Anyone in the Hartford, CT area willing to give advice on what to charge.
Posted By: Typingfingers on 2006-01-14
In Reply to:
Want to try to get my own accounts in this area, but unsure what a good rate for this area is. Any advice? Thanks in advance.
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Advice to YOU..1st learn to spell before insulting poster and trying to give advice...sm
Good advice. I'm new to this area, and still sm
don't have enough phone books. The nearest Wal-Mart is 15 miles away, so I'm kinda limited as to resources. I will check to see if there is a bike store in the next "big town" (20 miles away). Thanks!!
Try The Hartford Insurance co (sm)
Find a licensed insurance broker in your state who specializes in this or contact The Hartford directly. I found a broker who sold me a policy with The Hartford. I pay about $400/year. It was worth it once I started bidding on (and won) government contracts (I'm a small MTSO).
Hope this helps.
the best advice I could give
Make sure everyone understands that you WORK from home (it's not you're home and you work). And you have to learn the concept yourself as well.
Stick to the same schedule you did when you worked in an office. If you didn't make personal calls in the office, don't make them when you work from home. If you didn't run errands when you worked in the office, don't run errands when you work from home. (and the list goes on)
The best advice I could give to you..sm
is to get some rest!! Get yourself on a regular schedule and stick to it -- even on the weekends. For example, I am in the bed by as close to 9 p.m. as possible, watch about an hour of TV or so,and then I'm off to sleep. Also, before I go to bed, I take a 325 mg of aspirin -- it cuts down on restless leg syndrome and just makes me rest better. I'm up promptly anywhere from 6:45 to 7 (never after that -- I have an alarm set in case I don't wake up on my own), have my coffee, eat a small breakfast (believe it or not, it IS the most important meal of the day -- just a small bowel of cereal or oatmeal and a piece of toast gets me through to lunch and I'm not a big breakfast person) get cleaned up/dressed, and am at work by 7:30. Even on the weekends if I'm not working, I still get up at the same time. Your body will learn your routine and come to rely on it. Since I have been doing this (MANY years) I have found that I'm able to be sharper and more mentally aware.
I eat something small for lunch, take at least a 5-10 minute break an hour to stretch or just get up and refocus, and still am able to get a good solid 7-8 hours a day. Just what works for me! 
Thank you - could you give me some advice....sm
as to which KVM switch to get? I assume I need to look for one that will hook keyboard, monitor, mouse, and speaker set all together, correct? Any suggestions for a good KVM switch and a DSL router would be greatly appreciated. TIA
The best advice I could ever give is
NEVER quit your job until you have another 1 started. You have done something foolish, should have made sure everything was go before you left the other job. The first job is right, you quit- I could not draw unemployment in my state if I quit- don't know if same for all states. Best to find somebody who will loan you some money on a short term loan. I doubt you will see any money from 2nd place.
KT, I want to give you some personal advice ...
People respond to negative situations in two different ways. Some will learn a lesson and do all they can to help others avoid the same pain, frustration, stress, etc. Others will not learn anything but just be all the more angry, hateful, bitter, and want nothing but for everyone else who has the same issue to suffer as much or more as they did.
The difference is attitude, outlook, perception. It is the only thing you can control yourself 100%.
I guarantee you that if you look at the posts on this board, you will be able to understand more about the individuals posting here than they probably can tell you about themselves.
While it is true that your attitude will never undo actions, it WILL determine which direction you will take from that situation. A positive attitude will allow you to heal fully, to be more wise, to have more sightful judgment, to see the future with greater clarity, give you strength to take a tough stand and make difficult decisions, and above all it will keep you out of the emotional trenches that those with a negative attitude will be mired in all their lives.
Any MTSO's out there willing to give marketing advice?
I have been transcribing for 6 years and want to get my own accounts. What is the best way to do this? Any info would be great! Thanks 
Excellent. The way I see it. She obviously has not sound advice to give any of us stay-at
home moms, so she should just keep all comments to herself. She sure does sound like a pot stirrer and so we should just ignore her. Whadda you say?
I wanted to thank all those who give me good advice last week. SM
And for listening to me boo hoo about being laid off or dissolved as the suits at the hospital like to call it. Anyway, I have officially accepted a QA Editor position with a service and I'm actually in a more positive frame of mind than I was last week.
I got my laptop all set up and ready to go with a laptop stand for plenty of ventilation, I put off buying any kind of wav player and just downloaded ExpressScribe for the time being, and I didn't saturate the market with my resume, but picked only a few places to apply based on suggestions and information you all gave me here. And I did all of this because you ladies gave me such good advice.
I just wanted to say what a great place this is and it is very, VERY wonderful to have a place to network, socialize, fellowship, or just plain gab with colleagues and friends. 
Read it again and it said "The best advice I could ever give is NEVER quit your job...
That's not advice, that's rubbing salt in her wound. Your other piece of advice about getting a loan is basically stating the obvious. I'm sure the OP realizes she may have to borrow some money. I think she was probably asking what should she do about the employer treating her unprofessionally.
Basically, you gave lousy advice and your only intent was to kick her when she was down.
so people who are frustrated doctors can give medical advice.
so
thanks for the advice.....I am definitely open to learning new things, so I'll give it a try!
.
Would it kill you people to give constructive advice instead of insults and insensitivity?!?
I understand your frustration. I think you just need to sit down and have a talk with your employer. Find out exactly what they want your status to be. As an employee, yes they do have the right to dictate your hours, where you work, etc., but they do not have the right to jerk you around. If they want you to work at home, then they need to provide for that, not you! Anyone who says otherwise is wrong! In any industry, if a company wants you to commute, they pay for gas/mileage. If they want you to have a cell phone/pager, they either pay for it, or they provide an allowance for it. If they want you to work at home, they provide equipment. It sounds to me like they want way too much and are giving very little. Just because a person/company is the employer, it does not give them the right to treat people like dirt, sending them on wild goose chases, interfering with their life, schedule, expenses, etc. I am sorry you have received such critical and insensitive comments. I hope this works out for you. Blessings!
PA - Pittsburgh area is one locale, Philadelphia area also.
TriState area - PA, NJ, DE.
Charge what the credit card companies charge when they don't get paid on time!!!!
Audio hour charge - what is fair rate to charge company?
Doubt you can charge 15 cpl for VR work to the docs - you can't even charge them 12 for straight
x
you don't have to charge $60/HR - all you have to do is charge a good rate and then..
work smart, not hard. If you have a great dictator, charge him 14 cpl on a 65 char gross line, then set up your templates and word expanders, you can make $80/hr. But you need all three to work together, otherwise you might only be making $60/hr. Some people are just really good at what they do - shouldn't they make more if they are more productive?
I'd still charge by line, just charge a lower
rate, like maybe 8 cpl. Do you have to pickup and deliver work? You could also setup a one-month contract until you see how it goes and then you can figure out the best way to charge and go from there. You could also charge a flat rate per page and keep it fairly low.
One office I charge .12, another I charge $2.25 page--nm
//
The girl was 13, the rapist a distant relative they took in. Give money, give food and your time, b
you don't put your family at risk by taking in strangers. That's just plain foolish. There were over 3300 registered sex offenders in NO. Where are they now. In your community? Perhaps in your house? Good luck.
oh our lovely government does give illegals medicaid, foodstamps, and housing so in term we give tha
i have been through some rough times lately and had to apply for some help. there are signs, big signs, all over our offices saying "YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE LEGAL TO GET HELP". so we and our government do give them our benefits whether they are legal here or not. now that is messed up. i am helping to support them so they can take away my jobs and i can't even support my kids and yes i get benefits, wow $75 a month in food stamps which lasts not even a week in a household of 6. don't get me wrong, i am thankful for any help at the moment, but i get penalized for trying to work my tail off and still can't survive.
there was recently an article in our local newspaper where one of our local school districts tried to charge $1000 a year for each illegal student enrolled. it was bulked and the illegals got a lawyer to sue for discrimination. the school district merely stated that they had to HIRE extra teachers that could speak the foreign language just to teach these children and were trying to offset some of the expenses. ridicilous!! so again our taxpayers money is paying to educate illegals as well.
Sound advice from a fellow MT if you want advice or support (sm)
I have been an MT for over 10 years. I also am getting burnt out, tired of my job, day in day. However, I do love transcription and make excellent money at it, have grossed over $50,000 per year the last 5 years. I decided to go back to nursing school and am very happy with my choice. However, over these 10 years of transcription I have had my ups and downs. My biggest issue with being at home working is lack of socialization, being home day in and day out with just the kids and the animals really gets to a person, sure hubby is home at night and thinks working from home is the easy life, thus the return to school and boy has my overall enjoyment of life changed once I realized I was the problem, not everyone else and I needed to find myself again.
Anyway, my biggest advice to you three-fold:
1. Get into counseling for yourself, find out who you are and what your needs are, whether or not you think you need to, I sense you are feeling overwhelmed and need someone other than your family to talk to that can be nonjudgmental to your feelings and needs.
2. If you're only making $100 after you pay preschool you can either keep doing it and be miserable, or quit because you are lucky enough to have a husband who can support the family without your income. (See how fast his mind changes just by losing the income you do have as to whether your job means anything.) Or look for a different company or office that you like more and are more productive if you really want to do transcription (lots of fish in the sea as far as companies).
3. Find a local "mom's" group where you can get out and socialize. MOPS (mother's of preschoolers) is an excellent one that is nationwide, they have a website. Also Mom2Mom is in a lot of areas. They provide a once a week time for moms with kids the same age to get together, socialize, (some offer spirtual guidance some don't) and each week a different mom takes a turn watching everyone else's children at the facility that hosts it so the other moms can talk about things they have in common. Every stay-at-home and work-from-home mom needs to socialize with adults, without their kids, or they will have a nervous breakdown eventually no matter how much they love their kids.
Sorry so long but it does get better but you have to take the first step at making yourself happy.
Aw come one give her a break. She said she was sorry and is willing to refund. Give her a chance to
do what is right. If she fails to do what is right, then go about this in an adult way and not act like such a child. "you suck" That is so immature.
She is responding to you and you are eating her alive. Why would she put herself out there to be treated like this if she didnt mean it.
I am really astonished at how people can act on here. Would you treat people like this in person? If you do, I cant imagine you having very many friends.
Remember we are all "HUMAN."
A simple google search will give you your answer...I'd give you the answer,
but how would that help you learn to research on your own...and I'm in a rush to get to the next post.
Tell him you'll give him your macros if he'll give you his Lexus, his ski cabin, and (nm)
;p
Is DSL not available in your area?
It's worth it to have it. It's tax deductible as a business/work expense. It's only about $35 a month here total, compared to $20 a month for dial-up. It's so much faster, more reliable and easier to use than dial-up. It also doesn't tie up your phone line like dial-up does, so no need for a second phone line and no getting bounced off the Internet when someone calls while you're trying to work. I'd still have it even if I couldn't write it off on my taxes.
I'm in the D/FW area and we have taken in several ...
and Dallas is making sure the children are in school, there are special job fairs to make sure the adults get jobs, even though our economy was terrible to start with, companies are making jobs for them, and every one that is interviewed says they are never going home and making their home here in Dallas/Fort Worth. I know they need places to say, what happened to them is terrible, but this area really did not need the strain of all the added people. Several of the people have been offered new housing back in their state or such, but they say they do not want to move again. I just think everyone needs to be looking at the big picture as to what is going to happen in the long run, as New Orleans is going to need some of their residents to come back and help rebuild. I have a son that has been looking for a job for over a year in the field he went to school for and has had no luck and now he has to compete against 1000s more people. I just don't get it.
If you have one in your area, may I
They are a corporation who apparently does give a rat's a** about its employees. They don't give their top people big bonuses, etc. and instead pay their employees a living wage...a REAL living wage and have one of the best reputations for treating their employees like real human beings from all I've read about them.
See if this is in your area
http://www.wildblue.com/
bay area MT
Since you mentioned you were also from CA, I was wondering if you have seen much about relocalization and eating local? I have read a lot about this and try to only purchase goods that are produced within 100 miles of my home in the South Bay or if not available within that radius, only from our state. I have also started my own vegetable garden growing different types of squash, lettuce, spinach as well as others in addition to fruit. Everything I am growing is either from seed that is not genetically modified and is organic or I purchased from the nursery from organic growers. My housemate is suprised at how much variety we have with our container gardening. She was just saying this morning that she never realized how easy it was to grow things yourself.
Another thing to support your local farmer is to sign up for a CSA. They had an article not too long ago about how organic goods really wanted by consumers, but even though these goods are organic, they are being brought from different parts of the world, which kind of kills the organic goodness considering you are expending oil to deliver it.
As for offshoring of our work, I have found since I moved to CA getting close to a year ago that there seem to be a lot of companies who do not offshore and will not consider it a consideration. I think there is hope:)
bay area MT . . . sm
You see, I am right!!! They also had an article not too long ago about what the true savings from offshoring work has come out to. Instead of getting the 50% to 60% or more most places advertise to cut costs, the only real savings has been around 20%. They had an article about that in our local paper as well as I think I saw it on Yahoo News if anyone wants to search for it.
What area are you in because....
I had to fight to get $1.35 per minute IC directly from a hospital and was told that was the average. I recently did some math and figured I was being paid between 8-9 cents per line. I get 10 for a PT IC position. Trying to figure if I should ask for more again, especially since I get several different doctors now that they use hospitalists.
Is this in the KC area?
I'm from a town just north of KCMO and plan on moving back in a few months and was just wondering if you worked for one of the hospitals there? I currently work for a national, but am hoping to get a local job when I move back.
None in my area.
Many are mad at this organization because of their stand on things. I am not happy with them at all.
if it's available in your area
This may be getting off topic here but there are some states which have monetary assistance (moolah to you and me) for small small businesses (SSBs). It is the same as first-time homebuyer money, which is aimed to get people into homes who otherwise wouldn't have the downpayment money. But you take classes, come up with a business plan, and I don't know what all else. I was in the homebuyers program for 1-1/2 years, taking classes, working on perfecting credit, etc, and eventually got 10K. In some of my monthly classes there were small small business people participating for state money for starting a business. You will, of course, have to check in your area. Just a thought!
In our area .. Cingular has that
Check cingular.com
Are their any IC in the Tampa, FL area?
Just wondering if there were any other IC in the Tampa/Brandon area, and do you think line rates are cheap around here?? 
not sure of the prices in your area
..but gas here is $2.73 (cheap stuff)
Home prices have gone through the roof here. We sold our home last year for 250, and we bought it 2 yrs prior for 170. In our area, homes sell before they even make it to the MLS listings.
I am an IC and have no problem finding work. I have actually turned away 2 offices last week.
Oh, health insurance, may not want to hear this one--we pay 200. per week for a family of four.
I live in the Tampa area.
Best of luck,
Sunny!
I can REALLY relate to you in one area...
My DH is a high school principal, however, we purposely and specifically moved to a different town so that our children would not have to go to school where their Dad works. Our oldest (a senior this year) did her freshman year at the same high school, and then we moved. Some kids were very rude, saying mean things about her dad within ear shot so that she would hear, and kids telling her that some senior was "looking for her" because he was mad at her dad. As far as lying... I think you might try teaching her a lesson about lying. Tell her you're going to get her a car and then when the day comes to go get it, you can say "oops, I was lying, we're not getting a car." In other words, show her what being lied to make a person feel like. She can know that you're doing it in order to teach her a lesson, and that she just might never know when you're lying or telling the truth. She will soon realize what she is doing to you and what it's like to live with a liar. My DD is very honest and we havn't had any troubles with her, but I've got 2 more coming up so who knows what's in store for me there. There but for the Grace of God go I, so I will not boast about the one well-behaved teenager that I have raised. Sometimes in spite of everything we do, and the best upbringing, some kids just make poor choices. Hang in there. I now know why God invented menopause. Can you imagine what these people having babies at 45 have in store for them in their 60s? They're NUTS!
Any Denver-area MTs??
She needs a neuroophthalmologist and I cannot find one in Denver for her. Any insight appreciated! Thanks.
I can REALLY relate to you in one area...
Dear Lisa,
My ex's latest bimbo (who is now his wife) badmouthed me in front of my then 12 yr. old daughter. This trash even went as far as to discuss their intimate relationship in detail in front of my child.
Although my daughter lives with me, she has no respect for this trashy woman.
Your daughter will eventually see through this woman's lieing and manipulation. From 15 to 17 is a tough age for girls and your daughter is right smack in the middle.
I would be firm with my daughter and tell her that calling you names and being rude to your fiancee and his family is unacceptable and you just won't tolerate it.
Further, tell her that respect is earned and she'll have to clean up her act if she wants your respect.
Your daughter knows how to "push your buttons" but don't let her get to you. Ask her, "How would you like it if I called you names all the time?" When the shoe is on the other foot, teens have a tendency to think about things more than we realize.
A real job doesn't have to bring in a paycheck. The most important jobs that we women have is being a Mom. If we are able to juggle motherhood and still bring in a paycheck then all the better. It doesn't matter if your office is in the living room, or in an office downtown.
If that paycheck helps buy your daughter things that she wants, I would simply say next time she asks for something, "Sorry, I don't have a real job, so there's no real cash to get you what you want."
Sometimes you have to stop being the "nice parent" and put your foot on the brake. In the long run, your daughter will come around and respect you for it.
It's a tricky area (sm)
Let's get real--in the vast majority of these companies, they're using you as an employee yet calling you an IC. That's the reality.
Therefore, I think you should let them know that you want to raise your line rate. Though technically another poster here is correct in saying that you can give them a notice that "effective x date, my line rate will be x" I think that's risky. That's assuming MT companies are functioning legally and ethically and actually treating you like an IC, which again they're not.
What I did when I was an IC (very recently) was call the company and said I would like to negotiate a higher line rate. I cited that I could do all work types, accents, worked weekends, and therefore was valuable to them (it takes a little practice aloud first and some chutzpuh to make that call). I gave a rate higher than I expected, and they came back with something in the middle, which was just fine to me.
Yes, it's wrong that it works this way, but the reality is you are probably in an employee position yet called an IC. Therefore, unless you have other accounts and don't really depend on this company, better to take an approach that is somewhere in between employee and IC.
Good luck!
Walmart in our area.
I live out in the sticks, but we have Walmart in several small towns close by. My friends who work at Walmart have an income comparable to other retail jobs in our area. A close friend's son is in management at Walmart and makes a very good living for this area. I do not like some of their business practices, but a lot of the smaller businesses around here have shady business practices as well. I am willing to pay a little more and support local business owners, but I had just as soon buy a few groceries as go down the road to Ingles, Kroger or Bi-Lo and pay twice as much, as these are big chains too.
Come when the area is not so congested? What does that mean?
Not sure I'm following, but I sure don't blame you for being upset. I think I would delve into this a little further once you are less mad.
I don't know what rates are like in your area.
Only the hospital knows if it's a better deal for them. Some companies provide equipment, dictation systems, tech support, supervisors, transcriptionists, etc., so if the only thing you are doing is transcribing and you are relying on the hospital for all the rest, then the hospital has to absorb all those costs.
I'm in the Nashville area.
Tampa Bay area
I have been here for 15 years and still love to drive over the causeway into Tampa it is just so neat having the water all around! I will say that things are more affordable in Tampa but the county taxes are high because you are paying for the Bucs and for many social programs as there is a price to pay to fix a city and make it a place anyone would want to live. Pinellas County (over the Bay and more beach like) is a bit pricier, but there are still affordable places to live. SW Pasco county is also affordable and taxes are lower but so are services. It all depends on what you want/need. Jobs are available. Many hospitals still have inhouse and there are services always looking for good help. I love it here and there is a substantial community of MTs if you need a shoulder to cry/grouse on!!
in FL $400 per area one time......
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