Medical professionals have been using Dictaphone and dictating services for years. These notes are then later transcribed for patient and hospital records. The same is done for legal proceedings. It is more convenient to use a recording device and later create a written copy.
The Market
Online businesses have also found ways to market their products via audio and video. Tutorials, how-tos and interviews are uploaded to websites for viewing and listening (podcasting), but it is good practice to have a transcribed version available as well, as you might have a hearing-impaired visitor to your site.
In order to increase your marketing efforts, audio and video can be translated into other languages. Many business owners would like to do this, but they don't have the means to transcribe or translate. They need the help of a professional like a Virtual Assistant well-versed in transcription and translation.
Transcribing recordings is not as easy as you might imagine and it is a time-consuming task. Using your transcription software you will be able to handle all sorts of recordings for your clients using the format that they choose for the written copy.
Some of your services can include:
- Medical Transcription
- Legal Transcription
- Video Transcription
- Podcast Transcription
- Transcription Translation
- Audio transcription for business meetings
A Virtual Assistant/Transcriptionist who is also fluent in another language, could also offer translation services to their clients. This would give them the opportunity to expand their customer base with products for non-English speaking customers. If you wanted to specialize even further, you would make each area of transcription a sub-niche. Medical or legal transcription alone can turn into a lucrative business.
Transcription services are one area that a Virtual Assistant can specialize in as a business idea. As more and more online businesses use other media as marketing tools, they will need the skill of a transcriptionist and even a translator for their work.