General Transcription - Getting Started

[Elite Assistants LLC]

Thanks for the info. I was thinking about adding this to my list of services.

[cjgcortez]

Thank you soo much. Need to browse these stuffs first. I would like Transcription to be the first service I'll be offering to my future clients.

[kdbbiz]

I wanted to try this out at Mechanical Turk as well but since I am Canadian it looks like I would be getting an Amazon gift card for pay. I don't need that. Does anyone else have experience not getting money from them?

Also, most of the things to purchase on Amazon that I may be interested in, only ship to the U.S. so what is the sense....

Guess I need to find something like this for Canadians. Does anyone know of a place?

[Jean-VA]

Very interesting. I am going to give Casting Words a try as well. Thanks for the info.

[GwenHill]

Hi
I've been to mturk, but when I click on 'download' the audio file, I can listen to the file, but I can't download it onto my PC so that I can transcribe using my pedals. Does anyone know how I can do this? Thank you so much, Gwen

[Horizon Virtual Assistance]

Thanks for letting us know about this site. I haven't completed transcription jobs in a long time, so I want to check that I am up to par before I properly offer it as a service.

[hbplifestyle]

Can someone share where get started finding transcription equipment. Someone asked me but I don't have transcription experience, just subcontracting which isn't my niche.

[The Perfect Word]

Hi, Collette! Are you looking for equipment for transcribing tapes (micro and/or standard), or do you need software to transcribe digital audio (like MP3, Windows Media Player, WAV, etc.) and CD's? And then there's software for transcribing video/DVD's.

A great free program for transcribing digital audio and video is Express Scribe. I've used it for years. It's not as good with video options and accepted formats as some of the ones you have to pay for (like Start/Stop), though. And you really need to buy a pedal that connects to your computer to use with the software. (The equipment for tapes comes with a pedal.) It's possible to use hot keys for backing up, etc., but it quickly gets really frustrating doing it that way (as least for me). If you need equipment, sometimes local stores like Staples, Office Depot, etc., carry transcribers for micro and standard cassettes. If not, you can find them online. I used Panasonic ones because, to be honest, they were cheaper than anything else when I started out! LOL

Love to help!

Pam

[DianeNC]

I've done transcription work more as a subcontractor over the last few years, but would like to start my own transcription or VA service at this point in time. I may have the opportunity to become a "preferred vendor" at a local brick & mortar company to do transcription work for them, but before things even get to that point, I have some questions I was hoping fellow members here could help me with?

(If I'm posting this in the wrong thread, please let me know, and I'll make sure to repost this in the proper place.)

(1) Do I need to set myself up as an LLC, for legal purposes, before submitting a proposal for my services to something like the brick & mortar potential job? (Is that where one receives an EIN, when they do the whole LLC thing?)

(2) Do I need to come up with a name for my service/business, and if so, is there a website (or business) where I submit my proposed name to see if it's already being used, and if not register the name?

Thanks, in advance, for any/all advice!!

Diane