General Transcription Employment

Start a General Transcription Business & Gain Employment from Home.

Are you a good listener? Can you type well? Can you follow directions? Are you looking for a business to run from your own home? If you answered yes to all these questions, then you should consider starting your own General Transcription Business.

General Transcription is simply typing information that you hear from an audio file into a document format, according to the client’s specifications. You turn audio into text.

Companies are getting more advanced with the use of the internet. Audio technologies are being utilized more and more, therefore increasing the need for typed copies of projects.

Companies that are in need of general transcription are ones that regularly record teleseminars and focus group projects. Other types of audio that need transcribing are: videos, podcasts, web conferences and tutorials.

What skills and tools are needed to become a Transcriptionist?

There is no special training or certification for this type of business. A good ear and typing skills are enough to get you started. It is also important that you are able to follow directions well, as a client will specify exactly how they want the file transcribed. They might want you to exclude certain words or phrases, or they may have a preferred format for the text that you will create as you go.

An important tool that you will need is a website to market your services. Potential clients need to know that you are there to help them and a good website is a way to bring them to you.

The equipment needed for transcription includes: computer with high speed internet, word processing software, good pair of head phones, and software that will enable you to play the audio slowly. You might also want to consider a good comfortable computer chair and a foot pedal to aid in using the keyboard commands for play, stop, rewind and fast forward. A foot pedal isn’t necessary, but it can make your transcribing faster when you don’t have to stop typing to run the controls from your keyboard.

If you like to type, and you do it well, a general transcription business would be a good fit for you. Your schedule could be flexible depending on the turnaround time the client needs. Also, the low startup fees to this type of business make it a very attractive business to start from home.