Transcription work is popular and plenty.  From private individuals reciting their memoirs, to authors writing a new book, minutes of meetings, conference recordings, police reports, legal meetings, medical reports and so on, there is a growing need for conversations and public events to be recorded and then transcribed. Even podcasts and webinars.

So, the need for a Virtual Assistant with excellent typing skills (speed and accuracy) is a must for those who need this type of work carried out.   Note the accuracy comment – it is very important that you have good written skills in the language in which the recording is done.  English, for example – is it UK spelling or US spelling?  And what about the terminology – medical, legal or some other industry?  You need to be familiar with terms and the correct spelling of them.  The spelling of people’s names are also important.

Transcription is not easy work, although some might think it is.  A one-hour recording can take between 3-6 hours to type up, depending on the speed of speech, clarity of speech, terminology, background noise, more than one voice and so on.

Some transcriptionists charge by the audio hour and some by the typed hour – so you need to be clear on your charges and you need to make sure your client is also clear.  No use quoting an hourly rate and the client thinks they’re only paying for the one-hour recording only to find they’ve copped 4 hours’ of typing instead.

This is a great niche for those who really enjoy typing, and like listening to others speak.