Have you ever needed to get something typed that you don’t have time to type yourself? This article is for you! Maybe your boss asked for a report, but you’ve been so busy with other assignments that you’re just not sure when you’ll have time to type it up? Perhaps one of your clients has called asking if they can have a transcript of the meeting minutes from yesterday, and sending it to them by email seems like a good idea.
Or maybe it’s your mom, and she’s completely inept with computers and just wants her favorite recipe typed up.
Whatever the reason, this article will guide you through all that why you need to hire a freelance typist. Whether this is your first time hiring one or if it’s new to someone in your company or organization, we’ve compiled everything we know about freelance typing services into an easy-to-read guide.
| Takeaways |
|---|
| Hiring a freelance typist can provide several benefits for your business. |
| Freelance typists can save you time and effort by handling typing tasks efficiently. |
| By outsourcing typing work to a freelance typist, you can focus on core business activities. |
| Freelance typists offer flexibility, allowing you to hire them on an as-needed basis. |
| Working with a freelance typist can result in improved accuracy and professional-quality documents. |
| Hiring a freelance typist can be cost-effective compared to hiring a full-time employee for typing tasks. |
| Freelance typists can handle a variety of typing tasks, including document typing, transcriptions, data entry, and more. |
| Communication with freelance typists is crucial for providing clear instructions and ensuring a successful collaboration. |
| Freelance typists can maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive information with professionalism. |
| Accessing the skills and expertise of a freelance typist can help enhance your business productivity and efficiency. |
You Have A Deadline To Meet And You Can’t Afford To Spend All Of Your Time Typing
If you’re one of the many people who have difficulty typing and make a lot of mistakes in the process (or you simply don’t enjoy it), hiring a freelance typist can help you out in several ways.
Typing errors: As noted above, everyone makes mistakes. If you have difficulty typing or find that your mind wanders as your fingers move over the keyboard, chances are good that you’ll introduce at least some spelling and grammatical errors into your document.
In addition to taking time away from the task at hand to correct these errors, it can also take a toll on your productivity, after all, misplacing punctuation marks or misspelling certain words can slow down your writing and create further distractions when editing is necessary.
Formatting issues: Let’s say that you’re tasked with writing a term paper for class, but you’re not sure how to set up margins, spacing, or other formatting options for this document.
Even with basic knowledge of how to format documents in Word (or other word processing software), some instructors may require additional knowledge of formatting styles such as APA or MLA which can take a second person out of his/her comfort zone. A professional typist will be able to format documents quickly without having to think twice about it.
Are you overwhelmed with data entry tasks? Learn how to effectively manage your workload by outsourcing. Check out our comprehensive guide on how to outsource your data entry for a step-by-step approach.
You Have No Knowledge Of Formatting Styles
You may not be familiar with the myriad formatting styles used for various types of documents. It is important to use the correct style when writing a document for publication or submission, such as an article for a journal, magazine, or newspaper.
Using the correct style can even help you impress your boss when submitting company memos and other work-related documents. This is especially true if you are writing a paper that will be graded by a professor who has specific requirements about formatting. In any case, it is not something that should be left up to chance or eyeballed you need to know what you are doing!
There are many different styles out there: APA, MLA, Chicago Manual of Style (CMS), Turabian, etc. You name it! If you have been given specific instructions on which style to use and how it should look in your final draft, follow them exactly.
You Need The Work Fast
If you are very busy with other work or other responsibilities, it may be beneficial to hire a freelancer to type your notes for you. This can be especially useful if you are not a fast typist. Perhaps your fingers cannot keep up with your thoughts, or maybe you just have too many other things going on in life right now.
In any case, even if a freelance typist’s services cost is more than what it would take you to do the typing yourself, the time that they save you could still make hiring them worthwhile. That’s because of an economic concept known as “opportunity cost.” It’s worth taking the time to explain this concept so that you can use it in your decision-making process, and hopefully reap its benefits throughout all aspects of life.
You Have Difficulty Typing And You Make Lots Of Mistakes
The most important thing to remember when hiring a freelance typist is that everyone has different needs. Some people may prefer to work with a freelance typist who can write the introduction in their own words, while others may prefer to write the whole introduction themselves. The choice is entirely up to you.
If you have difficulty typing and making mistakes, then hiring a freelance typist will help you avoid that issue altogether. You won’t have to go back and fix errors yourself which can be time-consuming and frustrating for many people.
If you do need someone who knows how to use Microsoft Word or other word processing software, then consider hiring a professional writer or editor instead of doing it yourself. This will save you both time and money because they already know how everything works in that area and can make sure your work gets done correctly the first time around.
Want to excel as a freelance administrative assistant? Enhance your skill set with the top 14 skills required for success. Discover more about these essential skills in our article on being a successful freelance administrative assistant.
You Are Not Familiar With Any Word Processing Program, Such As Ms. Word, Open Office, Or Pages
When gearing up to have something typed, it is wise to understand the process of typing and the benefits of hiring a freelance typist. You may need to type up something you have handwritten, or you might want your professional document formatted with images and logos.
You might be typing a one-off book chapter that you are submitting for publication or a piece of content for your new e-commerce website. No matter what it is you need to be typed, many people will choose to do it themselves by using either Microsoft Word, Open Office, or Pages. If you are unfamiliar with any of these programs and would like some help from a professional who works on these every day then outsourcing is surely the way forward.
You Need Someone Who Provides Quality Work And Has A Good Reputation
Whether you’re hiring a freelance typist for your business or personal use, it’s important to hire experienced and reputable freelance typists. There are many benefits to working with qualified freelancers, including efficiency, flexibility, and affordability. However, when working with inexperienced freelancers or those who have poor reputations in the industry, you may be faced with reduced quality of work and compromised deadlines.
Here are some tips for identifying qualified freelance typists:
- Does the freelancer have a good track record?
- Has the freelancer been in the business for many years?
- Does the freelancer have experience in your field of need?
If you follow these steps when hiring a freelance typist, you’ll be able to find someone who provides quality work and has a good reputation.
You Can Invest Your Valuable Time In Other Things
If you’re like me, you’ve got a lot on your plate. You’re probably working full-time, taking care of the family, and trying to squeeze in some time to get stuff done around the house. But there’s one thing that’s always going to be on your list: getting things typed.
And that’s where hiring a freelance typist comes in. It might sound like an unnecessary luxury at first glance but let me tell you why it’s not!
First of all, let’s talk about time savings. I know for me, it takes about an hour for me to type up something that would take someone else five minutes (if they were fast). So if I want to get my project done faster, I need someone else who can type much faster than me (or else I need to learn how).
But if you hire someone else? They can do all of the typing for you! All you have to do is give them instructions and they’ll send it back over to you ready-to-go. You don’t even have to worry about whether or not they’ll understand what you’re asking them because they’ll explain themselves if necessary.
Looking for lucrative freelance opportunities as an administrative assistant? Explore our list of the top 17 best-paying jobs in the field. Find out more about these high-paying positions in our article on freelance administrative assistant jobs.
You will Get A Professional Service
When you hire a professional typist, they will take care of all the details for you. They’ll make sure that everything is properly formatted and edited, and they’ll do it quickly and efficiently. It’s no longer necessary to wait around while someone else types up your document or even worse try to do it yourself.
When you’re looking at hiring someone to do something like type up your documents or emails, there’s always going to be some risk involved. Whether they’re a professional typist or not, they could mess up something in the process and not realize it until they get it back from their editor/boss/client. But when you hire someone who has experience as an actual typist, there’s less chance that they’ll make mistakes because they know what they’re doing!
Freelancing as an administrative assistant comes with its challenges. Stay motivated and maintain productivity with these 11 proven strategies. Discover more about staying motivated in our article on freelancing as an administrative assistant.
You Will Save Money
Hiring a freelance typist can save you money in two ways.
First, because they know what they’re doing and don’t need any training from you before starting work, they won’t charge as much as if you were paying them hourly wages for their time spent learning the ropes.
Second, by outsourcing this task instead of doing it yourself or paying someone else who does it full-time at their office location (like an assistant), there are no overhead costs involved either way! You don’t have any reason not to go with this option if the money is tight right now!
Don’t Put This Work Off Any Longer Than Necessary
Additionally, when you hire a freelance typist, you will be able to focus on other aspects of your business. If you are typing your documents, likely, you are not able to devote your full attention to the other parts of your business. This can have negative consequences for growth and revenue generation.
Freelance typists also allow you to pay per project rather than devoting a large portion of your budget to adding another employee. Additionally, if you only need typing assistance on an infrequent basis, the cost associated with hiring a freelancer is often much less than what would be required to add another employee.
Looking to turn your skills into a profitable side hustle? Learn how to offer freelance services and maximize your earning potential. Explore our guide on offering freelance services as a side hustle to get started on your entrepreneurial journey.
Final Thoughts
Before you hire a typist, make sure you have a clear idea of what you want and how fast you need it. If you’re confused about either of these things, your typist probably will be too. If you’d rather type your text and just need a little help with formatting, here are some tips to get that done as effectively and quickly as possible:
Get good at typing. It sounds obvious, but the faster you can type, the less money and time it will cost to get your writing formatted by someone else. Up until recently, I was relatively slow at typing due to not having much practice.
However, I went through an online course that taught me how to touch-type (that is, type without looking at the keyboard), which increased my speed significantly! The course was called Typesy Typing Tutor for Businesses & Schools by eReflect software.
Use a word processor program like Microsoft Word or Google Docs to create your written material in its final format before having it typed up professionally. This way your freelance typist can take that file and simply input it into whatever style template he or she has set up for professional use with clients like yourself.
Note that if such programs aren’t used correctly by either party here (the client or the freelancer), there’s more opportunity for mistakes to occur since no one is familiar with exactly how those files work behind-the-scenes (such as hidden author comments). So make sure both parties communicate clearly what needs to be done when using these types of programs to avoid any confusion down the road after something has already been done incorrectly!
Further Reading
Here are some additional resources that you may find helpful for further exploration:
The Benefits of Professional Typing Services for Your Business: Discover the advantages of utilizing professional typing services to enhance your business efficiency and productivity.
3 Reasons Why You Should Hire a Virtual Typist: Learn about the three key reasons why hiring a virtual typist can benefit your business and streamline your tasks.
Typist Jobs at Insolvo: Explore typist job opportunities available at Insolvo and find out how you can leverage your typing skills for freelance work.
People Also Ask
How Much Does It Cost To Hire A Typist?
Typists can charge anywhere from $5 to $100 or more per hour, depending on the complexity of the project and the individual typist’s experience and skill level. Most projects fall somewhere in between those two extremes; you’ll likely end up paying somewhere around $15-$30 per hour for general typing work.
What Is Online Typing?
Online typing is a service offered by many freelancers, where they do their work remotely. This means that they are not required to meet with you in person, and can instead communicate over email or phone call. Many people find this method preferable because it saves time and money. You won’t have to drive to your local typist’s office, and neither will they.
How Do I Find A Typist?
There are many ways to find someone who will type something for you, including looking through an online freelance marketplace like Upwork or Fiverr. However, these are typically less reliable than hiring someone locally who has been recommended by other clients (such as a former employer).
How Can I Increase My Typing Speed?
As with most things in life, practice is the key to becoming a faster typist. To become adept at typing, you’ll need to perfect your technique and learn where all the keys are on the keyboard. Fortunately, there are many free typing courses available online that will help you gain confidence and pace.
What Is A Freelance Typist?
A freelance typist transcribes audio into text. The audio files can be phone calls, interviews, podcasts, television and radio shows, or even footage from movies or anything that requires transcription.
Freelance typists can work remotely, so they aren’t limited by geography. They can work whenever and wherever they want, fitting their job around their schedules. Many freelance typists choose to type at night if they have daytime responsibilities such as work or child care. A good freelancer will be an independent self-starter who has great time management skills and the ability to stay focused while working at home.
What Do You Need To Hire A Freelance Typist?
To hire a good freelancer for your project needs, you will need access to the internet and email service to reach out to potential candidates for your typing project. You will also need clear guidelines for what kind of transcription you require (i.e., verbatim or non-verbatim) as well as specific instructions about how long the audio file is and whether some words or phrases should be altered or removed from the final draft of your transcript before it’s sent back to you.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.