Transcription Business success in 10 easy steps

I am often asked how someone can not only establish themselves, but also succeed as a home-based or contract transcriptionist. This is a difficult question to answer, even after 18+ years in business. There are so many different factors to consider, one of which includes YOUR experience, training/education, skills, and “home base” (area of ​​the country you operate from), as well as your specialty.

My first piece of advice is to get the necessary skills from an educational program or on-the-job training. You cannot market your services and/or expect to earn a salary with inferior skills, or with no skills at all.

Once you have acquired the necessary skills, you must learn how to market your services. Even the most skilled transcriptionists cannot be successful in the “business” without marketing their services effectively, which can be a real challenge, but not insurmountable!

No matter what your level of training, education, skills and abilities…here are some basic steps to get you started:

1. Create a Business Name – Something catchy that’s easy to remember while summarizing the “heart” of your business. Register your business name and obtain a business license (optional). While registration is not a necessity, it screams professionalism.

2. Arrange financing if necessary: ​​In addition to the traditional small business loan, there are numerous (and very competitive) competitions for grants for startups, as well as companies and organizations that offer venture capital.

3. Write an effective and well-organized business plan, one that clearly states your purposes, goals, and why your services would be chosen over local competition. Excellent advice and free advice can be obtained by email from Service Corp of Retired Executives (SCORE), http://www.score.org.

4. Home Office Space – Whether your office is a converted guest room, garage apartment, or a separate area in your living room, this area should be off-limits to children, spouses, parents and nosy friends. It should be welcoming, relaxing, and quiet—a haven where you can fully concentrate on the transcription project at hand.

5. Launch an online advertising campaign (worldwide): Invest in a domain name and hosting without banners. Go Daddy, godaddy.com, offers domain names for less than $10 per year, one of the most affordable prices I’ve found so far.

Launch a local advertising campaign. Send professionally printed postcards to public and private companies, law firms, and doctor’s offices who may be interested in your services. My personal opinion is that busy office managers are more likely to look at, and possibly save, a postcard advertising your services than a long cover letter.

6. Build a Website or Blog – Once you’ve acquired a domain name and hosting account, build a simple but functional website or blog to complement your services. There are many hosting companies that offer basic packages for as little as $7.95 per month, with a 98% uptime guarantee. I recommend limiting your information to two pages detailing: a description of the services, skills and qualifications, email and postal addresses, fax and phone numbers.

An online resume is also a good idea. An online resume is simply an electronic version of your traditional resume, without the bells, whistles, or cheesy graphics. Be sure to include an email address and phone number.

7. Email Inquiries and Fill Out Online Applications – National transcription companies may not always post their openings, so email them! The worst they can say is “no thanks.” If the company has an online application, be sure to follow their application procedures; For example, some require you to copy and paste your resume into a designated box, and others require you to send your resume as an attachment to a separate email address.

8. Exploit your press release: to local newspapers and the chamber of commerce. If your city has an official website, they can “feature” a local entrepreneur, that could be you! There are also numerous online press release distribution services, such as PR.com, PRWeb.com, and Webwire.com, to name a few.

9. Organize your home office space while you wait for projects to arrive! And, flow into them they will! Just be patient, keep trading and don’t give up!

10. Peruse additional information and resources, which can be found in abundance online or at your local library. Knowledge is power, and the more information and resources you use, the more likely your business is to succeed.