Transcribe Anywhere Reviews: Interviews with 2 Graduates

Review of Transcribe Anywhere

While transcription seems like a simple, work-at-home job, there’s an art to it…especially if you want to make good money.

One way to fast track your transcription earnings is to take a course.

Transcribe Anywhere is one of the most popular transcription courses on the market.

But is it worth the investment?

In this post, we’ll explore:

  • What is Transcribe Anywhere?
  • Who is Transcribe Anywhere for?
  • What does Transcribe Anywhere cover?
  • How much does Transcribe Anywhere cost?
  • Transcribe Anywhere Reviews from 2 Graduates

Let’s get started!

Transcribeanywhere Reviews

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What is the Transcribe Anywhere course?

Transcribe Anywhere teaches you how to become a professional transcriber AND get transcription work and clients.

The course is delivered online so you can take it from anywhere. It’s structured as self-paced; you complete it according to your schedule and there are no deadlines. If you rush through it and depending on your skill level, you could complete the course in as little as 2-4 months.

The course was created by a seasoned transcriber Janet Shaughnessy. She owns a transcription company – Zoom Transcription Services, which she’s operated for over 10 years.

Nowadays, she dedicates most of her time to training and sharing her best practices for transcription. When she was spending most of her time transcribing with Zoom, she was making over $100,000/year.

Transcribe Anywhere is the first transcription school to be endorsed by the American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers (AAERT). If you wish to obtain your Certified Electronic Transcriber (CET) certification through the AAERT, they will waive the one-year work experience requirement with your Transcribe Anywhere course.

Who is Transcribe Anywhere for?

The course is designed for people whose working style is best fit for being a transcriptionist which includes people who:

  • Are patient
  • Have the ability to sit for long periods
  • Are detail-oriented

The course is only taught in English. If you’re not comfortable with the English language, this course might not be the right fit.

If you’re not a fast or accurate typist, that’s okay. The course has typing drills. It’s ideal for people who are new to or have some experience in transcription work.

What does Transcribe Anywhere cover?

Transcribe Anywhere offers 2 courses:

In general transcription, you will be transcribing a wide range of content in various industries like education and film. In legal transcription, you work with legal content and need to know legal terminology and formatting.

Here’s the syllabus for their general transcription course:

  • Module 1: The foundation of transcription including the right equipment and the general transcription style, formatting and jobs
  • Module 2: Essential skills for excellent transcription including punctuation, spelling and critical thinking
  • Module 3: Time-saving tools for efficient transcription like using shortcut keys, templates and time coding for video
  • Module 4: 60+ Practice files including low quality audio with multiple speakers with accents so you can get a sense of the real-world challenges
  • Module 5: How to find work including setting your rates, finding clients and managing customer service
  • Module 6: Final exam and certificate
legal transcription course

Here’s the syllabus for their legal transcription course:

  • Module 1: What is legal transcription
  • Module 2: Legal transcription equipment and style guide
  • Module 3: 80+ pages of English and Latin legal terminology and quizzes
  • Module 4: How to use Microsoft Word for legal transcriptionists including notating transcripts and using shortcuts
  • Module 5: How to transcribe legal correspondence from attorneys and other legal professionals with practice exercises
  • Module 6: Legal process and court procedure including the different types of law, how a case moves through the system, and the anatomy of a court transcript
  • Module 7: Legal forms and templates
  • Module 8: Court proceedings transcription with practice
  • Module 9: Deposition file transcription with practice
  • Module 10: Law enforcement file transcription with practice
  • Module 11: Conference and legal association meeting transcription with practice
  • Module 12: Time coding for legal transcriptionists
  • Module 13: Resources and final exam
  • Module 14: How to find work in legal transcription

One big advantage is that when you enroll in either course, you will have access to the course forever including all updates at no additional cost.

You will have ongoing support through the student community on Facebook.

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Here’s more information about what legal transcription is and how you can get started.

How much does Transcribe Anywhere cost?

The general transcription course is $597 and the legal transcription course is $697.

If you take both courses, you can get it for a discounted price of $1097. There are also payment plans to help break up the cost.

Transcribe Anywhere Reviews

Transcribe Anywhere Reviews
Alissa Berry
Transcribe Anywhere Reviews
Angela Smith

Alissa took the general transcription course and Angela took the legal transcription course.

In this interview, they’ll speak to why they selected Transcribe Anywhere, the most valuable thing they learned, what could be improved upon, how long it took them to make their money back from the course and other tips on being a transcriptionist.

Why did you select Transcribe Anywhere?

Alissa: I chose Transcribe Anywhere because I didn’t find any other transcription courses that came close to matching its value.

The instructor, Janet, was accessible any time I had questions, and the course was HARD. It really prepared me for the “real world” of transcription. It took me three tries to pass the final exam. Janet is tough, but that’s what makes the course worth the money.

Angela: Getting started with Transcribe Anywhere – well, that’s easy.

After all those years of medical transcription and it falling by the wayside due to electronic medical records, I needed to reinvent myself. I knew I wanted to keep working at home and running my own business.

I was afraid I was “too old” to learn anything new or would try and fail at it. I had to do a lot of soul searching, but realized finally, “Yes, I can do this,” so I bit the bullet and signed up for Transcribe Anywhere’s course. This was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

I chose Transcribe Anywhere because it “fit” me:

  • I needed something that didn’t cost a fortune.
  • I could work at my own pace as I was still running a transcription business everyday.
  • It gave me all the information I was seeking about legal transcription.

You see, I had the “transcription” part down pat by experience in medical and general transcription, but I had no knowledge of legal transcription and Transcribe Anywhere provided that for me. I wanted something where I didn’t have to take all sorts of other expensive classes that I didn’t need just to get to the one thing I wanted to know how to do. Transcribe Anywhere does that for you.

What’s the most valuable training you learned at Transcribe Anywhere?

Alissa: The course has an incredible variety of practice files, and having access to all those was what made me a successful transcriptionist. My clients haven’t given me anything that’s as difficult as the files in the courses.

Angela: For me, since I already had the background in transcription, I gained the knowledge I needed on how to transition from medical to legal transcription and all that it entails (e.g. formatting, punctuation, etc.).

Even though both are “transcription”, they’re like night and day as far as specifications needed for both. I definitely obtained the knowledge I needed through Transcribe Anywhere.

Transcribe anywhere course reviews

Is there anything you felt could be improved upon in the course?

Alissa: Transcribe Anywhere is a thorough, comprehensive course, and I can’t think of anything that is missing.

Angela: For me, personally, no. I truly don’t.

Do you think the Transcribe Anywhere course was worth the money?

Alissa: Absolutely. It was an excellent investment in myself.

Angela: I do. Every penny.

FYI: If anyone decides to sign up for Transcribe Anywhere, you will get out of it what you put into it. Study and practice your typing skills everyday, practice transcribing the actual audio repetitively, and take notes about everything. “Practice makes perfect” is such a true saying.

How long did it take you to make your money back from the course?

Alissa: I had my first job within 48 hours, and I made my money back within a couple months. I do not work full time, nor do I work for a transcription company. I only work directly for clients.

Angela: I already had general and medical clients for many years through my website, LinkedIn profile, and Facebook so it was just the simple addition of offering legal transcription as well.

I had that advantage over someone who is starting brand new. I graduated at the beginning of November 2016 from Transcribe Anywhere and it took a little while to get my first client, approximately three to four months.

I tested for a company that had police investigations, 911 calls, etc. and got that job in February of 2017. They really didn’t pay very much, but it was a good way to get the legal experience I needed under my belt. While I was working there I also tested for a court-reporting agency and got that job transcribing depositions, hearings, etc.

I still subcontract for this company, but I consider my very first legal client a court reporter from a different state. Her boss found my LinkedIn page in April of 2017 and my company has been transcribing for her since then. From this connection and by word-of-mouth, A&C gained two more court reporters by the end of that year.

As of this date, A&C Transcription, Inc. has 12 legal transcription clients and two general transcription clients that we transcribe for on a regular basis. The company also continues to maintain several medical clients and has gained a few more just this past year.

We have a few other court reporters and general transcription clients that just use A&C Transcription, Inc. as needed. When I say we, I have hired five legal transcriptionists who subcontract through me and four of those are Transcribe Anywhere graduates. When I hire a legal transcriptionist, I always try to hire Transcribe Anywhere graduates first before anyone else, so that should tell you something.

Transcribe anywhere

What is your favorite part about being a Transcriber?

Alissa: Being paid to listen to interesting audio files. I’ve learned a lot about a variety of topics.

Angela: That’s easy. Able to work at home, being my own boss, and doing something that I love to do.

What is your biggest challenge in this role?

Alissa: I need QUIET to transcribe, and I currently have my four year old daughter home with me full time. This makes my availability very limited, but that will expand when she starts Kindergarten in 2020.

Angela: Well, for me it is training new subcontractors per my client specs.

Transcribe Anywhere teaches all you need to know about legal transcription and what that entails, including different formats. Janet warns us this can happen, but in a real world setting, every client wants something different whether it be where they want Q&A placed, colloquy indented or not indented, cleaned-up or verbatim or semi-verbatim, etc. At times, it is mind-boggling trying to keep all that separated in your mind.

To put it plainly, there are no cookie-cutter clients. So it’s a challenge for us all to remember the different formatting, especially if a typist is working on two or three different clients in a day, and, yes, that happens in my company.

What is a typical day for you?

Alissa: I balance transcription with running my horse boarding business and freelance writing.

No day is typical. In the summer I usually work inside at mid-day when the Arizona heat is brutal, and do my outdoor stuff in the mornings and evenings. In the winter, this is reversed. Every day is different, and I love that.

Angela: In a nutshell, very, very busy. I manage everything.

I told someone the other day that I was boss, scheduler, human resources, quality control, marketer, receptionist, secretary, and account receivables all wrapped up in one package. Oh, and did I mention I transcribe, as well. I do have an accountant that takes care of payroll and my business details such as taxes, etc.

Reviews for Transcribe Anywhere

What are your top tips for being successful as a Transcriptionist?

Alissa: A transcription company will rarely pay you what you are worth. I have had great success finding my own clients and no one has balked at paying my rates. Don’t sell yourself short. Remember, your skills are valuable, and you should be paid accordingly.

Angela: To be a good transcriptionist, I believe accuracy is most important. Speed would be a very close second. What I mean by that is once you get the accuracy down, your speed will improve because you will not have to look up as much. Your brain will have absorbed what you’ve spent time learning.

To be a successful transcriptionist you must be observant. Pay attention to the little things such as

  • punctuation
  • em dashes instead of commas
  • too many spaces between words
  • formatting
  • spelling

This is advice coming from someone who has proofed a lot of people’s work and those are some things that I mark incorrect most often.

For example: I had one transcriptionist misspell a word four different ways on the same page. She obviously did not check the spelling. She just guessed. Observe everything down to the last minute detail, dedication, and commitment because you only succeed if you put in the time.

Also, be prepared for there to be “ebbs and flows,” so you don’t panic when the “ebbing” is happening.

One more thing, everyone believes you can set your own hours of when you want to work and, I agree, that is very true. That being said, there are going to be more times than not you’re going to have to work when your clients need you to and adjust your “own set hours”. You need to be very flexible with those set hours, as you may need to work nights and/or weekends to complete an expedite or a huge assignment.

Finally, what’s your background? How did you become a Transcriber?

Alissa: After college, I worked as a 911 dispatcher and then as a legal secretary. I started working from home in February 2016 for ShowMojo, and I was miserable. I liked working remotely, just not the company I was working for. I started looking for other options, and found Transcribe Anywhere. I graduated from the General Transcription course in February 2017 and found my first client that week.

Angela: My name is Angela Smith. I’m 52 years young and I live in East Tennessee about 25 miles north of Knoxville in Luttrell, a small community where everyone knows everyone and most are kin to one another.

I have been married to my husband Dean for 15 years. I have two brothers: Jason, who’s 48 and Chance, who’s 35, who I raised as my own child. He holds my heart and I believe the biggest accomplishment of my life.

I have 25 years experience in the transcription business and my company is called A&C Transcription, Inc. I started with medical transcription in 1993. I had worked at dead-end jobs for several years. My last job before transcription was a knitting mill, which I hated, but I needed to have an income so I took what was available at that time.

I always knew my dream job was working at home and owning my own business. I came from a line of entrepreneurs in my family in various fields and I wanted that, too, so I began doing research on various work-at-home jobs and stumbled across transcription.

It was like a light bulb came on and I knew that was going to be the career for me. I had been told many times I was a “word warrior.”

However, to be a transcriptionist, I had one problem: I didn’t know how to type. I’m of the age when we didn’t have computers and we had to learn on typewriters or word processing machines. I was determined, so my best friend let me borrow her typewriter and her typing book that she had from business school and I taught myself to type.

I had reached the point of typing around 40 to 50 words a minute and knew I needed some education on the actual transcription part so I found a local business college that taught it, and when I say local, it was about an hour away. Still determined, I commuted back and forth five days a week for a year and a half. I knew there were schools that didn’t take that long to complete, but I took other classes as well like bookkeeping, English, pharmacology, and computer classes knowing I would need that knowledge, as well.

A big thanks to Alissa and Angela for their insights on Transcribe Anywhere and the transcription career!

If you’d like to contact Alissa, she can be reached via High Plains Arena. If you’d like to contact Angela, she can be reached via A&C Transcription.

Interested in other work-from-home opportunities?

Here are additional work at home options that are well-paid:

Other ways to make some money from home

If you only want to earn a little bit of side cash quickly and easily each day, here’s a list of legitimate survey companies with user-friendly sites that I’ve personally tried and liked:

The more companies you join, the more surveys you’ll qualify for taking. If you like taking surveys and being able to voice your opinion and know that it’ll make a difference with brands and products, taking surveys might be right up your alley.

janet shaughnessy transcription

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2 Comments

  1. Thank you for this review. You’re the first reviewer that actually interviewed graduates of Transcribe Anywhere and I read their answers with great interest. I’ve taken the free mini-course and am now considering purchasing the General Transcription class. Great article!!

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