There are no shortcuts to a successful business. You need to be determined, focused and consistent to turn your business into a success story or in simple words make it grow from a seed into a strong tree. Also, you have to be very patient because starting and then growing a business can be tricky and you get to learn things along the way. With smartness, you also have to put hard work to see the output. Transcription business is just like any other business in the world. You start it as a freelance job. Then, you realize it is working great for you and you turn it into a full-time job and eventually into your own business. Remember, you start your transcription business when you know how it is done but it only grows when you know how to get the clients.
So, hereunder are some practical methods to grow your transcription business once you have set it up:
There can never come a time when you can say you have mastered everything related to transcription. There is always a room for learning more, for pushing your limits. Also, when it comes to business, there will always be someone doing better than you and you would want to outgrow them. For that, you have to keep an eye on what is new about transcription so you can stay on top of your game. Follow blogs, check forums, invest in courses, attend seminars and read books to keep abreast with the latest trends in the world of transcription. Keep learning because that is the key to be different.
If you have started your transcription business and you have not made a website already, this is the first thing you should do. If you do not have a genuine web presence, how can you land your dream clients? You might have one or two of them already and you might be earning decent but you need more because you are aiming at growing. It costs you nothing to make a website but to own a website domain, you will need to invest a little. Also, spend some time on your website to make sure it catches the eyes from the first look as this is the major component to get you more clients.
Do not spend a whole lot in the first place and buy whatever you think will look cool in your office space. Start with buying what you need and focus on the quality of those things. That is how you grow. For example, you will need some kind of computer, fine headphone, and good related software to start with. Now do not buy tens of software at once. If you are transcribing basic Youtube videos only, buy a good video transcription software and invest more of your money on the infrastructure development.
When you have turned your transcription job into a business, you now need to come up with ideas that save you seconds. Those saved seconds might seem little at first but they save your mental energy in the long run. For saving the seconds, you can master your software and put in use all the extra features to enhance your experience of transcription. You can buy a speech recognition software to give some rest to your fingers. Also, you can learn the keyboard shortcuts.
Anchor clients are the ones who are flexible, pay you well, and stick to you. You can name them your dream clients and you should aim to get as many of them as your time allows you. They help your business grow like nothing else! For getting those, make sure you are marketing your business right, having a great supportive professional attitude and finally doing great work.
It could be that you started your transcription business well and it began to grow. You also have clients but now not only it is declining but also you are under a lot of pressure. Then it is time to see how much work is there on your shoulders. If your business is growing and you are getting clients, you do not need to do it all by yourself. You have to focus on the quality of your work for it to grow. So, you must hire an assistant or find a partner with whom you can share some work and continue to be efficient.
If you are doing great work but not telling the world about it, how do you suppose to grow your business? How are clients supposed to trust you enough with their work? The most efficient way to gain the trust of new clients is the feedbacks and testimonials of your older and current clients. Once, you finish a job and a client is satisfied, request them to send you short feedback or a testimonial. Add that to your website where your new clients can access them. This works wonder for your business website which works wonder for your business.
This world is a global village and social media gets the thanks for it. The fastest and easiest way is to present your business on all social media websites especially the ones related more to business like LinkedIn and Twitter. If you do not have a lot of clients, chances are you will get some in a few days with the presence on social media. That’s the power of it. But as with your business website, you have to make sure that you are marketing yourself the right way. If you are using social media for your business make sure to keep your personal life and views out.
You could be getting work every day. You could be getting hired by great clients every day. You might also have some dream clients. But to grow your transcription business, you need to learn to say NO. Transcription takes time and effort. You cannot grow if you keep piling up the work. Sometimes you might get an offer from a dream client but if you already have enough on your plate it is wise to say no. After all, your aim is to grow your business.
Even if you master everything, the final most important thing for your transcription business will be the accuracy of your work. You have to make sure about three things under accuracy:
If your clients are not satisfied with the quality of your work, you will not get positive reviews which will be hazardous for the growth of your business.
If you have chosen to turn the transcription into a business you must know why you have done that? It is good if you got into it because it was earning you well and you will do amazing but only for a while. Soon you will get bored and would want to shut it off. If you want to continue doing something, you have got to be passionate about it and enjoy it. The transcription business is just the same. It can be hard at times but if you love doing it, you will always have reasons to keep doing it. And when you are consistent, you grow!
Can you grow if you quit? So, to grow, you continue to work even if it gets hard. You could get a bad review despite giving your best, you could lose clients, your business revenue could decline for a while, your competitors show up but you do not have to lose hope. You will succeed eventually. You might want to look at some success stories from time to time to get going. Remember the good old saying for kids: Just Keep Swimming!
Forbes also has some essentials down to grow your business. The most important thing as per Forbes is also the strength of the relationship between you and your clients or vendors. Setting a business might not be as hard as growing it. So, you have to focus on everything mentioned above to efficiently grow your transcription business. Good Luck!