How to Become a Transcriptionist from Home

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Transcription is one of the most popular ways people enter the work-at-home industry.

Since everything is done online these days, many people are already good typists, so it can feel like an easy-to-start business. However, there is a lot more to transcription than just typing. 

In this post, I’m going to delve into what transcription is, the skills you need to have to be a good transcriptionist, the transcription equipment you will need, how much you can earn as a transcriptionist, and of course, where to find clients.

Keep reading to find out how you can become a transcriptionist from home!

What is transcription and what do transcriptionists do?

Transcription is the process of converting speech or audio files into written text. A transcriptionist listens to an audio file and types what they hear. It can also be done in real time. 

There are three main types of transcription you can do:

General

As you might imagine, general transcription covers any content that doesn’t fit into the legal or medical categories below. 

Businesses or content creators of any kind require their content to be transcribed; for example, YouTube videos, podcasts, meeting notes, seminars, sermons, lectures, interviews, etc. 

Legal

Anyone in the legal field may require a transcriptionist’s services from lawyers to court reporters to law enforcement agents, etc. As a legal transcriptionist, you will need to become familiar with legal terminology. 

Medical

Medical transcriptionists transcribe content from hospitals, doctors, and other healthcare professionals. A knowledge of medical terminology is required for this role. 

However, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of medical transcriptionists is projected to decline 3 percent from 2018 to 2028.

When you start working as a transcriptionist, you will also decide which transcription niche you would like to work in. It may be easier to start with general transcription and then add legal transcription to your repertoire later.

What qualifications do you need to be a transcriptionist? Do you need a certification?

Technically, you don’t NEED a qualification or transcription certification to be a transcriptionist. 

However, since there is a lot more to transcription than just typing (for example, knowing how to timestamp correctly, understanding the difference between verbatim and nonverbatim, etc.), you would definitely benefit from taking a transcription course. 

Online transcription courses like Transcribe Anywhere will teach you everything you need to know about transcription as well as give you tons of practice so you have some experience before you look for clients.

What skills do you need to be a transcriptionist?

Your number one question about typing speed is probably “How fast do you need to type to be a transcriptionist?” You need a typing speed of at least 60+ words per minute as a beginner. This is something you can practice before you start though to increase your speed. 

Not sure if your typing speed is up to scratch? Test yourself here!

You also need to have above-average grammar, punctuation, and spelling skills. Your knowledge of punctuation rules and spelling need to be exemplary. Particularly if you’re transcribing verbatim (i.e., exactly what people are saying) as you won’t be able to fix their bad grammar. 

Great listening skills are essential to become an excellent transcriber. Every file will be different in terms of accents, audio quality, speed, etc. You need to be able to concentrate so that you don’t miss anything. 

Attention to detail is also important as words like umm and ahhh and laughter and pauses will convey meaning and details like this may need to be recorded. 

You may not always understand the context of everything that is being said or know how to spell certain words, so you need to be willing to research what you don’t know. 

So what do you think? Does transcription sound harder than you thought it would be?

It may be stressful at first while you learn different style guides and proper formatting for transcripts, You’ll also need to get used to listening to different accents, identifying different speakers, and working with bad audio quality. But if you stick with it, it will get easier with practice. 

Is there a demand for transcriptionists?

Yes, there is a huge demand for transcriptionists, despite popular belief that the industry is declining. 

One main reason why transcriptionists are in demand is because search engines like Google can’t read video/audio content. Aside from the description tags, search engines won’t have any idea what the content is about, so their algorithms won’t rank the content in search results. If the video/podcast is accompanied by a written transcript, search engines understand its content and return it in search results. 

Another reason people hire transcriptionists is to help them repurpose their video/podcast content so it can be published as a blog post, an email to subscribers, social media content, digital products like ebooks and courses, etc. 

Online course creators also use transcriptionists to help them provide their content in more than one format. Not everyone learns easily from video content, so providing the content in written format as well makes it accessible to a wider range of people. 

The most important reasons transcriptionists are hired is to make content accessible to people with hearing difficulties. TV shows, movies, online courses, etc. are transcribed and captions or transcripts provided so that people with hearing difficulties can enjoy the content as well. 

Who hires transcriptionists?

A very wide range of people hire transcriptionists. The below list is just a snapshot:

• Bloggers
• Authors
• YouTubers 
• Podcasters 
• Online course creators
• Law firms and attorneys
• Law enforcement agencies and police departments
• Claims adjusters and other insurance professionals
• Businesses and corporations
• Financial services companies
• Market research and consulting firms
• Journalists 
• PR agencies 
• Governmental organizations and nonprofit organizations
• TV, film, and radio production companies
• Real estate professionals
• Professors and academic researchers 
• Master’s and PhD students 
• Schools
• Research institutions
• Museums
• Cultural societies
• Personal development coaches and public speakers
• Conferences and trade shows
• Churches and religious institutions
• Video production agencies

Haven’t transcriptionists been replaced by software though? 

No, transcriptionists haven’t been replaced by transcription software. Speech recognition technology still isn’t able to transcribe audio to text with an acceptable degree of accuracy. Software can’t replace the human mind when it comes to understanding context. 

In certain circumstances where the content is of a legal or sensitive nature, a human transcriber may be preferred as well. 

How much can you make as a transcriptionist?

According to ZipRecruiter, the average annual pay for a freelance transcriptionist in the United States is $42,585 a year. So it’s definitely possible to make a full-time income as a transcriptionist, 

You can make from $15 to $30 per hour depending on your experience level and speed. 

One thing to be aware of is the difference between getting paid per hour and per audio hour. One hour of audio may take you three or more hours to transcribe.

How to become a transcriptionist

By now you’re probably thinking “That all sounds great, but how do I become a transcriptionist?”

If you take the following steps, you can get transcription work in no time and start earning money from home!

Step 1: Get transcription training

If you want to impress your first clients and make them into repeat clients, you need to take your craft seriously. If you make a ton of mistakes and return a sloppy transcript, you can wave goodbye to any repeat business!

To ensure that you do your best work, it’s wise to get some training under your belt before you work with clients. 

One of the best transcription courses on the market is Transcribe Anywhere, which was created by Janet Shaughnessy. Janet has over 10 years of experience as a professional transcriber with her own company Zoom Transcription Services. 

She created Transcribe Anywhere to teach people how to become transcriptionists quickly without having to google everything or ruin their reputations. 

She has two comprehensive courses that are both recognized by the American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers. (Transcribe Anywhere is the only online transcription school that’s approved at present!) 

General Transcription: Theory and Practice

This course teaches you everything you need to know about how to do the work of a general transcriptionist AND how to get clients.

Here’s what you’ll learn: 

• how to actually do the work — get your hands dirty with SEVEN LEVELS of practice dictations (and answer keys for each)
• how to use text expanders and shortcut keys
• tutorial videos on software, time coding, and more
• how to find work as an employee 
• how to find higher-paying work as an independent contractor
• where to get the best deal on transcription equipment (don’t buy it before you start!!)
• lifetime access to the course and to a student Facebook group

Sign up for General Transcription: Theory and Practice today!

Want to learn more about general transcription before you commit? Check out the FREE mini course! 

Legal Transcription: Theory and Practice 

Legal transcription requires all of the same skills necessary for a general transcriptionist with the added knowledge of legal terminology and documentation.

The Legal Transcription: Theory and Practice course includes a legal transcription style guide as well as templates of legal forms and documents. It teaches you all the legal terminology you need to know and how to find work in this niche. 

• 14 full-length training modules 
• where to get the best deal on transcription equipment (don’t buy it before you start!!)
• typing drills for speed and accuracy
• how to use text expanders and shortcut keys (includes printable cheatsheets)
• legal transcription style guide plus downloadable templates of legal forms and documents
• over 100 pages of legal terminology (both English and Latin in a downloadable format)
• screencast tutorial videos on transcription software, features of Microsoft Word, and more
• abbreviations, capitalization, and punctuation for the legal transcriptionist
• definitions and descriptions of types of law and the legal process
• how to find work as an employee 
• how to find higher-paying work as an independent contractor
• get your hands dirty with TEN LEVELS of practice dictations (and answer keys for each!)
• lifetime access to all course material and the student Facebook group

Sign up for Legal Transcription: Theory and Practice today!

Want to learn more about legal transcription before you commit? Check out the FREE mini course! 

Both courses are broken into three levels:

L1: Learn where you will learn the basics, tools of the trade, punctuation, and word processing features and tools.

L2: Practice where you put the theory into practice and start building your skills as a transcriptionist.

L3: Build + Market where you will learn how to set up your business and market it effectively to get clients. 

You can pay for either course upfront in full or spread the cost by paying for each level separately. And if you want to learn both types of transcription, you can save money by signing up for both courses at the same time!

Hold on! There’s one more freebie you can take advantage of! Get Janet’s free The Truth About Transcription e-book. 

Step 2: Get the right tools

Another question I see being asked all the time is “How much does it cost to start a transcription business?”

The start-up costs for a transcription business are pretty low compared with other businesses. All you really need is the following.

Tech items:

• Laptop/desktop computer
• Transcription software like Express Scribe
• Headphones
• Foot pedal

Business items:

• Dropbox
• LastPass
• PayPal account
• Home office setup (desk, chair, lamp, etc.)

Step 4: Start marketing your transcription business

Once you have completed your training and gathered all your tools, then you will be ready to start taking on clients. 

There are a couple of ways you can go about this: starting your own business or working with agencies/transcription websites.

There are some pros and cons to both routes:

Pros of starting your own transcription business

• You can negotiate higher pay.
• You can keep most of the money (except PayPal fees, for example).
• It allows you to have more control over your schedule.

Cons

• It may take longer to bring in money. 
• All responsibility for finding clients falls on you. You’ll need to create a website and social media profiles as well as start networking to bring in clients.

Pros of working for an agency or transcription company

• They supply the work.
• They take care of all payment processing.

Cons

• They take a large cut of your pay.
• They specify the deadlines, which can often be tight.

Best online transcription jobs for beginners

Here’s a short list of the some of the best websites for beginner transcription jobs:

Freelancer websites

• Fiverr
• Upwork
• Freelancer

The benefit of going through websites like these is that you can negotiate the pay directly with the client. 

Transcription companies

• Rev: Hires freelance transcriptionists from all over the world. Pay is $0.30 to $1.10 per audio/video minute. Paid weekly via PayPal.
• FlexJobs: This is a paid membership site that curates all kinds of freelance, remote, or part-time jobs. 
• AccuTran Global: This is an Canadian company that hires transcribers to transcribe financial, medical, and legal content.
• Scribie: Pay is $5 to $25 per audio hour. It also pays a monthly bonus of $5 for every three hours completed each month.
• Appen: This company hires freelancers for different microtasks including transcription and social media moderation. 
• GMR Transcription: Hires US transcribers only. According to the website, it’s transcribers earn between $1,000 and $3,000 per month!
• Daily Transcription: Claims to pay more than its competitors at between $0.75 and $0.85 per audio minute. Requires a typing speed of 50 WPM.
• Verbal Ink: Claims to be always hiring!
• TranscribeMe!: Earnings range from $15 to $22 per audio hour. Transcriptionists with specialized legal or medical experience can earn more. 
• Speechpad.com: According to its website, transcribers can make $0.25 to $1.00 per audio minute. Pays through PayPal every Tuesday and Friday.
• GoTranscript: Pay is up to $0.60 per audio/video minute. Hires worldwide. 

Benefits and challenges of working as a transcriptionist

Let’s wrap this baby up with a round up of the benefits and challenges of being a transcriber so you can decide if it’s a good fit for you!

• Benefits
  • Flexible working hours
  • Use your word nerd skills
  • Increase your knowledge of different topics
  • Low investment cost

• Challenges
  • Slow at the beginning, which means you’ll earn less.
  • Audio is sometimes hard to understand if there are foreign accents, bad quality audio, lots of different speakers, etc.

Conclusion

If you enjoy working with words and aren’t afraid of a little hard work, then transcription could be the perfect work-at-home job for you. 

Don’t forget to check out Transcribe Anywhere’s free General Transcription mini course and free Legal Transcription mini course to learn more!

Looking for more home-based business ideas? You’ll definitely find the right small business idea for you on this list.