There was a time, believe it or not when typing was a thing. There were typing courses and an entire industry of typists. The typist was an entire profession and they commanded respect. Times have changed and through an easier introduction to computers and keyboards, thanks to technology and the rolling up of typist jobs into other administrative roles typing has taken a step back. If you possess incredible typing skills for some reason, there are businesses you could start based on this one skill alone. Let’s explore some of them.
Transcription
Transcription services are very useful to many people out there. There could be people who don’t have time or the necessary skills to make typing out things worthwhile. They will instead use audio recording and pay someone to transcribe the conversation. This is a really useful service that could be used by many who are still not quite sure of using technology products that are coming up to do this task. Your goal is to provide a professional transcribing service that works fast and your fast typing skills will certainly come in handy there. Such engagements are usually arranged on a flat fee basis so working faster is definitely to your advantage. You need not limit yourself to local jobs as this sort of work can be done online too.
Captioning
Captioning services are also a big thing. The world is moving to video now and it really is taking over. There is technology being used to provide closed captions but these have terrible approximation where accents are concerned and are not yet equipped for all languages. Captioning is used in film and video to provide text for the hearing impaired, language translation or those who just want to see what is being said. Then there is the matter of translating from one language to another in captioning. As you can see, captioning offers many business opportunities that can be tackled by the right person.
Manuscripts
Before books become books and movies become movies they go through a manuscript phase. Originally manuscripts were handwritten but this is not feasible with the technology available today. These still need to be processed into typed, formatted and edited text and that is where you and your typing skills come in. Manuscript production is not a small business at all. Understandably the Zimbabwean creative industries are not in the best of form but there are still opportunities in this. You also have an international client base that is accessible through freelancing websites.
Proofreading
One thing that comes with great typing skills is speed and attention to detail. This would really make you great at proofreading as well. Technology has gone some way to make proofreading easier but just remember there is an artificial before the intelligence in artificial intelligence. So you can bring your attention to detail and fast typing skills and apply them to reading through documents and making sure everything is correct in documents. Anything from research papers, dissertations, reports and other business literature need these sort of services. Proofreading isn’t usually offered as a standalone service. It’s usually combined with editing.
Editing
Just like proofreading editing is an important function when it comes to the production of works of text. It goes a little beyond just spotting and correcting errors but also guides things like pace, language, tone, diction and delivery. So this business will leverage your analytical skills and your fast typing ability. Like all the other ideas mentioned in this article, you can offer your services beyond the borders of Zimbabwe by making yourself available online.
All you really need to get these business ideas going are your skills and a decent laptop or computer whichever your preference is. The rest is finding the right marketing channels and making the most of them.
