• Home
  • /
  • Blog
  • /
  • 4 Freelance Proofreaders Living the Life of Their Dreams

4 Freelance Proofreaders Living the Life of Their Dreams


Updated: June 27, 2016

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked

  1. I love reading all these success stories! Thank you all! Can I ask any or all of you, how long and how difficult was it to find your first clients? Also, what was the hardest thing to adjust to when starting?

    1. I have the same question…how did you get your first clients, and how long did it take? It seems like no one wants to take a chance on a freelancer. Thanks!!

    2. I believe I had my first client within a week or so of completing the course. One great thing about this course is that it teaches you how to go about looking for clients and the details of marketing your business. It’s very straightforward, and if I can do it, anyone can do it. It’s just a matter of doing the work and then being patient, which was the hardest part for me when I started. I was just so excited and anxious to hit the ground running. But it was so worth it and now most of my new clients come from referrals, which is always very encouraging.

      1. Thank you so much! It has really made me consider taking the course after seeing so much success.

  2. What was the hardest part in getting clients? Did you feel prepared after the class was over?

  3. Once we register/sign up for this course, will there be a phone number provided In case I have questions and want to talk to a real voice?

    1. Hi Kay,

      I’m a course grad and just wanted to take a moment to reassure you that the Facebook support group you get access to is AMAZING (I would highlight and bold that if I could). I really mean it. Any questions/concerns you may have, the PA family is ridiculously helpful. You’ll get all the support you need, I’m certain. I think my favorite thing when I started out was reading through certain threads that asked the same questions I had and soaking up the advice people gave. I felt at ease to jump in a join the community right away. 🙂

  4. I am SO excited to read this! I haven’t even started, but I know I’ll love it 😀

  5. Thanks to each of you for sharing your updates. I have a question for Victoria . . . you stated you’re averaging from “$1600-2100”. Is that your monthly average? Thanks!
    ~Ramona

  6. Many of you mentioned being busy at different times or “unhooking”. Do you find that you lose reporters who want you to work for them by doing this? I’m not through the course yet so maybe this will be answered. Sorry if so 🙂

  7. Once again, I always feel inspired after reading amazing posts such as the ones posted above. It truly helps to keep me on track and moving forward with my goals.

    Thanks again for sharing!

  8. Hi,
    Do most of the jobs just give you a 2-day advance notice? I really need to know this because I can’t operate on that kind of a schedule due to my regular freelance job. I’m so sad about this because I really want to do transcript proofreading. I can’t turn down my regular freelance jobs because that’s my main pay. The problem is I often get a call the day before or that morning for a freelance reporting request.

    Just after I graduated, when I felt that most transcript proofreading jobs are 2-day advance jobs, I decided not to market myself to this segment. So after graduating from the course & loving it, I feel like I’m in limbo with transcript proofreading.

    I wish there was a course on how to market myself to other proofreading markets. Maybe that’s what I really need. If so, I’d need guidance with that.

    I have another question: don’t you lose your clients when you stop proofing for them at your convenience & then try to restart again when you’re able?

    Thank you in advance to anyone who replies.

    Stuck,
    Judy

    1. Out of curiosity, can you tell me what your main freelance job is?

      1. Hi. I do freelance digital reporting. Doing it as full-time as possible here in the DC/VA/MD areas, it really needs to be supplemented. The pay isn’t that great for just this alone. – Judy

    2. Another great thing about this business is that it is your own. You set your own turnaround times and guidelines. Personally, my regular turnaround is two business days. Anything less is considered rush and is charged at a higher rate. Some proofreaders do three-day turnaround. The choice is yours and you can turn down work if you need to; that’s your prerogative. As long as you do great work and communicate clearly with your clients, you will be fine.

  9. I have been trying to find that “one thing” that works to supplement my income for some time now, and have wasted money on something that seems legit, but ends up being a scam. I am NOT saying this is a scam by any means, but convincing my husband to throw money at something that isn’t a “for sure”….well I think I may have my work cut out for me in that area. While I think I would be good at this job, it’s not something I ever thought of even doing before in my life….so therefore I’m unsure of myself and jumping in! HELP!!!

    1. Hi, Tina. It sounds like you need to start with the free intro course, which was created to answer questions and concerns exactly like yours. Go here to sign-up.

      1. Oh I have already been through it about a week ago! I am SUPER excited…just have to convince my husband and jump into it!

  10. Thank you Caitlyn and Jackie, Keisa, Jennifer and Victoria for this blog post. It is just what I need to see and hear in order to go forward. I expect to communicate with all of you more as I begin my studies.

  11. Hello admin,

    I am from India and I do believe that I have a pretty good of grasp of English vocabulary and punctuations. I am working as a freelancer with different clients at the moment. I want to take my earnings to the next level.

    Out of curiosity, do you have any Indians who graduated from PA and became a success story?

    People like to outsource to Indians but I am sceptical as to whether potential clients would hire Indians or not for this job?

    Is there like a barrier that non-US proofreaders has to go through? If there is any, does PA take care of that.

    Sorry for my long message.

    Thanks in advance.

    1. Hi, Sam! The course is geared toward American court reporters, and, as I’m sure you know, there are differences among the different branches of the English language. In addition to punctuation and some grammar differences, there are idioms, slang, and other differences peculiar to American English that you’d need to be familiar with to successfully proofread for American court reporters. (There are PA grads who live abroad and have achieved success. Read about that here: https://proofreadanywhere.com/what-if-i-dont-live-in-the-united-states/) But there is good news! Our Jumpstart program is an excellent way for non-American English speakers to grow and refine their skills. What’s even better is Jumpstart will give you the opportunity to test your skills with our new, in-depth Word Skills Test. This will do one of two things for you: 1) It’ll help you gauge if your skill level is a good fit for proofreading American transcripts, and 2) if it’s not, will help you save a LOT of money by letting you know that the full course might not be a good fit for you. Either way, you walk away a winner with new skills that will benefit you for a lifetime! For more information, go to proofreadanywhere.com/overview.

  12. So are the only people doing well at this the ones who work for court reporters? I couldn’t see all of the comments above so I’m sorry if this was asked previously.

  13. This article spoke to me on a spiritual level. Thank you for sharing your inspiring stories! I’m currently researchig iPads for the course and was wondering what specific iPad and apps that you (anyone) has found helpful in the course and on the job? Thanks!

    1. I’m really glad that this article resonated with you! We highly recommend the iAnnotate app here at Proofread Anywhere, but others may have other helpful recommendations too.

  14. Hi all, I am thinking of taking this course, but, I read that there are more proofreaders than jobs. Is this true? Thanks in
    advance.

    1. As someone who has been proofreading transcripts for about 18 months, I can say that there is not a lack of work out there! 🙂

  15. I am considering this field as a second income source. I love to read anything and can pick up errors quick. BUT what would happen if I were to miss an error on a transcript?

  16. I am considering taking the course as well. I noticed that much of the content and comments are from 2015. It seems that most grads felt that the best place to get support while trying to get new clients after graduation from the course was on the Facebook page. I’m a little concerned that the Facebook page for graduates is no longer active and that there isn’t much support now for students starting out now in 2018. I know that part of the class deals with submitting practice transcripts to be corrected by PA- is that still being done?

    1. The Facebook group is still very active and just as amazing and supportive as ever! 🙂 We don’t look over the practice transcripts, but we do grade a midterm transcript and a final transcript. In order to graduate, you have to get passing grades on both.

  17. It's so exciting to read these stories! I recently purchased the course with the intent of retiring in about a year, and having finished the course by then. Reading these makes me want to consider retiring a bit earlier!! Thank you for sharing your journey. It's so inspiring!

  18. I would very much like to take the Free 7-Day Intro Course. What I'm really curious about is the cost to learn how to Proofread?

{"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}

Posts You Might Like