As soon as you enroll, you get immediate access to Phase 1 and can start working through it right away! The units are divided into weeks to keep you on track to have your business ready to go in 8 weeks, but you can work through the course as quickly or as slowly as you like. You'll also have access to join myself and your other coursemates and grads inside The Transcript Proofreader's Learning Community for support and motivation from the start!

If you've enrolled in the full course, you will need to pass the grammar exam before moving on to Phase 2 and the transcript exam before moving on to Phase 3 (more details on the exams in these FAQs).

This course is a good fit for you if you love reading, fixing typos and punctuation errors, tackling a fun challenge, and working hard for yourself, and if you are fluent in conversational US English. Beyond that, you will be dedicated to showing up for yourself, open to learning, receptive to feedback, love to research, and aren't afraid to work hard. You are determined to make this work for you. You should also be willing to work with your peers, contribute to group discussions, and bring a positive spirit to the Community. While you can be very successful as a transcript proofreader, this is not a "get rich quick doing nothing" business. It takes work and practice to learn!

Nope! I’ll teach you how -- and you’ll get plenty of practice on real-life practice transcripts (answer keys included!).

Location doesn’t matter! Transcripts are sent digitally, so as long as you have internet to receive and send jobs, you can proofread wherever you want!

My course focuses on US court reporting and setting up a business as a US citizen. So if you are a citizen from another country, the steps for how to set up a business in your country will probably be a little different than here in the US. I always recommend connecting with a local CPA to ensure your business is set up correctly. If your currency is different than USD, you will also need a way to convert currency when you invoice clients (PayPal will convert most currencies!).

Otherwise, how to proofread and market will be the same wherever you live!

It is very, very difficult to proofread transcripts if English is not your first language. That’s because transcripts are the spoken word, and you have to not only understand the English language, you must also understand odd sentence formations and colloquialisms. You should be fluent in conversational US English because transcripts are not formal English by any stretch and court reporters are extremely particular about working with proofreaders who are completely comfortable with conversational US English. You’re the one who understands your command of the English language -- be honest with yourself!

The grammar and spellings focused on in this course are US English because this course focuses on working with US court reporters. 

Transcript proofreading doesn’t require a lot of supplies!

You will need a laptop/desktop or iPad, internet, and proofreading software. I cover your proofing software options (and how to use them) inside the course. Pricing ranges from free to $9.99 depending on what you prefer to use. You do not need software until Phase 2. A grammar reference manual is required in Phase 2; it's less than $15 on Amazon.

Your state may require you to register your business and there can be some cost with that. That varies per state (I help you with those steps inside the course!). There are other optional resources (additional grammar books/online subscriptions) you can purchase that I highly recommend inside the course.

That depends on the number of clients you have, how busy those clients are, what kind of turnaround time clients request, how many jobs are technical -- in other words, there are a lot of variables. On top of that, it’s up to you to decide how active you want to be getting clients. Most prefer to be part-time proofers (or at least start off that way) and can earn $100, $500, or even $1,500/month. You can grow into a full-time business and make over $4,000/month. 

When you start, you will work on building up your client base until you get to the income and schedule you want to have. This is helpful so you can get used to your workload and new proofing life as you grow your business!

That’s up to you! We start building your business in the first week, and after you pass your exams, I teach you how to organize your business and then how and where to get clients. From there, whenever you want to go get clients is up to you! Everyone’s progress and success rate are different. You could land a client within your first week or never if you never put any work into it.

I don’t because your success is up to you. I will give you all the training you need to get clients and be successful including how and where to get clients. I show off my grads on my social media and refer them to court reporters, and grads have extensive support inside the private business building community.

Many grads get their first client within the first two or three weeks of marketing, some take longer. Those who get clients are the ones who consistently implement the marketing I teach.

It is up to you to apply yourself to learn to be the best proofreader you can be, build a trustworthy business, and go after the opportunities you’re provided. A proactive proofreader is a successful proofreader. Create your own success — I’m here to support you while you do!

If you decide you want to be a transcript proofreader and make money with your new business, yes. Each phase is designed to build on the previous one and give you exactly what you need to be successful -- all at your own pace.

There are no refunds. This course is yours to keep as soon as you purchase it! I outline the course here so you have all the details before you enroll and can make sure it's the right decision for you. If you have questions beforehand, email me: elizabeth@elizabethjwiegner.com

Successful grads from the course include moms and full-time employees, and they've done a wonderful job. They've made the course a priority, put it on the calendar, and made it happen!

I know everyone's schedule is so different and you have a life outside of work and this course, so while it is an intensive course and you will have to show up for yourself to make it happen, I put everything and only the things you need to know inside the course to respect your time.

The grammar exam is a multiple-choice exam covering grammar and spelling rules discussed inside The Grammar Masterclass for Transcript Proofreaders. It is required to pass the grammar exam before you can move on to Phase 2.

The transcript exam is a transcript you will proofread to demonstrate you are comfortable working with transcripts. The transcript exam is hand graded and returned to you with feedback. It is required to pass the transcript exam before you can move on to Phase 3.

I don’t believe in making exams that are impossible to pass if you know what you’re doing -- the exams are there to demonstrate you know the practical, real-life skills you’ll need as a proofreader. I’d be doing you and CRs a disservice to teach you how to get jobs if you aren’t ready to get jobs. Because the course is self-paced, you can practice as much as you like before taking your exams. The grammar exam is completely open book. The transcript exam is a real-life transcript. There is no limit on how many times you can take the exams; there are retake fees to encourage you to take learning seriously. With in-depth course content training, over 3,100 pages of transcripts to practice on, feedback on a transcript you've proofed, and support from myself and other students and grads, there is no reason to fail if you apply yourself!

Transcripts are real life, so there are jobs that are brutally graphic and detailed, ranging from murder, molestation, rape, kidnapping, etc. These type of cases come primarily from court reporters who work in criminal court and that’s all they do. You can typically avoid this type of content by working with CRs who work civil cases. You can also add a caveat that you don’t proofread graphic transcripts. If this would be too triggering for you in general though, transcript proofreading is probably not a good fit for you. 

On the flip side, if you are expecting transcripts to read just like Law & Order, you’ll be surprised too. Even though I’ve read some unforgettable murders, kidnappings, and rapes, I’ve also read countless pages covering construction defects, medical malpractice, car wrecks, divorces, slip-and-falls, property and mineral rights, city suits, and expert economists.

You have access to the lifetime of each phase of the course.

Yes. You are still required to pass the grammar exam to move on to Phase 2 and the transcript exam to move on to Phase 3. When you purchase the full course, there is no change in the exam procedures. 

Even if you already know how to proofread, you’ll need to understand how to proofread transcripts, which is a very specific type of proofreading. The focus is on fixing typos, dropped and wrong words, punctuation for readability, making sure everything is consistent, and following court reporter preferences.