Per hour, per project, per page, per line or per word

[fharvey]

I'm curious as to how the per minute rate would equate to a per page rate? Any help?

[msbeauvais]

http://www.virtualassistantforums.co...tant/anisemama Thank you for posting your response! This is information that everyone transcriptionist needs. We appreciate the time you took to share your experience with all of us.

Kind regards,

Dawn

[bridiej]

I prefer to charge per audio minute - it means the client will know up front exactly what the cost will be, plus it means I can make more money than an hourly rate.

I recently did a 32 minute audio file and it took me one hour (no I dont type at 200 wpm, it was very clear and a fairly slow speaker). With this client I would have been paid $25 an hour so effectively that's all I'd have got, but by charging per audio minute I got over $39.

It doesnt work with all clients as one of mine do audio plus they might have written notes, I basically charge them an hourly rate BUT this is one of my first clients and I'm happy to keep it that way. If I had a new client approach me that did similar I'd charge them per audio minute for the audio and then an hour rate for the written content.

[debw241]

I multiply the length of the transcription by 5 i.e. if they dictate for 3 minutes - they are charged for 15. That is taking into account the additional time spent. I find it averages out - some you look up a lot of things, have problems etc / some you don't. Formatting initially is a necessary evil. Hopefully you will be able to save these and use them again - for repeat customers. -- I am interested in different ways of how people are getting paid virtually... also - watch out for those tests.

[bridiej]

I multiply the length of the transcription by 5 i.e. if they dictate for 3 minutes - they are charged for 15. That is taking into account the additional time spent. I find it averages out - some you look up a lot of things, have problems etc / some you don't. Formatting initially is a necessary evil. Hopefully you will be able to save these and use them again - for repeat customers. -- I am interested in different ways of how people are getting paid virtually... also - watch out for those tests.

That's a good way.

I agree, I find with per audio minute it averages out as some jobs you can whizz through and others seem to take forever!

[The Perfect Word]

Hi, SueAnne! I would determine how long it takes you to do those other tasks and set your per-audio-minute rate to cover that extra stuff. I have been doing this for over 14 years and up until now charged by the hour. I now offer new clients the option of per hour or per audio minute.

To figure out what I wanted my per audio minute rates to be, I kept track by the hour for different digital recordings and what the charge would be for those recordings. Then I would figure the same recordings by audio minute and what I needed to charge per minute to get a bit higher than the same amount I would charge if I was billing per hour. I did that for different types of digital recordings with different degrees of difficulty and different number of speakers. Then I had what I felt sure were per minute rates (not just one rate) that would be fair to both me and the client, regardless of what type of digital recording I had. And I also compared what I wanted to charge per minute to others to make sure I was in the ballpark. Does that make any sense? (Of course with tapes, I still charge by the hour.)

I charge extra for second passes against the recording and do my research while I'm typing, and then of course spell check and proofread.

I hope this helps and isn't too confusing!

[joannatubbs]

I find that most clients prefer to be charged by the audio minute. For a clear 60 minute audio I find it takes me 3 to 4 hours. This is to type it up and then to check it and make any corrections. If it's not clear or you have a lot of respondents talking over each other it can take a lot longer. I like the idea of charging a surcharge for difficult audio. Maybe this is the way forward as it really can bring your hourly rate down by a lot if it's taking 6 hours or so to type up one document. Hope this helps.