I’ve been in pursuit of improving my filing system for years.  I’ve tried many different systems.  At first, they would seem to be okay, but then became cumbersome and time consuming.  Statistics show that we spend up to 35% of our time looking for something.

At this point, you probably think I’m going to try to sell you something.  I’m not.  I just want to share a timesaving tool with you that you already have and which may have slipped your notice.

At my office, I get overwhelmed with paperwork, instructions, ebooks, and special reports.  They’re all good and I need them.  I learn a lot from special reports or ebooks, and I want them, but how to keep control of them becomes a problem.

Then it occurred to me—like a light bulb going off above my head—dummy (I don’t call myself that often, but every once in a while it’s appropriate), you’ve got the best filing system ever right in your PC.  It’s already there.  It’s called the “search” tool.

I consider myself proficient on the computer, so I know about and use the search tool frequently.  However, I haven’t fully used the powerful application that allows me to search for any word, or string of words.

Today I wanted to find a particular quote.  I could remember some of the quote, but couldn’t remember the name of the author.  So I searched on the two words I could remember and it popped up in my search results.

All you have to remember is one word that’s in the document, put it through the search, and everything pertaining to that particular subject will show up.

You might even be a bit embarrassed because now you see how many times you’ve saved that same item in different places.  Or all the different places you’ve put that subject.  Or all of the different products on the same subject you’ve purchased.

If it’s a document that doesn’t come to me through the computer, I scan it and save it in an appropriate file in my computer.  I’m almost becoming a paperless office.  At the same time, I’m able to find documents more easily, and my office is much neater.

Two words of caution.  When you’re relying on everything being on your computer, it’s doubly important to use a good back-up system and to back up regularly; and there will be documents for which you need the original, so we can’t get rid of all paper documents.

If you remember the valuable applications available using the search tool, you can save yourself tons of time every week.  The next time you are tempted to keep a hard copy of a special report, an eBook, or documents, put it on your computer instead, and rely on the search tool to find it.  You’ll be amazed how much more efficiently you can run your office.  And you’ll get rid of a lot of paper work.

Please add  your comments, especially if you have some time-saving tips you’ve been using.

Are you one of those people who hate to go to their “job” every day?  They do it because they have to earn a living and it is the responsible thing to do, but they approach each day with dread.

From now on, try this.

Approach your job every day as if it were your own business whether you are employed in a large corporation or a small company. Your desk, your cubicle, your office with a window–that is your business area.

If you are part of the marketing arm, consider that you are running a marketing company and see how many new ideas you can come up with for “your company.”  If you are an accountant, consider that you are running an accounting firm and take those steps that cause “your company” to work leaner and meaner.

Your perception of the company will change.  You will be making a career for yourself rather than just “going to the job” every day.

If you treat your position in your company as if you own it, you and “your company” can thrive together.  You can even go so far as to have business cards made for yourself.  They don’t have to be expensive.  They can  be ones that you print from your computer.  Think of a name for your company and come up with a logo.  You can even make yourself president if you want.

With this frame of mind, you will find that you are less stressed and have more energy.  You will be amazed at the improvements you will be able to bring to your position.  Who knows—you may even be willing to take on more assignments, making yourself even more valuable.

You will also find that your self-confidence will improve.  After all, you are now “the president of your company.”

Remember, your attitude determines your altitude.  This is your career.  It is not just a job.  Act if you are your own boss—and you will be.

Sometimes it costs us more not to do something than it does if we do it.

For example, I would much rather have someone else clean my house.  It costs me X$ to have someone else clean it, while I can be creating new products that I can sell for X$.

If you would rather clean your own house because it’s your way of relaxing and thinking, that’s a different story.  For me, it isn’t.  I earn more per hour than I pay to get this chore done.  Besides I prefer creating new information products.

Let me explain further.

Let’s say you have a teleseminar.  You feel it would cost too much to get the teleseminar transcribed, so you don’t.  You just use the audio, or you try to transcribe it yourself.  What did that cost you?  Well, let’s go through it.

1.    If you get the teleseminar transcribed, you have another product to sell.  It costs X$ to get it transcribed, but you can sell it for X$.  Chances are very good that you would sell more than one, and continue to sell it for perhaps years.  Plug in the numbers.
$_____Profit.

You will make more money getting it transcribed than if you don’t get it transcribed.

2.    How long does it take you to write an article?  If you get the teleseminar transcribed, you will be able to extract at least one article, more likely 2-3 articles, from just one one-hour teleseminar.  How much would you pay yourself to do an article?
$_____Your Time Saved.

You will make more money in time you save yourself than if you don’t get it transcribed.

3.    Then let’s talk about blogs.  How long does it take to write a blog?  You would have 1-3 blog entries from that one one-hour teleseminar.
$_____Your Time Saved.

You will make more money in time you save yourself than if you don’t get it transcribed.

That’s not even talking about the money you make in either your time saved or products you create from that one teleseminar.  An ebook—a special report—a workbook—a home study course—articles (magazine, newspapers, ezine), blog.  I can think of at least 10 products from that one one-hour teleseminar.   And that’s just off the top of my head.

Let’s plug some numbers into the blank spots.
For #1, I would price a 20-page Special Report at about $15.00 each.  It could be more (or less), depending on the subject.  Getting the teleseminar transcribed would cost me about $125.00.  That means that I break even if I sell at least eight of the teleseminars.  What if I sell 20 of them?  20 x $15.00 = $300, less the $125 it cost me to get it transcribed means that by not getting it transcribed I have left at least $175 on the table.  What if I sold 40 or 50?  Hmmmm.  That’s a lot of money left on the table.

You will make more money by getting it transcribed as well as the money you make in time saved than if you don’t get it transcribed.

For #2, assuming I charge $50.00 per hour for my time (you probably charge more), and it takes at least one hour to write three articles, I would have saved another $50 (or more).

It will end up costing you more not to take advantage of transcription services.  Think about it.  Do the numbers.

When you are preparing for your next teleseminar, consider the costs of getting it recorded and transcribed versus not getting it transcribed.  You will make more money if you pay the relatively small amount to get it transcribed, and create another product to add to your pot of gold.

Sometimes it costs us more not to do something than it does if we do it.  Don’t you be guilty of this.

]]> http://www.greattranscriptions.com/blog/tips/82/ebooks-and-transcription-%e2%80%93-costs-versus-true-costs/feed/ http://www.greattranscriptions.com/blog/tips/71/seven-easy-ways-to-write-your-blog-entries-or-articles/ http://www.greattranscriptions.com/blog/tips/71/seven-easy-ways-to-write-your-blog-entries-or-articles/#comments Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:49:21 +0000 Patsy Bellah http://www.greattranscriptions.com/blog/?p=71 Having trouble writing your blogs?  Feel you would like to keep your blog more up to date?  Getting that guilty feeling because you’re not updating your blog on a regular basis, or submitting articles regularly.  (I am so I came up with these ideas that I can follow)

Following are seven easy ways to write blog entries and/or articles.

1.    Have a teleconference and get it transcribed.  When you receive the transcription back, it is usually a Word document.  Remove the first and last parts about the introduction and ending.  Then remove the names if they are used, i.e., your name and the interviewer’s name.

Go through and block off about 300-500 words.  What you want is to take one of the subjects you spoke about and cut and paste as your new blog entry or article.  Usually you’ll find that you have written your blog or article while speaking on the teleconference.

As a rule, for a one-hour teleconference, you will probably get at least three, possibly more, blogs and/or articles.

P.S.  You can have a teleconference even if no one else is on the line.

2.    Carry a digital recorder with you.  Digital recorders weigh only 3-5 ounces, and are about 4” x 1 1/2” (or smaller) in size.  They fit very nicely in a shirt or pants pocket or the purse.  As you have ideas about blogs or articles, start recording, get it transcribed and you have your blog or article.

3.    While having lunch, dinner or a meeting with friends, I bet you often start talking about things that would make good blog or article subjects.  If you have your “handy, dandy” recorder with you, you can zip it out and record your conversation, get it transcribed and there is another entry for you.

If you feel uncomfortable bringing out the recorder to record the conversation, as soon as you leave their company, record your entry from what you remember about the discussion.

4.    Put it on your schedule to spend 5-7 minutes every morning recording your blog.  Since we speak at about 150 to 160 words per minute, you will easily be able to record 750 words in 5 minutes.

5.    Keep the ever-handy 3×5 cards or post-it notes available, and as you’re surfing on the internet, jot down ideas that would make good subjects, and then out comes that “handy dandy” recorder again, ready to zip off that blog entry in 5-10 minutes.

6.    As you’re driving to and from meetings, keep your recorder handy.  While I don’t recommend driving and recording, you could have it ready to quickly record ideas as they occur to you.  On a recent 60-mile round trip, all kinds of ideas popped into my head as I was driving, which I was able to capture on my “handy dandy” recorder.

However, if you are a passenger, you could use this method to record the blog entries or articles.  And of course don’t forget those instances when you’re on a plane.

7.    Your cell phone can also be a good device to record your blog entries or articles.  If you subscribe to a service that allows you to record using your telephone, you can use your cell phone to record your entries.

Using any one of these methods will soon get you into the habit of dictating your blogs and articles and you can alleviate those guilt feelings  because now you’ll have regular entries.  Send your recordings to your favorite transcription service and you will have a regular flow for not only blog entries and articles, but also to create other outrageously profitable products.

Don’t forget the above works for podcasts as well.

Let me know some easy ways you have found to write blogs or articles.

At first glance, this may seem to be contrary to my previous advice about creating products by recording your material.  Not true.  It’s still better to create information products by recording and getting transcribed.  Nevertheless, all of us do have other instances when we have to type something – an email, a note, a blog entry, taking notes at a meeting.

Actually, you use this all the time if you’re into text messaging, which I am not—yet.  When you text message you use shortcuts, or text shorthand .

For example, let’s say you wanted to say “by the way”.  You could simply use the letters btw. However, for a formal communication, it would not be a good idea to use only the letters.

If you’re using Word to type your documents, under Tools, Auto Correct Options, Auto Correct Tab, you will see two sections—Replace and With.  Type btw under “replace” and spell out the phrase under “with,” and the next time you need to use that phrase in one of your communications, you could simply type the letters and the letters will automatically be extended to the phrase “by the way.” 

You can use this for other words or phrases that you use repeatedly, such as your name, business name, or other words.  “Business,” for example, could be “bsn” and Word will automatically extend the letters to type in “business.” 

Another part of that is when you see the red squiggly lines under a word that you’ve spelled incorrectly, hover your mouse over it, right click and it will give you a choice of the corrected spelling.  If you use the “auto correct” selection (about half way down), the next time you incorrectly type that word that same way, it will automatically correct it for you.

I have made particular use of this method specifically in the last few months.  I had to have surgery on my right hand for tendonitis or some other ‘itis’ the doctor found a problem with.  Can you imagine a transcriptionist having a problem with a hand?  That’s like a runner having a problem with a leg.  However, I found ways to compensate and using this method in Word, as well as my other professional word extension programs, I was able to continue working during my rehabilitation period as if nothing had happened. 

You could say this was a case of taking a negative and turning it into a positive because it was then that I realized how valuable this tool really was as a time saver.

A word of caution, however.  Sometimes you may be typing something else and right in the middle of it will be a word that had been assigned to be extended.  Whoops.  Suddenly you find you have typed a word that you’re not sure where it came from. 

In spite of that caveat, using word extension can be a great time saver.  Use it for any words you type repeatedly or for repetitive phrases.  But, continue to record to create new information products. 

Just as important as recording is to have it transcribed.  Because people prefer different types of media, having a recorded as well as a written record satisfies everyone’s preferences. 

We learned about the trek of pioneers across the plains to new lives, adventures, and challenges through the letters they wrote home which were saved and preserved.  Today, in the age of technology, letter writing is fast becoming a lost art.  When was the last time you wrote a nice, long letter?  When was the last time you received one?

Hmmmm.  Can’t remember?  I can’t either.  I keep up with family and friends through emails.  Now there’s Facebook and Twitter.  I learn every day about old friends or even relatives I haven’t heard from in a long time through Facebook and Twitter.  The posts about day-to-day activities that may seem frivolous actually give us a better insight into a person’s personal nature.

The problem is that these don’t last.  Here today, gone tomorrow as the saying goes.  I won’t go into the problems of trying to print all of them, not the least of which is the volumes you’d accumulate if you tried to gather all the small snippets.

More important than ever, then, is to record your life story.  I don’t mean that you have to tell all your secrets, your failures, your weaknesses.  Only the interesting, informative data.

Where did you go to school?  Did you like school?  Did you have homework? 
Did you like to write?
How did you and your siblings relate?
What were your skills?
What were your dreams?
What did you really want to do but never did for whatever reason?
What were your favorite foods?  What foods did you not like?
What were your favorite things?
What was it like at holidays?  Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Fourth of July?
Did your family do much together?
Who were the most important people to you when you were young?
What was your first job?  Did you like it?  What did you do?  How did you get it?
What are some of the things you remember most about your childhood?
What books did you read? 

I could continue with these questions and since we’re all individuals, the questions would be different for each of us.  Write down the things that are the most important to you, or better yet, ask your family or friends what they’d like to know about you.

Or — in this age of technology, get together on a teleseminar and reminisce.  Ask an older relative to join this teleseminar/conference call and ask them questions.  What was my mother/father like?  What did the family do on holidays, etc?  All of the same types of questions as above.  Get it recorded and transcribed for a permanent record.

If you don’t want to do a teleseminar, using one of the many available methods, record your thoughts, save to a CD, and get it transcribed.  Not only are you leaving your legacy you’re leaving a gift  that will be treasured.

 
Laws differ from state-to-state, but a notary public witnesses the signing of documents and insures to the best of their ability that the person signing the document is who they say they are.  The notary does this by asking for their driver’s license, passport, military ID, or other legal proof of identification.  (There are some exceptions to this rule if a person doesn’t have identification, but I’ll save that for another time.)

I am a notary for the State of California and have been for 15 years.  This morning I had two instances where I had to explain what a notary does.

 
The first one, I had two documents put in front of me, one of which had the notarial statement on it (a statement stating that the person came before me and signed the document), but there was no signature.

 
When I asked what the person was signing, they told me that they wanted me to notarize the trust document and the fact that the person had opened a bank account.

I explained that as a notary I didn’t notarize documents.  I only notarize signatures and I had to have the person sign a document in front of me and show me identification before I could notarize anything. 

 
Eventually we straightened out what they needed to sign and have me notarize.

 
The next person came in with identification for another person and wanted me to notarize another person’s signature.  I explained that I couldn’t notarize anyone’s signature without having him or her present.  The person stated that because of illness, that would not be possible.  The only other alternative is for a notary to travel to where the person is if they are too sick to come to the notary.

 
There was another instance of a long time acquaintance.  She had remarried, but hadn’t gotten her name changed on any of her documents so she had no identification.  Because I knew her personally, I could document that fact and I could notarize her signature.

 
There have been instances when someone asked me to “notarize” other things which I can’t notarize, most notably birth certificates or marriage licenses from other countries.  It is difficult to explain to a person that as sorry as I am about their dilemma, it is against the law for me to notarize certain documents.  Not only do I put my notary privileges in jeopardy, but I also open myself up to massive lawsuits.

 
When you have something to notarize, call the notary in advance.  First, to make sure they will be available when you need them, that it is something they can notarize, and what documentation you need to show the notary.

At one time in my distant past, I was a legal secretary. I worked for two attorneys in a small, one secretary office in the San Fernando Valley in California.

One of the attorneys had to have me in his office so he could dictate his correspondence and legal documents, which I then transcribed from my shorthand.

Requiring me to be in his office while he dictated was both painful and time consuming. Time consuming because it was much slower and taking me away from other things that I could be doing; painful because there would often be long pauses in his dictation, or I would be jumping up to answer the phone. Each time he called me in to work with him, it interrupted my concentration on whatever I was doing.

The other attorney would sit, by himself, in his office, dictating his correspondence or legal documents, hand a tape or tapes to me and I could then schedule my time so that I could transcribe it. Sometimes he would hand me one tape to start transcribing while he was dictating another.

1.  Consider your reader’s time and focus on what they want. Write at a level that is optimum for your reader to undersand. The current standard, and has been for a few years, is to write at the 8th grade level. You  may think that’s ridiculous and a reflection of the educaition system in our country today. Really, it has to do with a commodity called “time” that we have in short supply. Very simply, it takes time to read anything that’s written at greater than the 8th grade level.

2.  To immediately get your reader’s attention, make that first paragraph a maximum of four lines. We only have five seconds in which to engage the reader. If we hit them with a nice short paragraph to begin with, then we have an increased probability that they’re going to read the document.

3.  Make each sentence an average of about 15 words per sentence. You don’t want every single sentence to be the same length. That gets boring and singsong at a point. So, you may have some shorter sentences and some longer sentences. However, if you can average about 15 words per sentence, that’s where you want to be.

4.  Then if you keep each paragraph no longer than six, sometimes, seven, or eight lines, you increase your readability potential further. If you have big fat paragraphas, visually it’s not appealing to the reader. The perception of the reader is this is going to be hard to read.

Although it may not necessarily be true, that’s your reader’s perception, which is your reader’s reality. If they think it’s going to be hard to read, they’re not even going to try and you’ve lost that five second advantage, even if you start them with a nice short paragraph.

5.  Writing in the active voice is one of the best things that you can do to write better. Passive voice is so common, and it’s one of those self-perpetuating things. People write in the passive voice because somebody taught them to. Those people wrote in the passive voice because somebody else taught them to, and so forth, down from the past. Nevertheless, it’s not the current preferred style.

Even though we know it’s better to use the active voice, we universally ignore this advice. That’s really a shame, because passive voice is just not good effective writing.

If you’re using the computer, and who isn’t to write these days, and if you’re using Micosoft Word, a tool that makes ascertaining these statistics easier is the grammar check. If you’re like me, you avoid this like the plague. I did until Laura pointed out how useful it is.

One of the things that were particularly annoying to me about the grammar check was the advice that I had just written something using the passive voice. Then I discovered that when I grudgingly changed that to an acceptable active voice, the writing was much better and clearer.

I wasn’t sure what the Readability Statistics that appeared at the end meant. Laura informed me that the only stats I had to pay attention to were:

• The word per sentence that gives me the average words per sentence
• The number of passive sentences
• The Flesch Reading Ease
• The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level

That was much easier to accept. For your information, this article is 899 words, the average words per sentence is 15, and there are no passive sentences. The readability ease is 65.8 (I would like higher, but that’s okay), and the Flesch-Kincaid grade level is 8 (terrific). Following the advice of expert grammarian Laura Jarnat has made my writing easier and clearer. Run your next article thorugh the grammar check and see if you don’t agree with us.