How To Get The Most Out Of Your Transcription Company

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Having a transcription company transcribe your audio/video absolutely can save you time to handle other chores and business, in the long run saving you money, because how valuable is your time to you, your family and your business?    How can you be sure that you’re getting everything you can out of  the transcription company handling your projects?

Here are some tips for anyone who is thinking about recording audio for transcription, or has audio they would like transcribed:

When setting up for your recording, take into consideration your surroundings.  Background noise will interfere with the recording.  A good transcription company understands you do not record in a bottle and there will never be absolutely no background noise, but limiting the circumstances allows the transcription company to focus on the words of the speakers, and allows them to research any possible questions with the content.

Try not to place the recording device flat on a  desk.   This provides openings for echos of chair movement, glasses or other items on the desk being moved.  Even the keyboard keys or paper shuffling can interfere with the spoken words you are trying to capture. Keep in mind, whatever is on the desk is closer than the mouth of the speaker and will be the loudest thing on the audio.

Be mindful of the volume being recorded.  Be mindful of cell phone usage during an interview.   And most importantly, be mindful that the device is turned on.

When speaking, try not to cut the other person off.  This is not always possible, but even repeating your comment or question if this occurs helps the transcription company develop more complete transcripts for you.

When choosing a transcription company, there may be questions or concerns that you should have asked but were not aware of until AFTER you have assigned your project.  Be specific in what your demands are.

Do you want verbatim-verbatim – every um, er, false start and stutter transcribed, or do you wish the transcript to be cleaned up, removing false starts and stutters?  Do you want the speakers grammar cleaned up, or leave the transcript as spoken?  (In most cases, false starts and “sounds” are cleaned up automatically, but grammar, if spoken incorrectly, is not.  Many transcription companies understand that the way a person speaks is unique to them, and shows their personality.)

Is there a particular format you want?  Do you want the speaker’s names noted or just generic headings used?  Do you want contractions used if spoken?  How many spaces after a period would you like?  What font size or page margins?

Is there any portion of the audio that you do not want transcribed?  If paying per minute of audio, this is very important, and could save you money.  Is there chit chat before or after an interview that you do not need transcribed?

Is there a deadline?  Many transcription companies note standard TAT for a return of your work (24, 36, 72 hours), and may hold it using a first in, first out method to assigning.   If you need your audio the same day, next day or even a week later – let your transcription company know.  This not only ensures you that you will get it in time to meet your deadline, but will allow the transcription company better handle their workload.

Name your audio file before you send it to the transcription company, or tell them what you would like the transcript saved as.  Inform the transcription company of who the speakers are, especially when names may not be clear or have odd spellings. If there are topics or words you feel may be foreign to the transcription company, let them know.   This too, allows the transcription company to have a heads-up on potential research for terms and phrases if needed, or even decide to assign to a particular transcription with strengths in that area of topic.

Lastly, it is always a good idea to let the transcription company know how long the audio is.  This allows them to verify that your audio has been received in full with no disconnects on download or other problems.

Some questions you may want to ask your transcription company:

Is there a specific format that the audio / video file must be for them to transcribe and develop a quality report from it?

Do they off shore their work?

Do they utilize speech recognition?

Do they have a pool of transcribers to help with your workload so that multiple transcriptionists can cover your audio, all familiar with your demands?

Do they utilize independent contractors and are they all bound by confidentiality.  Having a confidentiality contract with a transcription company alone does not safeguard your projects if those actually transcribing the work are not bound by the same confidentiality.

Are their rates negotiable and what does their regular rates include?  Is the per minute rate for any audio, no matter the length and no matter how many speakers, and no matter the TAT expected on regular assignments?  What is their priority or stat rate?

If you do not communicate these things to your transcription company, you may not get what you were looking for.  If your transcription company doesn’t allow you to make these demands, then maybe you should review other companies and what they can offer you.

CLK Transcription never sends their workload offshore.  We never use speech recognition.  We know nothing understands the human voice as well as the human ear.

CLK Transcription uses independent contractors and each must sign a confidentiality agreement before any work is assigned.

CLK Transcription never holds work and does not use a first in-first out assignment schedule.  We have a team of transcriptionists that are each trained on every account so that your work never has to wait to be assigned.  This also allows us to work on those large projects of multiple hours simultaneously offering a quicker TAT for multi-day seminars, focus groups, and conferences.

CLK Transcription can accept all forms of downloadable audio, as well as CD, DVD and cassettes, utilizing the best of available programs to convert to MP3, and if you wish, can forward the converted file to you when the project is complete.  CLK Transcription can also transcribe hard copy white paper into a word document for you.

CLK Transcription offers standard proofing on every project received, and when a difficult audio is received, we have multiple people listen and fill in as many gaps as possible – at no extra charge.  Although we treat every client as our only client, we have found it necessary to charge a nominal fee for priority files (files needed back immediately ASAP), however in most cases, files are returned well within 24 hours, regardless of length of audio anyway.

CLK Transcription’s rates are below the national average, and we offer discounts for education projects, discounts for referrals, and many times throughout the year, we offer dollars off to our regular clients.  We review each new client and the projects they will be assigning to us and develop a rate that works for them.

CLK Transcription is servicing the world with professional, quality transcriptions.  We offer the quality you demand at a cost you can afford.  Contact us at CarolLee@CLKTranscription.com or visit WWW.CLKTranscription.com for details on how we can assist you with your transcription needs.  We are LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/clktranscription where our recommendations can be viewed. Follow us on Twitter @clk_shortcake.

It will be our pleasure to offer a $5.00 discount to any new or standing client who mentions this blog or retweets on Twitter.

Are You Looking for Time and Money? CLK Transcription May Have Found It For You!

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When journalists, authors, doctors, etcetera, begin to think about having their audio/video transcribed, the first thought is probably cost. Many attempt to do the work themselves, or hire in-house staff to do the transcription.

When hiring an in-house staff, you have to consider hourly pay, benefits, and keeping that person busy with “busy work” when no transcription work is available for them to handle. They have to consider days off, sick time, vacation…not just the cost, but who handles the work when their “transcriptionist” is not around?

If you are handling the transcription task yourself, I have to ask you – how much is your time worth? How long does it take you to transcribe the audio? What does it breakdown to in terms of hourly wage? Are there other things you would rather be doing? Interviewing another person? Organizing the data for your article/book? Managing other tasks? Taking time out to do personal chores?

For those who hold weekly, monthly or annual meetings or conferences – having those events recorded and then transcribed allows you to share this information with more than those who have been able to attend the function personally. Sure you can share the video, but what happens when other’s busy schedule precludes them from sitting and watching a video?

Having the transcript allows them the freedom to move around and tackle their day, and you the knowledge that they have a true concept of what occurred and something they, and yourself, can refer back to when necessary. How many times have you wished you could replay a meeting for what was said?

For the educator, or those seeking higher levels of education – your class audio can be transcribed for sharing as well. Those interviews and other audio developed for your paper can be transcribed for reference.

CLK Transcription offers a discount for educators and students alike. We feel education is THE most important thing a person can have, and love the opportunity to help you reach your goals. We have been proud to handle transcripts for professors or students of UCLA, Bloomsburg University, Wilkes Barre University, King’s College, Illinois State University, Minnesota State University, Wisconsin State University, Harvard University, and others.

Having a transcription service handle your audio/video projects allows the freedom to do what it is you must do to meet your TAT. Freedom to continue your other work to bring the project together. Freedom to share information in a manner that fits everyone’s schedule. Freedom to develop the best end result you possibly can, without the stress, time or money you may have been spending in the past.

A transcription service can be the cost-effective and cost-efficient tool that you are looking for to allow you more time to get your project done, to share important information, or just to get your personal chores tended to.

When using CLK Transcription Service, you only pay for the audio/video assigned. No sick time, no vacation time, and certainly no overtime or benefits. We have individuals who have special skills to research terms and information, skilled in listening and hearing the most difficult audio and transforming it into a quality transcript.

CLK Transcription can handle multiple audio, in varying lengths, and can meet or surpass your expected TAT in most, if not all, cases. We have transcriptionists all across the United States and we never offshore, EVER. We also never use speech recognition. We feel the nuances of your audio deserve the extra care given by a human ear and human hands.

CLK Transcription has been recommended by the best journalists and by many of the Universities in the country, as well as large publishing companies and other professional corporations – from the medical research industry to the business and finance industry. We also have handled many motivational and teaching seminars by many of the world’s most well-known speakers and coaches.  We have handled files as large as multi-day conferences and seminars to the few minute audio of a journalist, on a wide variety of topics. Yes, we even do voice mail transcription giving you the freedom to step away and know your important calls will never be missed again.  We have clients all over the world, and have transcribed many, many ESL audio as well. We love what we do and take the time to do it right – for YOU!

Check out our recommendations today at http://www.linkedin.com/in/clktranscription and find out what CLK Transcription can do for you.  Let us transcribe your next audio/video and show you what you have been missing. It may just be the time and money you have been looking for!

I believe we can be, so much so that I stake my name on it.

We also love to retweet our favorite journalists and organizations tweets to share your wonderful ideas and projects with others.  Join us @CLK_Shortcake or on Facebook – look for CarolLee Streeter Kidd.  Join us!  We would love to have you as part of our team!

CarolLee Kidd

President/Owner

CLK Transcription, Inc.

https://www.clktranscription.com

CLK Transcription, Inc. Making your life a bit easier

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Here are just a few things we can do for you to make your professional and personal life that much easier:

Allow you more time to work on other projects, while we transcribe your audio.  While you interview or write your next article, we can transcribe the audio for verification purposes.

Allow easy documentation signing, without printing all the paper work by developing your electronic signature that can be copied and pasted into an online document in most cases.

Allow you to easily use your computer to listen to your audio by converting those less recognized formats into a format your programs can easily work with.

Allow your podcasts, webinars, seminars, conferences and other face-to-face or online meetings to be shared with more people.  We will transcribe into a word document so that you can share with others who have no time to sit and watch a video or attend in person.

Allow you more free time or uninterrupted time during your meetings.  We can handle your voice mail, sending transcripts direct to your Smartphone, anywhere you are.  That important message will find you and let you decide whether you need to handle it now or later.

Are you working on your Masters or Doctorate and have interviews upon interviews that you need to sort out.  We can transcribe them for easy review allowing you more time for the meat of your paper.

Are you a physician who needs their patient reports transcribed quick and efficiently?  We have expertise in all specialties of the medical profession.

Oncology                     Orthopedics                         Hematology

Pediatrics                     Infectious disease                Rheumatology

Psychiatry                    Physiatry                             Radiology

Pathology                     Dermatology                      Cardiology

Pulmonary                   Plastic Surgery                  Ophthalmology

Chiropractic                 Clinical and Acute Care, Op notes, IMEs, and more.

Clk Transcription, Inc. can do all this and more.  All this for what has been noted as less than the national average, and yes, all done by human ears and human hands here in the US.  No speech recognition.  No off shoring.

You can review some of our recommendations on LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/in/clktranscription), or request recommendations from many of our connections on Facebook (CarolLee Streeter Kidd)  or Twitter (CLK_Shortcake).

Contact us today, and see how we can make your life that much easier.

Yes, I am behind on my bills but that doesn’t mean you can be an ass!

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I got a call from a bill collector today.  Yes I deserved the call.  After 10 years with this company, I am behind for the first time ever.  When I saw the number, I was ready to put my embarrassment aside and take whatever “discipline” I had coming.  Like so many others, I too have had difficult times managing to stay on the edge of the hole without falling in, because once in, digging my way out is much harder.  Full disclosure here – how much I owe this company – $500.00 total, but it is not more important to me than my mortgage, my utilities, and my worker’s paychecks, which I struggle to make at times due to…well see below.

What I was not expecting was the tactless and extremely rude remark from someone who doesn’t live in our country, to me, someone who has been on top of the game for some time, and has recently fallen behind like so many other Americans in this wonderful economy of ours.  An economy I have called – the check is in the mail economy before in this blog.  http://wp.me/pLEiA-39

The conversation started out with:

“Hello Carol.”

I kept my cool, even though I think it is unprofessional to call me by my first name as if we are friends, and even worse, calling me by my mother’s name.  I did not even correct him, I let it go.

It continued nicely for a bit, even with this man noting that this is the first time I have been in arrears ever with this company and that he understands I may have just had a difficult time lately.

He then noted he understood I owned my own company, and wondered why I could not pay this particular bill and wondered if I treated all my bills in the same manner.

I started to get heated, but still kept my cool.  I was after all late and did owe money.  I explained that being my own boss and company owner does not mean I am rich, and that unfortunately many of my clients pay me 30 plus days, but I have to pay my workers every two weeks.  I understand I am behind, but am working to bring myself back current ASAP.

Then he did it.  He took all the time in the world to do it and took me to the place I did not want to go.  He brought out the truck driver in me.

He says, and I quote, “Don’t you own your home and have a mortgage?  Why don’t you take out a home equity loan and pay your bill with us?  You could sell some of those clothes you buy, or maybe even stop going to restaurants so much.  Maybe you should consider having your family pitch in to help you or go on welfare to assist you with your other bills”

If I were a splurging type individual, maybe that would have shamed me.  But it made me mad.

My reply was to the point, and I will get as close to a quote as possible, removing the words that only truckers should hear.

“I do not go out to eat – in fact the last time I went out to eat was over three years ago and dinner was bought for me.  I do not buy clothes often, and my last purchase was over a year ago for sneakers, which by the way replaced a pair bought 7 years ago.  The money on this credit card was used for my business when a computer blew up, and not on luxuries.  I do not need welfare; I earn my money and work hard for it.  I do not ask anyone for money, much less my family who are worse off then I am at times.  And as far as my home goes, I do have a mortgage that I fight to pay every month, like most other Americans, and because I am behind in some bills, who in their right mind would loan me money.  Why would I ask if I already know what I have is not enough to pay what I owe already?

Speaking to me this way will not get you payments.  Speaking to me this way will not make you a bigger person to me.  Speaking to me this way just makes me more angry that a US company would use off shore idiots to do a job that an American can do, probably better, and work toward fixing our economy instead of paying our dollars to some __________ person who has nothing better to do than to belittle and anger the very same people who ensure he gets a paycheck.”

I then told him to have a nice day and hung up.

Do I feel bad – absolutely not.  Do I know I still have to pay this bill – absolutely, yes.  Will it be the first one on my list when the checks come rolling in – NO.

They can come take my TV set for all I care.  Better yet – take my phone.  I won’t be answering it for him anymore.

When is the right time to check and respond to e-mail?

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Having a hectic morning, hectic afternoon, hectic day all around is something we all have – if not every day, at least more often than we would like.  Just getting into work for some is the hard part and then sorting through the priorities of the day’s load, and getting the momentum to get into them and complete them can be daunting.  Add arranging our time to allow for those items that always pop up and interrupts our day – and well, you have all the makings for a monster work environment.

Another thing most, if not all of us have is the dreaded e-mail in box.  Knowing it is probably overloaded makes some wait for the day to get rolling to tackle it.  Some do it first thing in the morning, and some wait for the end of the day.  Some check it and respond right away, while others will check their e-mail and hold off on a response until another time – some not at all.  Many never ever think about organizing their e-mail the same the organize other files either electronically stored or around their office.

When is the right time to check your e-mail and respond?

In the past I have worked for companies that told us when we should check it and when we should respond and what we should do with the remnants – do we save them, do we sort them, once responded to, do we delete them?

I personally know people who have every last e-mail ever received sitting in their e-mail inbox, every sent held in their sent file and never have they thought of deleting their deleted folder.

Here is my personal theory (routine) on the matter.

First thing in the morning, the very first task I have is to read all my e-mails.  I respond to each one that have an easy response, delete junk mail (more on this later) and those that need more thought are held.

Any e-mail responded to is deleted.  If I need to worry about what I said, or the other party said, I will move it from the sent folder to a folder named for that person or organization.  If it is an e-mail with information about my company I place it in a folder named for my company.  For example – Staples coupons or discounts, accountant e-mails, supply order receipts, etc.

Those items that needed more attention, now get my attention,.  I research and respond, and again, moving the sent file from the sent folder (which has the original e-mail attached) to the proper folder if necessary and the original e-mail is deleted.

Any e-mail sent that is not moved to a folder is deleted.  Then here we go, what many people dread – I empty the deleted items folder.  I have had this system for so long that I have become accustomed to moving and sorting, and by the time I have responded and moved, there is nothing in my in box, nothing in my sent folder, and only those items I absolutely don’t need are left in the deleted items folder – so it is safe to say YES, DELETE ALL ITEMS.

Throughout the day, as an e-mail arrives, I open and respond immediately – as immediately as I can but within the hour at the very latest.  Handling those e-mails the same way.  It is nice to know at the end of the day, before I shut down my computer for the evening, that all my e-mail is read, responded to, sorted and yes, the inbox, sent and deleted items folder is empty.  Of course, once every few months I sort through the individual folders I have set up for each of my clients and other items and delete the items no longer needed – old receipts, questions posed and now obsolete, etc.

Someone once told me I should never answer an e-mail immediately because it makes me look needy.  Like I have nothing else to do.  Well here is my answer to that – Are you nuts?

My clients have deadlines.  I have deadlines.  If I waste time not checking my e-mails I may have already blown the deadline for myself and my clients.  Being able to meet the deadlines of my clients is a big part of CLK Transcription’s performance model.

E-mails that come from solicitors with offers, if I don’t check my e-mail before I order, I may miss the offer forever.

In this day and age, e-mail is like instant communication for me.  It is the same as answering my phone.  I have e-mail on my Blackberry for those times I may need to be away from my computer more than a moment or two.

Does it interfere with my work.  Hardly.  Does it cramp my personal time?  Hardly.  It is routine and a routine that works for me.  I have never had anyone say – why didn’t you return my e-mail?  I also have never had anyone tell me – you blew my TAT.

So, when it is a good time to check and respond to e-mails?  I think it depends on your routine, your workflow, and your responsibilities.  But one thing is for sure – organizing is important, and responding is a must.

Otherwise, you never know what you are missing, or what you may have missed.

How Can CLK Transcription Change Your Life?

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When someone asks me what I do, I tell them simply that I change people’s lives by giving them time.

Time to do whatever they want to do – finish a chore, read a book, continue with other aspects of their work, spend time with family, etc.

My clients send me audio of whatever it is they have;  be it a conference, seminar, webinar, interview, thesis, even thoughts for chapters for their new book in progress.  I transcribe the audio into a word document – thus giving them time to continue with other areas of their life or career.

I also do voice mail.  Many clients go on vacation, even handle daily chores, not tied to the phone anymore.  I receive the audio voice mail and transcribe it directly into an e-mail and send it to them where ever they are on their Smartphone as a message and they can handle it from there.

So yes, I change people’s lives by giving them time to enjoy whatever it is they want to enjoy.

How can I change your life?

https://www.clktranscription.com

When a good client goes bad

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We all have them.  Wonderful clients.  Clients who articulate what they want, what they expect, and keep us busy even through the lean times.  But what do you do when a good client goes bad?

I am not talking about those wonderful clients that seldom send work (hey they send work) or those leave us to our own imagination and expertise to solidify a projects completeness (It feels good to be trusted in what we do.)

I am talking about the client that sends work, communicates, and then out of the blue – all communication ends.

You begin to wonder did you do something wrong?  Did you make an unforgivable error?  If so, certainly you will make it up to them by way of discount or partial refund.  You ask the client for feedback – nothing.

Weeks go by.  The work comes in and you do it, figuring the economy is hurting everyone, you will give them time and in the meantime, you are generating an income for yourself – even if it means a late payment.  It is still an expected payment.

Eventually, the projects end.  Still no communication.  Even more important than communication is payment for the projects you worked so hard on never comes.

What do you do?

Here is what I did.  I sent an e-mail requesting payment with a read receipt.  I also sent this request certified return receipt.  I tacked on late fees.  I explained that “no payment” will cause me to go a step further and have my attorney make contact and pursue any legal means necessary to get payment.  And I followed through.  i got my payment, late fees and yes, even partial attorney fees.

He went elsewhere.  He went offshore.  He saved a few bucks.  He got less communication this time when he wanted it.  He got less quality and ended up paying more for an in-house person to QA all work returned from the other company, and ended up spending more money and time when all he had to do was pay his bill.

Here is the kicker.  Communication with me miraculously began again.  Projects began to roll in again.  Payment was received.  And now, the client pays in advance of receiving his completed project.  I don’t hold grudges, but I don’t forget either.

I do not mind being a bit lenient with my wonderful clients.  I have a due date.  I give additional time before late fees are added and if communication is there, I even waive the fees because we are all living in the same economy.  we all have our moments.  But when a good client goes bad, they can pull me down too.   I learned my lesson and learned it well.

So now I tackle another good client gone bad using the same methods as before.  This time not waiting as long before I move forward with the actions.  He has gone elsewhere.  Am I offended.  No way!  I know I will get payment and I know he will be back.  They always come back.

And I still give my all to every project they send.  That’s how I do business at CLK Transcription.com

10 Interview tips others don’t tell you…

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I have read so many blogs etc on great interview tips etc.  Here are some that I would love to have shared with potential candidates from my past:

1.  Be sure to clean your eye glasses.  Having smudges or even mascara rubbed on them is distracting when I am talking to you.  You may not see them, but I do.

2.  Be sure to brush your teeth – again very distracting.

3.  Take it easy on the cologne.  I may have asthma, or at least may have by the time you leave.

4.  I do not want to see you butt or breasts, so keep them covered please.

5.  Don’t call me honey – yes you women too.  I am not hun, honey, or sweetheart.

6.  Don’t lie on your resume and then forget what you had on it.  And keep in mind, I do verify references.

7.  When I ask what your best qualities are – don’t tell me getting along with others and then tell me you left old job due to personality conflicts.  You see my point here don’t you?

8.  When explaining your past responsibilities, don’t lay in with how the old supervisor was a bitch – that just means you will be calling me names too one day.

9.  Don’t introduce yourself as Jane /John Doe and then say but all my ID says Julie/Josh Adams.  I will have some questions…

10. Don’t show up a half hour early with your lunch to the interview and ask if you can use the waiting room as your cafeteria.  Leave your food and drink in the car.  It probably won’t be long before you will be joining it anyway.

And if/when hired, keep in mind:

1.  If the back of your SS card says do not laminate, and you laminate it – I cannot accept it as ID.  Don’t yell at me, you laminated it.

2.  The law tells me I have to ask for your documentation – if you don’t have it, please get it before your first day of work.  You should be old enough to have your VALID driver’s license, SS card and or passport available.  You needed it at your last job, so please bring it to this one too.  Not my law.  Again, don’t yell at me.

3.  Don’t show up late for your first day – first week – first month.

4.  Don’t come to work and then take 20 minutes in the bathroom to fix yourself up.  Come in 10 minutes early and be working when your start time arrives.

5. Don’t ask me for an advance the first day on the job.  Prove your worth to me, and earn your paycheck.

Others may not concern themselves with these tidbits of information, but I do.

Thank you and happy job hunting!

https://www.clktranscription.com

Happy Anniversary CLK Transcription, Inc.

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It was the month of April when I left my job after some personal and personality differences.  During subsequent conversations with the past employer, it was said that I left to start my own business.  That was not the truth, but it gave me a thought.

I was scared.  I knew that I had the experience to handle it.  I knew I had the contacts to work with.  I was scared but I knew I had potential and I knew what clients wanted – Quality transcriptions, quick.  They wanted to be able to send audios in many ways, many formats, and they did not want stress when doing so.  They wanted communication – open and honest communication about how the work they gave me was going because if I screwed it up – it screwed them up.  I knew what they wanted, knew I could offer it, but was scared out of my mind.  My family depended on me to perform and succeed.

When I realized how scared I was, I knew I was dedicated enough to any potential client’s needs that I was ready to put all my fears aside and go for it.

That May I obtained my first client on my own through mass mailing and face-to-face contact.  It was a major medical publisher and we worked with tapes, picking them up in a local pub’s parking lot.  More joined on using different forms of audio mediums and different forms of transfer allowing me to obtain the necessary programs to handle their work, and learn what others were asking for and accommodate them as well.

I became busy enough to bring on my first independent contractors.  After growing the business as a freelancer handling medical clients, seminars and conferences for large corporations with the assistance of other freelancers, I decided to take another step for myself and become an incorporated small business owner.  This was something that many potential clients had suggested I do, as they dealt with larger contracts and could only work with corporations.

In July 2007 I became CLK Transcription Incorporated.   I was so excited.  I knew because I was still so scared, I still had the fire to learn what my clients wanted and do everything I could to meet their demands.

Many of the corporate clients I had been transcribing conferences, seminars, and webinars for began referring me to the very journalists and authors they relied on to speak at their functions. The very same individuals they relied on for their articles or books.

I continued my marketing, meeting people face to face, online, through various other means that I researched or was suggested to me by the very clients I had been assisting, and I was able to grow and took on more very interesting and fabulous clients.

Now my client list includes non-professional individuals with IEP meetings, physicians of all disciplines, corporations, motivational speakers, personal trainers, journalists and authors.  We transcribe topics ranging from educational, business and finance, health, all medical disciplines, banking and brokerage, entertainment news – you name it, we have transcribed it. (And if we haven’t, we can do the research to provide you with the quality project you demand.)

I respect each of our clients and their work.  I transcribe their audios, proofread their work or personal documentation, convert PDF to Word documents and vice versa, convert their audio,  develop electronic signatures, develop spreadsheets, even transcribe their voice mail.  We never stop the search for new services to offer and new ways to offer them.

I am still scared, and again, that lets me know I am doing exactly what I should be doing.  And now I am able to bring on other US transcriptionists to assist me in getting the job done right – the first time.  I have been training individuals in this field and love it because the great work we do earns respect for the US transcriptionist.  Many of these transcriptionists have been able to grow their own business and I am so proud of them.

Seeing that May is CLK’s anniversary month for the first private client I wanted to take this time to say thank you.  Some clients I may hear from once a year.  Others on a daily basis.  Some refer others and some even blog about us.  I appreciate them all.  We all do here at CLK Transcription, Inc.   Transcription is not just what we do – it is who we are!

Most especially, I want to thank those journalists and authors who have become the backbone of CLK Transcription, Inc’s client base.   Thanks for your confidence in me – in all of us here at CLK Transcription, Inc.  Because of you, CLK Transcription continues to grow!

You are appreciated, not just for the work you do, but for who you are!  THANK YOU ALL!!

https://www.clktranscription.com

Freelancers, Independent Contractors and Small Businesses – Oh My!

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The work of a freelancer, independent contractor, and true small businesses have been in the news a lot lately.  From taxes levied and proposed, to payment of bills and collections, to credit available, and everyone who is not a freelancer or independent contractor or a true small business has something to say on the issues. (I say true small businesses meaning those who have owners doing the grunt work right along side the worker bees, and not on vacation or off-site playing tennis. Owners who put their name, finances, heart and soul into the work as well as the business.  In my mind, every freelancer and independent contractor is a small business too.)  The independent contractor, freelancer and true small business are those who every big business has turned to at one time or another – more frequently the past few years – to get a job done and get it done right with quality – the first time.

Well, as a true small business, who began as an independent contractor and then freelancer, who works with freelancers and independent contractors on a daily basis, I felt the need to air my thoughts.

Taxes – for those who think taxing us more will help us grow – you are nuts.  If you think it will help the economy – again, find the fruit bowl and jump in.  You are taxing the small business, independent contractor, freelancer to death. We are working hard with big business and helping them grow – leave us alone so we can grow too.  Leave us alone so we can keep the jobs here in the good ol USA!

Available credit – There is not enough available credit around when you take into consideration, many of us need the credit because our bigger clients are paying slower and slower and we have personal and professional bills to pay.  If we give 30 days for a client to remit payment and they take 45, the mortgage, utilities, and the payment date for the independent contractors used on our jobs have been passed, and we dig into savings and personal accounts, and well there is never a full “catchup” once we get behind. Decent credit is not available to someone who is behind already.  Decent credit is only available to those who, quite frankly, don’t need it and have a credit score over 680 IF you are lucky.  Probably more like 700 or above.  In this economy, find me a freelancer, independent contractor or true small business that has a credit score that high since 2007 and maintained it.

Which takes me to the payment of our invoices, turning us into collectors ourselves.  As a small business who uses independent contractors, I pay my IC’s every two weeks.  I bill my clients every two weeks and give them 20 days to remit.  Tack on the 15 days before a late fee is tacked on, and it is 45 days for payment to come.  Oftentimes, clients will take 60 days before payment is made and disregard the late fees altogether. The great clients (other freelancers, independent contractors and true small businesses) who we understand are in the same boat we are, we tend to forgive the late fee anyway.

Continue that through months and months of billing and payments, and the quarterly tax payments due the moment you seem to get caught up, and there you have it.  The downward spiral of small business, freelancers, and independent contractors.  The most important aspect of USA if you ask my opinion. I know you didn’t, but you got it anyway.

Now many will say, just don’t accept work.  That is not good business when a small business, freelancer, or independent contractor is trying to grow.  If we did not accept the jobs, even knowing that payment could/would be late, we would not have an eventual income.  Worse yet, we show a disloyalty to other freelancers, small businesses, and independent contractors who relay on us to help them earn their income as well.  Even worse – many of the larger companies will find someone over seas to off-shore to, costing the US economy in so many more ways.

The small business typically works with freelancers and independent contractors who in turn are working for other bigger businesses, who also take that 45 to 60 days or more to remit payment.  If you want to tax someone, tax those bigger businesses who are costing us little guys our homes and our livelihoods.

No, not all clients are slow payers.  Some of us are lucky to have those clients that work hard to make sure we are paid.  We all understand the trickle-down economy and how patience is needed. We all know how hard it is when we are waiting for the “check is in the mail” economy (http://wp.me/pLEiA-39) to turn around.  We value our clients, but more, we value our work.  And we continue to do the quality work that our clients demand.

So, please, to all you high paid suits who feel the need to continue to financially harass the true small business, freelancers, and independent contractors – think about it.  If you kill our business, who are you going to turn to the next time you want the job done right?

https://www.clktranscription.com