Transcription is conversion of audio/video files into text files. Most of the transcription work is done remotely. If you have transcription skills, you have a great skill that can earn you a stable income online while at the comfort of your home if you take the job seriously and give it your best.

We are in an era where machine transcription has improved, but this shouldn’t worry you because Artificial Intelligence will never overtake human intelligence. There’s still work to be done online, and that means there’s still a great chance of making online.

You need to have transcription skills when making job applications, otherwise you will find the application process to be a hard nut to crack.

Here are 11 Places to Find Online Transcription Work For Newbies

1. Transcription Staff

Transcription Staff is a great company to work with, and they hire globally. Their application process is very simple which is a three-step application, you just need to sign up by completing a simple form. They have a 2 minutes transcription test. If your application is successful, the account manager will contact you for further details.

They have a very flexible work schedule, pay rate is between $20 to $40 per audio hour and the payment is done weekly via PayPal. 

You make your application here.

   2. Voxtab

Voxtab hires globally. Their pay rate is between $23 to $25 per hour audio hour, they have a great work flow. So, if you get accepted here, you’re guaranteed of a great work opportunity.

To have a successful application, first you need to have a Skype ID, then have a resume that you will upload for your application.

After you have submitted your application, their recruitment team will get in touch with you later on how to move on with the application.

You can make your application here.

3. Wavel.ai

Wavel is an AI-powered transcription company. They usually give their transcribers an AI-generated transcript for editing, which makes working for them a walk in the park. They have a rigorous application process, but it’s worth the hustle as their pay is very good for newbies. Their pay range is from £12-£13. 

You can make your application here.

4. Audio Bee

Audio Bee is a newbie-friendly company as they have entry-level jobs. You can earn between $24-120 per audio hour transcribed. They also have a referral program where they pay $70 for a certain number of tasks completed.

They have transcription jobs in a variety of languages, so you can choose the language that you’re comfortable with. Once you complete the application form, they will ask you to verify your email. Their application process has three tests to be completed.

Once you’re through with the application process, you will be put on an approval list until your application is approved or rejected, so patience is key here.

You can make your application here.

5. Transcription Panda

Transcription Panda hires both international and local transcribers. They have weekly payouts with a flexible work schedule. They also have very competitive rates.

A minimum pay of $0.40 per audio minute transcribed and an average rate of $0.70. Their average earning per month is $390 while the top earning is $1820 per month.

You also get to choose the files that you’re comfortable with. They also give feedback on the jobs submitted, so you can grow your skills. They also have a culture support where you can interact with other workers who are on their platform.

There’s an application form online to be filled. Then you will be given three audio clips with instructions to transcribe. They are both verbatim and standard transcripts, so one needs to pay special attention to grammar and punctuation.

Transcription Panda hires based on demand of the services and quality of their application pool. So, their hiring patterns vary based on these factors and are hard to predict.

You can make your application here.

6. Transcription For Everyone

Transcription For Everyone hires globally. They have a wide range of transcription work ranging from medical to legal transcription. Their application process is a rigorous one, you need to fill up a form on their website and also upload your resume.

Their pay rate is between $5 for newbies and over $25 per audio hour for experienced transcribers. They have a promotion process, but everyone starts as an audio-edited transcriber. You will have to climb the ladder for you to start earning good money on this platform, which means one has to deliver client-ready transcripts to make good money.

They also have an in-house training for their transcribers, which everyone has to go through after getting hired.

You can make your application here.

7. Verbit

Verbit is also an IA-based transcription and captioning company. They usually give an automatic generated transcript for editing. They have hourly mode accounts where one is paid for the hours worked and the normal account where one is paid per audio hour transcribed.

Not only that, but they don’t allocate their transcribers a full hour of work, but the audios are give out in chunks. The pay rate ranges between $15 and $50 per audio hour.

Their application process is not hard as long as you have mastered their guidelines. First, you need to fill in their web form. They have a grammar test and also an audio test. Their work flow is very good, especially for newbies.

They have all sorts of transcription work ranging from medical, legal to general transcription. So, if you’re a serious transcriber, there’s good money here.

You can make your application here.

8. TranscribeMe

TranscribeMe is another newbie friendly site. They chunk their files in less than 2 minutes files, which makes it manageable to work with as you’re still new in this work. Although, they have a very long application process as their test can take you more than 3 hours to complete.

They have both grammar test and audio tests where they evaluate your understanding of their guidelines and also your general transcription knowledge. When making your application here, you need not worry as they usually give you three trails after failing the first or the second time.

Their pay rate is $15 to $22 per audio hour transcribed, or $0.50 for a 2-minute file chunk transcribed. Note that when starting, a 2-min chunk can take you 40-60 minutes, depending on the audio quality.

You can make your application here.

9. Scribie

Scribie is a nice place to get transcription work as a newbie. One of the basic requirement is a verified PayPal. They have a very friendly paid entry test where they give 10 trials until you hack the test. But you first need to master their style guide for you to pass the test.

Once you’re a certified transcriber, the pay is per audio hour transcribed. Pay rate ranges between $5 to $25 per audio hour transcribed. They also reward hardworking transcribers by promoting them to be reviewers then proofreader and then QC. They have short files which are 10 mins long or less with 2 hours Turn Around Time (TAT) for each file.

Not only that, but they also have a monthly bonus of $5 for each 3 hours completed transcript, with no monthly obligations or limitations to withdraw your earnings. You’re allowed to review the files before choosing to work on it.

You can make your application here.

10. GoTranscript

GoTranscript hires globally, and it’s a newbie friendly site. They have both grammar test and audio test. Mastering their style guide is all that you need to pass the entry test. They have a good workflow and the audio quality isn’t that bad, although sometimes they’re unbearable. The audio files are color-coded according to their difficulty level.

The audio files are chunked and this makes it easy to handle the files. Mostly the files are 10 minutes long with a 6 Turn Around time (TAT).

Their pay rate is between $12 to $13 per hour transcribed. You also need to maintain a 4-5 star rating for you to continue working with them. If your rating drops, your account gets deactivated.

You can make your application here.

11. CastingWords

CastingWords transcription company has been around for long. This is an easy site to join as they only have an audio test. Their test is auto approved. However, you have to first master their style guide for you to pass the test. A verified PayPal is a must-have when making the application.

Their pay rate ranges from $0.30 to $0.92 depending on the level that you are. They assign work depending on the rank that you are in, and that means the most experienced workers with a good rating get the chance to grab the well paying files. If you’re a newbie, you will find your work on my jobs column and not on all jobs column.

You can make your application here.

Conclusion

Now, most people will agree with me that technology is getting smarter, even more knowledgeable, and more self-reliant. Nowadays, it’s very possible to make a living working online remotely. We are living in a global village and economy. Online work is the best example of how technology has improved productivity, while not taking over the role of today’s knowledge workers. 

If you embrace online transcription work, you will never fail to pay your bills. Any online work needs total commitment and discipline.

In case you have more companies that are hiring newbies globally, please feel free to share in the comments section.

 

What’s video captioning? This is the art of putting text version of the speech and different sounds that may be provided on TV, DVDs, online videos, at cinemas, and theaters. Video captioning makes videos more accessible to a greater audience.

There are two terminologies used while captioning. The term “Closed Caption” [cc] versus “Open Caption” means that the captions are not visible on the screen until they’re put on by the viewer while open caption or burnt-in caption means that the captions are visible to all viewers as they always remain embedded in the video. 

Here are 9 reasons why every transcriber should learn Video Captioning. This will help you decide whether it’s a good venture or not.

1. Increased Job Opportunity

Video Captioning is an on-demand skill. If you’re a freelancer, you might find that in the field that you specialize in; sometimes the jobs are scarce as the low season hits. So, by adding video captioning skills to your resume, you increase chances of landing more gigs online.

There are so many videos being uploaded online every minute on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Vimeo every second. Most of these videos need to be captioned, and your skills come in handy here.

2. Diversity

It’s always good to diversify. For example, if you’re a transcriber offering transcription services, it’s good to learn video captioning. This gives you a higher chance of landing more projects. You might find a client who has transcription files, and they also need the video to be captioned. By diversifying, one can offer an all-around service to their clients. 

It’s good to learn as many skills that you can, as far as they’re in line with the services that you offer. There’s no harm in learning, it only increases chances of landing more jobs from long-term clients or even repeat clients.

3. Good Comprehension

Video Captioning plays a great role in online learning. Most of the students find the captioned video to be very helpful as they help them with good comprehension. When the human mind hears and reads at the same time, it helps one remember better.  

Closed captions also improve viewers’ experience for those who are not Native English speakers. Learners whose English is their second language find captions to be very helpful, as the captions allow them to read as they listen.

 4. Increases Video Views and SEO

Adding closed captions to a video increases the views and also the SEO. Since search engines can’t watch videos, adding captions allows them to crawl the video content for better indexing.

Also, closed-captioned YouTube videos attract more views and lifetime views compared to non-captioned videos.

Longer transcripts also get optimized and paginated for keywords and optimize video search rank.

5. Gives Deaf and Hard to Hear Viewers Accessibility

Closed Captions [cc] were first created for the hard of hearing and deaf audience to aid them in comprehension. Time-synchronized video captioning is a great alternative for millions of people who have hearing loss globally.

So, closed captions increase your audience with a big margin because these viewers can now access and consume your content.

6. Easy Creation of Original Content

Content creators and market researchers normally use recorded video clips, montages, or reels, but combing through that content without the aid of a transcript can be an uphill task. After the video is captioned, the content can be searched and scanned easily for topics and key phrases.

Direct quotes can be copy-pasted directly for original content creation. Captions can also be used as report outlines or even study guides for learners.

 7. Helps With Legal Compliance

Media broadcasts and Television closed captioning standards are strictly regulated by the FCC in the US.

There are more than 60% with hearing loss either in an education setting or in the workforce. No matter what the situation is, people with hearing disability have the right to access the same materials as the rest of the population. Thus, this is the reason why anti-discrimination laws were enforced.

8. User Experience and Video Search

Video Captioning helps viewers on your site to find videos easily after a simple search. A professionally-captioned video allows your audience to search for keywords and see them everywhere they appear.

If the user is searching for a particular part of the video, they can click on the word and the video moves there and starts playing. Your viewers can as well scan the whole video library on the playlist search using a specific keyword. 

This smooth user experience gives your content big revenge and great customer satisfaction.

 9. Good Viewing in Sound Sensitive and Noisy Environments

Closed Captions [cc] are used to access video content in sound-sensitive and noisy environments such as restaurants and bars. This may be in a setup where patrons are not able to hear because of background noise or in a situation where different televisions are broadcasting different programs

Conclusion

The fact that we are living in an era where technology is rapidly changing and video popularity and use is increasing at a very high rate and also the hard of hearing and the deaf population is also growing, is a good reason for the high demand for video captioning.

Also, you will come across video captions/subtitles. These terms are used interchangeably in many countries.

If you would like to add video captioning skills to your resume, we have a course on this which you can enroll here.

 

AI is constantly improving online opportunities, and transcription is proof of this. There are numerous transcription software that generates transcripts with an accuracy level of 60% to 90%, which is considered above average by most clients.

What’s more, transcribing audio or video through AI-powered transcription software is a straightforward process. By importing an audio/video file from your computer or mobile device, the software processes the audio speech and creates a transcript for you to edit.

These are Seven of the best transcription software programs for the job.

1.Otter.ai 

Otter.ai is an enterprise-ready AI-powered assistant that generates rich notes for your interviews, meetings, and presentations. This auto transcription software has very good accuracy, and you only need to edit the transcripts. Otter.ai has both paid and free packages.

Check out this YouTube tutorial How to Automatically Transcribe With Otter

Here’s the link to the app Otter.ai

2. Descript

Descript is an all-in-one editor that allows you to edit a Word document. You can upload a file or record audio directly on Descript, and it will automatically convert your audio/video file into a text file.

It has accurate transcripts with a very short turnaround time with speaker labels. However, all you need is to remove stutters and fillers with a single click. You can then publish a link for sharing within the transcription app.

Here’s the link to the app Descript

 3. Trint

Trint is cloud-based transcription software that makes audio/video shareable, searchable, and editable with up to 31 languages.

Trint’s speed for speed-to-text implementation is very impressive. It has real-time transcription, which makes it the most exciting and reliable transcription software. 

 Here’s the link to the app Trint

4. Temi

Temi allows you to edit your transcripts online in a few minutes. It has both a trial version and a paid version. Transcripts are ready in minutes. However, shorter files are done in a few seconds.

With the free version, you get one transcript in less than 45 minutes. You also get access to all features without requiring a credit card.

Temi being advanced speech recognition software, your transcript quality depends on audio quality, so if you want accurate transcripts you have to record or upload clear audio. However, it has an accuracy of 90-95%.

Here’s the link to the app Temi

 5. Rev.ai

Rev.ai is an easy-to-use API that is designed by developers for developers. This transcription app provides you with comprehensive documentation, SDKs, and expert support to get you started in minutes. You only need to generate your maiden transcript, an access token.

Rev.ai’s contemporaneous transcription software unlocks the power of voice for transcription work. If you’re transcribing large audios, you can get it all done with this app that’s developed for growth.

Rev.ai is available in 31 major world languages.

 Here’s the link to the app Rev.ai

 6. Amberscript

Amberscript is an AI speech recognition tool that allows you to convert audio and videos into text or subtitles. It has an online text editor. So, if you combine your human intelligence with this AI service, you can get a 100% accurate transcript.

In addition, Amberscript transcription software has a very fast turnaround time, it is GDPR security compliance, and it has very competitive pricing.

 Here’s the link to the app Amberscript

 7. Sonix.ai

Sonix.ai is the highly rated audio to text software. The transcript is ready in five minutes. They have a 30 minutes free trial, then one can sign up for the paid version.

It has 35 languages including French, Spanish, Chinese, German, Arabic, Hindi, and many more. It also has auto speaker separation and it auto punctuates.

Here’s the link to the app Sonix

Conclusion

However, the auto transcripts have to be edited and seriously proofread before submitting. It is good to take note of the following while correcting the transcripts.  

• Typing Mistakes
• Missing words
• Missing or incorrect paragraph breaks
• Utterances for strict verbatim files
• Incorrect capitalization of words
• Missing punctuation

Advantages of using audio transcription software

• Generates clean transcripts for editing, which saves a lot of time.
• Has a very quick turnaround time.
• Saves project to revisit later.
• Generates speaker labels
• Punctuates the transcript.
• Has accurate spacing on pauses in the audio/video file.

Whether you like transcribing your files manually or using AI-powered transcription software to get auto transcripts for editing, the above-mentioned solution covers both worlds. I believe these transcription software can ease the transcription work that you do manually by assigning this task to these AI tools, regardless of the solution you go for.

 

 

 

 

Acquire straightforward online transcription skills to make cash from home; a great getaway to your financial freedom.

Welcome to Skyline Freelancing blog with me, Shelmith Kahu!

I’m eager to help you to start making cash from home with online t transcription skills! I cannot contemplate any better work from home online hustle – you’re your own boss. Furthermore, you get to stay in bed on a Monday morning when everyone else is commuting to work or is out in the cold.

The Internet has opened a sea of opportunities for any individual who has the determination to work online, take advantage of this chance. Consistently, an ever-increasing number of sites are being launched, and furthermore the interest for independent contractors is increasing day by day. Encouraging news for all online transcribers!

Today, there are tons of online work, more than most contractors will deal with, and since it’s developing day by day, there are loads of companies for you to join and start earning.

Today, by exploiting the Internet, you’ll have the option to acquire a relatively fast independence from the rat race as an independent transcriber, directly from the solace of your own home. This noteworthy online transcription opportunity is proposed to you immediately, and it will for all intents and purposes enhance your daily routine and the lives of those you care about.

Work full time or part-time? The decision is yours!

Many transcribers aren’t exclusively earning the monetary profit, but also trade their unremarkable every day 9-5 jobs, paying off their debts, spending their valuable time with their families and a couple are enjoying their holidays and converting the beach cafés in to their “home office.” Regardless of your monetary profit objectives, and regardless of your way of life and dreams, it’s completely achievable with online transcription.

It’s more straightforward than you may have anticipated!

Before the Internet existed, transcribers required serious credits, higher education degrees, recommendation letters, and terrific references before they may be hired by any office.

Things have changed! The Internet opened possibilities that never existed and evened the odds. Fundamentally, it turned the online transcription business top side down. Right now, there are many job opportunities for people from varying backgrounds, all age, all around the globe.

A portion of the premier lucky online-based transcribers don’t have any formal expertise and have performed so well in the business in an extremely tremendous way, not in years, months or weeks, but rather in days.

All you need is a Personal Computer with great Internet speed, headphones, essential transcription abilities, be computer savvy, and zeal to succeed. You can join the various groups of people who are making money though working inside the solace of their homes.

Continued on Part 2 here.

 

 

 

 

Whether you work from home, or you have a 9-5 job, we all face the same challenge; how to take care of a healthy work-life balance. Do you feel like you’re spending so much time on work, and you have no family time, or you’re so much stressed with housework that you slack on the job?

Well, you’re not alone! We all face this challenge on a daily basis, and we wonder how to balance out our lives. It’s hard, and I also face the same challenge.

But luckily there are steps that we can take to get things right on the track. I have found the following ways to be effective in creating a healthy work-life balance as a freelancer, and they’ve helped me a lot. You have even possible have heard some of them, but we sometimes need a nudge to get back on track

Below are great tips that can help you achieve a healthy work-life balance.

1. Have a routine and stick with it

Routine is extremely necessary, and beginning your day in an identical manner every day goes a long way. This might involve; rising up at a designated time, having your breakfast, reading your mail, catching up with your favorite journal. Whatever feels smart to you and eases you into the day. One among the foremost necessary steps therein routine is getting dressed.

2. Set work hours and focus

This may fluctuate day to day, however, the necessary factor is to stick to a schedule and achieve the maximum you can. It’s straightforward to merely keep working because of convenient — don’t do this. Unless you’re on a point in time, and you have to work late, begin and finish your workday on the set hours. It would even be nice to begin your day at 7:00 AM and end it at 5:00 PM and stay focused on your work.

3. Take breaks throughout the day

This applies to everybody within the force nowadays. We have a tendency to tend to stay committed to what we do or do throughout the day, and we fully forget we require breaks. Taking fast breaks throughout the day permits your mind to reset. Breaks are a good time to assume through a haul if you’re stuck, or get your ideas flowing if you experience a mental block.

4. Create a Working Space

If you work from home, you will probably notice that you like to move around with your laptop as you try to look for a comfortable spot to work, and this becomes hectic because of distractions. Well, you can designate one area as your working space/office, this can be in your bedroom or sitting room, and then make it yours. You can set up your desk, a comfortable office chair, computer, and office supplies.

You can decorate your office with your family photos, motivational quotes and also some desk flowers to keep your home office lively and organized.

5. Turn off When your Day Ends

Many freelancers don’t turn off at the end of the day, and you’ll find that we like to overwork ourselves until midnight or even past midnight, by this you get serious burnout, and you have no energy to wake up the following day to work.

Remember how we talked about setting working hours on point #2? Well, it’s also important to know when to call it off at the end of the day. If your day ends at 5:00 PM, you should be able to log off your computer, turn it off and wind down your work day and leave your work until tomorrow. By this, you should be able to turn your brain from work mode to home mode.

6. Minimize Distractions

When you’re working from home you’ll notice that you will get distracted very fast by dirty dishes, laundry pilling/dusty carpet, TV and radio, social media, the list is endless. It’s very hard to focus on work when working from home because you see a lot of stuff around you, and it’s another story, distraction is real.

My suggestion would be your work from the designated work-space, that we had discussed earlier on point #4. Keep your work-space from distractions as much as possible, if you want to get settled at once, you can take care of those distractions before you start working or set some time during the day to handle them.

Maybe do the dishes in your ten-minute break, or do the laundry during your lunchtime break. Just schedule it into your day like you would do with a meeting, and it will feel less like a house chore and more like another work-related task that needed to be done.

Social media: We get distracted very fast by social media platforms, and we’re tempted to continue chatting with friends, and we may forget about work. This is a serious distraction, but don’t worry, you can manage the situation by;

• Deleting unnecessary Apps on your phone.
• Turning off the Internet.
• Scheduling your posts with SocialPilot which can post them for you later automatically.
• Limiting the time you spend on certain websites.

7. Set Boundaries With Family, Friends, and Neighbors

Have you noticed that because you work from home, most of your family, friends and neighbors think that you’re always free to chat, or they can drop at your house any time? Well, it’s a huge misconception.

You have a real job like anyone else in a normal office, remember you’ve set your work hours and by all means, you need to stick to those hours. You’re not available to impromptu visits just because your office happens to be in your house. Not only that, but you don’t need to put a padlock while still inside your house in order to put off distractions you can’t be a prisoner in your own house — just set boundaries.

It’s important to have your family, neighbors, and friends on board with your expectations from the beginning, and the best way to do it is by communication, but do it politely. Let them know you work from home, and you have a schedule and deadlines to meet. It doesn’t mean that you can’t help someone out, but let them also communicate it to you in advance.

Lastly,

8. Take Good Care of Yourself.

Our health is our greatest wealth and when you’re working from home you should make it a point of taking good care of yourself.  Remember we had talked about taking breaks throughout the day on point #3? Now let’s elaborate that on taking good care of yourself — mind, soul, and body.

• Take plenty of water and eat healthy foods.

You can buy a water bottle and fill it with water that you need to take during the day and keep in on your workstation to make sure that you’re taking enough water as you work during the day to stay hydrated. Water does wonders for positive moods and improves concentration.

Also, don’t forget to eat. Sometimes you will find that we get so engaged with our work that we forget that we’re supposed to eat, and we only find ourselves taking snacks which are not good for our health. It’s good to set time aside to prepare a healthy meal.

• Make sure you’re taking care of your inner self, when working from home you can take a break for meditation, yoga, prayers or deep breathing.
• Exercises. Trying doing some workouts before you start working, if you don’t have a workout you can try simple stretching exercises, you can stretch your neck, roll your shoulders, sit-ups, shake your legs and arms — any exercise is better than no exercise at all.

Conclusion

Even though getting equilibrium on work-life balance is not an easy task, it’s also critical to your success as a freelancer. This list might not be a comprehensive one, but at least it’s a great start for those looking for ways to balance work-life and still maintain harmony in their lives.

You can add more on the comments’ section so that I can also learn from you.