New Media Resources, Infopreneur Resources

7 Questions You Must Ask About Rate Quotes

From Transcript Services

By Phyl Herman

So you've decided to leverage the content you've previously

recorded in your audio or video podcast, teleseminar,

webinar, speech, coaching or training sessions by having it

transcribed. Good for you! Creating transcripts, articles,

e-books or more from this golden content is a great way to

build your opt-in list and grow your bank account.

You might think that evaluating the quote you receive from a

transcript service for your project would be pretty easy, but

because each company has their own method of charging

for their services, you can end up trying to compare apples to oranges. Many services don't always clearly explain ahead of time how they determine their charges, so if you don't ask the right questions, you just might get an unpleasant surprise when invoice time comes around.

Here are some questions you should ask yourself, and possibly the transcriptionist, to make sure your quote accurately reflects your understanding of the service fees involved:

1. How Are The Transcription Service Fees Structured?

Transcription services may charge an hourly rate, a per minute rate, or even a minimum monthly charge that you draw against. Some charge a minimum fee. Some charge a fee for extras. In both cases you need to know what those fees are.

Also know if there is an upfront deposit for your transcript (which is common for first-time customers), as well as how the balance will be invoiced or handled. Plus, it should be clear how long that price will be honored in case you don’t start your project right away.

2. Are You Being Charged By The Length Of Your Content, Or The Amount Of Time It Takes To Transcribe Your Content?

For example, if you have a 15 minute podcast episode recording, is the transcriptionist charging you based on that 15 minutes, or if it takes her two hours to transcribe that recording, will your final bill be based upon the time it took her to do the work instead? If your teleseminar is one hour, are you being charged for one hour, or the four or five hours it may take a particular worker to complete the assignment?

3. Is A Skilled Human Being Familiar With The Speaker's Language Doing The Transcription, Or Is It Voice Recognition Software?

Some transcription services use voice recognition software to put your recorded words into printed form, so synonyms, homonyms, names and other words may be incorrect. Some services will check the final product for these errors, and others just use the software and that is that!

It is also possible that, like so many jobs these days, the transcription of your recording may be "offshored", and it may be challenging for workers who do not use English as their primary language to handle your work as accurately as someone for whom it is their native language.

4. Does The Transcription Service Offer Any Editing Or Correction Of Your Content? Is It An Included Service Or Does It Cost Extra?

Some transcription providers may offer editing and correction of grammar, spelling, tenses and content as part of the overall service they offer, while others may just do a literal translation of your recording. If they don't, you may very well need to hire a second professional to handle the editing of your transcript, which will add more time and expense to give your project the professional polish it deserves. If the transcription company does offer editing services, know if there is an extra charge, and how much to expect.

5. Does The Transcription Company Ask For Details About Your Project Upfront Prior To Quoting?

A professional service should require certain information at the time of your request for a quote so that it is as accurate as possible. At minimum, you should be asked to provide information such as:

--the number of speakers

--if any of the speakers might be challenging to understand due to an accent, or

the speed of their speech, or

--if your content includes a Q&A session

6. What Will The Finished Product Look Like?

Most transcription services will just provide you with a plain, boring transcript. If you like to take every opportunity to promote your brand and image, find out if the company you're considering offers a finished transcript that will include your logo. A more comprehensive transcription provider will specialize in creating a unique branding layout, and can also handle more advanced finished products such as creating e-books from your recorded content. Of course, find out what the charge is for this added value.

7. Did You Provide The Transcription Company With All The Information They Needed To Accurately Provide You With A Quote?

Whether or not the transcription provider asked all the right questions upfront or not, you should take the initiative to provide full disclosure about your transcript project, so the service provider is not surprised by extra requirements or work that was unanticipated at the time of the quote. By doing so, your transcriptionist will not be caught off guard by unexpected problems in performing the work, and you won’t be unpleasantly surprised by a quote that ends up being an estimate and not the final cost.

The Most Accurate Transcript Project Quote

Overall, the most accurate quotes are those where you are charged by minute of recorded time. This way, it doesn’t matter how fast the transcriptionist is (and quickness and accuracy certainly do vary); your charge is for the content of your file. For example, if you have a 30 minute mp3 file and the charge is $2.00 per minute, you know upfront that the cost will be $60.00 excluding any other charges for special services such as a rush job, or for any of the items of information mentioned above, which should have been part of the initial quote unless added on, based upon your request, after the work began.

So take all information you obtain from asking these 7 questions into account when choosing your transcription company, and you’ll be able to forge a long-lasting, win-win relationship for both you and the transcript services provider.

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