Thursday, January 27, 2011

How To Make A Living Online By Interviewing Experts

One thing that almost no one thinks about when it comes to making money online is you don't have to be the expert.

When coaching clients to make money online, they struggle with feeling like they are not an expert on a topic.

I would argue against that if you have lived on this planet for more than 30 years but that is for another today.

In this article, I am going to share with you how you can make a living just interviewing experts online and have people pay you for these interviews.

How do I know this works? I have been making a living doing it for nine years now and have conducted ninety-four interviews myself!

Here are the steps laid out for you:

Step One: Find a niche market.

A niche market is a need. The more pressing that need, the more likely people will pay for a solution.

Here are 5 examples of good niches:

- weight loss
- make money
- real estate
- hobbies
- pets

Step 2: Find an expert.

There are thousands of experts in niches. One place to find experts is Amazon.com. Find an expert and contact them through e-mail or by phone.

Tell them you would like to do an interview with them for an eBook you are putting together. Share with them that it is a great opportunity to promote their book and get exposure.

You can record the phone with a digital phone recorder or a service like BYO audio.

Step 3: Transcribe the interview.

Once you have the interview conducted, have the interview transcribed.

I use Melody Trantham over at WeScribeIt.com to make this happen quick. She has an option to get your transcipts back in 4-6 hours. I am shocked how quick her and her team are.

Step 4: Get a Professional eCover.

Now that you have your interview, get a professional eCover done for about $20-30. This will make your product look very professional and help with sales.

In closing, you now have a product that you can sell on the internet without being an expert yourself. Put up a website along with a paypal button and you will be in business! Repeat this process until you reach your financial goal.

Remember to take action on what you just learned. This is the REAL secret to making a living online.

David Dutton is author of the book Internet Empires and has made a living online 2002. When he isn't interviewing experts online, he is visiting the coolest places to visit in America. You can find out more information about David at www.WhoIsDavidDutton.com.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Choosing a Transcription Service that Provides What You Need

How do I know what transcription service is right for me?


Choosing a transcription service can be a daunting task indeed. So many to choose from and it seems they all do the same things? Or do they? Let’s first look at what style of transcription best suits your needs.


  • Strict Verbatim is a style of transcription that would be used if you need audios transcribed that you want to capture everything that is being said. Such as telephone conversations, courtroom testimony, depositions, or anything that would require having to capture everything that is being uttered. This would include all the uhms, ah’s, false starts and stutters, repetitions, distracting speech patterns, (you know, like, right, yeah, etc.). This would also include typing the pauses in the audios to allow for laughter, crying, interruptions, personal comments, background noises. In other words, everything heard is typed.
  • Smooth Verbatim is probably the most common style used. Certain utterances are removed, per the client’s specifications and/or requests. Most of the time clients request to remove the uhm, ah’s, stutters but still keep the slang to express the character of the speakers intact. Grammatical errors are usually not corrected but punctuation is used. Some refer to this style as “cleaned up verbatim.” You would want this style for interviews, focus groups, business meeting notes, presentations/group discussions, Q&A, conferences, teleconferences, webinars, etc. In addition, this style can be used effectively for doing files notes, business letters, reports, etc. Legal work and some medical transcription can also be done with this style as well.
  • Content takes the smooth verbatim to a much deeper level. Grammar is corrected, interrupting comments are eliminated, and slang is corrected. This style is best used for things that are going to be published in articles, or advertising etc. This would be considered a “Copy ready” style. Usually it requires more time to transcribe this type of work and a higher level of transcription service that can cost a bit more.
  • Rough Draft is a quick run through the audio just listening once through and not concerned with getting everything transcribed. This style will require you to relisten to the audio and make corrections yourself. It is not the most accurate of transcripts.


Deciding which style best suits your needs is a first step in helping you choose the right transcriptions service for you. There is nothing worse than getting back a transcript with words left out that you wanted included or vice versa.


With WeScribeIt you will find that we provide any of the above styles or any custom requests needed on an audio to audio basis. There is an instructions box included when uploading any file to your account which you can include any specific instructions that you need for any particular audio transcription.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

How to Get the Most out of Your Transcription Service

How can I be sure the transcription service will give me the quality I need?


Think of a transcription service as a partner in your business. When you are looking for a transcription service, you want to find one that truly has your best interests in mind. Keep in mind that you are working with a business owner as well. As a business owner of a transcription service, they want their customers to be happy. They are providing a service that is valuable and important to you and they place a high value on you as the customer.


No matter what kind of documentation you need, be it a file note or important legal documents to be filed in the court, patient notes, eBook, interview, surgical notes or presentations, no matter what the level of document it is, it is all the same to the transcription service. They are all important documents that demand the same level of attention to detail.


This cuts your time of having to proofread and tweak your documents when you receive them. Although no one is perfect, you can be sure that the documents you receive should be to the level that you expect it to be and will usually require very little, if anything, to be done to “clean up” the document you receive.


So, in the end, the best transcription service that a business can find is a service which is willing to work within their needs, has the respect for them as a client or fellow business owner, and can offer great quality. This will allow you, as a client, to get the best for your money and time.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Why Would You Want to Use a Transcription Service?

As a business owner you may ask, “What’s in it for me,” when it comes to deciding on whether or not to use a transcription service for your office dictation needs. The answer to that question is as varied as there are many business categories, but the one constant benefit of using a transcription service is, it is more economical. This includes but not limited to legal transcription, medical transcription, seminar transcription, dissertation transcription, et cetera. No matter for what need, it is more economical.

Why is it more economical for a business to outsource their dictation work to a transcription service?

  • It eliminates the need for paying a full-time or part-time transcriber to physically sit in the office and type. You don’t have to pay the hourly wages, taxes, insurance and other necessary and expensive employee costs.
  • Using a transcription service can also benefit your business by not having to worry about the high costs of turnover and training of new employees to handle your dictation needs.
  • Eliminates the expense of having to purchase and maintain the equipment and software necessary for in-house audio transcription work.
  • Gives you the peace of mind that your transcription work will be done when you need it done seven days a week with no sick days, holidays, or vacation time taken that may interfere with the work flow of your office. And we all know how costly it can be for a business to have to hire a temp to work in place of an absent worker.

Listed above is only a few benefits for using a transcription service for your business. WeScribeIt offers a free 500 word trial so that you are able to test out our quality as well as to compare the costs to what your current situation is costing you.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

WeScribeIt.com, an Online Transcription Service, now offers Dictation app Audio Notes for iPhone Users

With the major updates in software lately, WeScribeIt has added a few of their own improvements to the dictation service they already offer. Audio Notes, an application used by iPhones, allows users to dictate and upload their transcription needs to their WeScribeIt account.



What is the latest in transcription for the ease of those who need to use dictation services? WeScribeIt and Audio Notes, an iPhone app, are working together for new ways of providing transcription services faster and more efficiently. Audio Notes can record notes and then they are sent to the WeScribeIt account set up by the user for transcribing, all through the application. Since WeScribeIt now has an iPhone app, sending the work that needs transcribing has never been simpler.

Since their inception two years ago, WeScribeIt has continued to enhance every aspect of the transcription services they provide as soon as an improvement was available. It is no different with dictation services.



Melody Trantham, owner and CEO of WeScribeIt is dedicated to making her business the number one dictation and transcription service in the world. She tells clients, "The transcriptions that you require are taken care of with the utmost accuracy and timelines are adhered to because we realize time is money."



WeScribeIt provides all the transcription services needed by clients including but not limited to interviews, speeches, conference calls, medical and legal notes. Since the transcription service provided by WeScribeIt is always available, it does not matter if the notes are sent on Sunday morning or Friday night.



Audio Notes is used as an audio notepad for recording anything needing transcription. Not only does this feature make sending notes to the WeScribeIt account an easier task, but recording lectures and meetings has become much simpler. There is even a feature for highlighting notes that are more important than others for the ease of finding them.



Audio Notes has many features that even higher priced recorders do not have. The function that is certainly considered one of the most important is the ability of recording to begin immediately. As soon as the iPhone app is launched, the recording begins.



With the technology put into the new iPhone, there is even a built-in audio level monitor to help keep the recordings of your dictation free from distortion. There is also the ability to trim parts of your dictation out of the recording so it will not be a part of the finished transcription. Managing memos and notes has never been easier with the features on Audio Notes that allow editing, recording and sharing.



Changes have made the iPhone, 3GS, a much better phone. Teaming with WeScribeIt has made your iPhone the ultimate in the business world.


Monday, June 29, 2009

An Audio Transcription Service Will Save You Time and Money

What is the number one thing businesses are short on? Time. And what do they need to save? Money. So why not use an audio transcription service that will allow you to do both? There are no exceptions when you need your work done to the expectations of yourself or the company for which you work.

What Will You Do?

You work for a large company and your boss has given you the notes for a meeting he is has the following day. He needs the notes transcribed and the information in his hands by 10:00 a.m. the following morning. He is meeting with some very important clients and the business that most likely will be generated with the proposals he has entrusted to you are extremely important.

You are pleased that he trusts you to get the work done and you really like your job so you do not want to let him down. What is the solution? It is already 2:00 p.m. and you are trying to find a dictation service and have the work finished so he will have it the first thing in the morning.

You have a friend that works in another department within the same company so you give her a call to ask for advice. She gives you the perfect solution, because she has used this audio transcription service before. She recommends WeScribeIt.com. Typists that are experienced and are on call for your needs are available. A goal of having the work completed within 6 to 10 hours is within the time limit you have and if you are really worried about getting it done on time, use the express service. This is a dictation service that will strive to have your work transcribed within 4 hours.

For a very reasonable price the work can be completed and in your hands before the time limit. The audio transcription service is available 24 hours a day. So there is no need to worry that just because your work was not submitted before noon or by a certain time, it will be late. The projects transcribed at WeScribeIt.com vary as there are people who are experienced in all aspects of transcribing.

Another great feature of this service is the documents are stored for a year so if you accidentally lose something all you have to do is let them know. A replacement copy can be sent right away and everything is once again taken care of when it comes to the transcribed material you need. Send the audio in by computer, recorder or telephone. Fax it in or use the toll free number. There are many formats accepted and if you have one that is not listed, contact WeScribeIt.com and they will do their best to accommodate the format.

It is a simple process and the talented employees taking care of your dictation service request are screened before being hired so the work you receive is the best you can possibly get. If there is a certain template your boss prefers, upload it through the system, have the work completed using the template and you have the situation under control.

Do you need to send particular instructions with your request? If so, this can be done and the typist can read this information before starting on your project. What happened to the employee that needed her boss' meeting notes transcribed before his 10 a.m. meeting? Well, she used WeScribeIt.com on the advice of her friend, her boss had his transcribed information in plenty of time for the meeting and the company got the contract.

How To Get the Most Out of Your Dictation Service

Utilizing a dictation service is a fantastic way to outsource some of your work, keep up with reports and correspondence, improve your communications with clients, and help you become more productive. But you do need to remember that the person doing your transcription can’t read your mind! Here are some tips to help your dictation service provide you with transcription services that will save you time and money!

1. Eliminate background noise when dictating. While it may be convenient for you to dictate while driving with your window open, road noise, and the sound of the wind blowing into the microphone can obliterate your voice and make it difficult to hear what you are saying. The same thing applies with dictating on the subway, in a crowded restaurant, or at an airport. Anywhere there is an abundance of background noise means the person doing the transcription can’t hear you clearly. Consider where you will be dictating and try to do it in a quiet area with little or no background noise—in a closed office is ideal.
2. Spell out all names and any unfamiliar terms. If you know what and whom you are talking about, it’s easy to assume the dictation service will know, too. Unfortunately, that’s not the case—and in a world where even the most common names now have multiple spellings, it’s best to always spell out all names—and to use the “A as in apple” technique to articulate the letters you are spelling since it is very easy to confuse letters that sound alike, such as “b, c, d, e, g, p, v, and z” or “j and k” or “f and s.” Likewise with any unfamiliar terms or terms specific to your industry.
3. Dictate like you are talking to a real person—you are. When you dictate, talk as you would talk to a secretary or other person you know. You can use a generic term, such as “operator” when you address the person, but this helps the person doing your transcription at the dictation service to differentiate between when you are giving an instruction (such as how you want a particular document set up) and when you want something typed or transcribed verbatim.
4. Provide any special formatting instructions. Tell the person doing the transcription how you want something set up—preferably at the beginning before you begin the dictation or else at the point where formatting should change while you are dictating. For example, you could say, “Operator, I want this heading in all capital letters, underlined, and centered. Then go back to the left margin in regular type and type the paragraph that follows.”
5. Speak clearly, directly into the microphone, and enunciate your words. Many people dictate while they are shuffling through papers or working on a project. That’s okay, but it’s important to be sure you are speaking clearly—and directly into the microphone—when you’re doing that. You don’t want to have your head turned away because your voice will not carry well and the transcriptionist won’t be able to hear what you said. Likewise, enunciate your words carefully. Try not to mumble.
6. Slow down! The more some people dictate, the faster they talk. And other people, well, they just tend to be fast talkers. The trouble with this isn’t that the person doing the transcription at the dictation service can’t keep up—the problem is that the words tend to slur together, making them indecipherable. Slow down, speak deliberately, and you’ll get much better accuracy from your chosen dictation service.

Finding and using a dependable dictation service can be a lifesaver when you’re overworked and under time constraints. It can help you get back on track before or after a vacation or during a peak work period—or it can just be a great way to stay abreast of your business all the time. Remember, you get back what you put in. Provide great dictation and your dictation service will deliver professional transcription.