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Focus Forward Transcription Review
Focus Forward Transcription Services
Anyone interested in earning some money via transcription work should check out Focus Forward, a legitimate source of income for anyone with great listening skills and accurate typing skills.
The Type of Work
Focus Forward Transcription is strictly a transcription business. They have English sound files, each one averaging 60 minutes, and need written transcriptions. The transcriptions have to be absolutely perfect so you should expect to take at least 2 hours to complete each sound file.
How Pay Works
Lately, it seems like every single transcription job I’ve been checking out doesn’t pay much. Focus Forward is different. For every fifteen minutes of sound file that you transcribe, you will be paid $10.00. Payments are made via direct deposit into your bank account. Individuals who have the ability to listen to Spanish audio files and perfectly transcribe them will be able to earn $23.36 for every 15 minutes of audio file. (See my post, Online Transcription Jobs That You Can Do From Home for a big list of home-based transcription jobs like this one.)
Things to be Aware Of
Before you apply to work for Focus Forward there are a few things you need to take into account. The program requires that you be able to work a minimum of 4 hours a week. That doesn’t sound like much, but it is an entire afternoon of work. Before you sign up, look at your schedule and make sure you’re going to be able to handle the commitment, even on your busy weeks.
Other requirements include:
● Reliable high-speed internet and your own computer
● Previous experience doing transaction work
● A knowledge of how to work with FTP file downloads
Focus Forward has very high expectations. Anyone who works for them is not only expected to turn in their transcribed files on time, but the company also expects the punctuation and grammar to be perfect. If you’re not willing to double check your work, Focus Forward Transcription probably isn’t for you. You can learn more on their “Be a Transcriber page, here.
If transcription sounds like something you'd be interested in, but you just not sure about moving forward – here's some help. There is a free mini-course offered by Transcribe Anywhere, that you can sign up for an obligation free to learn more about working in transcription.
Have you worked for Focus Forward or do you currently work for them? Please share your experience. We'd love to hear more. Thanks so much.
The rates have dramatically dropped. Unless transcribes get raises, they start out at $24 per audio hour, which works out to $12/hr or less after taking into account the playbacks and proofreading.
I used to work for them. Many of their files are very frustrating due to conversations that were too far away from the mic, static, or just poor pronunciation. I agree with Sue; the pay goes way down because you have to proofread it, and the poor audio has to be replayed over and over, which is super frustrating. They also have some files that have a totally different layout, and you are expected to read the instructions and set everything up without getting reimbursed for it. I worked for them a little over a year.
@Sue
Thanks for sharing your experience. I would love to hear from others to see what their experience was as well.
I have not found the above information to be true. Focus Forward pays transcriptionists about $32 for a 1-hour audio file. According to Focus Forward (and I found it to be true on a regular audio file), it takes one hour to transcribe 15 minutes of audio. That works out to $8/hour without proofreading, which adds another 1 hour minimum and takes the hourly pay down to $6.40/hour. If the file is difficult to hear or understand due to accents or if there is medical terminology to look up, that hourly wage will go down even further. Not worth the money they offer for the time it takes to transcribe.
I would like more info on the articles wanted. What kind of content? Etc….
Thank you
Tammy