Did you know that you can make money just listening to audio recordings and typing the words out? Well, it’s actually a bit more complicated than that but that’s the gist of it. This can be your job and you can make a decent living doing it.

To make money as a transcriptionist, you will need more than the ability to type fast. Some of the skills you will need to learn include:

1. How to type fast without making mistakes.
2. How to format transcripts.
3. Proper notations.
4. Deciphering what was said when the audio is unclear.

Further, you will also need to learn how to market yourself as you cannot earn any money without clients.

Marketing Yourself to Get Clients

Succeeding as a transcriptionist will depend largely on the type of clients you choose to work with. A beginner might be tempted to look for one-off jobs and soon realize that they will be spending more time looking for jobs than actually working. Don’t let ‘looking for jobs’ be your job.

As a transcriptionist, since your job will be highly labor intensive and clearly defined, you need to find clients that can provide consistent work at fair rates so you don’t have to look for new projects to work on every day.

Some of the best people to work for are podcasters. Podcasters who upload written versions of their shows together with the audio recordings can be very fun to work with. Since they usually have their podcasts on a predictable schedule such as weekly or bi-weekly, you can take on three or four of such clients and not be worried about missing any deadlines because of an unexpected influx of work.

Prowling the Net for Jobs

If you pursue it with the right mindset, you can find very good clients on job boards. Since you know that you are not looking for one-off clients, the jobs you choose to submit proposals to will be very specific and for people who are looking to work with you for the long term.

If you have a great portfolio of work, landing such clients won’t be that hard. You should position yourself well so you stand out from the rest of other interviewees who will send in their bids.

Do You Speak Two Languages?

Media organizations are always looking for transcriptionists that can help them transcribe interviews done in a foreign language.

If you are fluent in two languages and also have good transcription skills, you stand a great opportunity to work with big-time media brands on a long-term contract basis or as a freelancer.

Finding these jobs will take some serious looking as most of them are filled through referrals. You will need to send a few emails to scope out your targets. You shouldn’t be afraid of sending out cold emails. No one will be mad that you reached out. In any case, if they were looking for a good transcriptionist, they will be glad that you reached out. Doing more than the average transcriptionist is willing to do is what will make you a success.