Six Secrets Report
1. How do they charge?
The best transcribers don’t charge by the word or by the page, they charge by the hour. This assures the transcriber that he/she will be paid fairly for the job, especially if the tape is of poor quality and hard to understand. They will be able to tell you approximately how long each minute of tape takes them to complete.
If a service charges by the page, you pay double the fee just for having a document double-spaced. And if they charge by the word, you may find additional, unnecessary words in your transcripts where they “completely misunderstood” what was said.
Some services that charge by the word will even take “shortcuts” and leave out information or make something up just to avoid spending time deciphering a hard-to-hear tape. And they should leave underline characters (which are much easier to find) to show you where they couldn’t hear or understand what was said.
2. Do they know your niche?
Most transcription services don’t understand direct response marketing, the terminology, or the people involved in it. I have been working exclusively with direct marketing experts since 1995 and am intimately familiar with the “gurus” in the field and the terminology. That means there’s less chance of any misspelled names or terms in your documents.
3. Do they offer suggestions or business ideas that may come up after listening to your tapes?
With my many years of transcribing for niche marketers, I occasionally think of an idea to improve or add to an idea discussed on a tape. I always pass those ideas along to you, which could add hundreds or thousands of dollars to your bottom line. I can also refer you to the experts in direct response marketing, because most of them are my clients.
4. Will they notify you when they receive your materials?
With the flaws that exist in delivery systems, it is important for you to know that your material arrived in good shape. A good transcription service will also give you an idea of when you can expect to receive the transcript back.
5. What will your transcripts look like when you get them back?
Some transcribers will send you a transcript that contains lengthy paragraphs that are hard to read. Worse yet, some will send you the entire transcript as one long paragraph. A good transcriber will break text up into sensible, 3- or 4-sentence paragraphs, making it easy to read and edit. There should also be a new paragraph and a notation when a new speaker begins speaking. A nicely formatted transcript means it will take you much less time to prepare it for your final product.
6. How can you find the best transcriber to do your projects?
Like any other services you need, it’s always best to ask other people you know who they use. A personal referral is like a “seal of approval” when it comes to finding the best people. You can get the opinions of those who have used the services before you, along with a detailed description of what kind of service they received.
- Sandi White
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