Writer and PT marketing consultant
Posted By: mg on 2007-06-21
In Reply to: Just curious if any of you have a second job other than medical transcription -sm - Wilson
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Has anyone ever tried those multilevel marketing businesses such as Fortune Hi-Tech marketing...sm
My friend wants me to sign up...she is making about $2000 a month now but working quite hard at it. My husband claims it is like a pyramid. I just don't know. I wondered if any of you have had personal experience with this type venture. TIA
Consultant
A consultant will cost a lot of money. Who do you work for now and how do you get their work? Just have to be flexible, be able to do tapes or digital, pick up and delivery, printing, etc. Just gotta get out there and market your business and yest it might take several mailings as you gotta catch their eye when they are looking for someone. If they have someone doing their business right now you have to be able to offer them a reason for switching -- and I don't mean an introductory price at a ridiculous amount -- service is it. Point out why you are different. But be prepared to back up what you promise, there won't be any vacations or days off in the future unless you have a back-up when first starting out. The offices are not usually understanding as a service with sick kids, you being sick, husband walking out and leaving you or even a death at times. Well maybe not that bad but at first they will ask for a lot and you gotta be prepared to give it until you prove yourself. But again, gals, it will take more than one mailing, you gotta get your name out there and sell yourself. Do it every 6 to 8 weeks at first. Stop by and hand deliver your flyers/brochures after a first mailing. Drop off some pens with your name on them. But you have to me a marketing person, customer service rep, manager, business owner and employee to make it on your own. Good luck. I just cannot justify spending money on something that I can do myself but if you can, look in the yellow pages under Business Consultant but be prepared to spend more on them than you would on an attorney.
consultant
Thank you so much for answering. I work for a national company now. My biggest concerns are how to be set up for the delivering of transcription if its a not a pick up and drop off situation and how do I go about getting the contract written up? YOu can e-mail. I would very much appreciate it. Thank you once again!
consultant
I think it might be worth checking out. 
independent consultant
good morning! Someone had posted information about a good consultant for an independent MT business. Would you be so kind to e-mail me the information. I have been looking into starting my own business and would love to get off on the right track. I know some people don't work with contracts but I would like to cover myself. Plus I think its just good to have one. I feel its just like opening any other type of business and it would be good to know there is someone to talk with about it. Once again, thank you for your time. 
consultant for IC business
HI all. Someone had posted on this board that they knew of a good consultant for getting started as an independent set up business. Would you please be so kind to email me info on this? Any info on this would be greatly appreciated.
I want to be a consultant to attorneys, to show them where
. I'd like to reduce the allowable error rate for patients like you and me.
yeah, someone agrees on consultant!!
Thanks for the vote! I just can't believe people can be so rude. Thanks for the advice and,oh, I am a woman. I thought the sensitivity would have given it away! LOL
Bingo. A good tax consultant
Thank goodness I have a good one that knows what to write off, etc. Misconceptions of IC in this field is very common. I also do not agree with an IC being assigned work whether it be a certain amount of minutes or to work certain hours. As an IC you have the choice to take the work and transcribe it or not. As an employee, however, you may be required to transcribe a certain amount of work. These MTSOs what their cake and eat it too. They want to write off your pay as a "subcontractor", because they are the contractor, plus expect a certain quota. 
FINAL CONSULTANT POST
 You are right Fingers/Carole, I am not an MT. I am a consultant for many big businesses. All businesses are the same, in it to make money. The bottom line is that the MT biz is going downhill consistently. Those of you who are happy with your jobs, benefits, pay scale.... GREAT! But what about the tons that are not. Do you not care for your fellow American!! It won't be long and you will ALL have the same problem. Pay cut and fixes other VR and off-shore work. I did not come here to start any war, only to open eyes, that it is imperative to stop the AAMT type who do nothing for you and organize yourselves to get accomplished what is necessary to keep your pay and benefits going up, NOT down and out of the country or to VR with you doing the corrections. There is nothing wrong with making things easier with VR, but you should still get paid for your expertise while transitioning to this. VR will NEVER be able to take the place of the qualified MT.
I hope in some small way I did something good here. My intentions were in the right place. I wish you ALL well and full pockets!!
I think you'd be a great writer. (U already are.) - nm
x
I'm a steno writer
I went to school to learn how to use a steno machine, like in court, to "type" my medical reports. I have been doing this since 2000. I trained at 225 words per minute back in the day, so now I have a reservoir of speed to draw from when dictation speeds up. I rarely need to lift my foot off the pedal with steno.
I think steno is the fastest way to produce a report, but now that MQ is forcing us to do ASR work, I am not using my machine as much. To me, this is unacceptable since they only pay 70% of our base line rate for ASR. I have hung in there so far, but I'm fast approaching the need to get out of MQ since I used to produce 2000 lines a day easily with steno, way less now on ASR reports.
They say ASR is 30% faster than non-ASR thus they justify knocking off 30% of our base rate. Not true. ASR has slowed me way down, can barely make the minimum each day. Last I heard, they will not take us off ASR if we request it. I'm getting madder by the week and losing tons of money in the process.
Marketing
I do brochures, flyers and postcards. I mail out using a list I have. I also have accounts in several of the large medical buildings by hospitals and I will often go from floor to floor giving out my information. I have gotten a 20 to 25% reply so it works. Since I have been in this for 15 to 20 years now a lot more comes from word of mouth but when I started out I just sent out information about my service.
E-mail me if you want more specifics. Patti
lanier voice writer
Does anyone know of any companies that still use these? I am a die hard Lanier fan! Thanks.
She is a great writer. I read
In the Meantime, by that author, she used to be on Oprah a long time ago. Thanks for the poem, enjoyed it, especially the last line.
lanier voice writer
 HELP! I'm going crazy. All of a sudden my foot pedal went down on this unit - I have opened it and replugged a million times to no avail. Any solutions or suggestions/ Thanks!
Meant professional writer. Know what HIM is. Sorry. nm
X
It is all about marketing and sales. Looks like they have your $$
x
Marketing Ideas
Hi, I am in the process of searching for my own accounts as well. may I ask what sort of information you put into your brochure? Also, I have built a website and have it being hosted by my ISP, but how do you go about having it searchable through Yahoo and Google? I am just curious, as I need to expand my searchability. Your help would be greatly appreciated.
thanks. Kathy
Need advice on marketing.
Got a call from a doctor. I have a questionnaire that I use to ask questions. Then I gave him the rate over the phone and included a proposal and brochure which I faxed to his office.
I did this before and nothing happened. I'm worried I gave out information prematurely. Am I doing this right?
Lanier Voice Writer 1000
Client uses phone in Lanier Voice Writer 1000 with MTs coming into the office to transcribe. What is necessary to hire at home transcriptionists with this system? Are there tapes involved, will a c-phone work or can you not hire at home transcriptionists with this system? Thank you for any help you may have.
What do you need a Master's Degree in to be a science writer?
?
Running out of marketing ideas. sm
I've sent letters and brochures. Is there any other way to market this business? Don't have a lot of time for cold calls. If I send the same stuff over and over, I'm afraid they'll throw it in the trash and I will not have gotten their attention. Any suggestions are appreciated.
See message - marketing own accounts
Make up a brochure/flyer -- very simple stating what you will offer and for what price and send out or take around. Be prepared to do tapes or digital. Lots of info on here about that. Be acceptable to pick up and deiver or send via FTP. Do mass mailings to MD's, DO's chiropractors, oral surgeons, vet's, etc. or concentrate in the area where you want the account and do it every 4-6 weeks. Network via local chapters of MT's, MA's what you have available. But be prepared to know it can take several months to get a bite and sometimes longer. You need to be in the right place at the right time. If hospitals have their employee newspaper see if you can place an ad. But it sometimes takes mass marketing to get that first account. Good luck.
multi-level marketing nm
fff
Isn't network marketing another name for Amway?
xx
For all the fans, very interesting insight from the writer of the show.
Shonda Rhimes long take on part two:
From Shonda: It's the end of the episode (as we know it)
Original Airdate: 2-12-06
So Dylan’s dead.
And I have to admit, I’m a teeny bit relieved.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Kyle Chandler. He was great as Dylan. Smart, funny, cute, and very much in charge. I was, in fact, a little bit in love with Dylan. Not as in love as I am with McDreamy or Burke but…you know, there were moments during the filming of the episodes when Dylan would be saying something bossy or helping Mer down the hall, pushing that gurney and being all bomb squad-y, moments that I was thinking, hey, maybe he doesn’t have to explode.
But still I am relieved. Why? Well, I’m glad you asked. Here’s why:
At the end of Act Five, there is a scene. Scene 52. I wrote this scene about fifteen minutes before I had to print out the script and hand it over to production. It reads as follows:
INT. OR CORRIDOR -- CONTINUOUS
Meredith leans her head out. Sees Dylan heading down the hall. She's just about to open her mouth...
...When the ammo explodes. When Dylan explodes. Fire, shattering glass. Meredith is thrown backwards.
Okay, that’s…what? An eighth of a page? A sixteenth of a page? A tiny fraction of the script, right?
The ammo explodes.
Dylan explodes.
I wrote those words and was actually ignorant enough of the horrors to come that I gave it to the production team and then slept the sleep of babies and angels for several nights in a row.
The ammo explodes.
Dylan explodes.
Seriously? SERIOUSLY?
All of the sudden, you find yourself in meetings with real live bomb squad guys and special effects guys and a very tense director and everyone is asking you things like “When you say, bloody rain…you actually want bloody rain or just like, some blood spatter?” And things like “When Dylan explodes, you wanna see chunks of Dylan or do you want like, a Dylan vapor?”
These are thing I don’t want to think about. These are things that make my head hurt. The ammo explodes. Dylan explodes. It’s in the script. I wrote it. I know that. But I don’t want to think about Dylan chunks or bloody rain. I don’t want to think about it at all. I like to write things and have them happen. I like to keep myself in a kind of stalker-ish fog in which I believe my characters aren’t characters but actual people. It’s how I can write them. So when you ask me about Dylan chunks, my brain gets all twisty and shuts down. Because Dylan’s a person, a very real person to me and I love him and it’s not my fault he has to die and besides…yuck.
But I’ve got Rob Corn on my ass.
Rob Corn doesn’t care if I try to kick everyone out of my office when they bring up bloody rain or he doesn’t care if I try to pretend I can’t speak English when someone asks me about bloody chunks. Rob Corn is the producer on our show and it’s his job to make things happen and, if I am stupid enough to write Dylan explodes on a piece of paper, Rob Corn is damn well going to make sure that Dylan explodes. Behind his back, I like to call Rob Corn Bossy McBossy. It doesn’t sound affectionate here but in real life, it’s really sweet and kind. Trust me. Anyway, Bossy McBossy told me that we had to do tests so we could figure out how exactly Dylan explodes.
Tests? Dylan explodes. What’s there to test? HA! I’m clearly an idiot.
They built this model of Dylan’s body and one day I am herded out onto the back lot of the studio at the request of Bossy McBossy Rob Corn. Then I have to stand and watch as 20 or 30 really happy guys (testosterone is a powerful thing) position the model of Dylan just right and explode it into tiny little pieces. Twice. It is very loud. Wow. Dylan explodes. I’m all, “great, thanks, way to go, very manly.” And I turn to flee, prepared to head back to my office, happy that the Dylan explodes part of this is over so I can pay attention to the other stuff, the estrogen stuff, the fun stuff like Bailey and George giving birth and Derek describing that kiss to Meredith…
…But Rob Corn raises an eyebrow and very gently says, “Uh, Shonda?” and I go really still with horror. Because I suddenly start to realize that a) that little test was only the beginning and b) that, for the rest of my life, I was going to regret ever typing the words Dylan explodes into my computer.
They blew up test dummies. Tall dummies, dusty dummies, dummies with helmets, dummies without helmets. They blew up test dummies filled with fake blood. They blew up pieces of our set. They set off an explosion on the set of our operating rooms. They used stunt girls and stunt guys. Ellen let them pull her through the air. I think there were blue screens and green screens and animated pieces of debris and glass. The genius special effects guys added fire and smoke and things I can’t imagine but things that made it amazing. The sound guys added over 100 layers of sound elements so that, if you have HD and you watch with surround sound speakers, the explosion flies at you and passes you and swirls around you.
Dylan explodes.
The explosion was beautiful. Amazing work and truly impressive. I told everyone so. I can’t believe the amount of talent and energy that come together to make this show happen. But next time I get a Super Bowl and post-Super Bowl time slot, I’m gonna write something different. Something a bit easier. Something less time-consuming and expensive. And without so many bloody chunks.
Dylan puts the ammo down and goes to have a sandwich.
Enough about Dylan, may he rest in peace. I want to tell you about the difference between the first episode titled “It’s the End of the World” and the second episode “(As We Know It)”.
I tried really hard to make the first episode very male and the second episode very female. I wanted them to fit together, like puzzle pieces. So that I could have two episodes about the same thing but that felt very different from one another. The first episode is all amped up energy, all naked girls and screaming and bombs and running down hallways and men saying things like “Get out of my OR.” The second episode is all long pauses. Long pauses and sitting and pushing out babies and kissing in linen closets and lots of discussion about how the hell this is all going to end. The first episode is what happens when danger strikes. The second episode is how we deal with danger when it strikes. The epicenter of this episode is the hallway/gurney scene. It’s the first scene I envisioned at all when thinking of these two episodes. I kept saying, “there needs to be this scene where Meredith and Cristina move down the hall really slowly with the ammo and Dylan and talk about boys.” And everyone kept nodding very politely with tight smiles the way they do when they are sure you have gone off the deep end. But Elizabeth Klaviter (she’s our super smart medical researcher) got on the phone with the bomb squad guys and the doctors and she got them to tell her how this would be possible. How I could get that gurney rolling so Meredith and Cristina could discuss the state of Cristina’s relationship. I needed that discussion which, for me, is really just a big old metaphor for how we deal with the tragedies in life. You’ve got your hand on a bomb but you don’t want to talk about it over and over, you don’t want to face it – so you talk about something else. Most of life is talking about something else. Plus, I found this really cool song by The Greenskeepers that I was dying to use.
George is a big key to this episode. If you pay attention, he’s the one who serves as our witness. Through most of the episode, he wanders around, a bit bewildered. He’s the one who feels the most helpless. And then he has that moment with Hannah where she talks about the nature of cowardice, where she says that to do nothing is to be a coward. And he acts. He helps Bailey through giving birth. In the first episode, he’s fantasizing about what it would be like to see three women in the shower. In the second episode, he sees what three women in a shower is like in reality. Because, guys, women don’t just climb in a shower and start soaping each other up for no reason. Hello!? Life isn’t porn. Life is Meredith, bloody and battered, being gently cleaned off (chunks of Dylan) by her best friends. And so he leaves. Because what he is seeing is too intimate.
The last thing I want to say about this episode has to do with Meredith. Because all she really wants is some kind of reason to live. I’ve heard a lot of talk about Meredith being whiny but the truth is, she’s got a mom with Alzheimer’s, no other family to speak of, and the man she loves is married. She’s pretty freaking lonely, people. She’s got a right to get her whine on. So, when she falters, when she doesn’t want to pull her hand out of Mr. Carlson, it’s partly because she’s got nothing to hang on to. As she says in the first episode, she needs a reason to go on, she needs some hope. Which is why she has to picture Derek to get through it. And at the end, when he shows up at her house (and he shows up just to see for himself that she is alive), she has to ask. She has to ask him about their last kiss because if she’s ever going to get out of that bed again and keep going, she needs a reason. She needs to know there’s someone out there for her. She needs some hope. And Derek (can Patrick Dempsey be any more amazing?) describes that last kiss, the last kiss they had as a happy couple, in such perfect detail that Meredith knows she’ll be okay. Because he wouldn’t remember that kiss so well if he didn’t love her. He couldnt. Its her sign.
He loves her. Even if he can’t be with her. Even if he has a wife.
He loves her, people.
I told you, there’s hope.
I can’t promise you anything because, like I said earlier, the characters are alive for me and thus, I can’t make them do anything against their will. But my fingers and toes are crossed for the Mer/Der love…
Once again, thanks for watching the show.
Anything by Elie Wiesel...he is an amazing person/writer..nm
nm
Too bad the writer didn't address the true reasons why this is not
an attractive field to enter.
Who in their right mind would spend time and money training in a dying profession? Can you say EMR, ASR?
Who in their right mind would spend time and money to train for a job which conceiveably could end up paying minimum wages, few benefits, little reward?
How many have spent time and money training only to find there are few companies who will hire newbies, few companies who offer flexible work schedules, few companies who work with you to make a living wage rather than to throw you into a pool of accounts guaranteed to keep your wages low?
How many expert MTs have left the profession due to reasons above?
CEOs need to wake up and take care of the excellent MTs they can manage to retain; quit messing with our paychecks with creative line counting, quit throwing multiple accounts at us and then expect 1000s of lines a day, quit basing our health insurance on production rather than hours worked; quit expecting us to be happy to work outside our scheduled hours because you provided no work within our scheduled hours with your too tight TATs, and on and on.
How often do I recommend this profession to young people? Never.
I'll write it..I am a professional freelance writer as well as an MT
Let the ideas roll!
digital phoneline with Lanier voice writer
I recently had my unlimited long distance suspended because of the time I was putting in on the lanier voice writer. I as going to switch to digital through the cable company with a data line added for access to dial tone. Does anyone have any suggestions good or bad on the digital phone line used with the LAnier voicewriter. Please let me know.
Thank, Lisa
I just sent it to 60 Minutes staff writer - You guys help me- please read
Who ever mentioned sending it to Lou Dobbs, Dateline, or anybody else, please send this along yourself and name who you sent it to here on this site, so it is not duplicated to the same person too much. Girls, I don't want any credit for this - I just want someone to look into this who has access to any credible sources and figures. What ever it takes to get this out there - please help me do it. We are talking about 30 MILLION jobs and counting. I have already sent it on whitehouse.gov and to 2 newspapers. Copy the thing. Spread it around as much as you can and encourage others to do the same.
Sitcom & screenplay writer/philanthropist. - no message
:)
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
Amway, Quixstar & Network Marketing
First let me tell you that there is nothing wrong with Network Marketing and that it's a wonderful business to be in. The best advice I can give is first of all, research several companies and see what their compensation plans are. I would NOT sign up based on someone feeding me a bunch of hype. Also, look for a product that you can believe in. Next, check out the company. Just as it is done here, everyone is checking out all the companies before they get in. Make sure that the company is founded and operated on sound ethics and business practices. As for spending a lot of money on books, tapes and seminars.....ALL of us should be doing that on a DAILY basis. It's called personal development and that is the best thing in the world you can do for yourself. So to sum it up and because of limited space to write here....tell them to GO FOR IT!!! If you have any questions go ahead and email me and I can go into much more detail to help. Take care and have a blessed day!
I wasn't putting down Network Marketing...sm
Simply stating where the money in Quixtar comes from. Sure, you get a bonus check every month if you sell products, but the majority of the money comes from the tools. Tapes that are made from Quixtar seminars are sold and pushed on people. If you don't get on the tool program, they don't want to help you - because they won't make money if you don't buy the tools.
Harika - marketing/converting clients
is a numbers game. You just have to keep promoting your business over and over and over again. Work on promotion for 1-2 hours per day so you don't get burned out on it.
There are many tasps out there. I see them on the banners on this board all the time. Some are basically pay as you go. The one I have is less than $100 per month with unlimited uploading and downloading. All the doc needs is a recorder or you can use a tasp with a call in system. I think the call in systems are high $ though. Nobody answer my post last week why the call in rates were so high! If you go to affiliates on the left there are tasps on there.
To me the tasps really remove the need for a middle man taking a 60% cut like the big nationals.
it all started with the VR software marketing personnel. SM
This craze started about 10 years ago and kicked into full force within the past five years or less. Someone selling the software convinced the physician practices, hospital personnel that they could save a fortune on their transcription costs. Little did they know it takes a Transcriptionist to pretty much retype the report produced by VR, and then sometimes QA/editor to check it. Now that's what I call a savings people. Now the VR systems are being utilized by our ILPs, who try to correct the errors in VR when they do not have a firm grasp on the English language...We're talking double disaster here. Let the doctors and hospital administrators think they are saving bundles on their transcription costs. How very sad and ignorant on their part.
Send letters to local offices marketing yourself. sm
Watch the want ads, and offer yourself as IC backup instead of FTs. It works!
As you pick up your accounts and back-up accounts, just do a good job and meet expectations or better.
The only drawback about your own accounts, it leaves little time to clock out and have your own life. If you can find someone else to work the accounts while you rake in the money, that is all the better.
The whole notion of a liver detoxification is just a marketing ploy and a myth.
Myth
I agree, and O'Reilly marketing his books and novelty times
a joke and sad that old folks down in fla watch it and get brainwashed, much like old people get tricked by contractors and other things. I hope I don't lose my marbles when I get old.
Nice marketing too..a bogus statement about US MTs to discredit the competition nm
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