We hear a lot about professional development and skill enhancement in different professions, but transcribers often wonder what they can do to broaden their offering to clients.
Obviously, as a transcriber, you transcribe an audio file as per the client instructions and return it. Simple, yes? Yes, it is…
However, what do you do if your client asks for help with more advanced aspects of Word, like indexing, using Styles, numbering and document formatting?
This happened recently with one of our clients who prepares reports for their clients, using the transcripts we provide. This lengthy document was all over the place. Our client did not have the skills to edit it, or to bring back the formatting that had gone haywire when she tried to make changes.
Enter the super transcriber! Not just able to provide the transcripts, but someone who has the skills and knowledge to be able to help clients at the next level.
Our client wanted us to help create templates that would make report-writing easier for them in the future, and they asked us to go over reports they were in the process of collating to fix formatting and get the auto-numbering and headings sorted out.
Most managers and executives these days tend to have a rudimentary working knowledge of the MS suite of products that allows them to prepare some of their own correspondence, and work in template documents. However, very few, if any, have a deep or thorough understanding of how to create or amend these documents. Nor should they need to acquire this deeper understanding. Their time is best spent elsewhere doing what they’re paid top dollar to do.
For our investigative client needing help with their reports, to create a future reports template and edit the existing in-process reports, taking up all the changes our client requested and ensuring that there was continuity in the formatting of all their documents, plus proofreading everything, took 40 plus hours. Yes, you read that right. Seems crazy, but the existing reports were upward of 50 pages each and highly complex from a word-processing point of view. When you are handed that nicely bound 120 page document, with indexing, watermarks, footnotes and appendices, very few people think about the man hours required to create it.
Needless to say, our client was thrilled to find that their worst nightmare was dealt with efficiently and they could focus on what they do best: collect and assess data and report on their findings.
As a transcriber it worth upskilling? We think so! Apart from being a nice break from transcribing, it always pays well. You can charge an hourly rate for the time it takes you rather than per audio minute rate, and because these skills are quite rare you can charge appropriately.
Want to find out more about becoming a super transcriber? Sonya and Claire are creating a suite of Masterclasses for those who are wanting to broaden their offerings to clients, or who have finished the TranscribeRight course and are looking for a new challenge.
Sign up for our first Masterclass offering: Proofreading & Editing available from 1 September 2022 at https://transcriberight.teachable.com/
What will you learn today?
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