Time Saver: CopyTalk Copies What You Talk
Recent conversations about work-flow, capturing ideas, and leveraging knowledge turned up a site and service I had not seen. Looking over there offer left me some questions since I would be accessing the service from outside the United States.
I phoned their toll free line 1-866-267-9825 and ended up speaking with Linda Baxley at extension 438. If you call, use her extension and tell her you found out about her from Lee Down. I can’t commend her enough for her superb manner, expertise, and service. You can also visit CopyTalk.com directly and sign-up.
Speaking with her I had my questions promptly answered, and she helped set me up right there on the spot. CopyTalk.com has trial offers and I was considering the “Buy 1 Month, Get the 2nd Month FREE” option. She gave me the afternoon to play with it since I was working on a book that afternoon.
Here’s How It Works
- Call the toll-free line for the subscription (not customer service) and enter your PIN
- Say “Subject: _______” and then start talking.
- At the 4-minute limit warning, quickly end speaking, follow the prompt to accept this recording.
- TRICK: each phone call is permitted FIVE four minute recordings, so stay on the line, speak the subject at the prompt again as you did previously.
- After the Five four minute recordings are captured, dial back and continue.
- Within 24 hours, you should receive your transcribed recordings via email.
Now that you’ve got this great content in your email, now you can cut/paste, organize it however you need it for web copy, for ebooks, brainstorming, and so forth. This is a great time-saver, really well suited to auditory thinkers/doers and creative types.
Annoying 4 Minutes?
It seemed annoying to have to limit my time, though I do understand from a technical standpoint that setting a limit aids in the processing behind the scenes. Giving it a try, I found myself initially dialing back after each 4 minute recording until I clued in that I was being asked to continue after my first recording. This made a huge difference. That’s a lot of good content written in 20 minutes, but there’s a catch.
What’s the Catch?
I tend to speak, explain, teach, and sometimes even write in a conversational tone. Speaking is obviously worse than writing as I’m able to edit on the fly. So I learned quickly that if I want to maximize the return on this tools potential, I would have to ease up a bit. That was the problem: Trying to get it all said in four minutes.
Now that I’m signed up and no longer testing, slowing down the thoughts, the dialogue, and my emotional energy, I can focus more clearly upon each item I wish to capture and speak it out as though I’m reading a book. Slightly different voice, better use of words, appropriate grammar, etc.
Good News
With practice, the transcriptions received back via email the next day are often ready-to-go with very minor editing. Previously, I’d stitch together the copies, have to do major edits around my conversational style when I recorded the call, and I’d lose all interest in using the service. So the good news is with practice, and realizing there’s no limits which allows so much more time to relax and do this well, great content creation with minimal effort no matter where you are.
My Recommendation
I find it an incredibly useful tool. While the monthly fee seemed pricey, the lack of limits and the potential to get enormous value from that far outstrips their monthly rate of approximately $80.00/month. It’s cheaper than hiring a temp, and when you experience how much you can get out of it when you use it, you’ll see the incredible value it offers immediately.
