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CarbonMonoxide
Forums Member
Joined: 29 Nov 2009
Posts: 5
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#1 · Posted: 25 Mar 2010 22:04
Hi there. My idea for working at home is to become a home typist. Bascially I would advertise on the net or using business cards and find people who have documents that they need to be typed up and then have them send them to me so that I can type them up. Once I had done that I would send the finished document back to them and have them pay me over Paypal.
Is this a viable idea? What should I charge? Is there even a market for this? What things would I need to consider?
Let me know what you think
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mountainmom5
Joined: 30 Aug 2007
Posts: 3097
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#2 · Posted: 26 Mar 2010 13:09
The only way to really know is to try it. 
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happywife
Joined: 14 Aug 2007
Posts: 1565
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#3 · Posted: 28 Mar 2010 22:18
Hi Carbon,
The idea is certainly viable, but you really need to do a little keyword research to determine the supply and demand of the service you'd like to offer.
I know someone who has a resume business online and another who does proofreading, etc., so I don't see why basic typing services wouldn't work.
The hardest part is going to be to get found for your service. Targeted traffic is the greatest challenge of most online marketers.
Strangely enough, when I started looking for a way to make money online a few years ago, your idea is almost exactly what I had in mind.  I wanted to do typing for people!
I started searching online for people to type for or a company to type for, etc., and only ended up wasting a lot of time and energy wading through a bunch of rubbish. 
A couple of months later I ran across SBI and it sounded like an even better option to me. I decided to give it a try and have been very pleased ever since.
I still type, but I type for myself, so to speak. Instead of getting paid one time for something I type, I get paid over and over again as visitors to my websites click on ads, purchase products, etc.
I'm much farther ahead now than if I would have only ended up typing for others. You can only type so many documents in a day, no matter how fast you are. But, there really is no limit to the number of visitors and income you can earn when you are using your typing skills to create a long-term website business.
Having said all that, you COULD build a niche site that is targeting the niche of typing services (like my friends have done with resumes and proofreading). If that's something you really enjoy, go for it. But while you're still in the planning stages, keep your mind open to the possibilities.
Blessings,
Angie
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VictoriaNTC
Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 755
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#4 · Posted: 29 Mar 2010 12:31
I would not qualify as I type like a chicken would
Victoria
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JanePhilis
Forums Member
Joined: 12 May 2010
Posts: 10
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#5 · Posted: 12 May 2010 23:55
I believe there are people out there who needs help in encoding some materials to become books, or contents. But the demand really is not that high.
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ComputerGirl
Forums Member
Joined: 2 Aug 2010
Posts: 11
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#6 · Posted: 8 Aug 2010 12:39
Of course that there are people who need such service, only question is how much you can earn with that. I would advice to make a research on that!
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3l337
Forums Member
Joined: 13 Aug 2010
Posts: 5
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#7 · Posted: 14 Aug 2010 04:47
You can type at odesk and charge accordingly for your work, writing, transcription etc is available there.
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henrybb
Forums Member
Joined: 20 Sep 2011
Posts: 6
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#8 · Posted: 20 Sep 2011 14:06
VictoriaNTC: I would not qualify as I type like a chicken would Victoria
That's a good one Victoria. Same here plus my eyesight is not as good as before. Me wife has been complaining that I sometimes confuse her with the maid
Henry
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lizlopez316
Forums Member
Joined: 13 Feb 2012
Posts: 14
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#9 · Posted: 16 Feb 2012 12:41
CarbonMonoxide
Back in my time when I was a typist, I could see the opportunity in large quantities, but these days, most people have access to the internet, email, digital secretary applications and other word processing programs. In addition, there is an issue of proprietary information and securing information. It might work with small businesses who cannot afford to have a full-time secretary or an administrative assistant, so there may be a niche market that could use your services. If you can find one or two companies that use your services. They can later be your testimonials to expand your business.
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yasser
Forums Member
Joined: 17 Nov 2009
Posts: 113
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#10 · Posted: 16 Feb 2012 12:56
you can test this on ebay
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Macca
Forums Member
Joined: 26 Feb 2012
Posts: 1
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#11 · Posted: 26 Feb 2012 16:34
Hi CarbonMonoxide
Any update to your typing idea? I think this is very much a viable opportunity. There are many small businesses that outsource these services. I'd start with advertising your skills on Fiverr. Set some boundaries so you don't get someone sending you a 20,000 word voice recording to transcribe.
Get them to record what they want onto a voice recorder (many free ones on the net) or e-mail you their handwritten document to transcribe (this is even better because most scanners/printers already have a text recognition programme that converts hand written text into a word document so all you will need to do is fix anything that wasn't recognised).
I know my typing is slow and I would have paid $5 to have essays typed up for me....so thats about 2000-3000 words.(target students)
Fiverr is a great place to start and will get you testimonials to build your business from there.
Give it a go, you have nothing to loose.
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