Hearing someone’s voice with your headphones on and running your fingers on the keyboard at the same time can make you money online! Yes, years back, I earned my first buck online transcribing a boring and ambiguous audio. That 12 minute file earned me $12 (on a $15 gig). In the next few minutes, I will tell you how you can make money transcribing audio files. It could become a handy source of side income for you. As transcribing is still a growing industry. People need to transcribe judicial proceedings, medical talks, formal talks, speeches, and even general discussions. Let’s get straight into it!

Where and how to learn transcribing for Free? 

Well transcribing isn’t rocket science and doesn’t really need tons of hours to learn. You can practice transcribing some TED Talks or even some random YouTube videos to start with. Once you are confident that you are good enough to transcribe some random audio files, you are all set. Still if you think you should get some transcription training, I will suggest you this free general transcription course on Udemy to start learning. General transcription is any transcription that is not medical and judicial. Medical and judicial transcriptions contain heavy use of terminology that might cause a mistake if you are not familiar with the respective field.

What apparatus do you need to transcribe?

Each job has its toolkit so does transcription! You obviously need a PC or laptop. But in addition, you need following accessories to aid your transcription:

Headphones

Firstly, you need a headphone pair. It helps you listen to everything with attention, leaving the noise outside. So, invest in a good quality headphones pair. 

Foot Pedal

It helps you rewind, forward, controlling the audio files more properly. It is not a mandatory tool to have. But recommended for you if you are serious about transcribing. 

Where can you practice transcribing for free?

 Thankfully, there are certain transcription practicing platforms where you can practice transcription using their files and websites. These are free transcription practice platforms that provide you the opportunity to make your case stronger by listening to audios and typing that using their features. Here are these:

Listen and Write

It is a very good opportunity for you if you want to practice listening and then type at your screen. It provides you with a variety of audios to listen to and then type on the same screen. This website provides you the options of controlling speed, availing hints and many more. Give them a try. It’s free!

GoTranscribe Practice

Go transcribe is actually a transcription platform where you can enroll yourself as transcriber or can find transcribers online. However, it provides a more organized way to practice transcribing before taking the actual test to enroll yourself as a transcriber. Go and practice without even logging in. 

How much money can you make transcribing?

In any field of making money online, the answer to such questions lies in your hard work. The more work you do, the more money you make. But still you can make thousands of dollars per month transcribing. Like while scrolling Quora, I found Matthew T. Watershouse’s answer to a question where he was talking about his maximum and minimum earnings from transcription. Those were ranging from $600 to $300 dollars. Pretty handy income range! But everything depends upon the company for which you work, and the amount of work you get. 

Where can you find transcription work as newbie?

Well there are a lot of platforms and websites where you can find the transcription work. Here are some details of a few top ones: 

GoTranscript

It is so far the best transcription platform I have come across. GoTranscript provides you an opportunity even if you are a newbie that too with good rates. It pays you weekly via PayPal and Payoneer. Here is why it is good for you:

• Easy to enroll
• Gives around 6 hours per 10 minutes for an audio. Enough time for newbies. 
• Pays $0.6 per minute audio
• Accepts application from around the world
• Provides free practice material

It needs you to apply and then verify your identity by uploading your original photo and other essential documents. Once you are done with this, you are ready to start. Give it a try if you are a beginner in transcription. 

TranscribeMe

A good option for newbies as TranscribeMe provides you a good handy opportunity to enroll and start making around $300 per month on average. They will pay you around $15-$30 per audio hour. Some of the good reasons to join TranscribeMe are:

• Easy to enroll
• Work availability
• Get paid whenever you want
• Has major clients like Facebook, Harvard

So it’s again a huge opportunity to start with. You can find a good amount of work and can earn as high as $2200 per month. Yes people make this much money here!

Rev

Another giant in the transcription industry having likes of Google, Amazon, Facebook as its clients. You can join Rev without any prior experience and become part of a network of more than 70k freelancers. You should join Rev because:

• Easy to enroll
• Pays around $1 per audio minute
• Work is available
• Pays weekly via PayPal

Go and get yourself enrolled on Rev as you will get good rates here. There is no need for any extra accessories like a foot pedal. Once your application is accepted, it is easy to find work and make money transcribing!

Casting Words

Working on a little different principle, Casting Words pays you for the quality you have delivered. It pays you a base amount if you have got 5 out of 9 grades. If you have got full 9 grades, you will get 3xbase amount. Isn’t it different? Your pay in your hands. Here are some of the reasons to join Casting Words:

• Easy to enroll
• Pays good
• Pays via PayPal
• Work is available

Give it a try! It’s easy to start with Casting Words as well. 

Other transcription platforms to make money transcribing

Here are some of the other platforms to start with:

GMR Transcription (for US only)

Daily Transcription (for US & Canadians only)

Tigerfish (for US only)

Moreover, you can start with Fiverr and UpWork too. Fiverr is beginner friendly and you can start freelancing on Fiverr today. 

Over to you now!

So, it was a whole guide on how to make money transcribing. You can start from any of the recommended transcription platforms. Which option attracted you the most? GoTranscript or Rev? Do tell me in the comments about your choice out of these. Tata!