So let me just chime in with my two cents as if you didn’t know it was coming. lol Anything where you’ll be making a decent income will have some downside or “catch” as you put it. If it were easy to become a doctor or lawyer, then we’d all do it. But we don’t because it’s a tougher path. Unfortunately that’s just the way life is. Anything that’s worth something will probably mean some sacrifices. Folks that go to Medical School or Law school aren’t often able to do so. But they are willing to put themselves into massive amounts of debt to achieve their goals. Furthermore there is no guarantee that they will become Doctors or Lawyers. But it’s a risk they take to succeed. Medical transcription is no different. If folks want to type, then the option is there but yes sacrifices will need to be made.

The other thing to keep in mind which I think you missed as your read the article, is the training company I mentioned above is one that provides job placement assistance with companies that hire first time MTs which eliminates that huge obstacle that most new MTs face. It’s the biggest reason I recommended that company because my research had already identified the experience thing as being an issue.

That being said, times were significantly different when I wrote this article. The economy wasn’t in the dumps. (Thanks Bush). Now people are just trying to keep a roof over their head and food on the table. If that’s the case then no it doesn’t really make “Cents” to invest in career training for this or any of the other careers that people can actually make a living with. The focus should be survival. That means do whatever you need to. If that means hitting up Mc Donald’s and flipping burgers than that’s what I would be doing. So I totally agree with you. But eventually if you want to become successful at working at home full time and being able to support your family, a sacrifice will need to be made. I made tons of sacrifices to become a successful affiliate/blogger. But it was a risk that I knew I had to take to work at home because experience had already told me that trying to land a work at home job out here is damn near impossible. So I had to get skills that were actually in demand.

As you guessed it, running your own business was definitely the way to go. But that still involved investing in my business, my training, time, etc. So the point is you will be dealing with some sort of “catch” with any opportunity or career that pays you substantial income. You just have to figure out which one of those “downsides” you’re willing to deal with and can deal with given your circumstances. It’s either keep doing what you’re doing now and getting more of what you’re getting. Or try something different to see if you can get the desired effect.

Hope you see where I’m coming from?

The key word is not “willing” but “able.” Most people these days, and definitely most of the people writing here, are in no position to pay for traditional medical transcription training. I’m certainly not. And, just as important, Sharon brought up the necessity for post-training experience. So you really do have to have worked in a hospital for a few years before going the at-home route.

I knew there had to be more to it. I think the only thing left for most of us is having your own web business. Jobs that actually support you just don’t exist.

It was a very long time ago and I doubt most of these companies even exist. And if they do, they may have been taken over by new owners. But with that said, I was scammed by paidresponse.com, magmoney.com and I was also hoodwinked by those work at home directory booklets that were huge in the 90s. In essence the booklet I paid for was a bunch of home business not jobs that I was already aware of. Needless to say, I was very peeved. I also feel for a cash gifting pyramid scheme via a “friend” so I don’t know the name of the company. I’m sure there are a few others I’m missing. But at my age the “mad cow” acts up and I can barely remember what I said 10 minutes ago.

In terms of the whole idea of landing a data entry job, I would encourage you to read the article I wrote about this career:
http://www.workathomenoscams.com/2009/04/14/are-all-typing-data-entry-jobs-a-scam/

I think it will give you the truth about the likelihood of getting a data entry or typing job. Good luck either way.

Don’t go to any schools that are not accredited. Transcription is not an easy job. You need schooling and must learn all the parts of the body, all the drugs, do English as a second language docs, get paid by line, not hourly and MUST do so many lines a pay period. There is also a set schedule of work hours, too, just like if you were working at a regular job.

There are so many so-called MT’s out there that the pay as dropped from $.12 a line to as low as $.03 a line, plus a lot of records are being offshored to India, Pakistan, etc. and that cuts out a lot of USA MTs.

Another down side is that even after you graduate from a school, you’re considered a “newbie” and most companies only want people with 2 or more years experience. The only way to get the experience is to work in a hospital. Even now, they are starting to ask for 5 years experience. Voice recognition is starting to take over the field, too.

I want out of the rat race but can’t type much anymore because of a broken hand with serious pain if I “straight type”, so I went to VR. My pay is okay but… anyone wanting to get into
transcription to go to MTStars.com and see how the rest of the MTs feel about their jobs. It’s eye-opening.

Glad to hear you’ve made some money with MySurvey. I know it’s not much but you’re in a rare club of people that have actually made money from home.
So some money is better than none. What you’ve proven is that you can make money with non-traditional work at home opportunities. So what you might want to do is get involved in more of them so you have multiple streams of income from them that will eventually equal as much as you would get for a traditional job. It’s an easier path. With that said you could still apply for traditional jobs but you might as well make some money with non-traditional opportunities during the search process.

We’ve recommended some other opportunities you may want to consider on the following page:
http://www.workathomenoscams.com/recommendations

And I don’t know if you missed the link right at the top of the page that reads work at home jobs, but you can click on that and find traditional work at home jobs there as well:
http://www.workathomenoscams.com/jobs
http://www.workathomenoscams.com/companies

So take a wide net approach to making money at home. Don’t just depend on traditional jobs because honestly you’ll be waiting for a while. Be proactive and make money with other non-traditional opportunities while searching for those other jobs.

Just don’t let desperation cause your judgment to be impaired. I would encourage you to read our scams page:
http://www.workathomenoscams.com/scams so you don’t fall victim to some of the scams out there because they’re on the rise and targetting good people like yourself who are dying to pay their bills and support their families.

Good luck, if you follow my advice you’ll find success.

I hope this helps.

It’s great you plan to take action with this.
If it doesn’t work out, there is always medical transcription which is the one consistent and available
typing job:
http://www.workathomenoscams.com/typing

Just stay away from buying any typing or data entry work at home product and you should avoid
a lot of problems.

Good Luck to you.

Eddy