7 Profitable Skills You Need to Learn Today to Make More Money as a Transcriber [With Relevant Examples]

If you want to make more money as a transcriber – one of the easiest ways to do this is by learning and applying new skills related to transcription.

By learning a new skill you’re able to diversify your portfolio and source of income which directly translates to making more money.

Offering only transcription services, gets you going for a while but most transcribers hit a plateau of no growth with no change in income especially if clients are not willing to pay more or transcription websites don’t increase their pay per minute.

When you get to this point as a transcriber it is best to learn new skills that will keep off the boredom while making you more money and keep you motivated.

Why do you need to Learn New Skills as a Transcriber?

Before we begin on the skills you need to learn to make more money as a transcriber, it’s best we cover why you need to learn these new skills.

Here are some few reasons and you can add some more in the comments.

1. To Make More Money

Building up your skills set is the ultimate way to make more money as a transcriber.
When you learn a marketable skill that’s directly related to transcription, clients will respect that and pay you more for the work that you can do with all the skills combined.

For example, if you can transcribe and caption videos, you’re at a better advantage than a freelancer that can only, transcribe.

Clients with work that needs to be transcribed and captioned will always consider you over freelancers that can only transcribe. 

RELATED: Get Paid To Write Subtitles and Captions.

2. To Offer an All In-House Package to your Clients.

Getting a freelancer that has all the qualities and skills a client needs is hard.
When a client gets a freelancer with the right type of skill set and one that can offer different services, that one is a keeper.

3. To Diversify into New Challenging and Exciting Services.

Sometimes transcription can be monotonous and boring. 
Learning new skills comes with challenges and better opportunities to make more money while getting out of your comfort zone.

In this ever-changing market, it’s best to stay ahead of your competition by diversifying your skills.

4. To be prepared in case of market change. (A.I, Machine Learning)

With the rise of A.I, Machine Learning and automation, transcription has seen a rise in automatic transcription tools and A.I. powered transcription services.

It won’t be long until automatic transcripts become the norm with clients requiring only proofreading and editing services for their automatically produced transcripts.

Here’s a sample job posting on Upwork where the client required proofreading of transcripts and slight editing according to their specifications.

What will happen to freelancers that only offer transcription services?

They’ll probably be put out of business.

The best way to stay prepared is by learning new and relevant skills.

5. To Spend More time with family.

Who doesn’t want an extra free day to spend with their loved one(s)? I do.
I want to work 4 days a week and relax for the rest of the week.

Learning a new skill can help you achieve this lifestyle especially when you learn a skill that is in demand and commands higher rates.

RELATED: 9 Tips to help you transcribe faster

What skills Can You Learn as a freelance transcriber to help you make more money?

1. Captioning

Captioning is transcriptions’ sister service.

To caption videos you need a transcript prepared or you can create one as your captioning.

This is without a doubt the most relevant skill that freelance transcribers can learn without transitioning too much from the norm and still making more money than when transcribing only.

RELATED: Reasons Why Every Transcriber Needs to Learn Captioning

Here is a sample job posting on Upwork that required a transcriber to prepare captions for a Udemy course.

Here’s a relevant Captioning Course that you can enroll today to help you diversify your transcription skills and make more money.

2. Writing

It’s very common to get clients making requests like; can you transcribe my podcast or video into a blog post or can you write podcast show notes that I can publish on my website?

When you see these jobs it shows you that there’s a demand for transcribers that can write web content.

Here’s a sample job posting on Upwork that needs a transcriber that can write podcast show notes and blog posts from videos.

This is a clear indication that writing is a marketable skill for freelance transcribers and can give you an upper edge over your competition while making you more money.

If you’re interested in learning how to write I’ve included some excellent courses to help you with that.

a)

b) Writing a Compelling Blog Post by Starshine Roshell.

3. WordPress

WordPress is a must-learn skill for every freelancer.

WordPress powers one-third of the web which makes learning WordPress important especially if you get a client that needs transcripts or blog posts written and posted on WordPress.

Learning WordPress can be the difference between you making more money and you earning just enough.

Here’s a job posting that required a freelancer to help the client with website content, blog posts, social media posts and transcribing of videos.

By learning WordPress you can offer services that include,

• Updating Plugins and Themes.
• Replying to comments and publishing new posts.
• Creating new blog posts from podcasts or video transcripts.
• Building WordPress Blogs and Websites.

Here’s a very detailed course that you can take to learn WordPress quickly.

WordPress Essential Training by Morten Rand-Hendriksen

4. Graphic Design

Design is everywhere. It is in everything we see and touch.

Although graphic design used to be a skill for the privileged, that’s not the case anymore.

Tools like Canva have templates for every graphic that can help you design eye-catching images even if you’ve never designed.

Graphic Design is a relevant skill that transcribers can leverage to offer as a service to clients that produce podcasts and need episode podcasts or social media images.

It is super easy and only requires a little imagination and creativity.

Here are some design-related courses that can

5. Audio Editing

A transcriber that can edit audio files is a breath of fresh air for any client.

Some clients want to work with one person especially if they have a good working relationship.

It’s very common to see clients in need of a freelancer that can transcribe and double down as an audio editor for podcasts, audiobooks, and offer other related skills.

For example, the Upwork job posting below requires an all-rounded Content Assistant that can edit videos and audio, Write Summary Notes, Create social media graphics, etc.

It’s clearly evident that if a transcriber has all the relevant skills there’s a lot of work for them and potentially a lot of money.

Check out some and start building your skills set to match the ever-changing freelancing space.

6. Video Editing

It is estimated that 87% of businesses use video as a marketing tool and it’s easy to understand why. Nobody likes to read anymore and our attention span has gone down compared to watching a video.

As a transcriber that can edit videos, you’ll be able to eat a big piece of the pie as compared to freelancers that only offer transcription skills.

You can easily appreciate that by referring to the example I’ve shared above.

Clients want an all-in-house package. As a transcriber, you should focus on learning how to edit videos for social media, creating podcast trailers and editing videos in general.

Here are some courses that can help you .

7. Virtual Assistant

In the example below, you’ll appreciate that the client needs an Executive Assistant or simply a virtual assistant to:

• Voicemail Transcriptions for Blogs and Emails 
• Send Out Emails on Behalf of CEO 
• Updating Salesforce Database
• Inputting Calendar Entries into Google Calendar

The tasks listed above don’t require a lot of training and you can be up and running in a day or two.
Learning what some of the skills require can help you make more money and keep you busy throughout the year.

Conclusion

In this post we’ve covered the 7 profitable skills that you can learn to start making more money as a transcriber, it means nothing if you don’t take action.

It is not the end, go learn new and relevant skills that can supplement and complement your transcription skills.

I’d love to read your comments and interact with you. See you in the comments section.

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Better to have it, not need it than need it, not have it. pic.twitter.com/e9ZKynUu6h

— Freelancer Insights (@DavidCamtasia) December 1, 2016