As an entrepreneur, your time is valuable, and your schedule is full. Whether you’re busy with marketing, fundraising, product development, budgeting, or managing employees, you already have enough to do.
For example, there are many reasons why a busy entrepreneur could use audio transcription. You may need a transcript of a video you created or a speech you gave. Alternatively, maybe you need the detailed notes from a conference call.
Let’s be honest, you might need an audio transcript for many reasons, but more importantly — when is the last time you were able to sit down and type up your notes from a conversation? Ok, now how about carving out the time to transcribe that conversation in full?
Didn’t think so.
What is audio transcription?
At its core, audio transcription is a simple concept. Audio transcription is the act of turning spoken words into written words. When you put an audio track in text form, you create an audio transcription file. The audio itself can come from a variety of sources: a video, a podcast, a recorded speech, and so on. The file can also exist in various formats such as a Word document or as a simple .txt file. We also offer a powerful transcript editor where teams can collaborate on projects.
Basic audio transcription focuses on the words you hear. However, it can also include other elements of a recording, such as background noises, pauses in dialogue, or music.
Some Benefits of Outsourcing Audio Transcription Tasks
Whether you’re a one-person operation or you work with a team, eventually you will need to outsource some business tasks. Strategic outsourcing of functions is a common practice that helps entrepreneurs focus on what’s most important, and what they do best.
For example, you may want to outsource marketing activities. Because video content is becoming a vital part of any marketing strategy, your plans might include outsourcing your video marketing and audio transcription needs.
Here are three good reasons to outsource marketing and related tasks by hiring a transcription service for your audio transcription needs.
Strategic outsourcing of functions is a common practice that helps entrepreneurs focus on what’s most important, and what they do best.
1. Increase Efficiency
Let’s face it: you didn’t take on the challenges and risks of being an entrepreneur to spend hours transcribing audio to text. Despite its benefits, audio transcription is probably not what you’re good at. So why spend all your time on it?
On average, it takes at least four hours to transcribe one hour of audio. Doing your own audio transcription or using free software may seem like a cheap, easy method, but it takes time, and accuracy isn’t guaranteed.
Outsource marketing and audio transcription to get more time for bigger, vital business tasks. This might include brainstorming, improving your product, raising funds, and networking.
2. Save Costs
Paying to outsource marketing and audio transcription tasks may sound like a loss at first. But is it, really?
How much time are you losing if you do audio transcription yourself? How much opportunity is lost if you go with a cheap, lower-quality automatic transcription solution? Even if your file is 90 percent accurate, that’s still a lot of editing and correcting to do. What could you do with that time instead?
Pick an audio transcription service that is secure and confidential, offers high accuracy (99 percent or better), and provides a turnaround time that suits your needs. You’ll get the benefits of audio transcription at the lowest possible cost.
3. Better Risk Management
Depending on your industry, there may be real risks associated with poor audio transcription results. If your services fall under FCC rules for closed captioning, for example, then outsourcing to an accurate, high-quality audio transcription service reduces the risks of non-compliance.
The same applies if your business adheres to disability discrimination laws, such as the requirement that all videos include closed captions. You can better manage the risk of non-compliance by transcribing videos and other audio content to avoid potential legal issues.
3 Video Marketing Tasks to Start Outsourcing Now
Not sure what you can stop doing yourself and let others handle? Here are a few video marketing to-dos you can outsource.
1. Social media video edits
You are using social media video, aren’t you? If not, it’s time to get started. Even solo entrepreneurs can benefit from video content marketing. Research shows that social video generates 1200 percent more shares than text and images combined.
Different social media platforms have different standards for photos, video, and other media. Rather than trying to keep up with these requirements and best-practices, outsource your video editing to a provider that’s up-to-date on social media video standards.
2. Audio Editing
Editing audio tracks takes up more time than you’d think—whether you’re creating a brief sound bite to play on your website or preparing an hour-long podcast. If you want to provide quality audio content without dealing with audio editing software or equipment, it’s a good idea to outsource your audio editing.
Without editing help, you may spend too much time and resources making sure everything sounds just right. On the other hand, you may get frustrated with the amount of effort required, and end up doing a barely “good enough” job. This can make you seem less professional and turn off potential clients or investors.
3. Audio Transcription and Captions
We’ve already mentioned some of the benefits of offering quality audio transcription and captions. It can also help improve your content’s accessibility for deaf and hard-of-hearing consumers, boost your SEO, increase engagement, and enhance your marketing strategy. But how do you get the most out of your audio transcription service?
Automatic transcription software sounds like a good idea, especially if you’re pressed for time and budget. However, automatic transcription services aren’t always accurate and usually require additional editing and touch-ups to make the final transcript user-friendly. Choose an audio transcription service that employs real-life humans who speak your language for the greatest accuracy.
Best Outsourcing Practices to Leverage Your Business
We’ve touched on the benefits of outsourcing marketing and other business activities. Knowing that you need to outsource, however, is just the beginning.
What should you do to get the most out of your outsourcing?
1. Determine Your Scope and Goals
It’s difficult to outsource marketing and other tasks if you don’t know exactly what to outsource. You can’t hire a service provider if you don’t know what you want them to do!
Whether you’re an entrepreneur working alone, you have several business partners, or you have a full marketing team, make sure you’re all on the same page. Get together with other decision-makers to decide on the scope of work to be outsourced, and what you want to get out of it. Decide on a budget and keep these goals in mind when choosing a service provider.
2. Choose a Trustworthy Provider
The most important outsourcing decision, of course, is which service provider to choose. Define the qualities that are most important to you, such as how long they’ve been in business, where they are located, and what services they specialize in.
Request previous work samples from any providers you consider. Ask for recommendations from your coworkers and peers, and check online reviews. Try to ask past customers about their experience with a potential provider. Finally, contact the provider to ask questions, putting their customer service to the test and seeing how comfortable you feel with them.
3. Define Your Schedule
Not only should you know what you want from your outsourced service provider, but you should also know your timeline. What’s the deadline for meeting the goals you’ve set?
With your team, create a timeline for upcoming projects. Based on this, work out a schedule for completing any outsourced tasks. Determine what tasks need to be completed daily, weekly, or monthly, and what your scheduling expectations are for the service provider.
4. Communicate Clearly
When you work with an outside service provider, communication should be frequent, and a two-way street. Don’t hesitate to ask questions and state any concerns you have. If you have feedback and constructive criticism about the work they are doing, or have done in the past, be up-front but professional about it.
Make sure your service provider understands exactly what you want and what you expect. Even if you trust them and have full confidence in their work, don’t let communication lapse! Stay in touch for those inevitable times when questions and problems will arise.
5. Don’t Base Your Decision Just on Price
Price is an important factor in choosing an audio transcription and other outsourced marketing service provider. Just be sure it isn’t your only factor. Keep the old saying, “You get what you pay for,” in mind.
Some audio transcription services are free, but you might pay more in shoddy results and correcting mistakes. If a low price seems too good to be true, it probably is.
6. Retain Responsibility
Even when you outsource, as an entrepreneur, you must maintain responsibility for the tasks being outsourced. Outsourcing doesn’t mean you can mentally “check out” and ignore the work being done, no matter how much you trust the provider! Make sure your outsourcing service provider has what they need to do the job correctly.
See that your outsourcing provider conducts business and produces results that reflect well on you. Working with an outsourcing service provider is a business partnership, and they should respect and reflect your standards, mission, and objectives. Also, be sure you have worked out ownership of the finished product.
7. Document Every Process and Result
As you and your provider complete goals based on the previously determined timeline, set scheduled checkpoints to review the project’s status. This helps ensure that you meet your deadlines with a finished project you’re happy with. If possible, tie your provider’s payment to these milestones.
Document all the processes and methods used in your project, and their results. This not only helps you keep track of the current project, but also helps you with future projects and partnerships. Thorough documentation can help you evaluate your outsourcing process and determine if any changes are necessary. For example, if you outsource marketing video transcription, document and evaluate any stats and analytics tied to that transcript, such as social-media shares or website views. This helps you evaluate your spending and whether you are generating a good ROI.
Get More Value from Transcripts with Rev
With audio transcription and video marketing, many free or low-cost options are inaccurate or unreliable, leading to wasted time. Others can give you good results, but for higher up-front costs. So what is a busy entrepreneur to do with their audio transcription needs?
Don’t worry: Rev offers the best video transcription prices and quality…and it’s super easy to get started.
Just follow these three simple steps to get your audio transcription fast:
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- 1. Upload your files. Upload your audio and/or video files to our secure, confidential website, or just paste the video or audio URL from the web.
- 2. Rev video transcriptionists get to work. One of our reliable English-fluent transcriptionists will transcribe your files. We guarantee at least 99% accuracy.
- 3. Get your video transcription. Videos less than 30 minutes in length will have a turnaround time of less than 12 hours. You’ll receive an interactive online transcript exportable as Microsoft Word, PDF, or plain text.
Rev is proud to offer guaranteed, 99% accuracy, quick turnaround time, and transparent pricing. Rev’s video transcriptions cost $1.99 per minute of audio or video. There are no extra charges for multiple speakers and speaker identification is also included in that price.
Need timestamps or verbatim transcription? Get either or both for an additional $0.25 per minute each.
What is a verbatim transcription? Verbatim video transcription includes all sounds heard in the audio, including laughter and pauses.
Our interactive transcript editor is also available to anyone who places an order with Rev.
Wrapping it up
Ready to start saving time? Start making a list of tasks you can outsource, like audio transcription or video editing and focus more on doing what you do best: running your business.
