email and website down

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Everybody please note my company email address and website are still down. Have asked but not had any reply as to when they might be up again. Very stressful but for business please email me on gaynorpay@gmail.com for now. Thank you

The Work At Home Woman

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Hey all.

I got interviewed by The Work At Home Woman - thank you so much, guys!!

Click here to read the interview.

I’ve been running my transcription and typing service since April 2005.
But let me go back to the start. I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur, really. I’ve always been able to think for myself and been quite independent. I have worked for bosses, but I’m not a good employee – I’m far better as an independent thinker.

Click here to read more.

Getting and giving interviews is an excellent way to get your name out there, and if you have a blog you would like to interview me on, or if you would like to feature in an interview on my blog, please email me

. 

What the world needs now...

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What the world needs now is principled people, people who can love, people who can stand up against wrongs, stand up for what's right, who can forgive, forget, if you believe in God, then try to live in the image of that God. What the world needs now is love: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfOcqlFkQvw

What have I learnt in business this year

Alison Fourie of AMF Typing shared this post earlier on today. We thought it was very interesting and beneficial.

The one thing I have learnt in business this year, and I think it’s because I have been more aware of it this year than before, is that I never stop learning, I’ve built my skills up nicely this year to be even more of a benefit to my clients. Everyone thinks typing is just typing. It’s not, I’ve improved my word processing skills considerably. I’ve taken the time to learn the little things in word, powerpoint etc, my graphics skills have improved a lot. I build graphics which I’ve no idea how to do, yet when finished my efforts are sometimes pretty good and can match a graphic designer, so I’m told. I’ve really been an asset to my clients and my clients have shown appreciation of that so it is worthwhile to go the extra mile


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Word Association

Today we decided to have a little fun by playing word association on my Facebook page.

Word association is simple. You type a word, and I type the first one that comes to mind. It's a great way to interact with likers on a non intellectual / thinking way.  It's great and interesting to see what the first word people come up with is.

 Play with us here

A word game is a good thing for a typing service to do. Transcribing all day long / proofreading / editing, words are what we do. It's nice to have a bit of fun with them too.

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Small Busines Marketing

Marketing Your Small Business 

Hi all.

This is just a quick post to remind you how important it is that you go and market your services on a regular basis. Even if you're incredibly busy with your business, you need to keep up your marketing activities. The reason for this is that you might be busy now, but it's because of marketing work you did months ago. So the marketing work you do now is what's going to keep you busy in coming months. 

Saying that, you don't need to spend a great deal on marketing, particularly in our type of industry. Too often I see too many businesses going crazy and spending too much.  They go out and buy all the bells and whistles, hundreds of T shirts and pens and brochures and banners, etc. etc. Personally I have never believed too much in the flashy bits and pieces of marketing. You need a solid website, business cards, maybe some vehicle branding, Facebook and social media. And then to go and list it all on different business directories. 

Howzit! is a brilliant place to go and advertise your services or any of your classifieds. Unlike most other services like this they allow you to bump up your ads every day. http://www.howzit.co.za/

Remember that you can purchase my ebook - Working From Home as A Transcriptionist in South Africa. 

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Digital Voice Recorder: Which do I need?

Audio recording: When you are planning to record interviews that you know are going to be transcribed or which you would like to store on your computer, make sure that you buy a device that allows this functionality. Cheaper voice recorders do not allow this.  You are looking for a device which employs functionality like this:
Record in MP3 or PCM or WMA

Rapidly transfer recordings and data via USB 2.0
USB powered recording for sparing battery power
Front speaker for crystal-clear voice playback
The more powerful front speaker offers a potent, rich and crystal clear sound experience.
Large, easy-to-read backlit display which allows you to view all file info at a glance

This is going to save you time and money.

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Audio File formats working on Express Scribe

Hi all. I received this question regarding transcription and decided to answer it on my blog. 

Question: "I definitely want to include transcription as a service later on in my business.  I am in the process of learning and reading all there is about transcription.

I would say the best way to get into it all would be to actually do transcription exercises by transcribing from audio files that you load onto Express Scribe.

Now that is where my problem starts.  The only thing I can get loaded on Express Scribe is songs from a CD.  Now when I try to load a voice recording that was recorded with a cellular phone ( Samsung Galaxy Note) , and then emailed to me, I can not seem to get it loaded.  It says "the 3ga format is not supported by Express Scribe".

Either I am trying to load voice recordings that can not be loaded on Express Scribe, or I am going about this all wrong.

Is there certain software I need to make audio files like voice recordings able to load onto Express Scribe?  I probably need to save the voice recordings as another type of file or I do not know!  Could it be that it must be voice recordings from certain devices other than a cellular phone?  I do not know what I must do to get it right as I do not even know what I`m doing wrong.  I am really eager to do this!

Please can you give me some advice on this matter?  It would be greatly appreciated!"

Hi there. I think the basic answer to this is that Express Scribe is not compatible with all file formats.  See here to see which ones they are compatible with.  The paid or pro version of Express Scribe can play more formats than the free one can. 

However, all is not lost. One of my favourite programs is a free download called Any Audio Converter. It can also be a bit of a misnomer, as it does NOT convert ANY audio and I actually think that 3ga is one of the ones it doesn't do. But it does convert most of them into formats that can be played with the free Express Scribe. However, that doesn't really answer your question.  So here's what does. The internet is our friend. It tells us the answer to most things, including how to get 3ga converted to MP3, which works in Express Scribe. See this link, the author of which has found the solution to your particular problem: http://www.blinkycab.com/forum/index.php?topic=819.0

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Please remember to like us on Facebook and follow the blog. You are more than welcome to reference our material or follow our blog but please link back to us.

What to do during maternity

This question came in from a transcriptionist this morning. Interesting one, answers? (I have removed her email but will forward comments) Morning Ladies (and Gents – not sure?)

I am in a bit of a predicament.  I am having my third baby end April.  Even now, finding the time to work is a huge mission.  You other work at home moms must know what I’m on about.  So do I close down altogether?  Or do I find a handful of typists to assist me until I get back on my feet.  I don’t really want to close down altogether, this company is very close to my heart.  

So ... I am looking for a handful of people that I can try out until the end of the year.   I will proof read everything that is done for me, for a while, but then I’m hoping by the time baby comes, I shouldn’t have to proof read at all, because by then it’s done the way I want it.    I will give them a full set of instructions on how I set out my transcripts and any other rules etc to help them along.

So ... after all that, are there any ladies out there looking for more work?  If you are interested, could you send me a bit of a CV, nothing formal.  Some references would be great too.  Also your rates – urgent and standard.

Thanks for taking the time out to read this.   I hope to hear from some of you soon.  You may mail me directly at the below email address.

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Transcription and typing services Johannesburg

WE SPECIALISE IN TRANSCRIPTION, TYPING, SOCIAL MEDIA, WRITING, PROOFREADING AND ALL OTHER BUSINESS ADMIN SERVICES! BOOKKEEPING / ACCOUNTING SOLUTION PROVIDED

Contact us: gaynor@typewritetranscription.co.za / +27834424689 / Fax 0880116155633

Please follow our blog and we encourage you to share our posts as guest posts on your blog as long as you link back to us.

And you know when Mari Smith talks to us AGAIN we are getting places!

Please remember to like us on Facebook and follow the blog. You are more than welcome to reference our material or follow our blog but please link back to us.

Non-traditional Marketing

Today I would like to talk briefly about offline marketing or non traditional marketing. I must admit that when I started my business in 2005, and for many years thereafter, I marketed entirely online. And this works great. Initially, I used my website, this blog, my Facebook business page (when it became available), submitted to directories like Gumtree, etc, etc. It was a 24 hour job to get my name out there, and I didn't rest, doing it night after night while I had my full time job, and day and night after night after I began doing it full time.

However, last year a friend of mine started his own business and I followed his progress with interest, noting his style of marketing his business offline. He went the whole hog getting Tshirts done, pens and other corporate products made. I don't necessarily advocate this type of approach when your business is going to be mainly online, but it does depend on the type of service you offer and how big your company is going to be.

At that stage I remembered that I HAD done some offline marketing in my time of starting the business. I printed notices, brochures, etc and distributed them at all the local shopping centres including pinning them up on notice boards. I walked the streets of our suburb flat distributing brochures and telling people what I did.

Last year however on the back of my friend promoting his business, I entered into a barter agreement with a local printing company and had them print brochures for me. These I hand out EVERYWHERE.

What do you do for your offline marketing activities?

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Santa Shoebox

Hey everybody, 

There are many people who would like to give a little extra at Christmas but don't know how. It's not easy to get to a place to drop off donations, or you don't know specific organisations or places or people to give to, or you need a little direction. 

The Santa Shoebox project needs your help. And it's also something your company can do .... to fill that corporate social investment need. 

The Santa Shoebox Project is an inspiring community initiative of the Kidz2Kidz Trust (IT2671/2009, PBO 930031301 Section18A NPO 102-098) that co-ordinates the donation, collection and distribution of personalized gifts at Christmas time to underprivileged children across South Africa and Namibia. 

Participating is a profoundly valuable and personal experience with each donor selecting the child he or she chooses to pledge a Santa Shoebox for by name, gender and age. 

 

They have 85,000 boxes pledged and they need to get to 100,000. We can't have some children not receiving anything while their friends do. Get to it!! Typewrite Transcription is fully in support of this initiative and salutes the Santa Shoebox organisers. Please remember to like us on Facebook and follow the blog. You are more than welcome to reference our material or follow our blog but please link back to us.

Business Communication

Good morning all, this is a very quick post but it's about communication particularly in a business scenario.

Communication done well is a very effective business tool, and done badly, it can be dangerous. With all the forms of media both online and offline that are at our disposal today, it's very important to get our message across in an effective, concise and clear way, particularly if we are using it for business purposes.

My short and brief rule of thumb that I tell clients is the following: Use your website for static things that don't change much like your contact details and your about us page. Use your blog for longer things that you want to communicate like new products, industry norms and standards, information you want to share. Use your Facebook page for day to day things and to engage your fanbase in conversation. And then, link them all together and ensure that they all impart the same sort of general feel.

This post was inspired by a very ambiguous communication I received this morning, about concert tickets which left me wondering whether the person had them, wanted them or couldn't stand them!

I have research interviews to transcribe today so I'm out of here - have a great day all!  Please remember to click through my site and get in touch if you need my services.  Please follow our blog and like us on Facebook

Available job

Minute takers in Johannesburg sought for the end of this week. Please contact client direct - I don't know any more about this job and don't have time to answer questions :-) Levison 0764946941

RSS directories for Search Engine Optimisation

Hi guys, I've discovered something new.

 Part of what is needed to get websites seen by search engines is backlinks and the quality of your site rating. I tested my site rating and found it wasn't as high as I'd like it to be. I then discovered that there is a whole aspect of something I haven't been doing - submitting my RSS feed of my blog to directories. Apparently by doing this I'll vastly increase my backlinks and I should get quality ones as well. This is how you find your RSS feed for your blog (assuming you use blogger) http://blogname.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss You can use this to do some free automatic submissions for you. What this means is that people will be able to visit these directories, find your site or other sites they are interested in and have your site's feed turn up on their homepage or on their own site.. so keep updating your blogs.

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.