at unearthly hours—in snow, blizzards and pitch darkness in Winter. My students were mainly adults who attended classes either before or after work, hence the awkward teaching hours.

By 2007, deciding that I had had enough of teaching, I resigned from the school, but kept teaching a few private students who came to our home for lessons. This was so much easier! I then wanted to develop my proofreading business, which had been a mere sideline, due to the fact that I was spending most of my time teaching and travelling!

I found a great demand for English proofreading. This is because Czech to English is translated mainly by Czech speakers, there not being anything like enough English native speakers sufficiently fluent in the impossibly difficult Czech language! Therefore, the English translations are anything but perfect –as is to be expected when one is translating into your 2nd or 3rd language!

Today, one still sees hilarious translations on some restaurant Menus and online. Many translators still mistakenly consider themselves good enough not to warrant any proofreading. However, fortunately for me, there are many today who realise they do need proofreading in order to produce quality translations. This has been especially noticeable since the Czech Republic became a member of the EU and recently held the Presidency.

I began by advertising on an Expats website, which chiefly serves the expatriate community in Prague. Many employers advertise on this site for English native speakers. In this way, I slowly built up a regular clientele. The average fee for proofreading is 100Kc per norm page (1800 keystrokes) – which is about R50. For more specialised texts, the fee may be up to 180 Kc (R90) per page.

I often proofread texts for university students and lecturers. Many theses and academic papers today have to be published in English. Further, I do regular proofreading for “Statuss”, which is an upmarket mag. catering to the elite, published in Russian, Czech & English. I also proofread for an agency which publishes monthly business magazines in English.

Now that my time is my own, I have been fortunate in being able to develop my travel writing too. My articles are published on the websites: www.TransitionsAbroad.com and www.TimeTravel-Britain.com as well as in “Bridge” a Prague magazine for High School English students, and in the South African, “Diversions”. So I am fortunate in being able to combine my love of travel with earning something back after our travels.


Ian and I are both keen photographers and usually illustrate my articles with our own photos. Living in Central Europe is such a huge bonus—however, we never have enough time or money to travel as much as we would really like to!

In December, 2008, I finally went the self-publishing route and published my travel memoir, “From Africa to Buková”, through createspace.com (See details below.) The book deals with individual funny, not-so-funny & frustrating incidents during our early years as immigrants in the Czech Republic. I would ideally like to rewrite and polish it, but that will have to wait until (if ever) I get a regular publisher interested!

I send my chilled greetings to all the VAs in sunny South Africa!

Pearl Harris.


Book From Africa to Buková

may be ordered online from:
https://www.createspace.com/3359697
OR
http://www.amazon.com/ Books
OR
by contacting Pearl Harris at
ian.harris@quick.cz

Working from Home in the Czech Republic by Pearl Harris

Make your website a true representation of what you offer.

Hello everybody. I finally have a little bit of a gap today and took half an hour to update my website this morning. I thought it would be a good idea to stress to you how important it is to make sure that your website is a true representation of yourself.

I feel that if your website misrepresents you it can have an impact on how clients see you. If you are a huge transcription or VA entity, then your site should present you as such. If you are, such as myself, one person who sometimes makes use of sub-contractors, then your website should present this too - and if you don't use any sub-contractors at all, then this too should be clear. This shows the client from the start that you are honest and transparent, and it can prevent misunderstandings and problems later when you find that more (or less) is being demanded of you than you are capable of.

My site can be found at http://www.typewritetranscription.co.za/.

Non English language transcriptionists.

Urgently looking for non English language transcriptionists including - French, Spanish, Portuguese, Zulu and Urdu. Contact me directly - gpaynter@gmail.com.

Transcription for the 2010 soccer world cup and other newsworthy events

Hello everyone, this is just a quickie, a call to journalists and others needing transcription services in South Africa during the 2010 soccer world cup (and other newsworthy events - we can transcribe anything you need). Typewrite can assist with this, so please don't hesitate to get in touch with us. The sooner the arrangement is in place, the better for all. We can provide references, do tests, etc. etc.

Journalists, publications and all others welcome to contact us.