Just How Important Are Typing Skills for Transcriptionists?

Many people would argue that typing skills are the foundation for becoming a succesful transcriptionist. I would disagree.

I am a career transcriptionist, earning a competitive full-time income, and I am a very, very poor typist.

• No matter how many times I try, I can't seem to get the hang of keeping my fingers on the proper home keys and using the proper fingers to


• I hunt and peck, constantly making errors and having to backspace along the way.


• On typing tests, I can sometimes hit 75 WPM, if – and only if – I concentrate and use text expanders. However, in reality, I probably type closer to 55-60 WPM. I can't even imagine how slow I was when I first started!

So how have I made this my career if I haven't mastered one of the most basic skillsets? To put it simply, I've compensated.

• I use AutoCorrect for my common typing errors, such as jsut instead of just and Iv'e instead of I've.


• More importantly, I have thousands of text expanders in my ShortKeys list, saving me hundreds of key strokes


• Although my typing is still far from perfect, I've stuck with it and made definite improvements over time.

Don't believe me? Watch this...

ShortKeys Giveaway 2!

We're very excited to announce our second ShortKeys giveaway sponsored by the maker of ShortKeys, Insight Software Solutions. Anne won our first giveaway, and we hope she is beginning to see all the added benefits that a text expander program offers. You can see how we utilize ShortKeys on a daily basis by viewing our lists and our text expanders in action posts.

We recently went over an added benefit of ShortKeys: the ability to create multiline expansions and what to remember when you create and utilize them. Therefore, to enter this contest, tell us what the longest text expander you use is. No need to type out the whole thing if it's REALLY long, but give us a clue as to the content or a word/line count.

The contest will run until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, October 12. We will pick a winner from all the comments left using Random.org. Good luck!

Résumé Critique Giveaway!

We introduced a new service by offering free résumé critiques with the purchase of General Transcription 101 for a limited time. Now we want to give one lucky reader the chance to have their résumé critiqued for free!

To enter the contest, just leave us a comment here at Transcription Talk with any comment about the blog. You could tell us what you'd like to see us write about, where you think we could improve, what your favorite part of the blog is or even give us a poll idea for our weekly poll. Whatever your comment or suggestion is, just leave it as a comment to this post and you'll have a chance to get your résumé critiqued by the three of us for free.

The contest will run through Sunday, October 5th, at 11:59 p.m. EST. We look forward to hearing from you, and good luck!

A Look Back at September

September has been a busy month here at Transcription Talk! We launched our ebook in late August, and we've sold over 35 copies so far with a lot of positive feedback. We have several affiliates selling the books on their own blogs and forums as well, and we're excited to start marketing it more widely ourselves as well. We truly believe that this book contains the information necessary for the reader to get started as a work-at-home transcriptionist, and we can't wait to hear the success stories of those who've purchased it.

Last week we launched our redesigned blog as well. We think it's cleaner and simpler to navigate, and we hope it encourages you to come visit us more often, browsing the archives and leaving comments on posts. We love to hear from you about the topics we cover that are helpful, the different ways you approach things and topics you'd like to see covered.

We've continued look at the many purposes of commas and will continue through October along with other grammar tips, such as distinguishing between homonyms and common grammar mistakes. If you have a grammar question that hasn't been covered yet, let us know, and we'll do our best to cover it.

Tara launched a series on budgeting and the financial factors that play into being a work-at-home mom and how to determine if it's feasible for your family. She's covered tracking your expenses and then analyzing them and will be looking at creating a budget, the ways you save money just by staying home and ways to cutback your expenses.

In addition, we've talked about getting started, hardware and software, and have quite a few posts on maintaining professionalism as an independent contractor. As always, we continue to offer tips for using text expanders and add to our lists of text expanders to help you come up with your own. Look for another ShortKeys giveaway starting on October 6th!

We're also excited to announce that we now have more than 215 subscribers via e-mail and blog readers. We continue to be committed to helping you work smarter and earn more, and we appreciate your confidence in us!

Looking forward to another great month in October!

New Poll – What is Your Preferred Style of Headphones?

What style of headphones you use is a very personal choice. What works for someone else might not be comfortable for you, but hearing why people have chosen a certain style can be a huge help when you're determining what style to select for yourself. So after you vote in the poll located on the inner right sidebar on Transcription Talk, make sure to come back and and leave us a comment about why it's your preferred style!

Poll Results – Do You Use a Pedal?

It was great to hear from you all in this week's poll about who uses a pedal. It looks like most of you started out using one and still use one today. The answer I found most interesting was the three of you who started out using one but no longer do. We'd love to hear why you switched to using hotkeys!

If you're still trying to decide whether to purchase a pedal or not and are working regularly as a transcriptionist, we encourage you to make the investment. All three of us used the hotkeys when we started transcribing, and we were all hesitant to invest in a pedal because we felt like we had mastered the hotkeys and it would not be worth the learning curve. However, there is no doubt that using a pedal is an easy skill to pick up and will undoubtedly increase your transcription speed. There are many reputable sellers selling new pedals (the Infinity IN-USB-1 is our pedal of choice) on eBay, which is where I bought my last pedal from.

If you're just getting started, it's okay to just use the hotkeys while you gain experience and make the decision as to whether this is a career you want to pursue. But once you begin working regularly, be sure to make the switch because you'll find that it enables you to work smarter and faster and therefore earn more.

Software Review – Google Chrome

Google recently launched their own open source browser. At first look, the browser seems really minimalist, which is the draw for many people. Not cluttered with buttons, there's nearly nothing at the top of the Chrome browser. Plus, Chrome is fast.

Some functionality that I do like, on the home page it lists your "most visited" web pages. I like the mini screen shots that appear for each one in the boxes when they start auto-populating. The concept itself seems very convenient, especially if you have frequent sites with similar names and you have to either find your bookmark for them or type most of the web address to get it to pull up in your address bar before it pulls it up.

Also, you can see that Google checked and listed my most recent bookmarks even though I haven't imported them yet into Chrome. Do I find this a little creepy? Sure, but Google sees all. Now that I've done it, importing my bookmarks was really easy, and Google also gave me options to import search engines, browsing history and all of my saved passwords, making the transition to a new browser nearly seamless.

Google Chrome also features an "incognito" mode where your browsing history and cookies will not be saved after closing the window. Google claims it's good for planning surprises and birthday gifts. Ahem. Firefox also offers this as a plug-in, and the beta version of IE8 as it as well. My biggest joy was that I can log into more than one Gmail account by having one open in an incognito window and one in the regular Chrome window. This is a HUGE deal for me because of how many Gmail accounts I use for various things and my preference to always have one of them open. Instead of being forced to open an IE7 window to achieve this, I can now open multiple within Chrome itself (or use Chrome in tandem with Firefox).

Some things that make it fun. The "OmniBox" is pretty neat. The bar at the top is a URL or search box and will do both without stopping to ask you for directions. Just type in your search term or your website and away we go. The tabs have a variety of options, and Chrome will ask you if you want to open your tabs from the last browsing session, something I LOVE for the times when I have 10 tabs open for a research-heavy transcript I'm in the middle of and want to restart or shut down to give my poor computer a break in the middle of the night. Additionally, Chrome is created to avoid crashing by running every window, tab and plug-in in its own environment. This way, if one web page has issues, you won't crash the browser and lose all your tabs.

I'd have to say I like Chrome and the features it offers, the minimalist view and it's ability to seamlessly transition from my other browsers. However, it is still a beta, and a first beta, and it's going to take a while for me to see if I'd ever give up my beloved Firefox. I can tell you that I will be using it to open my Gmail accounts and for use as a backup browser in place of IE7. As for IE8, if you think I'm downloading anything in a beta mode from Microsoft you are very mistaken. You can search for a software review of that one from somewhere else.

New Poll – Do You Use a Pedal?

This week, we want to get an idea of how many of you use pedals versus hotkeys for controlling your audio. Vote in the poll in the left sidebar at Transcription Talk and then come leave us a comment telling us why you do or don't use a pedal!

Poll Results – How Do You Prefer to Have Work Assigned?

It appears that the majority of people prefer to request a specified amount of work from their contracts, followed closely by logging in to grab available work. People also gave more detailed explanations for why they voted the way they voted here. Everyone has their own reasons for voting the way they do, and it is always nice to see the different reasons for different preferences.

Thanks so much for your participation!

New Poll – How Do You Prefer To Have Work Assigned?

Every company has their own way of doing things and assigning work to their subcontractors. The question is which way do you prefer? Do you like to request a certain amount of work and have it sent to you? Do you prefer to log in to a central server or hub and grab jobs as they become available? Is it better to have scheduled times where you log in and wait for work to be available for you to do? Then there is the random request to see if you are available as work becomes available. Perhaps you prefer to have several of these contracts and juggle them all to create a balance.

Whichever way you prefer, I'm sure you have your reasons. Feel free to comment and let us know what they are, or if you choose other, feel free to let us know what the way you prefer to have your work handed out to you is.

Thanks for voting!

Have You Subscribed?

For those of you who are new to Transcription Talk, welcome! As always, we'd love to hear from you at transcriptiontalk -at- gmail -dot- com.

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Or if you'd prefer to get a daily digest of the current day's posts in your inbox, you can subscribe via e-mail.

Win a Copy of ShortKeys!!!

You've seen it in action and seen our lists. Now you can win your own personal copy of ShortKeys to try it out firsthand!

We're so excited to be offering this awesome giveaway sponsored by Insight Software Solutions, the maker of ShortKeys. ShortKeys will allow you to increase your productivity by setting up text expanders with its flexible, easy-to-use program.

So how can you win? We've made it super easy. Just leave us a comment on this post telling us what your favorite, most useful text expander is. I'd have to say that mine is yk = you know, because, you know, people are always saying you know!

So let's hear it! The contest will run through 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, September 7. A winner will be generated from all comments received by using Random.org.

A Look Back at August

As summer comes to a close and we head towards fall, we look back on what the last month covered and realize it was a big month for us with many new exciting things going on.

First, we started a series on the proper uses of commas that will be ongoing this next month, as well as a series on different keyboard styles and choosing what works best for you. We recently announced a new series for September on working from home and deciding if it is the right thing for you. Look for that this month, as it is obviously an important question when you're deciding if transcription is right for you.

We added to our podcasts when Mandi interviewed Sharon of Purple Shark Transcriptions in our second one of the summer.

Finally, the most exciting part of the summer for us was the completion of our ebook a few weeks ago. It was a lot of work, but we are glad to have it available to those people getting started in the industry.

Look for the working at home series in September, as well as continuations of the comma and keyboard series with more guest posts and our fist ever giveaway starting tomorrow! I won't tell you what it is, but we're excited to be able to offer fun stuff to our readers, who now number over 165 for people subscribing to our blog!

Thanks to all of you!

Finding Motivation on Tough Files or Long Days

Shaina and I have this little game that we play when we're struggling to focus or trying to hit a deadline. Because we are pretty much always in contact by instant messenger (IM), we'll start racing each other.

I'll message her with the current time and the current timestamp from my audio, and she'll reply back with hers and then we'll race the clock – and each other – to see how fast we can go, giving status updates every 10 minutes or so (I think we update more often if we're especially struggling with an icky file). Obviously it's not always a fair race if one of us has crystal clear audio with a speaker who's stuck in slow-mo and the other has a 12-person focus group with accents from 4 different continents, but it works for us. When she's not on IM, I try to race the clock on my own, but it's never quite as effective.

How about you? Do you ever race the clock? Do you have any fun incentives to help you focus and get your work done faster?

Poll Results – How Do You Handle Vacations?

It appears as though we have a fairly even split with slightly more people actually taking real, non-working vacations. Being that I haven't had one of those in probably the last five years, I'd have to say I'm rather jealous.

While working from home and being self-employed has benefits in that you can set your schedule and decide when you are going to work, there is something to be said for time off and giving ourselves the time away to avoid burning out. Besides, you may find a new love for transcription after a few days away. Whatever you choose to do with vacations (or your lack of vacations), remember to take some time for yourself to do something you enjoy doing.

New Poll – How Do You Handle Vacations?

We know it's the end of summer; however, several of us are taking our final vacations before that back-to-school rush. Vacations and self-employment don't always mix. What do you do during those scheduled times away? Do you leave work behind and relax? Do you bring work with you? Do you do both depending on the situation? Has it been so long since you took a vacation you aren't sure what one is anymore?

As always, please feel free to comment with further details of your vacationing habits. We're interested to know how others in the industry balance work and play.

And the race is on...

We are feverishly working to have our first ebook ready tomorrow, and we can't wait to share it with you. General Transcription 101: Your Complete Guide to Getting Started is not your traditional transcription ebook. While the other books on the market are geared toward setting up your own transcription business, ours will walk the reader through the steps to gain experience and gain contracts with large transcription companies because we think this is more realistic for the majority of beginners. We're all very thankful to have found this career, and we want to help others do the same.

Stay tuned for more information on the ebook, opportunities to become affiliates and earn a commission off its sales and giveaways as well!

Another Haiku...

Like the first haiku we shared that is being touted as having replaced boring Microsoft error messages, this error can leave us pulling out our hair...

Aborted effort:

Close all that you have worked on.

You ask way too much.

Desktop Organization

I know you are all interested in what my desktop looks like after the product review of my monitor, so I decided to give you a glimpse of what I look at all day.

This is my desktop when I sit down every morning:


This is what my monitor looks like shortly after I sit down and am ready to work:


I really do enjoy my monitor, and it has a lot to do with the space I have available. However, we deal with what we have. I worked on a 15.4" laptop widescreen for the first two years of doing this. Since purchasing my monitor I have been loving the ability to organize. (I mean, if I can't organize my house, I may as well organize my work.) Being organized with work makes me more productive, and productivity equals income in this industry.

Poll Results – What Did You Think About Our First Podcast?

It looks like the majority of you who were willing to vote did take advantage of the podcast and the information and would be interested in future podcasts. We had a lot of fun doing the first one, and we hope to offer more for you in the future. We sincerely hope you found the information useful.

Look for our next podcast sometime in the near future. Additionally, if you have any questions you'd like us to ask a transcription company owner, feel free to comment on the blog or email us. We'd love to include them in our next podcast.