Finding steady income as a transcriptionist can be tricky for the first few months in determining where to find clients and ensuring that you have enough work to fill all the hours you want to work.
The trick lies in finding a specialty and gaining experience and contacts in that market. Rather than calling yourself just a “transcriptionist,” it helps a lot to be able to say that you have experience with a particular kind of transcription.
Here are the various types of tasks a transcriber might do, along with a few tips on getting clients.
The Different Types of Transcribing Specialties
* Medical transcriber – One of the most common types of transcription. Your job is to transcribe audios from hospitals and other medical professionals and turn them into texts. These can be from telephone conversations, operating rooms or any other range of things.
* Legal transcriber – A recorded meeting with a client will often need to be transcribed.
* Marketing focus groups – Marketing meetings produce a lot of audios. Executives don’t want to listen to audios; they just want the most relevant parts in printed text. Focus groups tend to need quite a few transcribers.
* Insurance transcriber – Telephone conversations with insurance companies or other auditory reports often need to be turned into text.
* Business transcriber – Business owners who host webinars, audio seminars or interviews often need them transcribed.
The list goes on and on. It’s generally best to pick one industry and stick to that industry. For example, if you choose to become a medical transcriber, you’ll have a much easier time landing work from other hospitals once you have your first.
Finding Clients
There are a few places you can find clients. First would be your own network of contacts. If you have contacts with business owners, lawyers or doctors, that’s a very good place to start. If you have a specific specialty, start networking in those circles or directly contact them by telephone or email. You can also find clients online. Post an advertisement for your services on Craigslist, eLance, Guru, O Desk and Freelance. These are websites that people go to in order to find freelancers.
Finally, once you get a client, be sure to do a great job and ask for referrals. You will earn most of your money from a handful of repeat clients. Most of the work in finding clients comes in the beginning when you’re just getting off the ground. After a few months, you’ll have a few steady clients that make up the bulk of your income, plus a few side jobs that come and go.
Finding a steady stream of income as a transcriptionist takes effort to start with, but once you get your first several clients, it gets much easier going forward.
