6 Practical Ways to Get the Best Freelance Transcription Jobs

Ditch the feast-or-famine cycle and get the best freelance transcription jobs you deserve.

Each transcription project is a stepping stone.

As your freelance transcription experience grows, so does your expertise, allowing you to tackle more complex projects and command higher rates.

The more contracts you have under your belt as a freelance transcriptionist, the more choosy you can be about the sorts of jobs you work on – and the more money you may earn.

Land the best freelance transcription jobs and say goodbye to feast-or-famine cycles with these proven strategies.

1. Improve your proofreading skills.

As a freelance transcriber, the most important thing you can do for yourself is to improve your grammar and punctuation.

Many individuals mistakenly believe that transcribing is simply a typing job that everyone can perform.

Transcription companies that value quality hire transcribers with excellent knowledge of English grammar and punctuation.

Companies or even individuals looking to hire transcription services are well aware that they must pay greater prices to keep the best freelancers.

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If you improve your proofreading skills, you’ll do better on transcription tests.

If you boast that you have years of transcription experience and attention to detail and yet your test contains mistakes and inconsistencies, hiring companies or individuals will assume you’ll handle your transcripts with the same quality.

So definitely, brush up on your punctuation and grammar.

It will assist you in landing more and better-paying freelance transcription jobs.

2. Expand your search.

Although Google is an excellent resource for finding freelance transcription jobs, it is only one of several options.

Here are a couple of less-known places to look for new transcription projects:

1. Flexjobs

While many work-from-home job portals are low-quality or spammy, there are a few well-known companies that are recognized for curating high-quality job leads.

Flexjobs is a popular one where jobs from top-rated companies like Apple are listed.

It is a legitimate source of flexible internet jobs, eliminating the necessity to search for work through recruiting agencies or paid freelance marketplaces.

Because all listed firms and partner clients have been properly reviewed and checked before every job opportunity is posted, you won’t find any cluttered advertisements, frauds, or undervalued jobs on Flexjobs.

You won’t have to waste time searching the site for keywords since Flexjobs will only show you the most recent and top freelancing jobs available.

Through several job search categories, Flexjobs assists job seekers in finding remote professional jobs.

Flexjobs is a complete jobs platform where employers, recruiting firms, and independent contractors can interact.

Flexjobs employs a dependable staff of researchers that are tasked with finding the greatest flexible jobs in over 50 job categories; therefore, weeding out all potential scam jobs.

In addition to their virtual assistant, writing, and proofreading work categories, they feature a full area dedicated to transcription tasks.

Unlike some sites that charge a fee only to browse job ads, FlexJobs allows you to view all job postings for free.

Since job postings are screened thoroughly, it is a safe place to find transcription projects.

However, you’ll need to pay $14.99 a month for a premium subscription to see complete job descriptions and apply for any open positions.

Upwork and Freelancer are two platforms that connect clients with competent freelancers.

You may browse for job opportunities that match your talents and submit a proposal as a freelancer on these networks.

Upwork, in particular, posts fresh transcription and translation tasks on a daily basis.

Although some clients on these platforms are known for giving incredibly low fees, there are times when good opportunities arise.

Fiverr is also a great alternative to land transcription jobs.

Craigslist is an excellent site to discover job postings and market your transcription services if you wish to work from home as a transcriber.

It is one of the most well-known and widely used online classifieds with a substantial part dedicated to jobseekers.

Craigslist may be used in two ways to find transcription jobs from home.

1. Look for job postings.

Many transcription job leads can be found by checking the job listings and using the right keywords.

You can search for jobs advertised in a specific country and city.

Go to craigslist.org, choose your location, then go to the Job Section to start your search.

Check the “Telecommute” and “Contract” boxes to further focus your search for work-from-home opportunities.

Project announcements can also be found at Jobs – Admin/Office.

To find the type of job you want, use the Search box and type in the desired keywords.

In addition to Craigslist, you can use focused keyword searches on other classified sites and job boards such as monster.com and indeed.com to discover transcription work.

Always use your best judgment and be wary of work-at-home scams on Craigslist and other classified sites.

Here are a few things to keep an eye out for:

1. If an opportunity appears to be too good to be true, it probably is.

2. If someone asks for personal information, be cautious.

3. If there are fees associated with getting a transcription job, think twice.

4. If they promise you a job in exchange for you purchasing their equipment or software,

it’s definitely a red flag.

Placing your own advertising on Craigslist is a terrific method to promote your services and can be quite effective in attracting direct clients.

It’s also completely free.

Here are some pointers for getting the most out of your Craigslist ads:

1. Ads should be tailored to your target market.

2. Create different advertisements for various audiences.

3. To target various prospects, use a variety of keywords.

4. Write persuasive ad text.

5. Check what other transcribers and transcription firms are advertising on Craigslist in other locations and on other job sites to gain ideas for what to include in your advertisements.

6. Although you may only publish in your own location, you can search for and read advertising from other places.

7. Advertise your services in one or more categories that are appropriate for your services. Examining where your competition posts can give you a solid indication of which categories are most effective for promoting your services.

8. Never spam. Spamming can result in a ban. Craigslist identifies duplicate material and eliminates it, so don’t go overboard.

9. Don’t post in categories that are not related.

10. Spread your advertisements out across a few days. Only publish one ad every day when putting up numerous posts in a week, and write variations of your ad.

4. LinkedIn

Most job search engines don’t have as many remote job postings as LinkedIn.

You can also search LinkedIn for transcription companies and transcribers.

You can get information about new positions that match your criteria using LinkedIn’s free job alerts feature.

To find transcription jobs on Google, you can use the keyword phrase “freelance transcription jobs.”

Yes, you’ll discover lists of transcription companies that are looking to hire part-time or full-time freelance transcribers.

However, the problem is that these listings tend to include the same huge transcription companies that everyone already knows about, so competition is tighter and the pay usually is lower.

Many smaller transcription services are always seeking competent freelancers, many of whom get paid more.

These companies don’t always appear at the top of the search results.

You need to do a lot of digging to find those gems.

So one way to discover those transcription companies is to do a more specific Google search.

1. Search by specific industry – Example: “entertainment transcription company” or “legal transcription company”

2. Search by specific location – Example: “transcription company Virginia”

3. Search by random keywords – Example: “accurate transcription captioning services”

4. Search by a combination of the above – Example: “entertainment transcription company Virginia”

Other freelance transcribers may refer you to clients, bring you additional jobs, or provide you with information about freelance transcription job opportunities.

There are also several Facebook groups for freelance transcribers where members can share job tips and resources.

Become active in a few of them.

Then focus on building relationships with other group members.

Different businesses and individuals need a transcription service.

Instead of catering to all, you can choose a niche and establish your reputation as an expert in your chosen target market.

For example, you can concentrate on transcribing for podcasters or YouTube creators or coaches.

Or you can even make it more targeted.

Instead of targeting coaches, you can target wellness coaches or fitness coaches or business coaches, etc.

That way, you can set yourself apart from everybody else.

Here’s a list of clients who need transcription services:

1. Authors

2. Coaches

3. Audio and video podcasters

4. Vloggers

5. Students, lecturers, and doctorates

6. Market researchers

7. Keynote speakers

8. Content strategists

9. Law firms, lawyers, paralegals, and court reporters

10. Video production companies

11. Church ministers and pastors

Once you’ve chosen a target market, the next steps are outlined in this article.

6. Be active in your outreach.

Professional transcribers sometimes begin with low-paying contracts and work their way up.

Even if you already have one or two contracts under your belt, keeping your job search current is the greatest way to ensure that you continue to advance in your freelance transcription business.

It’s a numbers game to land fresh freelancing jobs.

You could send an application to a business or individual you really want to work for, only to receive no response because the time is off.

So reach out to clients each week or month, and keep following up every few months with the firms or individuals you haven’t heard from.