Ever have those days where you feel more like a firefighter than a transcript professional?
Running around from crisis to crisis, you put out fires while new ones ignite. You’re working more, earning less, burning out, and spending less time doing things you love.
Sound familiar? Then this article is for you.
We can learn a lot from the super-achievers in our industry. Cassandra Caldarella is one of those people. As the Founder and CEO of Cover Crow, Cassandra is still a full-time CSR and works several jobs a week.
How on earth does she do it!?
Lucky for us, Cassandra spilled the beans at the Virtual NCRA Connect Conference 2020.
Here are her top three productivity tips for growing your transcript business:
Tip #1: Focus on Scale, Not Working More
When we want to grow our income, our first instinct is to work more. Cassandra believes that mindset leads to burnout.
As court reporters, our plates can overflow. You may find yourself constantly putting out fires, trying to catch up with endless to?do lists, and looking for sub-contractors to help you. All of this can keep you from focusing on other things that can actually grow your business, and it can suck the fun right out of life, she said.
The solution? Focus on scaling your business, not just working more.
“[Scaling] means managing your expanding workload to grow your business without sacrificing your performance or efficiency,” said Cassandra.
That sounds great in theory, but how do you actually scale your business?
Introducing Tip #2:
Tip #2: Hire Freelance Scopists and Proofreaders
Many court reporters try to save money by scoping and proofing their own transcripts.
However, according to Stenovate’s productivity calculator, scoping and proofing your own work actually costs you more than you save.
Cassandra agrees:
“The day I hired a scopist to edit my transcripts. because I realized my time is better spent taking all?day realtime jobs is the day I started to double my annual revenue, she said during her NCRA Connect webinar. It let me escape from the tedious, time?consuming task of scoping, and it freed me up to do more of the work I love, like civil daily trials.
Meghan Minnick, a 3rd-year RPR and CCR from Missouri, has also learned she can earn more money by hiring scopists and proofreaders.
Meghan Minnick_stenovate testimonial
It may cost money upfront, but the math shows that outsourcing your work will allow you to earn more and work less over time.
I would have never reached my annual revenue goals without those services, said Cassandra.
Tip #3: Streamline Your Transcript Workflow and Processes
Hiring scopists and proofreaders is a great step, but only if you have a way to manage them effectively. That’s why Cassandra’s final tip is to streamline your workflow and processes.
To scale properly, you have to create processes and workflows that improve all areas of your operation. That will save you lots of time, money, and headaches and enable yourself to grow, she said.
How do you streamline your workflow? To start, cut down on the number of tools you use to manage transcripts.
Unlike other industries with all-in-one project management tools, the court reporting community has been forced to duct-tape various pieces of software together. Between Dropbox, ShareFile, email, texting, Excel, and Facebook groups, it’s easy to lose track of your work.
Not anymore. Cassandra suggests using a dedicated transcript management tool like Stenovate to streamline your workflow:
“Stenovate launched a platform recently that has an online transcript management tool that streamlines the process of finding and working with scopists. I recommend them.”
(P.S., We’re humbled and flattered. ????)
In addition to finding scopists and proofreaders, Stenovate helps you track job details, due dates, files, spellings, and progress, then swiftly share it all with your team. It simplifies your workflow by replacing all the tools mentioned above.
More Pages. Less Hassle.
It’s been a hard year. You deserve a break, like producing more pages with less hassle. By following Cassandra’s productivity tips, you’ll be on your way to earning more and living your best life.
FINAL TIP: If you are a freelance court reporter looking for work, join Cover Crow’s Freelance Network and get connected to amazing agencies around the country.
