So, my experiments with voice recognition at present aren't going all that brilliantly (I'm back to typing this post).
You see, I just can't get the accuracy I want.
So, I thought I'd share with you today a really sneaky way to get dictation far better than that from NaturallySpeaking but for only $5€€.
It's simple. You have to think about the box.
Take a look at Fiverr.com.
It's a fun site. It's full of all sorts of things that people will do for $5.
Want a postcard mailed to you every day of the week just to cheer you up. Look on fiverr. There's someone there who will do it.
Need an e-cover created fast. There's a fiverr member for you.
And, want 30 minutes of audio transcribed. You've guessed it. You can get this for $5 on fiverr.
So, with a little bit of creativity you can soon build up 30 minutes of material that you need transcribing. Rather than running it through voice recognition, send it to a real human. Sure, you might have to wait a few days, so don't do this for anything urgent, but you can get back real edited text.
Think of all the time you'll save from saying "period" and "correct that".
Now, I'm in the mood to spend five bucks!
Have you tried fiverr? Let us all know how you got on. Just post a comment below and share away.
26 replies on “The $5 Alternative To Dragon NaturallySpeaking”
I've been in seventh heaven ever since I found Fiverr. I currently have a team of a half-dozen Fiverr writers cranking out content for my website.
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I spent the best $5 of my life at fiverr.com. I got a song created for my partners birthday she loved it.
I gave the person Al a few details and he mcreated the lyrics and sung it with a guitar.
PRICELESS
@Gavin that's an amazing deal!
Thinking outside the box and keeping that site in mind is the way to go.
I have always heard good stuff about voice software, but have been reluctant to try it myself. I think the learning curve would be a little too much and since I'm a really fast typist, I'm not sure that I would get a huge benefit from it anyway.
Yes, the voice recognition is definitely a 'been and gone idea. I think the fiverr approach is much more likely.
Or, an out of the box idea, take the raw Dragon NaturallySpeaking text, and get it proof read and improved by someone else. That might work out cheaper still. Worth a try, perhaps?
Great to hear about the excellent deals the rest of you have had on fiverr, I'm tempted now to get a song composed just for the blog.
Fiverr is defintely a clever idea in the way the site works. It's simply a site that people can turn their talents or enjoyment into an easy $5. Customers benefit as they recieve a product or service which costs very little compared to if they were to buy it from a professional.
If you could get voice recognition to work that would be rather impressive. However I still have doubts in using technology over a real human being. Especially if its only going to cost you a mere $5 for a human to do it!
Fiverr really helps me a lot. Its one of my side line to support my studies. I got it from this site so thanks for posting this and you really help me a lot. A million thanks and hope many people will be able to read this so they will know fiverr.
Something I noticed recently on Fiverr was this girl offering to do an hours work for $5. At first I t hought this was probably unrealistic and the work ethic would be low. I looked at her feedback and she had around 30 replies all being 100% positive.
I took the plunge and bought her service. I sent her my CV and a story I wrote. After a few hours she replied with helpful improvements and she even corrected some spelling mistakes for me. Generally Fiverr is a great way to delegate work for little cost.
Fiverr I love so much. I think I spend more than half of my day there . I have recommended so many friends and family there and have my own account and have a number of orders in process.
This is a great resource just remember that you get what you pay for so don't always expect the best for $5, because it is only $5.
Hi Jakob,
Its a good point you do generally get what you pay for on fiverr, which makes me angry when you see people giving bad feedback just because they expect a miracle all the time for $5. Also I think fiverr should really implement one of those links where you get like $1 for every friend that you get to join up, or did I just miss this completely?
Hi ImJamie,
I agree with you 110% on affiliate links for Fiverr. Fiverr is a great tool for small projects where if you won't lose any sleep over a project that went wrong. I have been working on a few Fiverr projects my self and the people I am doing work for have been outstanding.
Thanks guys! I think fiverr is really something but to what I've heard it should be four'er since it ask 1$ for the 5$ but I think its worth the money since it is really hard to look for a legit site that pays.
This is great! I hope you can share more site that offer the same like fiverr. By the way do you have fiverr account? I want to know if you have gig or if you know some one that has good gig to offer.
Hey Jay V,
Yes thats correct, they take $1 of every $5 you earn. This becomes even more of a problem for people like me in England when selling stuff as $4 converts into like… £2.50. Anyone fancying making a British Fiverr?
Fiverr is great even if we are really making $4/£2.50. I' m sure their is a British Fiverr on the way. I have a Fiverr account and I can't tell you how awesome it has been to be able to work with some great people(even if it is only $5). This site has done a great job at highlighting Fiverr and how for only $5 you can get alot of good stuff and weird stuff too. 🙂
Just finished up a great project for someone of Fiverr. I drew them an old phone, yes an old phone. That is the beauty of Fiverr you can find people who want just about anything from dating tips to drawing megaman villians. Awesome buy strange still the same.
You guys could take the bull by the horns and instead of waiting for a UK Fiverr, come out with your own version, loads of companies have come up with Fiverr clones like these guys http://www.agriya.com/fiverr-clone
The idea of adding an affiliate / introduction programme to the Fiverr site seems like a cool idea too!
i got a guy in fiverr to write a song for my partners birthday, she was really TOUCHED best 5 bucks i have ever spent
Gavin
Gavin, I can tell you were impressed as that's the second time you've posted that story. 🙂
Peter, interesting about all the clones that have sprung up recently. I don't know if there's a specific British one (or if there would even be a market for it), but if anyone knows of one then please share.
Thanks,
Thom
Fiverr is a great site indeed and can be really handy to have stuff outsourced to perhaps a younger and more creative generation.
But, I think your post hits upon a different problem and a creative way of solving it. You found a problem which was requiring your time and instead of spending large amounts of time battling it, you simply outsourced it very cheaper.
Businesses perhaps need to constantly remind themselves of this lesson. If it can be done quicker and cheaper somewhere else, then outsource it and spend your time and tasks that actually need your attention.
Good post, I look forward to reading more from you.
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Fiverr is really awesome. We have started a Fiverr special offer forum, where Fiverr's who dont want to wait for 2 weeks to get paid, sell their gigs for $4. Visit us for a Fiverr bargain.
Excellent idea!! I've been thinking about purchasing Dragon NaturallySpeaking but after reading this I will use Fiverr. The cool thing is that there are different accents you can choose from. This could really add some variety to my website.
Thanks!!!
Fiverr looks like a fun site. I just went and checked it out. There are a lot of great marketing and gift ideas on there. Thanks for the great tip!
ii know we’ve never met, but i think i love you. this is awesome advice, i have been in the same place with voice-to-text programs. i actually spent the money for dragon 10 only to learn it won’t support 64 bit, and wwith whatever hampster-wheel situation they put in the programing, it needs all the help it can get. got the weaak update they offered free when 11 came out, didn’t help. bought 11 when i was fed up with tech support telling me the trouble i was having is all fixed in the new versaion (liars). then low and behold tthe home version only has 1/3 of the promised features, you gotta pay double if you want the fancy (pardon me, i meant tosay functional) stuff. then (after the fact of course) i learned i could have bought premium for the same cost since i’m a current student. but tthey don’t take my previous purchase as credit, so in the end (til now) i was just too steamed to pay again for what i’m expecting to be another horrible dissappointment. the software (and believe me i HATE to say it) works…if…and i do mean IF…you learn to speak like a robot, which negates the training in the sense that one does not train the software to recognize oone’s speach, but the training teaches one to render speach that fits the program’s ability to turn sounds to words to text. i’d only wished i had learned sooner, would have gladly put the money (now $200) into 40 sessions of 30 minutes and been waaaaaaaay less irked at nuance, lus i can’t even tally how much time i’ve wasted training, retraining and rreinstalling (then retraining again) when tech support advised me to do so.