What does quoting per audio hour mean?

When I quote I always quote per audio hour. This morning I had a response that my rate was higher than the person's consulting hourly rate. Please note: Quotes per audio hour mean per hour that has been recorded, which can take up to 4 - 5 hours to transcribe - it does not refer to the hours that I work.

Bookkeeping Services

In keeping with our policy of always looking to meet the changing needs of our client base, we have negotiated a deal and are now able to bring you full bookkeeping services together with the other virtual and administrative services we offer.  

These include:

•	Bookkeeping Services
•	Business plans and planning
•	Advice
•	Support
•	Company Registration
•	Income Tax Registration
•	Compensation Commissioner Registration
•	VAT Registration
•	UIF Registration
•	PAYE Registration

Now you don't have to be left struggling with all the books! 

Author series cover pics

I've decided to highlight some of my favourite authors in a series of cover pics. First one is Helene Hanff the author of 84, Charing Cross Road. This has always been and will always be my favourite book. Like her, my dream is to travel - to New York, OR to England:

"“But I don't know, maybe it's just as well I never got there. I dreamed about it for so many years. I used to go to English movies just to look at the streets. I remember years ago a guy I knew told me that people going to England find exactly what they go looking for. I said I'd go looking for the England of English Literature, and he nodded and said: "It's there.”

The picture of Marks and Co has always fascinated me. What deep mysterious treasures and mysteries would I find should I walk through the door? Where was that young woman rushing off to, that she took no notice of arguably what was to becom

e one of the most famous bookshops in the world? What were the gents looking and did they buy? Was Frank Doel in the shop at the time? Reading one of Helene's letters maybe? I will never walk through the door of that shop as it was demolished shortly after the book was published. The shop and the staff, and indeed, Helene, live on in our memories.

Client Reference

Just a quick post before the day really begins, it's always nice to wake up to a great reference from a customer:

Bernard - Writer / Psychologist:

I am so grateful to you. Of course, now we have made contact I will most certainly find more work for you.

I rather enjoy typing books and manuscripts. It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "reading on the job".

On that note, check out Damaria Senne Media (Damaria Senne is an author and publisher of books, mainly children's) for some great specials and up and coming competitions. 

Excerpt from virtual industry e-book

An excerpt from my e-book "Working From Home as a Transcriptionist in South Africa" which retails for R120. Contact me gpaynter@telkomsa.net for more info and to buy.

STARTING OUT



Now that you’ve decided what aspect of transcription you’re going to do, let’s get started!


It’s a great idea to start out part time if you possibly can and build things up slowly, however if you have lost your job or have some  financial backing to see yourself through some times of setting up, then it may be viable for you to start out full time.

You will probably get many people who tell you it won’t work. Those are people who either want to manipulate you in some way or have employee mindsets. If you go into this with an entrepreneurial mindset and the belief that it’s what you want to do and if you are prepared to work harder than you’ve ever worked before — as Shakespeare puts it, “suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”, then there is no
reason why it should not work. Be warned however, this is not for people who are lazy and want things to fall into their lap. It has to be fought for, and things can happen for you from day one or from year six. Fighting for something you believe in means going against the flow if necessary and surrounding yourself with people who believe in it as opposed to listening to negativity.

"Gaynor Paynter has written a down to earth, user-friendly guide based on her own personal experience. It’s easy to read and mostly comprehensive." – Michelle Nel, freelance environmentalist journalist. 

Interview with South African children's author Damaria Senne

We conducted an interview with Damaria Senne of Damaria Senne Media, South African author of many books including the children's book "The Doll That Grew"

What inspired you to start writing?

I knew I wanted to write when I was in my early teens, when I figured out that someone had to write the books I was reading. But my career path seemed set at the time – I was going to complete matric, go to varsity and either study medicine or do a BSc and work as a scientist. I even started a Bsc degree. But I was not happy in this path and during my second year at university, I began to write for the student paper. I also landed a job as a TV presenter for a daily children’s show, which exposed me to scripts and writing for children. Around that time, I was also teaching Sunday school. So writing my first book – a children’s book- seemed to be a natural progression considering my interests. I was still a science student at the time I wrote the book though.


What was the name of your first book?

My first published children’s book was The Doll That Grew. Yep, it’s the same book that I released recently as a Kindle ebook. It was first published by Macmillan South Africa in 2003.

The first book I wrote though, was a romance book. I don’t remember its title, but I remember it was about falling in love and child abuse. I sent it to publishers to consider publish it and the input was positive. However, local publishers were not looking at romance novels at that time (late 80s and early 90s).

What current projects do you have under way?

My projects are divided into client projects (i.e. commissioned work that pays my bills) and personal projects, where I write and publish books that I initiate.

At the moment I’m in the final stages of editing Tselane And The Giant, writing a course I’m co-writing for a client, managing the publishing process of 6 books for a client and overseeing the publication of a novel by another writer, that will be released under the banner of my media company, Damaria Senne Media.

Where can people find out more about you?

You can learn more about me and my company at http://www.damariasennemedia.com/ and on my blog at http://damariasenne.blogspot.com/

Can you quote one of the best parts of your books for us and where can people buy your books?

Here is a short excerpt from The Doll That Grew, available on Amazon

Six boys and three girls took part in the car race.

“On your marks, get set, ready, go!” the race-starter shouted. All the kids sped off, pushing their cars as fast as they could.

It was difficult to see through the thick cloud of dust to tell who was in the lead.

The younger kids ran after them egging them on, followed by some of the village dogs barking with excitement.

The trick was to steer the wire car as fast as you could on the dusty, bumpy street to the end of the street, careful not to bend any of the wheels. You needed two things to stand a chance of winning– a strong car with wheels that would not jam or bend when they hit the rocks on the street, and a driver who could run very fast.

Neo was a very fast runner, but could she outrun the boys whilst steering the car?

Neo had only one boy ahead of her in the race. She could win! Neo could feel the sting of the dust in her eyes as she looked back quickly to see how far ahead she was of the rest.

Satisfied with her position, she turned to focus on the last few meters and then it happened... Neo found herself rolling in the dust like tumbleweed with her brother’s car following.

The barking dogs, screaming children and tit-tit-tit of the wire wheels speeding past all sounded like one maddening noise in her ears, as she slowed down to a stop.

She wasn’t sure whether to focus on the embarrassment of what had just happened, or the pain from her grazed skin. She limped home dragging Pule’s mangled car behind her.

“See what you’ve done!” he shouted, blinded to his sister’s injuries.

“I didn’t do it on purpose!” Neo shouted back at him. “Why are you being so mean to me?”

Her legs and one arm now had a pattern of drying trickles of blood and dust, and her clothes and braids were a mess.

“You should have been more careful. You said that you would take care of the car when you borrowed it. Now look at it!”

Pule picked up his smashed car, handling it with care.

My other ebooks are:

Waking Up Grandma



How to get quoted in the media


With the way the technological world is going, what advice do you have for young writers of today?

a) The resources to help you to improve your craft are freely available online. Use them. However, always check the credentials of the person giving you advice, because bad advice can be very damaging to your career.

b) Be adventurous and try out new ways of doing things. For example, find out what ebook publishers can offer you. Consider self-publishing if you have the resources to do it. BUT, traditional publishing is not dead – so don’t rule out opportunities to explore that avenue ( and other old-style ways of doing things) as long as it works for you.

How do you see the art of reading and writing surviving into the future?

More people are going to read from their electronic devices ( ebook readers, smartphones, iPads etc). But, the print book will survive, I believe. Do you remember the song, ‘Video Killed The Radio Star, by The Buggles? Well, it wasn’t quite true, was it? We still have radio stars ( think DJ Fresh, john Robbie, Redi Tlhabi). By the same token, I think the reports of the death of the dead tree book are exaggerated.

Damaria Senne of Damaria Senne Media, South African author of many books including the children's book "The Doll That Grew"

Job today and tomorrow

Carcer International is looking for assistance from someone to capture invoices in Quickbooks, and organising documents and do some filing. They would like someone onsite possibly today and tomorrow, the location is Willow Acres Estate Silverlakes Pretoria East, contact number +27716748166, Jacques du Preez,, Carcer International: www.carcerinternational.co.za. Please contact the client direct if you can assist.

Drop caps / large initial capitals

Hi all I thought I would share this as we are typing rather a lot of books lately.

This is what's known as a Drop Cap, (large initial capital) and is done in the following way in MS Word.

1.Click in the paragraph that you want to begin with a drop cap.  The paragraph must contain text. 
2.On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Drop Cap. 

3.Click Dropped or In margin.

Telkom Hellkom

This was posted by a friend of mine on Hello Peter today.

I have had to retrench 3 staff in the past 12 months due to Telkom exchanges being down. I have to retrench another person end of this month. We are a 2 small registered businesses (previously tax paying but now running at loss) completely reliant on the internet and voice calls for success. I have now put my house on the market and am taking my car in to be sold on Saturday.

Telkom is killing us. I am now on 3G but we can barely afford the ONE modem we now have, we have 2 small businesses here 1 3G Modem not enough

Middle of Jan to end Feb one of our small business Telkom exchange went down. We lost 80 % turnover compared to previous year.
Our other small business Telkom Exchange has been down since 12 March 2012, it came back up at 10am 13 March and went back down 4pm 13 March call numbers 10CTK120312 12 March and then 13 March 740CTK130312 still unresolved.

Below is a list of ONLY the call numbers that I have kept a record of when Telkom Exchange has been DOWN.
227CTK170811
299CTK221110
304CTK221110
20630K
206CTK291110
140CTK29111022
570CTK221010
336CTK090710
255CTK140610

It is so sad, can anyone save small business from Telkom for our country?
Please Peter help.

How is small business supposed to survive the ineptitude of Telkom? I have 10 reference numbers from neighbours that I am going to try and intercede for. Wish me luck.

TAVASA - Virtual forum

Hi everybody just to notify you that I (Gaynor Paynter from Typewrite Transcription and Typing Services CC) have again become a moderator of the Transcriptionists and Virtual Assistants of South Africa Forum (TAVASA) after a leave of absence of a while. My huge thanks to Alison Fourie for her continued support, it's a pleasure to be a comoderator with you again. Email tavasa@yahoogroups.com to join up to the forum.

Transcription video

Gaynor Paynter is the owner of Typewrite Transcription and Typing Services CC provoding a full virtual and online marketing suite of services from transcription and typing services to online social media marketing services.  

Services covered include:

- Transcription

- Typing

- Proofreading

- Editing

- CV Writing

- Social media marketing

- Website development

- figg Excel Accounting software (with the option of bookkeeping services included)

We customise our services to meet the needs of your business.

Author of an e-book, "Working from Home as a Transcriptionist in South Africa" which retails for R120.

Contact us:

- +27834424689

- email gpaynter@telkomsa.net

- Skype gaynorp

Our websites:

www.typewritetranscription.co.za

www.talkingpointmedia.co.za

www.typewrite.blogspot.com

www.talkingpointmedia.blogspot.com

2010 Afrivan Nominees:
Achievement Award Nominee Category
Gaynor Paynter - Typewrite Transcription VA Regional Award Nominee Category
Gaynor Paynter- TAVASA

2012 Worldwide VA Services Special Report - Survey.

Hi Gaynor,

We’re about to distribute survey data collection forms to initiate research leading up to the 2012 Worldwide VA Services Special Report. We want to invite all VA professionals and forum members to participate. Would you please mention this opportunity on your blog?

All responses will be treated as confidential and company proprietary. We will never release any pricing information associated with a particular person, business, or company. Everyone who participates will receive the statistical results for those areas in which they provide input. The complete survey results will be available as a Special Report near the end of April. Participants will be able to purchase the complete report at deep discount. (They’ll still get the statistical results for their own input.) All one needs to do to participate is to click off a request to receive the survey form. We’ll send it as an email attachment in RTF. We anticipate over 1,000 active participants.

Warm regards,

Robert Brenner, MSEE, MSSM
Brenner Information Group
www.brennerbooks.com
brenner@brennerbooks.com

Scribe needed

Hi guys, I need help with the following query. If you can assist with this, please contact me at gpaynter@telkomsa.net. Gauteng based. 

Dear Gaynor,

It was a pleasure speaking to you. Thank you for the offer to help source a  good scribe for me. The details are as follows:

Requirements:

·         Fast accurate scribe with the ability to listen and type onto live screen at the same time. EXCEPTIONAL WORD POWERPOINT AND EXCEL  SKILLS

·         A reasonable understanding of strategic planning processes –must be able to quickly understand and follow the content

·         Must be able to produce a first draft report a day after the workshop

·         Workshop will run for three days- usually client chooses an away from office venue- requiring sleeping over for the three days- the cost of  accommodation travel and meals is borne by client. I will require the services for an extra two days. Maximum therefore will be five days.

·         A mature and highly self driven and professional individual.

I look forward to your response.

Kind regards

World Wide Virtual Service Billing Rates

Robert Brenner is the Publisher: Pricing Tactics and Small Business Guide to Pricing and the

Manager of  Real Prices Confidential(RPC) online database.

He recently published the following which he gave me permission to publish. Of note is the fact that South Africa doesn't feature.

I don’t hav stats but my gut feel says that there are more Vas in SA than in the Ukraine, and Hungary. The Ukraine’s population is 46 million, Hungary a paltry R10 million.  Our population is 49 million. It would be interesting to find out what percentage of people are Vas and if there eare more in SA or in these countries. After all, Hungary also have political differences and I don’t think can be considered first world. Unless, like the Chinese government, their focus is on education and they have free internet, I cn’t see how they can have more than us. It leads me to wonder whether this bears out something that my colleague Alison Fourie of AMF Typing - who put me in touch with Robert - and I have always wondered. Do South African VAs NOT ADVERTISE?

World Wide Virtual Service Billing Rates

Based on almost 6,000 prices that we’ve collected (most in the last 6 weeks) a Quick Look analysis shows the following:

Sample size: 5,982 companies (and growing)

Price Range: $5-$300/hour

Average Price: $27.66/hour

Countries represented: 21

Top Countries Advertising on the Internet (listed by number of ads found):

USA

Canada

India

Australia

UK

France

Hungary

Pakistan

Ukraine

The highest average hourly rate was $35.80 for the UK, then $31.50 for Canada. The U.S. came in with an average of $27.69. Billing rates for India averaged $9 per hour. Details for all of these prices are in our Real Prices Confidential database (RPC). RPC will be used to develop the 2012 Special International Report on Virtual Service Prices< /i> (available this month). If you’re thinking about outsourcing work or creating a strategic partnership with a company offshore, these may be helpful to you.

Hopefully this information will help you start 2012 focused on increased sales and profit and ready to prosper in the New Year!

Best wishes,

Robert Brenner, MSEE, MSSM

Brenner Information Group

www.brennerbooks.com

Publisher: Pricing Tactics and Small Business Guide to Pricing

Manager: Real Prices Confidential(RPC) online database

P.S. We’re also developing a Special International Report on Web Service Prices. Are you interested?

Public Access to Information Act

Hi all, you've probably heard about PAIA, so what is it and what must you do?


From the South African Human Resources Council Website:

All South African businesses must comply with PAIA – The Public’s Access to Information Act. PAIA legislation creates the framework to the right to access information enshrined in section 32 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996. The purpose of this legislation is to promote a culture of transparency, accountability and good governance both in the private and public sectors. Therefore, the Act places specific compliance requirements on both state institutions and private sector. See here for more information: http://www.sahrc.org.za/home/index.php?ipkContentID=70&ipkMenuID=51