Want to save up to $50 on Transcription Services in addition to paying lower per minute rates? Who doesn’t? #in

CLK Transcription is proud to be able to maintain rates that are lower than the national average, yet provide the quality and speed with every project file we transcribe. We know how important all of those things are to our clients.

It is a commitment CLK made many years ago.

CLK Transcription works hard to help their clients with budgetary and time restrictions in their work, and with an average of 115 new referrals every year for three (3) years in a row, and over 800 project files every month, we appreciate every ‘word of mouth’ referral we receive.

We love what we do and we always have room for more!

We offer discounts throughout the year to assist our clients in the ‘saving money’ part of their project needs, and offer timely return of quality reports to assist with meeting or beating their deadlines, allowing them the time to handle other aspects of the project, or their life.

The Referral Reward opportunity is just one of those offers.

Refer a friend so they, too, can save time and money and increase their productivity, or just have time for friends and family, and you can receive up to $50 off our invoice generated in February 2014.

Connect with CLK Transcription on Twitter (CLK_Shortcake), LinkedIn (CarolLee Streeter Kidd), or Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/CLKTrans) and make two (2) new referrals to CLK Transcription during January 2014, and you could receive $25 off your invoice for each referral you make.

YEAH! If you are reading this, we must be connected, so you are halfway there.

New referrals’ projects must be a minimum of 90 minutes of audio transcription during January 2014 and invoices must be paid promptly.The Referral Reward will be reflected on your invoice generated in February 2014.

Referrals you make with smaller projects could be eligible for up to $5 Referral Reward (per referral) if new referral invoices are paid promptly.

Be sure your referrals mention you when they contact us.

The Referral Reward Offer is valid through January 2014. Those with outstanding balances over 30 days as of February 1, 2014, are not eligible. Referral Reward must be used during February 2014 and cannot be carried over or ‘gifted’.

Referrals using any of our non-transcription services will be evaluated for Reward on a case-by-case basis. Contact CarolLee@clktranscription.com for more details.

http://www.clktranscription.com

At least once in your life you could have used a great transcriptionist! Did you find it at the grocery store?

I get asked all the time, “who needs transcription services besides doctors and lawyers?’

I am always amazed at the amount of “wow, I hadn’t thought of that” responses that I get when I tell them.

At one time or another everyone needs transcription so they can have an electronic copy to edit, share and save.  Having a transcribed version of their audio or hard copy material allows them to do all of that, plus having someone else handle that part of their project, allows them time to complete the other pressing aspects of their project or life.

I am equally amazed at how many send their work to a medical transcription company when their project is not medically related. 

CLK Transcription is a TRANSCRIPTION company, specializing in medical and non-medical projects of all topics and specialties.   You wouldn’t take your transmission concern to a quick lube joint, or your horse to a pediatrician, or shop for a contractor at a grocery store would you?

Parents:

• IEPs held for their special needs kids.
• Their grandma’s diary, recipes, and old love letters to be shared with others.
• Their grandpa’s stories that made them sit in wonder on his lap while he told them.

 Students:

• Interviews for your Masters / Doctorate projects
• Student’s senior projects
• Reports and presentations

Freelancers / Authors / Ghost Writers:

• Interviews
• Hard copy of older articles
• Notes for the book being written
• Telephone communications

Physicians:

• Medical notes / exams, Op reports. H&P, IMEs, procedure notes
• Telephone communications
• Letters of medical necessity

Lawyers:

• IMEs
• Depositions
• Telephone communications
• Meetings

Corporations:

• Meetings
• Roundtables
• Brainstorming sessions
• Material for office in-services / training / employee handbooks
• Material for mailers
• Correspondence
• Seminars
• Telephone communications
• Multi-day events and ceremonies

Trainers / Educators / Mentors

• Webinars
• Radio shows
• Seminars
• Meetings
• Telephone communications

Elderly / Physically handicapped

• Correspondence to our loved ones
• Things to remember / lists / important items.

Everyone:

• Voice mail
• Poetry written on napkins
• Recipes only found in our memories
• Thoughts to be saved for future sharing with loved ones
• Master Lists for chores, receipts, shopping, auto repairs, home repairs, important insurance inventory lists, etc.
• Electronic Signatures developed – Go Green and Save a tree

We also proofread items already transcribed. 

All of these things and more can be easily transcribed and saved electronically for editing, burning to disc, sharing, and prep for that very important project.  When you think about the time saved when someone else does the transcribing, and you can get on with every other aspect of your project, or just spend time with loved ones  – you find how very important you time is.

So when you think you don’t need a transcription company, or feel you can do it yourself – I just have to ask “how much is your time worth?  How long does it take you to transcribe those notes, memos, audios – and what else could you be doing?”

CLK Transcription can help you find the time you need and help you meet your deadline and get on with other personal concerns.  Whether it is recorded audio or hard copy (scrap paper, receipts, hand written or old print), we can develop it into an easy to read and edit document for you.

Our rates are competitive, reasonable, and below the national norm – and we work with you on your budgetary concerns.  We offer an easy to read invoice as well as yearly invoice recaps for your tax filing.  Most importantly, every client receives a confidentiality agreement signed by us, and if you have other documentation needed, we have no problem supplying it for your records.  We never off-shore our projects and we do not use speech recognition – have you seen the errors made by use of this program?

Throughout the year we offer savings programs so that tax season and the holidays don’t take a bite of your work, or vice versa, and we offer payment plans for those who may need it.  We truly understand how your project is important to you even when the economy can slow us all down.

Contact us today to find out how we can save you time and money.

http://www.clktranscription.com

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Transcription Company

Having a transcription company transcribe your audio/video absolutely can save you time to handle other chores and business, in the long run saving you money, because how valuable is your time to you, your family and your business?    How can you be sure that you’re getting everything you can out of  the transcription company handling your projects?

Here are some tips for anyone who is thinking about recording audio for transcription, or has audio they would like transcribed:

When setting up for your recording, take into consideration your surroundings.  Background noise will interfere with the recording.  A good transcription company understands you do not record in a bottle and there will never be absolutely no background noise, but limiting the circumstances allows the transcription company to focus on the words of the speakers, and allows them to research any possible questions with the content.

Try not to place the recording device flat on a  desk.   This provides openings for echos of chair movement, glasses or other items on the desk being moved.  Even the keyboard keys or paper shuffling can interfere with the spoken words you are trying to capture. Keep in mind, whatever is on the desk is closer than the mouth of the speaker and will be the loudest thing on the audio.

Be mindful of the volume being recorded.  Be mindful of cell phone usage during an interview.   And most importantly, be mindful that the device is turned on.

When speaking, try not to cut the other person off.  This is not always possible, but even repeating your comment or question if this occurs helps the transcription company develop more complete transcripts for you.

When choosing a transcription company, there may be questions or concerns that you should have asked but were not aware of until AFTER you have assigned your project.  Be specific in what your demands are.

Do you want verbatim-verbatim – every um, er, false start and stutter transcribed, or do you wish the transcript to be cleaned up, removing false starts and stutters?  Do you want the speakers grammar cleaned up, or leave the transcript as spoken?  (In most cases, false starts and “sounds” are cleaned up automatically, but grammar, if spoken incorrectly, is not.  Many transcription companies understand that the way a person speaks is unique to them, and shows their personality.)

Is there a particular format you want?  Do you want the speaker’s names noted or just generic headings used?  Do you want contractions used if spoken?  How many spaces after a period would you like?  What font size or page margins?

Is there any portion of the audio that you do not want transcribed?  If paying per minute of audio, this is very important, and could save you money.  Is there chit chat before or after an interview that you do not need transcribed?

Is there a deadline?  Many transcription companies note standard TAT for a return of your work (24, 36, 72 hours), and may hold it using a first in, first out method to assigning.   If you need your audio the same day, next day or even a week later – let your transcription company know.  This not only ensures you that you will get it in time to meet your deadline, but will allow the transcription company better handle their workload.

Name your audio file before you send it to the transcription company, or tell them what you would like the transcript saved as.  Inform the transcription company of who the speakers are, especially when names may not be clear or have odd spellings. If there are topics or words you feel may be foreign to the transcription company, let them know.   This too, allows the transcription company to have a heads-up on potential research for terms and phrases if needed, or even decide to assign to a particular transcription with strengths in that area of topic.

Lastly, it is always a good idea to let the transcription company know how long the audio is.  This allows them to verify that your audio has been received in full with no disconnects on download or other problems.

Some questions you may want to ask your transcription company:

Is there a specific format that the audio / video file must be for them to transcribe and develop a quality report from it?

Do they off shore their work?

Do they utilize speech recognition?

Do they have a pool of transcribers to help with your workload so that multiple transcriptionists can cover your audio, all familiar with your demands?

Do they utilize independent contractors and are they all bound by confidentiality.  Having a confidentiality contract with a transcription company alone does not safeguard your projects if those actually transcribing the work are not bound by the same confidentiality.

Are their rates negotiable and what does their regular rates include?  Is the per minute rate for any audio, no matter the length and no matter how many speakers, and no matter the TAT expected on regular assignments?  What is their priority or stat rate?

If you do not communicate these things to your transcription company, you may not get what you were looking for.  If your transcription company doesn’t allow you to make these demands, then maybe you should review other companies and what they can offer you.

CLK Transcription never sends their workload offshore.  We never use speech recognition.  We know nothing understands the human voice as well as the human ear.

CLK Transcription uses independent contractors and each must sign a confidentiality agreement before any work is assigned.

CLK Transcription never holds work and does not use a first in-first out assignment schedule.  We have a team of transcriptionists that are each trained on every account so that your work never has to wait to be assigned.  This also allows us to work on those large projects of multiple hours simultaneously offering a quicker TAT for multi-day seminars, focus groups, and conferences.

CLK Transcription can accept all forms of downloadable audio, as well as CD, DVD and cassettes, utilizing the best of available programs to convert to MP3, and if you wish, can forward the converted file to you when the project is complete.  CLK Transcription can also transcribe hard copy white paper into a word document for you.

CLK Transcription offers standard proofing on every project received, and when a difficult audio is received, we have multiple people listen and fill in as many gaps as possible – at no extra charge.  Although we treat every client as our only client, we have found it necessary to charge a nominal fee for priority files (files needed back immediately ASAP), however in most cases, files are returned well within 24 hours, regardless of length of audio anyway.

CLK Transcription’s rates are below the national average, and we offer discounts for education projects, discounts for referrals, and many times throughout the year, we offer dollars off to our regular clients.  We review each new client and the projects they will be assigning to us and develop a rate that works for them.

CLK Transcription is servicing the world with professional, quality transcriptions.  We offer the quality you demand at a cost you can afford.  Contact us at CarolLee@CLKTranscription.com or visit WWW.CLKTranscription.com for details on how we can assist you with your transcription needs.  We are LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/clktranscription where our recommendations can be viewed. Follow us on Twitter @clk_shortcake.

It will be our pleasure to offer a $5.00 discount to any new or standing client who mentions this blog or retweets on Twitter.

The Check is in the Mail Economy

I am tired of this “check is in the mail” economy struggle.

My clients have work.  I have plenty of work.  My IC’s have plenty of work, and we are diligent in our invoicing and billing.  We work hard and generate the income.  But when the check is in the mail economy rears its ugly head every month, it makes taking care of our own very difficult.

That money we had saved has been used to cover expenses.  That 401K has become grocery money for many.  The only market we check out is the grocery market.

All because of the check is in the mail economy.

If all of the checks in the mail were to show up tomorrow, we all may just be able to pay our mortgage, buy our groceries, take care of our utilities and other bills, and possibly put a little back into our 401K or other retirement plan.

Until then, when the phone rings and it is our credit card company or other bill calling us – we just tell them that we are working hard, we are cutting costs, we are eating macaroni and cheese five nights a week and the other two its eggs (they come in bulk you know – 12 in a carton) and that because of our wonderful economy we have a legitimate excuse – the check is in the mail and we are waiting for it too!!

http://www.clktranscription.com

Applause for the Everyday?

I attend many events and functions in my gated-not-for-profit administration/board of directors-run-community and found that there is a pattern going on and I am not so sure I like it.

The employees/directors are applauded for the work they do.  No I am not talking about praise, pay, or even bonuses – I am talking about during meetings they are applauded.

Now I have to say, I do not do this.  I feel they are paid for the work they do, they receive benefits and bonuses, why should I clap?

I have been admonished for not clapping.   Why?  I thank them when I see them.  I make public comments on how hard they work.   Why should I applaud them for doing their job?  No one applauds me.

I am the same with volunteers. I mean we volunteer and that becomes what we do.  I don’t expect applause, why give it out.  Now don’t get me wrong, if an extraordinary measure is taken I will gladly stand up and applaud – but I save that special praise for the extraordinary – like our troops.  Our policemen and firemen..and even private citizens who make positive change in a very large way.

Is it rude that I do not applaud vigorously even when I give my thanks and praises verbally?  To be honest, in this economy, I should be applauded for being a part of the reason they have a job.

With all this clapping going on – lights could be going on and off all around us – clap on, clap off.

 

So here is my question.  Should people be applauded for doing what they were hired to do?  And if we should applaud, then shouldn’t we be able to also jeer them when the job is done poorly?

 

 

Hello world!

I started this blog to discuss things that are important or interesting to me, from personal to business, economic to family, from friends to foes – just anything that my rambling brain comes up with.  I am single by the way, and being single and a small business owner in this economy doesn’t always mesh well and allow for social life – so communicating my thoughts to a real live person – well – those opportunities are few and far between…

I guess I can start by saying that the weather is cold and windy, and with the 30 percent increase in electric rates going into effect this month, I am glad that I use my wood stove 99 percent of the time.  I unplug things that aren’t being used.  I turn down the fridge and freezer, and I keep the doors and windows closed and locked as much as possible.
When I do have to use electric heat, it is never my baseboard heat.  It is a small portable heater.  I have become comfortable wearing a sweater and accustomed to the house being a bit cooler than the 70 degrees I would love it to be.

This is just one way I try to save, and this is what I have to do because money is tight, bills get paid later and later and being a single mom and grandmother, I have to be sure to do my best to take care of business even when business is not taking such good care of me.

Yes, there is work.  Yes, money is being made.  My daddy used to say “a dollar owed is a dollar saved”  but I got to tell you – right now, I need my savings paid.  The trick is telling my clients that without offending them or losing them.  I mean God, I understand the economy is hurting everyone.

So, there you have it.  My first blog and it had to be about money.  Who knows what is next?  Maybe I can find something good about those darn credit cards…