You may have heard about doing transcription as a way to earn some extra money online, because well, it sounds easy. If that’s the case, you are probably interested to work with GoTranscript. What’s the nature of the job, how well does it pay and most importantly, is it worth your time? Let’s dig into the review and find out.
What Is GoTranscript
GoTranscript is a global online company founded in 2006 that offers transcription, proofreading, translation, and caption services to general and professional sectors. Everything that the company produces is transcribed, edited, and quality checked by humans.
The site has earned glowing reviews from Forbes and The Huffington Post with the reputation of producing high accuracy and fast turnaround results. Hence, they are constantly seeking out talented freelance transcribers from around the world.
How Much Can You Earn from Gotranscript?
As a transcriber, you are basically required to transcribe audio files from a variety of content, into text documents. Everything is done through a transcription software available on their website and you get paid when your work is being accepted.
There is plenty of content to choose from so you are never stuck with one type of topic. You can also switch from one job to another if you don’t feel it’s compatible with your skills. As long as you don’t hold on to the first job for too long, you won’t be penalized.
The pay rate is generally $0.60 per audio minute and their published average monthly payment is $150 while for some people, earning slightly over $1000 isn’t impossible. As time progresses, there is a good chance the income and job opportunities may increase as you gain more experience and improve on your accuracy.
GoTranscript ensures a steady stream of work, which is essential if you are struggling to find clients and projects as a freelance transcriber. This job is particularly fitting for stay at home moms, budding freelancers, remote workers or college students looking for part-time jobs.
What Are The Job Requirements
While you don’t need to be an expert in any particular niche, it’s important to have good basic English communication skills. Additional skills like editing, fast typing, listening and time management will give you the added advantage to produce the kind of work quality the company is looking for.
These skills will be put to the test with a short sample audio during the application process. It is not unnecessarily difficult, but you will need a good score before your application is accepted. If you fail, you can always retake the test within a few days. If you pass, you will start to receive instructions on how to work on your first job.
Besides that, you must also have reliable access to a computer, internet, a pair of headphones and a PayPal account to get paid.
Things to Know Before You Join
As easy as the job may seem, there are a few things to keep in mind before you choose to work with GoTranscript all out.
- Your application review could take up to 60 days for processing, which means you can’t start on a job until they allow you to do so. You must also go through the lengthy guidelines to have a clear understanding of certain transcription jargon and the strict requirements.
- If you are a professional freelance transcriber, you may find the pay rate disappointing. The standard pay for advanced skills is around $25 to $30 per hour which is a far cry from what you would expect from GoTranscript. In other words, the job is more suited for entry and mid-level freelancers.
- The site doesn’t guarantee that its clients are native English speakers or that their audios will be entirely comprehensible so having to deal with poor audio quality is a common situation. You will be expected to follow the recommended guidelines when transcribing these audios.
- Every work submitted will be evaluated by an editor to check for quality and competency. As such, newbies won’t have access to all the jobs until they have at least an average ratings of 4 with at least 5 output done. Anything less than 3.5 ratings will put you at risk for being disqualified as a transcriber with GoTranscript.
How Do You Start on GoTranscript?
On the GoTranscript website, scroll all the way to the bottom of the homepage and you should be able to find a link under “Transcriptionists” that says “Work”. Click on that and you’ll be taken to a set of multiple-choice questions in which you have to get 100% correct before you can take the audio test.
Don’t worry – there are guidelines (and even free YouTube videos) to help you. If you are competent enough, you should be able to complete the first step in under an hour. Once you submit the audio test, wait for the confirmation to see whether you get accepted or not.
Between Transcribing and Getting Paid
On the job posting dashboard, you get to see and choose jobs that fit your skills and schedule. Most audios run for about 5 to 10 minutes and you are given anywhere between 4 to 6 hours to complete any given task. That’s a fairly comfortable time frame if you asked me.
Payments are made weekly, every Friday and will be transferred to either your PayPal or Payoneer account without the need to meet any minimum threshold. GoTranscript has a good track for paying freelancers fairly and promptly, and you can reach out to the support team if you experience any problem.
Bonus Earning As an Affiliate
GoTranscript runs an affiliate program in which you can apply and earn a 10% commission per sale whenever you refer a customer who orders transcripts from the company. One of the best ways to promote such services is through blogging because it lets you create content and leverage affiliate links and banner ads.
As the blog owner, you can also recommend other products or services relevant to the transcription industry and increase your earning potential. You just need to go out there and explore the various affiliate programs that are available within this niche.
Never had any experience creating a blog? Feel free to use the tool below to help you out.
Is GoTranscript Worth Working For?
Overall, GoTranscript is a legit company that offers a decent side hustle with very minimal technical skills. Accuracy is prudent but it’s something you can work on. For aspiring freelancers, I think it serves as a good springboard for entry to mid-level transcriptionists who wish to hone their skills and don’t mind working their way up.
Just be mindful of the downsides mentioned earlier and certainly don’t count on it to pay your bills or cover rent. If working for GoTranscript doesn’t meet your income needs after a while, you need a better plan – something that can work for the long term and generate more money.
Affiliate marketing, in my opinion, is a great vehicle for that and you can easily start an affiliate business through blogging. Like I said earlier, it helps to diversify your income potential without having to slough through the long hours of transcribing audios/videos beyond your capacity.
Check out my recommended training site if you like to learn more about this money-making opportunity.
I hope you’ve gained something positive out of this review. Let me know in the comment below if you have any experience or questions regarding the topic.
A straightforward glance at transcription. I had investigated this income method briefly and found that for starters, there are too many opportunities to maximize the advertised income potential. Apparently, one has to build up a reputation over time, taking whatever small tasks come along. There is value in the experience, I do agree.
I had heard of GoTranscript and always wanted to know if it is worth it. There are so many tools and software nowadays that promise much but deliver less than expected.
I can see where this would be useful for a freelancer starting out. They can gain experience and earn some side cash, but I must say, the pay rate seems less than significant. I wondered if that’s what the market is paying for transcriptionist now.
Hi Dave, at Upwork most transcriptionists get paid between $15 to $35 per hour. So the rate is definitely higher because I am guessing that freelance site yields more professionalism.
I’m a stay at home mum and I’d been looking into doing some transcribing as a way to supplement my income. I think it could be faster to earn cash while waiting for my relatively new affiliate site to grow. But judging at the stats you’ve just described here, I am not too convinced.
It’s better to stick with affiliate marketing for now. I have one post that somehow earns me $40 per week just sitting there so I think my time is better invested in working on that site and making it scale.
Hi Emily, GoTranscript isn’t the only site that has the opportunity for transcription work. If you’re willing to go all out, it’s better to invest in some training to learn the ropes of becoming a professional transcriptionist and then you can ask for higher rates. You may need to go into freelancing sites to pitch for work. It can be challenging for beginners but it’s doable.
Seems like an awesome way to make some side income. I am pretty good at transcription and I cannot wait to possibly get a job becoming one. Have you tried working as a transcriber before and if, so was your experience positive or negative? GoTranscript seems legit and it’s backed by thousands of positive reviews.
Hi Jon, I am actually thinking of becoming a part-time transcriptionist and have done some research on the job market. Seems like a good training is crucial if you want to get paid well. Still going through some reviews to find a good course but Transcribe Anywhere is on the top of the list.
This has confirmed my expectation in the ability to provide a somewhat substantial source of income. When I say “somewhat substantial” I am referring to income that is the lowest average one could earn to provide some “extra income” but nowhere near enough to pay all of your bills, or at least your rent. In a nutshell, something good but not great.
Many years ago when I was looking for an alternative way to make money online from home, I looked into other transcripts as well as writing opportunities. Much to my disappointment, they all paid far too low for the amount of work I put into. Perhaps for someone just looking for a little extra money, this would be a good option, but not for someone that needs hundreds or thousands a month.
What I eventually did was what you are recommending. I started blogging about one of my passions in life and then I monetized it within the affiliate marketing space. This blogging improved my writing skills. Once I started seeing my blogs ranking highly in Google I used those posts as a type of online resume to prove to future writing opportunities that I could not only write but get rankings in the search engines.
So for anyone reading this who may be considering a writing opportunity like GoTranscript or some other content writing site, definitely start your own blog first. You can write about what you like and in the long run, it can produce more income by way of affiliate marketing AND being able to write for other similar websites.
Once you have the knowledge you can attract higher pay from those who you write for.
Hi Robert, never thought of using it as a launchpad for one’s writing training, but I guess it could work. Some listen well but don’t type as good so listening to these audios and putting those hands into practice can indirectly improve the mastery of the language.
But a job is still a job. If you want to have a sustainable online income, you need a business entity and yes, blogging is one of the best ways to get started
Appreciate your time and effort in writing about GoTranscript which is something that I’ve been looking into doing since I am desperate to earn some extra money on the side online.
I see that this is just a side hustle and not something you do to pay rent with, but I’m okay with that. If I could earn $200-$300 extra per month with it, I’ll be satisfied. Will give this one a try and see how it works for me. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
No problem, Son. Glad it was useful.
I had recently read about GoTranscript as well as some other freelancing sites. I was thinking of getting into some of them. If you could actually transcribe real-time AND full-time that could be up to $36/hr. With those low averages I imagine there are a lot of bad audio cases. I’m not sure this would be worth my time for $150/month.
Have you given it a shot? I like the idea of blogging better personally. I think a freelance writing gig for content would be more up my alley.
Hi Rob, yes I’ve tried it and the bad audio thing is true. It does make the job more difficult. There’s really no way to go around it unless you switch to other platforms that pay better or upgrade your transcription skills, working on corporate, legal or medicine-related audio.