Sarah lives just outside of Augusta, Georgia, and grew up about 80 miles away in middle Georgia. She has two adult children, one stationed in Korea with her wife and the other is a junior at the University of Georgia. “I’ve been married since 2019 to a wonderful man who retired from the Army just before I met him”, Sarah says “I enjoy reading, watching TV, and cooking.”
– How did you decide to start offering Transcription Services?
It’s actually a weird story. Back in 2008, I was working for a construction company and then the housing bubble burst and they decided to get out of the industry. I was unemployed for quite a while, but it was just when Obama was pretty much paying everyone to go back to school, so I did. I received an AAS in accounting but was unable to find a job in or near the small town I lived in at the time. I had taken some transcription classes in college and wanted to find out more information. A Google search led to me to Odesk (currently Upwork), and that’s how I found my first client, transcribing for the “Restaurant: Impossible” TV show. Everything just blew up from there.
– What skills are required for someone to do this job?
Fast typing is helping in being able to get more done and earn more money, but the most important thing is to know proper written English. You can just look at Facebook today and see that most people in America did not absorb the 12 years of English they were taught in school. It doesn’t do any good to transcribe quickly if the output is incorrect and unusable.
– There are plenty of software that do this job, more or less successfully. Do you use any of this software to help you?
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AI software is definitely more of a hindrance. I can just do it correctly the first time faster than I can correct the output of AI software.
– You are very successful on Upwork. What makes you more successful than other freelancers who offer similar services?
I believe I have fair rates, and I’m not overseas. Some clients want American workers, and I have excellent ratings on Upwork. I’m not the cheapest out there, but I’m definitely one of the best.
– What skills does a freelancer have to have in order to be successful?
In general, a freelancer has to be self-motivated. I’ve run across many people who think they want to be a freelancer but then won’t force themselves to actually sit down and do the work. It’s really not for everyone.
– Have you had the opportunity to work full time, or have you always wanted to be a freelancer?
I worked for MANY years before finding freelancing, but once I had a child, it was more important to me to stay at home with her as much as possible. Since I’ve found this opportunity, I haven’t been anyone’s employee and am able to create the schedule I want. I never missed any important event at school, not one recital, presentation, or speech. That was always very important to me.
– What influenced you the most to start freelancing?
Again, having a child was the most important thing to me about working for myself.
– What are your success habits?
I guess my “habit” would be that I treat this as any other job. I start work at the same time every day and work until everything for the day is done. I check every day for new work when I need to, and I stay in contact with all my clients.
– What was the best advice you got at the beginning of your freelance career?
I never got any advice; I had never known anyone who did freelancing work before. This was a wing it and find out situation.
– Have you worked on any freelance platform other than UpWork?
I started out on Odesk, which was bought out by Upwork. I was also on a few others, but everything there became a scam, so it’s just Upwork and word-of-mouth now.
– What are the advantages of a freelance lifestyle for you?
I can work when I want to (or not work when I want to). I can set my own hours and only take projects that I want to take. No one tells me what to do or how to do it and usually, I’m the one telling them when I’ll do it. It’s SO much better than being an employee!
– And what are the disadvantages?
The only disadvantage for me is having to work on Upwork where no one cares about the scammers. Upwork is so full of them that if I had any other option, I’d go somewhere else.
– What was the hardest decision you ever had to make as a freelancer?
Honestly, I can’t think of any hard decision.
– In order to succeed, freelancer must also possess certain soft skills, such as communication, organization, time management … Which soft skills were the most challenging for you?
Apparently, when people read messages, they assume a tone, and my tone doesn’t always come across as the best because I’m matter-of-fact and don’t always use all the unnecessary niceties. I’m to the point and direct and people just don’t like that, especially when you’re telling them they don’t have the skills to do this kind of work.
– What has benefited you the most to become a successful freelancer? Your education, certain books, courses, forums, instructions on freelance platforms or something else?
Because my industry is very written English-related, my biggest benefit came from having a 7th grade English teacher that I loved. I’ve never had a hard time with the subject, but that teacher really showed me why and how it’s important to use proper written English and I just learned all the rules; it came easily to me. Most people don’t see the difference in “Let’s eat Grandma,” and “Let’s eat, Grandma.”
– If you could start all over again, what would you do differently?
I’d start sooner!
– What is your biggest motivation?
Sadly, it’s that I have to pay bills.
– What do you love about your job?
I enjoy learning something new every day, not always entertaining stuff, but I a few clients with very interesting topics.
– How important is constant professional improvement?
I really need to learn a few more types of software, especially the ones that do closed captioning. I’m just on the older side and am not particularly interested in learning something new!
– What are you most grateful for in your freelance journey?
Again, I have to say I’m the most grateful that I was able to stay at home with my child while she was growing up. Most people don’t have that opportunity, and I was very lucky to find a niche that catered to it.
– What is the best way to organize multiple jobs and private life?
When I’m done with work, I’m done. I might answer emails from my phone here and there, but I don’t let it interfere with family/friend time. I have a room I work in, and that’s my office where no one bothers me. I feel it’s very important to have a designated work space; it helps with the self-motivation.
– If you had to single out one characteristic that is most important for the success of a freelancer, what would it be?
Self-motivation: no one is going to tell you to do it. You have to want to do it on your own.
– What advice would you give your younger self?
Don’t marry the first guy! Nah, just kidding. I’d tell myself to start sooner, maybe follow this career path in school. I wanted to be a court reporter, but no school near me offered the course, so I should’ve done more digging to make that happen.
– The best advice for those who are considering a freelance career?
The best advice I can offer is to make sure this is something you can really commit to. Be prepared to start out at a really low rate until you prove yourself but after that, the sky’s the limit!
You can contact Sarah at info@professionallyfast.com and http://www.facebook.com/profasttranscripts
