Do you ever wish you had a faster way to feed your content marketing machine?
If you use any of the following in your business …
- YouTube Videos
- Facebook LIVE Videos
- IGTV
- Speeches
- Webinars
- Podcasts
- Influencer interviews
- Video Testimonials
- Dictated notes
… keep reading for easy ways to turn your audio files into transcripts you can use to create articles, ads, social shares, infographics, eBooks, and more.
RELATED: Read How to 10x Your Content The Fast and Easy Way
Starting my first PODCAST this year has been a blast. I’ve met famous copywriters, talked to ace marketing directors, and heard raw stories from insiders about what’s working now.
In the past, transforming transcripts into show notes and summaries has been time-consuming. And as a small business owner and independent service provider, my time is already stretched. I’m serving clients, growing my business, and continually developing new skills.
Fortunately, with the aid of machine learning and software, we can now complete this time-consuming task in minutes.
You no longer have to hire a transcriptionist, type every word yourself, or struggle with futile hacks … like trying to play a recording loud enough into your mic so your free speech-to-text translator app will pick it up (I tried, I failed!).
Meet The New Easy and Affordable Options for Turning Speech into Text:
1 – Rev
Don’t want to pay $20-50/hour for a VA? Want to save your assistant’s regular hours for more complex tasks? Rev is an affordable service provided by real people – taking your recording and returning an accurate transcript.
2 – Temi
Temi‘s AI powered automated transcription service is astonishingly accurate and insanely affordable. It’s the perfect choice if you want to limit your work to final edits and polishing.
Temi uses a proprietary algorithm built by their own team of machine learning and speech recognition experts. And the company works constantly to improve both results and user experience.
Features include:
- Speakers automatically identified and labeled
- Automatic timestamp labeling on every paragraph
- Adjustable speed playback
- Click any text on the page to hear the recording playback at that time.
- A visually clean and appealing user interface.
- Download your transcript as a word doc, PDF, or plain text file
- Users can choose to show low-confidence phrases in brown font, so you can easily check for possible edits
- Share access for editing permissions with a link or by entering collaborators emails
At 10 cents per minute, I can have an entire podcast transcribed in minutes for less than the price of a Pumpkin Spice Latte. And there’s no minimum order or subscription required.
Grab a free trial at https://www.temi.com/.
3 – Descript
Descript is an automated transcription platform powered by Google Speech. It’s perfect for those who want to share documents with the choice of read-only or full-edit permissions.
With Descript, you can:
- Play back and edit transcripts
- Adjust the player speed
- Identify the time at each point in the transcript using the timer at the top of the screen.
- Share your document on the web, where team members and collaborators can leave and respond to comments and edits. Invite other Descript users right from the app or share a private link to your transcript. You choose whether they have the power to edit or only to comment.
One caveat: you need to download the app for full functionality.
Accuracy was moderate. The cost is 15 cents per minute pay as you go, or pay $20 per month for four hours of transcription time and pay 7 cents per minute for additional transcription.
Descript also has a human powered “White Glove” service for $1 per minute with a promise of 99% accuracy and delivery in under 24 hours.
Want to give it a try? You and I each get 100 free minutes when you visit and install the software using my link: Try Descript Now.
4 – Happy Scribe
Happy Scribe’s clean look makes reading and editing a pleasure. Like Temi, it has a variable-speed audio player in the upper right hand corner of the screen.
Other Happy Scribe features:
- Automatically speaker identification and labeling
- Timestamp automatically added to every paragraph
- Adjustable speed playback
- Click anywhere on the page to hear transcript playback at that time
- Easy-to-read font
- Download your transcript as a .doc, .PDF, .txt, or .srt file
- Share read-only access with a link
- Option to switch to Open Dyslexic 3 font
- Highlight in your choice of four different colors
- Leave comments in text pop-ups.
With HappyScribe, you can download with or without timestamps, speaker labels, highlights, and comments.
Transcription costs 15 cents per minute if you’re on the pay-as-you-go plan. With a monthly subscription of $9 per month, you pay 10 cents per minute (a savings if you transcribe more than 200 minutes per month).
Want to try HappyScribe? Use my link and we each get 50 free minutes of transcription!
5 – oTranscribe
www.oTranscribe.com is 100% manual. It’s a free option with features perfect for a speedy typist. Upload an audio or video file. Start and stop the audio player at the top of the page as needed while you type your transcript text into a simple document. You can adjust the speed of the player, and the current time is always posted at the top of the page. oTranscribe provides shortcuts to save time: press ESC to play/pause and Ctrl+J to insert the timestamp from the current audio.
When your transcription is finished, download your file as a .md (markdown) file, .txt (plain text file), or .otr (oTranscribe format) file. You can also save your completed transcript to Google Drive.
Special feature: whenever you stop typing and restart your audio file, the audio performs a slight “rewind” so it’s easy to jump in again.
Finally, sometimes the premium choice is the best choice. How will you use your transcript in your business? Would it be more efficient and cost-effective to hire a writer and spend your time on other tasks? A professional writer can turn your rough audio or video file into a polished piece to showcase your success or provide value to your clients.
Which Transcription Option Works Best For You?
● Need to transcribe a recording with heavy accents or distracting background noise? Try human transcription from Rev or Descript.
● Do you want the option to share with either editing permissions or comments-only? Descript lets you choose.
● Want easy to read pages, Open Dyslexic 3 font, or the ability to download your transcript as an .srt file? Try HappyScribe
● Want a fast, accurate translation and the ability to share editing privileges at a rock-bottom price? With superb results and a low pay-as-you-go price that won’t lock you into a monthly plan, Temi is your platform.
● Want to do it all yourself with an easy to use platform and audio player? https://oTranscribe.com/
● Need a polished article, case study, eBook, or whitepaper? Hire a writer.
