The Transcription People - Digital Dictation & Transcription Blog » Digital Business

It’s The Principle Of The Thing!

Annalisa — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 00:59:02 +0000

So following on from my last blog about sacking clients that are not respecting your process and paying their accounts, taking them to court is a situation that you may just find yourself in when all else fails.

This is not a situation I share loosely with people because a) it’s not a nice situation to be in and b) it has been such a lengthy ordeal (one that is still ongoing) that I prefer to put it in the back of my mind and chalk it up to experience. However, a lot of my colleagues, particularly small businesses, have found themselves with no option other than to write off outstanding invoices and sometimes you just have to stick up for yourself and your business.

About five years ago now, when I was pretty much working solely in the business bar a handful of transcriptionists, I received a quote request from a virtual assistant/transcription business. Immediately a red flag went up which wasn’t because I am not a strong advocate for the virtual assistant industry – because I am, I pretty much started out that way – it was more the fact of knowing roughly how they charge and how affordable (or unaffordable in this case) our service can be for them. Regardless, I emailed back our usual quote information coupled with our rate chart. The way our rate chart works is the client knows upfront how much the audio is going to cost them so they can prepare and budget for their transcription needs.

This particular quote was urgent overflow work that could not be completed by the virtual assistant, was required within a four day period and was around 10 hours of audio (this equates to around 50 hours of transcription) – not a small job given the timeframe! So you can imagine my surprise when the (let’s name the client “VA”) replied advising to go ahead. Because of the red flag moment earlier, I decided that a Terms of Service Agreement should be drawn up …

I INTERRUPT THIS BLOG TO ADVISE A VERY IMPORTANT POINT –

ALWAYS TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS!!

… as I did not have a Terms of Service Agreement in place and my previous five years of business had been built on trust with my clients. After consultation with my Lawyer, we produced a solid two page Agreement that would protect both the client and myself.

So we set about getting started on this job, it happened to fall on a weekend and I had lined up four of my best transcriptionists at the time to get through this massive project. My transcriptionists worked very hard to produce the transcriptions, I proofread all of the audio/transcriptions as I usually do with new clients and we successfully delivered the transcription within the four day timeframe, invoiced the client and went back to our business.

At the time, I had a bookkeeper that came in once a week to do the invoicing, general accounts and follow up of overdue accounts etc which we had to do with the VA. Little did we know at the time of sending the first overdue notice, we were going to be entangled in one of the most unpleasant business situations I’d ever experienced (to date).

Generally it went something like this; my bookkeeper ended up emailing three overdue invoices after the due date had lapsed and left three voice messages. On the fourth week we received an email from the VA advising “She was interstate, loved the transcription, thanks very much, will pay upon return to office”.

A few more weeks went by (around eight weeks by this stage) and keep in mind, I’d already paid my transcriptionists by this stage and we were talking over $2000 worth of work, when we received another email. To our shock, this email was abusive and unsettling and pretty much advised that the VA’s client was not happy with the transcription, seemed that foreign people had transcribed it and that she was not prepared to pay. Although shocked but not defeated, I replied in a very business like manner advising my concern with the contents of the email, advising that we had terms in place, that she had signed an Agreement and asked if she could be more specific with what “the” client wasn’t happy with.

The reply: “I’m not prepared to pay the invoice and I am prepared to drag it out for as long as it takes”.

The shock I was feeling immediately turned to anger. Are you kidding me? Five of us had given up our weekend to transcribe this urgent overflow work and this was the response! After I calmed down – and it took a good while – I realised, it wasn’t about our transcription quality, the VA was never going to afford to pay us for the work, which proved true when we went to court.

Unfortunately, it did come to that. It became not about the amount of money the VA owed us, it was about the principle of the thing. The way it was handled was totally unprofessional on her part and what angered me the most was the reputation of the virtual assistant industry this person had tarnished! Most of my transcriptionists are small micro business owners or virtual assistants and I could not believe that someone could take advantage without a care in the world.

So I set about liaising with a debt collection agency first, major problems there, this VA had done this before, had no fixed address, was evading all communication however the VA did have a website and continued to provide a service.

Another good lesson, you can hide but you can’t compete with Google!

Eventually there was a mediation set up to try and appease the courts having to deal with this although the VA walked out halfway through, the VA offered to eventually pay a quarter of the invoice – I refused; some time later half of the invoice – I refused again. As the VA and debt collection service was based in Melbourne, it became necessary that a court hearing was going to be the only way to resolve this problem. I had to inconvenience my transcriptionists once again for this person and obtain testimonials for them for the court.

My daughter Lily was only a baby, so I had to arrange for my mother to take time off work to look after her and Oliver (who was three at the time), we cashed in our frequent flyer points to fly to Melbourne, we used our discount loyalties to stay at a hotel and off we went. By this stage, it was about a year after the work had been transcribed and everyone was being inconvenienced!

Although the opportunity to be in Melbourne was nice, it was overshadowed by the nervous, sick feeling I had. I was still very angry about the whole situation and how flippant this client was towards our service and now I had to face her. I spent a considerable time in the court bathroom, nauseous and anxious and just wanting to go home and not deal with it. (And yes, for all of those readers that know me to be quite strong in character – I was extremely scared)!

With five minutes to spare and armed with my husband, two reps from the debt collection agency and their Lawyer, I was willing to face this, not ready, but willing. I was so appreciative that this was a closed court and not something out of Judge Judy where it’s a free-for-all to come and watch so my nerves started to settle. They settled even more when the VA arrived – in jeans and a t-shirt – and settled into a chair at the bench with her Coca-Cola and book. To my delight – when the Judge walked in – his first words were “Get your drink and book off my bench”. I knew she was toast!

I spent the next 45 minutes being drilled about my business, our process, our Terms of Service and the transcription. The VA spent ten minutes being drilled about where her client actually was to advise they were not so happy about the transcription – all she’d bought with her was a printed out email. The saving grace? Our Terms of Service Agreement.

No matter what went on in that courtroom for the few hours we were there, the VA had signed our Terms of Service Agreement which states “Any claims of defect by the Client must be submitted within five days of the completed Transcript being forwarded to the e-mail account the Client specified when establishing an account with The Transcription People Pty Ltd”. Because the VA failed to do this, the Judge did not take anything else into consideration. It was irrelevant whether the transcription was to her satisfaction or not and just for the record – our quality is second to none!

The VA was ordered to pay not only the original invoice, but the interest accrued on a “daily” basis since the date of invoice (keep in mind it had now been a year); the costs of our flights and the relevant court costs. The VA had now drummed up three times the amount of what the original invoice amount was and the sad thing was, the VA had to submit her invoice to her client to the court which was no where near enough to be able to pay for our service.

Did I feel triumphant? No, just relieved but disappointed about having to go through the whole process and yes I get that things like that always make you stronger but it hurt and it was hard but I am glad I protected myself and my business and went with my instinct and produced that Agreement and since then, every client signs before we proceed further.

To date: the VA entered into a monthly payment arrangement which has been defaulted five times in the past four years and only half of the ordered amount has been paid. The VA still has a website offering transcription services however under the current law, there is no protection for small businesses dealing with these kinds of situations. It is still an open invoice and a bonus if we receive money; it was the principle of the thing!

Why Would You Sack A Client?

Annalisa — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 10:43:20 +0000

This week I had the unenviable task of firing one of my clients. The decision to let this client go was not an easy one, it really goes against the grain of any business, after all we are here to attract clients not to get rid of them. But there are times when you have to make hard decisions which are in the best interest for your business and this week was one of them.

Let me give you a little bit of background. We provide a business to business service, our clients provide us with audio which we transcribe into text and give back to them in the form of a text document. When we sign up a new client, each receives and is required to sign, our terms of service agreement. This does exactly what it says on the box, it defines our terms of service, this is how we work and this is how our business functions. By signing, the client agrees to stick to our terms. Important for every business is cash flow and because of that we have, clearly defined in our terms of service, 7 day terms on our invoices. Why so short? Well remember we are supplying a service, a service which requires real people who are paid a real wage. We don’t ship something from a distributor who we have 30 days plus to pay for goods we have on-sold, we have real people who are paid weekly. Our staff work extremely hard, transcription is a skilled profession. My business works hard to create accurate documents in a very short time frame. Typically if you send us audio, say a 45 minute interview, we will have that audio transcribed and proofread and back to you within 24 hours. We require payment for a fast service within 7 days of invoice, after all, the service being paid for is supplied within 24 hours.

This is where sometimes problems can arise and arise they did with the client who has sadly departed. We tend to have long ongoing relationships with all of our clients and because of that we see patterns of behaviour for all clients. Some clients habitually pay late, a gentle nudge from our Rottweiler of an accounts person and payment appears the next day. But very occasionally a client slips with their payments and no matter how much barking from the accounts lady nothing happens. In fact a sign we have noticed is that clients become agitated, “why are you ringing again”, “I told you it will be paid tomorrow” are typical responses and of course tomorrow comes and goes with no payment. “We will have to take our business elsewhere” was the final comment made by this client, there have to be times when you have to agree and allow the client to do just that, their overdue accounts can then be somebody elses problem. It is at this point that your client will realise just how good your service is and regret that move.

In our terms of service we indicate that overdue accounts will result in the delay in transcription. We have to, unpaid bills are a risk to our business and our cashflow. We are not ogres, we know what it is like to run a business and we are flexible. If a client picks up the phone and says that 7 day terms are not viable but 21 days are, we are happy to amend the terms as long as payment does appear when agreed. In the “client that shall not be named case”, we became flexible and extended the terms. Then suddenly a payment for only one of the two vastly overdue invoices came in promptly followed by some audio files to be transcribed. This puts us in a predicament, the client has paid some of the overdue amount, should we go ahead and transcribe the audio they have just sent? This is where alot of businesses, in my opinion make the fatal mistake. A part payment is made, continue work for the client – you have to stick to your procedures in cases like this, money is still owed, money is still overdue, as per the terms of service agreed, to them work will stop until due payment is made. We implemented this rule for the particular client and did not process the incoming work. The second invoice still remains unpaid and overdue.

It may seem harsh, it may seem hard to do, but in any business you cannot carry clients who use your service but fail to pay their bills in the allotted time agreed to when the business partnership was made. I cannot stress enough the importance of a good terms of service agreement, our agreement won us a court case which I will talk about in a future blog post.

We asked Alycia Edgar ( @alyciaedgar ) from Coastal Accounting Services what her views were on this topic and in particular this blog post, here is what she had to say:

Great post Annalisa, I would add below (basically a summary of above with some extras):

Keys ways to ensure your service of agreement are being adhered to:

Actually have a terms of service agreement that is presented to all new clients and signed accordingly
Make sure the client has a copy of the terms of service agreement for their reference.
Ensure your terms of service clearly state that services will be ceased when accounts are overdue
Ensure your invoices clearly state your terms of payment
Ensure your statements follow these terms be being issued in the same time frame. For example, with 7 day terms, statements for (non-payers) should be issued every 7 days, unless there is an extended arrangement
If you have enough room on your invoice, you could have a summarised version (of the main points) of your terms of service as a further reminder
You could have your entire terms of service listed on the back of the invoice – lots of big companies do this
Make sure the statement refers to your terms of service as well
Accounts staff when following up by email or phone should refer to the terms of service as well
Stick to your guns, your business is just as important as your clients
Regular payers who suddenly become bad payers and quite agitated about the matter possibly have other underlying issues occurring in their business of which you are not aware, frankly you’d probably rather not know – it can’t be good. Walk away! In fact don’t walk run! Sure you may be left with bad debt but it’s best to stop at that debt than incur more and more.

Getting a Taste of Live-Tweeting at Media140 for Foodies

Annalisa — Mon, 31 May 2010 00:20:09 +0000

Those readers who follow me closely know I love all things social media, so when I was given the opportunity to live-tweet at the Media140 for Foodies event I didn’t think twice. My fingers were poised, ready to send tweets via my trusty iPhone, @dictates wouldn’t hand over his iPad !

Media140 was founded by Ande Gregson in February last year as a way of bringing people together at events and conferences all over the world to “explore the future of the real-time web”. Twitter icon Mahei Foliaki ( @iconic88 ) and his partner The Internet Chef Bridget Davis ( @Bridget_CooKs ) decided to extend the idea further by holding a media140 event for Sydney’s passionate foodie crowd and Johanna Baker-Dowdell ( @JohannaBD ) and I were invited to guest tweet throughout the event.

Johanna and I travelled down to Electrolux at Mascot for the evening thinking we were going to be tweeting, eating, drinking wine and mingling with other guests, but when we arrived we discovered we were actually part of the set!

Johanna was to blog throughout Media140 for Foodies for The Internet Chef website and also the Media140 website. That meant the tweeting was up to me – and I’d never live-tweeted before. Well, I’ve tweeted interesting comments at events like Flying Solo and ConnectNow before, but this was different. I WAS the tweeter this time and everyone was watching my Twitter feed to see what was happening at the event. No pressure!

The food Bridget and her team cooked was sumptuous and matched perfectly with wines from Robert Oatley Vineyards. It was great to hear from food bloggers, writers and chefs about how they use social media.

I’m not a huge foodie like some of the people at the event, although I have sent the odd food tweet out when I’m eating somewhere and I want others to share the experience. I usually follow every step of a recipe and don’t stray from the guidelines in case it all goes wrong, but by going to Media140 for Foodies, I was motivated to explore eating and cooking new foods – and then how to tweet about them.

Even though events turned out unexpectedly, I had a great time (and was even a bit cheeky when they forgot to bring Johanna and I food while we were blogging/tweeting. Sadly we missed out on the gorgeous bread Mei’s team from @brasseriebread were cooking while the event unfolded) and ended up ranking as fifth in tweets about the night.

It was an amazing opportunity for me to meet Julie Posetti ( @julie_posetti ) who was the editorial director for Media140 for Foodies and the first Media140 event in Sydney last November. I also got to see @carmR in action helping out Bridget and meet @bradatslice who coordinated the whole event.

Here are a few of my tweets from the night to give you a taste of what happened:

Just arrived #media140 smells gooooood (@ Electrolux Demonstration Centre w/ @johannabd)

Doing the media thang at #media140 with @JohannaBD

I’m in the corner waving from my mac @PushCreatives \0/ #media140

Assuming my “tweeting” position, in the corner, watching the crowd at #media140, the culinary aroma is overwhelming #foodies #yummy

Would love to sample some of this fine food – @JohannaBD and I official blogger and tweeter in the corner – feel free to bring us some!!!!

Around 10pm I have the program, bring us food and we’ll show you RT @_ToniTones_: Does anyone know what time #media140 finishes tonight?

Kicking off the evening with intro by @julieposetti introducing @Bridget_Cooks #foodie #media140 salmon entree to die for!! more please!

Defining her cooking style @Bridget_Cooks, lots of seafood, organic & fresh produce, simple, sustainable #urbanfoodmarket #foodies #media140

Passion is to share food experiences @Bridget_Cooks – @iconic88 big influence (but of course) #media140 #foodies

Social media works really well due to @Bridget_Cooks experience with large community #newzealand #foodies #media140

Next up warm roast chicken sandwich @brasseriebread @Bridget_Cooks #foodies #media140 – ohh I can smell it from here (the corner)!!!

Wild Oats Sauvignon Blanc – that’s what we’re drinking at #media140 #foodies gorgeous drop – in the corner if you’d like to bring me one

OMG bring back the chicken! Amazing turning the simple chicken sandwich into a culinary delight #media140 #foodies #meltinginmymouth

Next up @Julie_possetti introducing panel @blues_junkie @notquitenigella @gosstronomy and then audience Q&A #media140 @foodies

How seriously are people taking restaurants tweeting? Its not about broadcasting ads its about relationships #media140 (via @CatrionaPollard)

No words describe the sensation @Bridget_Cooks #media140 #foodies duck confit pie red wine reduction

#media140 mainstream media isn’t doing enough to tackle issues about food re palm oil @elegsufficiency #media140 #foodies

@elegsufficiency trusts food reviews over food bloggers and people posting their opinions on Twitter and Foursquare #media140 #foodies

Ooh coming out is miniature wagyu buyers with onion jam and piquant cheddar #media140 @Bridget_Cooks I’d marry you !!!! #foodies

Real time web has positive implications in getting people through the door! #media140 #foodies uses social media to monitor, measure & gauge

Check out Johanna’s guest blog for Bridget’s website The Internet Chef: http://www.theinternetchef.biz/2010/05/the-internet-chef-stars-at-media140-for-foodies/

And her live-blogs for Media140: http://media140.org/?p=2896

Deep Freeze!

Annalisa — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 04:36:01 +0000

I should probably be blogging about this ‘after’ my next blog regarding the transition (in its entirety) from home office to commercial premises however it bugged me so much, I couldn’t wait! This blog is about a fridge!

So generally how a commercial lease works is you have your rent each month plus you have outgoings which are things like general upkeep of the actual building, maintenance, cleaning and security of the common areas (you pay separately for these for your own office). On our floor, in the Highpoint Building at Erina, there are four offices sharing one kitchen. In that kitchen, there’s a fridge – the kind that a single person would probably own, cupboard space, space for a dishwasher – without one in it – a sink and a hot water unit. It’s nothing flash and we pretty much have to maintain it ourselves bar the bin emptying, but the annoying thing about the kitchen is the fridge.

The fridge, as I mentioned, is typically one that a single person would need and use so its not very big, particularly for four offices and its not in the best condition. There is only one workable shelf in the main part of the fridge and only one rail in the shelving within the fridge door. So after putting up with it for a good part of the year, I decided to contact the real estate to advise that it probably needed replacing. The real estate was very compliant and advised they would contact the landlord and get it resolved.

You can imagine my surprise when a few weeks later, a bar fridge was delivered and inserted into the space where the dishwasher would normally go. Okay, its a workaround solution but as tenants of a pricey commercial premises paying outgoings etc weren’t we entitled to a new fridge or at least a second hand workable one? Okay and just quietly, I did want a nice shiny stainless steel one but anything would have been better than what we currently had. I spent the next week staring at the bar fridge, cursing it and telling myself I was going to refuse to use it. Upon further investigation, my office neighbours (Big Click Studios) and I worked out that the offending bar fridge wasn’t even working – it was plugged in but there was nothing, no cooling, no ice in the freezer compartment, nothing!

So back to the real estate I went with a definite bee in my bonnet and advised accordingly. They then advised they would contact the landlord again.

To my surprise (again), a few weeks later, I had a visit from my landlords Secretary who asked me to show her the bar fridge. Strange in itself considering it is the only bar fridge in the kitchen. Off we went to peruse the offending bar fridge and confirm that it indeed wasn’t working. I took the opportunity to voice my confusion as to why the main fridge just wasn’t being replaced although that was greeted with a shrug. Nonetheless, a few days later, the said Secretary came back to the office to advise me that the non-working bar fridge had been replaced with another one. I totally lost it! I asked why it was being replaced when the big fridge should be the one to be replaced? The reply “But it works”.

This may seem long a long-winded blog about nothing but its the principle of the thing. Commercial leasing is quite high at the best of times plus outgoings and every other expense that goes along with renting an office so I did not see the sense in just adding to a problem rather than fixing it. My conclusion was, it was a cheaper way of fixing the problem. It wasn’t about the fridge(s), it was all about the money!

Affected by Connection!

Annalisa — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 02:38:25 +0000

I’ve only written a handful of blogs and generally they are very structured and relevant about my transcription business and when I read back over them, they appear to be informative but pretty boring. I wasn’t quite sure why as I love to tell a story and consider myself pretty good at it but it wasn’t until I went to a conference recently “ConnectNow” and heard two key speakers on the day, that I realised exactly what it was that was missing from my blogs. It was me.

Whilst I was away camping over Easter at a hoe-down (that’s another story), I came back to several emails and tweets from friends asking if I was coming to ConnectNow. I had no idea what it was but readily agreed as I tend to like going to where all the action seems to be happening. Boy was I glad I went.

ConnectNow “is a marketing and communications conference focusing on the convergence of social media, emerging technologies and enterprise. The three-day event brings together visionaries and specialists in the field of new media marketing, community management and social technologies covering the latest strategies, tools and best practices in marketing innovation”.

The main speaker on the day was Gary Vaynerchuk who seemed to be quite big in the twitterverse – although I wasn’t following him (don’t worry, I am now) and Darren Rowse who I was already following. My week was already pretty full-on but I made the time to squeeze in this one day (out of the three day conference) and carpool down with some Central Coast tweeps (my friends @JohannaBD @marnieb and @jonbergan). Admittedly it was a very early start and I was starting to think that the extra lie in and routine of my normal business day was looking far more attractive than being at my office at 6.30 am to be picked up! And just quietly, I was thinking to myself that this better be bloody good.

After settling into our seats, I didn’t expect to be affected as much as I was by @garyvee. Here was this quite loud, out there, blaspheming American guy going on about his story, his passion and how that drove him to where he is now, successful is an understatement. His underlying message is that if you live your passion, you can’t fail. He also threw in some social media do’s and don’ts but it was the attraction to his energy that got me the most. I could have kicked myself for only following him the day before the conference and stupidly admitting that to him after I introduced myself to him. Luckily he thought that was quite funny, but that’s him.

What was missing from my blogs, albeit the few I’ve done, was my story, my personality, my passion for my business and the years of hard work that I’ve put into it. Already I was itching to start being me in every aspect of social presence. I was totally inspired and thankful that I made the effort to be there!

Now all I had to do was to blog more! So here I was eagerly awaiting @problogger’s talk as I knew I had to get more into blogging but was always stumped as to what to write. How much really can you write about transcription on a continual basis? And more importantly, do people even want to read about transcription?

Darren taught me two things, well more than that but the two main standout points for me were: 1) blog for you and not your audience and 2) blog regularly from all mediums.

My problem was that I was trying to write what I thought people wanted to read about my transcription business so no wonder when I read back over my blogs I thought they were pretty dull and too business-like – I wasn’t blogging for me! For someone that likes to talk a lot and I mean A LOT, I was really surprised at myself. I also spent so much time trying to work out what it I should blog about to the point that I turned myself off blogging hence the lack of blogs.

So its okay to be me and blog from my perspective, my experiences and my life story and incorporate my business into the blog but equally important to do it regularly and perhaps throw in a video or two. Look out!

Taking on a Trainee

Annalisa — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:17:55 +0000

Recently Rhianne, who has been with us at The Transcription People since early 2008, finished her Certificate III in Business Administration and is about to start Certificate IV in Front-line Management.

Rhianne came to the organisation straight out of school after finishing Year 12. With the decision made not to go to ’schoolies’ and to become focussed with starting her career was the perfect start. “… Although the tempation to have a break and go to ’schoolies’ was hard to resist, the benefits of starting the job was always going to outweigh the negatives …”.

Rhianne feels that the completion of Certificate III has set her up for further achieving career goals. When asked what Rhianne would like to aim for, she indicated that running an office would be her dream job.

Rhianne mentioned that the winning formula for making a successful traineeship happen includes:

Taking your time with understanding the basic elements of the job;
Be prepared to make coffees and do the tasks that are considered menial or boring;
Don’t go out partying before the first day of your job. There is nothing cool about smelling of alcohol or having the ‘night club’ stamps on your arms;
Wear work appropriate clothing. This means no offensive logos or torn pants, midriff showing or tattoos exposed;
Listen well and if you’re not sure about how to do a task as requested then re-ask the Manager. Rhianne believes there is nothing worse for someone who is starting out in their traineeships to do a task which you didn’t understand in the first place. It leads to you getting into trouble from your Manager and as well it can lead to a major knock to your self-confidence;
Making time to complete all assignments;
Don’t be afraid to make suggestions if you think things can be done differently;

With Rhianne moving from Certificate III to Certificate IV in Front-line Management, she is feeling confident and well supported by her workplace to complete it without any problems.

It is important to have good people within the business. Over the years whilst running this business, the amount of issues experienced with firstly attracting the right type of skilled people has been difficult and secondly the effort spent in keeping them for long term is equally as difficult. The realisation of my business needing a good focused young person to come in and learn was vital to the long term viability and with Rhianne’s raw talent and abilities, has in my view, turned out to be mututally beneficial. In short, The Transcription People gained a great young person whilst she continues to gain qualifications and other useful life skills that she can use within other future roles.

The following number of elements are what I consider important for people to have when employed as a trainee:

Having good interpersonal skills;
Turning up on time;
Listening and asking questions when you do not understand and;
Putting your full effort into tasks – half a job done is as good as not doing the job in the first place.

The Transcription People are always looking for bright and energetic people to join them, especially skilled proof readers and transcriptionists. Send your resume to jobs@ttp.com.au

What is Transcription?

Annalisa — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:51:17 +0000

I am often asked the question “What is Transcription?” when chatting to people about what I do and am often quite surprised when people don’t know. Put quite simply, transcription is the conversion of speech-to-text from video or more commonly digital audio recordings.

However there are a lot of steps to go through to transform a digital audio file into a useable text document – and there are many reasons in business for needing an accurate record of events.

Our clients upload their digital audio files via our secure online server, which generates an email alert to all staff in our office to advise that the file upload has been completed. We load the digital audio into one of our transcription software packages, we use a combination of Express Scribe and the Olympus DSS Player Pro transcription module (so we can transcribe the new .ds2 DSS Pro audio). This software lets our solipsists control the audio playback speed and volume using a USB connect foot control or pedal while listening to the audio.

Once we have checked the audio length and quality we assign the audio to one of our transcriptionists along with an individual client example and reference document. We have specific notes for each client indicating what fonts are preferred, whether or not to type verbatim, what format the client prefers time stamps and if required the clients letterhead. Using their transcription software the typist will transcribe into a Word document using a USB foot control and headphones. Each Word document is proofread and quality checked by a second person, we call this the second set of eyes and ensures that the quality and accuracy of the document is as high as can be. The completed document is emailed back to the client or for highly secure transcripts the completed document can be downloaded from our secure server.

Transcription can be used for business in a number of ways, such as documenting meetings or notes, keeping a record of an annual general meeting (AGM) or for any type of correspondence. Here are some examples:

Financial Transcription – typically financial results recorded live or via webcast.
Legal Transcription – this type of transcription can include hearings, correspondence or records of meetings such as arbitration, court cases and legal notes.
Medical Transcription – for keeping records of patient progress, referrals, letters, insurance cases or summaries.
Market research or focus groups – documenting what the group of people has said when reviewing products or services.
Podcast – many podcasters include downloadable transcripts on their websites.
General – other types of transcription include interviews, scripts, speeches, presentations, manuscripts and research.

Transcription is a very specialised field and for those who are not trained, transcribing an audio file into text can be very time-consuming and often frustrating. It involves the ability to work to tight deadlines, maintain confidentiality as well as the necessary transcription skills.

Previously, a business many have employed an assistant in-house to transcribe company documents, but with corporate cutbacks many of these roles have been absorbed into others and transcription is often now handled by an external company. Time is a valuable resource for business owners, so many outsource transcription to ensure they have more time to concentrate on their core business activities and increase their productivity.

2009 in Retrospect

Annalisa — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:16:21 +0000

In the lead up to the end of 2009 and in the first week of 2010 I’ve read a lot of blogs listing the writer’s goals for this year.

I think this is great and I have a list of goals I’d like to achieve too, but I prefer to make my first blog for 2010 a retrospective look at what I decided were my must-have items from last year. Here I have decided to list everything that has made my business a success in 2009 and helped build it to the operation it has become.

1. Must-have networking group – The Australian Businesswomen’s Network (ABN)

I joined the ABN while I was growing The Transcription People (TTP), looking for some business support, other women in business to chat to and occasional guidance when needed. I gained far more than this and took part in the MentorNET program, which proved invaluable for TTP.

2. Must-have PR person – Johanna Baker-Dowdell, Strawberry Communications

I first met Johanna when several small Central Coast businesses started chatting on Twitter and decided to meet in person. She has since become TTP’s PR consultant and gained us media coverage and new clients.

3. Must-have business coach – Terri Cook, Success Zone

As TTP grew we needed to hire staff and move into bigger commercial office space, but there were other aspects of the business which I didn’t spend as much time on as I should have. I started working with Terri in October and she has guided me to turn around these stale areas within the business, streamline my operations and given me tips to build better relationships with clients.

4. Must-have technology – iPhone

I am so happy with my iPhone I am constantly trying to get others to convert from Blackberries and other smart phones. My iPhone is a great business tool to keep me in touch while away from the office, but with the range of iPhone accessories and applications available it has become as essential as my sunglasses!

5. Must-have “giving back” – YESUP Mentoring Program http://www.frankteam.com.au

After everything I gained from the ABN MentorNET program I decided it was time to give something back last year. I became a mentor for a young business woman and took her through the business basics like planning, accounting and marketing, but also acted as a sounding board for issues that arose throughout the term of the program. I found being a mentor was just as valuable as being a mentoree.

6. Must-have book – Connection Generation by Iggy Pintado

I followed Iggy on Facebook and Twitter throughout the year, but actually met him at Flying Solo Live in September and again at networking events since. Iggy’s book is an inspirational guide to how small businesses can utilise social networking to play in the big league.

7. Must-have podcast – Small Business Big Marketing

Started by experienced marketer (Tim Reid) and web developer (Luke Moulton), the Small Business Big Marketing podcast has become one I watch out for because it is fun and full of business ideas that are easy to implement in a short format I can make time to listen to.

8. Must-have social networking – Facebook

Facebook is my favourite social networking site because I can chat with friends, post photos from my phone or camera, post links, find new people to connect with and share my news with my network.

9. Must-have comfortable shoes – Chinelas by Michelle

These shoes are so good! How many times have you put on some fantastic heels only to regret that decision at the end of the night when you have to walk home/to the car/train. Not anymore! Chinelas are folding shoes in a range of colours that fit in your handbag until you put them on at the end of the night to give your feet a break. Great news is, they are designed by a young entrepreneur that I met through the YESUP Program. Look out for Michelle, she’s on a winner!

10. Must-have support – family and friends

None of the list above could have happened without the support from my loving family and friends. They are the first to celebrate with me when we land a new client and provide an ear when things aren’t going so well. Their support is what drives me every day.

So this was my look back what made 2009 such a great year for me and my business. I can’t wait to see which items join my list for 2010!

‘Tis the Season to be Charitable

Annalisa — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:03:38 +0000

Christmas is a time of giving, but it also a time for being with friends and looking back at the year that has gone before, celebrating what has been achieved.

I intend to do just this when I attend the CCBiz Christmas Cocktail function at Ettalong Mantra on Friday night (November 27), both as an event sponsor, but also a member of the Central Coast’s own networking group.

It has been a big year for The Transcription People, with our move from our home office into the HighPoint Building at Erina, as well as the business’s growth. We have big plans for 2010, but first I will honour 2009.

I am looking forward to letting my hair down at the CCBiz Cocktails, sharing a few drinks with friends and business associates – and meeting new business owners. I’m also pleased I will be helping to raise money for an important charity, while I’m celebrating the end of the year. All money raised at the function will aid Central Coast Child Abuse Prevention Service (CAPS), which relies completely on funding from the community, businesses and fundraising. CAPS is a not-for-profit organisation offering support services for parents and families on the Central Coast for more than 35 years. The charity aims to alleviate child abuse in all its forms, by educating and informing both parents and the public through telephone counselling, training sessions, workshops and referrals to relevant professional services.

Tickets for the CCBiz Christmas Cocktail function are $63 and are still for sale right now. Entertainment, canapés and drinks are included in the ticket price, and there will also be a silent auction and raffles drawn on the night with thousands of dollars worth of goods and services donated from Central Coast businesses up for grabs.

Buy tickets at http://ccbiz.com.au/events/charity-fundraiser/

Dear Sir/Madam … I’d like a job!

Annalisa — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:11:36 +0000

Being a busy transcription business, we often receive around ten job enquiry emails per day either requesting information or submitting resumes for transcription work. Whilst this can be quite time consuming to review each email and resume, the process is often shortened by the occasional email that I don’t even waste my time reviewing. I have been shocked over the years at people’s lack of consideration and social etiquette with something as serious as asking for your employment.

The following can deter me from even considering an application:

Not addressing who the email is to;
Not researching the company details to find out who you are submitting your work enquiry to but rather opting for the quick and easy way of addressing ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ – The Transcription People website has my profile and picture and easily identifies me as the Director of the company.
Not writing any content at all but simply attaching a resume.

I sought some advice from a professional resume writer, Kirsty Stewart

Tips for writing a great resume and cover letter:

If you are not an advanced MS Word user make sure you use a nice, easy template so you don’t have to spend too much time playing around with it. There are plenty of free examples online to choose from.
Don’t use italics or fancy fonts as they are hard to read. Instead use bold to highlight areas of interest e.g. name, phone, job titles, course names. Also only use black font with a white background. Colours can be hard to read and don’t print and scan as clearly.
If printing your resume always use plain white paper only (I cannot stress this one enough). A simple staple or paper clip is preferred. Never bind your resume.
Use bullet points rather than paragraph format to list your work skills and experience. However, just because you are using bullet points does not mean you should not write full sentences.
Always provide examples and specific information. The difference between a good and a great resume will show how you made improvements and contributions in your previous position. However, be truthful and don’t go overboard.

Poor Resume Example:

Filing
Reception
Mailing

Good Resume Example:

Attended to the electronic, manual and archiving of files for 3 Senior Lawyers of highly confidential information
Managed a busy reception desk including answering incoming client queries, greeting customers and general administrative tasks
- Organised both incoming and outgoing mail including organising couriers and attending to email correspondence

Better Resume Example:

Created new procedures for the electronic, manual and archiving of confidential files that decreased time spent on task by 30 minutes a day
Developed procedures manual for front desk reception tasks that included telephone messaging systems and client greeting procedures to streamline break cover and holiday leave
- Organised both incoming and outgoing mail including organising couriers and attending to email correspondence

Finally, always proofread your documents. If you can’t afford to hire a proof reader it is well worth your time to have someone you know to have a look at your resume for any mistakes. A great tip for spotting mistakes is to read your resume and cover letter out loud.