Tag Archives: loan

Free Transcript Project : #5

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Source video
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Title : “15 Minutes Of Fact : Want to Transform the Economy? Start by Transforming Your Thinking?”

URL : http://youtu.be/TLio1YWOkzY

Organization         : 15 Minutes of Fact podcast :
Web Site                 : http://writtenoffamerica.com/
Host                        : Jerry Ashton
Contact                  : jerryashton1@gmail.com

Guest                      : Zeus Yiamouyiannis

Web Sites                 :
http://citizenzeus.com/
http://www.transformingeconomy.com

Contact                   : LinkedIn Profile , Email : zeus@citizenzeus.com

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Transcript
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Jerry Ashton : We’ve had some interesting guests on “15 Minutes of Fact” over time, and explored some compelling topics. When it comes to the intricacies of economic theory and abstract financial systems, however, I get a bit nervous. Even my bravest listeners are brightfully weary, even though they know that they will be subjected to no more than 15 minutes on one subject – hence, “15 Minutes of Fact”. So, I don’t propose that we’re going to lose even one member of our audience today with our audience with our guest Zeus Yiamouyiannis. Is that the correct pronunciation, Zeus?

Zeus Yiamouyiannis :  Yiamouyiannis.

Jerry Ashton : Yiamouyiannis. Thank you so much. He is reached by way of Skype at his home in the Philippines.Here’s why you’ll be interested. Somehow Zeus is able to deliver – in understandable English – clear answers to today’s economic train wreck. He magically reduces the complexity of trillions of dollars of currency, trade and debt, and reduces things down to simple accounting – almost the type of thing you’d be able to do at your kitchen table, but not quite. Because he is a PhD, after all, he’s an economics blogger, a futurist, and author of the newly published book “Transforming Economy : From Corrupted Capitalism to Connected Communities”. He writes for zerohedgefund.com and oftwominds.com – two top alternative economic web sites – and is considered a performance educator in the way that he delivers information that informs as well as excites. Let’s see if he can make that happen on the show today. Welcome to “15 Minutes of Fact”, Zeus.

Zeus : Thank you so much for having me Jerry.

Jerry : Well, it’s a pleasure.So let me start out with that rather slippery word that you seem to use when you talk about the work that you do in economics – and that’s “transform”. Now, is this a use of semantics to get past everyone’s natural disinclination to accept change?

Zeus : Well, I think there are a couple of issues when you use a word like “transformation”. The first is the notion of resistance to change. I address this specifically in my book. I mean, many people are under the delusion that you can choose not to change. We’re in an era – as I said in my book – that things cannot go on as before. We know we will change. The only issues are, “Will change be done to us, or will it proceed from us?” So I think at this point the only thing that you would be doing is essentially using your perception to avoid reality that is already upon us. The second is also important, and that is romanticized notions of change that sort of substitute ineffective replacements – a kind of “new age fantastic thinking” that if we just hold hands together enough, or there’s a technological solution that’s going to come out of the woodwork and save us all –

Jerry : Wait…. wait,… wait. You’re telling me that “Kumbaya” and Google is not going to save us in this particular world we’re living in?

Zeus : Not without human consciousness and decision to let that change and transformation in consciousness work. And that’s what I really advocate for, and work with others to provide. I mean, there’s a necessity of change, there’s a reality of change , and then there’s the opportunity for change. I’m excited by that notion, and I think we could get more people on board if we show that change can be an exciting and purposeful and deep way to live.

Jerry : Well, let’s get to the subject at hand – the economic disaster that we’re calling the “Great Recession”. I’ve read through some of your earlier works and two stand out for me. One is called “Five Courageous Steps” – I like it when people give me numbers and quantities to work with. The other is called “Ten Shocking Practices”. Now, are they part of your just-released books? Or are they precursors? Tell us about them?

Zeus : Well, they’re both companion pieces to the book. The first one “Five Courageous Steps to Transform Your Economy” really is about what you can personally do to, sort of, see through the haze provided by our current economic situation. It’s actually available to your audience for free – if they just go to transformingeconomy.com and sign up for the newsletter, or email list signup – they will get a free copy mailed to them through their email. That’s, again, more focused on how you can translate some of the broader principles I have in my book to actual personal practices. The second, “Ten Shocking Practices in the U.S. and Global Economy” are really a “greatest hits list” of some of the most outrageous things happening in the economy – and then some follow up questions to stimulate discussion. It’s meant to be a companion piece to my book, and if people do get it – for the first people doing this, especially activists – I’m writing out a personal email and sending that along regardless of whether you buy just one book or more.

Jerry : Well, I want the listener to know that there are some really excellent, shocking items there that we’re aware of, but not aware of how really horrendous they are. Can you name three of them for us?

Zeus : Well, my greatest hit is “fraudclosure”. I’m astounded that two things happened with “fraudclosure”. One, there were hundreds of thousands – maybe millions – of forged documents, that are clearly – I mean, there’s no dispute that they were forged. People have admitted that they were forged. Basically, there was an electronic system set up to do an end run around filing requirements, for property.

Jerry : Oh you’re talking about the famous “robo-signing” and things like that.

Zeus : “Robo-signing”, and there was nothing done about that. There was no real prosecution. There was not even really any investigation. What I found when I did research is that this $25 billion Attorney’s General solution ended up being – most of it, only about $8.5 billion was supposed to be in cash – that was never really done. Only $1.5 billion was spent on consultants. And I found out as recently as January of this year not a single dime has really been spent on a homeowner. So it’s really a big, huge smokescreen. Money is the whole chain of private property, which is supposed to be the bedrock of economy in terms of who owns what, and what an asset really is – and nothing has been done about it. It’s been swept completely under the rug.

Jerry : Which, of course, leads me to my next statement of dismay, and that is one of the unquenched calls of anger regarding the recession is that the culprits – the big banks, their thieving executives – have not been held accountable for what are clearly financial crimes. Now, nobody else has answered it. Why is that?

Zeus : Well, there are two parts to that that I can see in writing this book. The first is simply this. It is obvious that the people who are working on enforcement have been members of these banks that are not being investigated – as it turns out – and they are trying to protect their own former turf and relationships. They cannot separate their own lives and what they consider to be of benefit to themselves personally, and their official duties. That’s the first part – the more obvious. The other one is really sneaky – and incredibly condescending – and that is this notion that we have to excuse high crimes to prevent the suffering of the “little guy”. If these firms collapse, how many people will be thrown out of work? Lenny Brewer , who was part of the criminal division of the Department of Justice, resigned after a “Frontline” piece in which he said, “If we indited them, the company might fail.” It’s like, “Really! A criminal company might fail if you indict them.”

Jerry : The people I want to see thrown out on the streets are exactly the people you are talking about.

Zeus : Exactly. The main point is this. There can be no market without accountability, and in the present system there really isn’t accountability. This is what I want to say to them, “You’re trying to protect what? The market? Well, if you’re trying to protect the market you need accountability, which means you need to prosecute people who do crimes.”

Jerry : Well, that brings up the larger picture of debt. Something that seems to afflict everyone but the famed 1%. Some people say that we should simply walk away from debt as individuals, and even as a country. Now, are these debts so toxic that they cannot be converted into something that is usable? What is your opinion about this?

Zeus : Well, many of them are. The entire derivatives market, and the debt that was created out of them – something like a trillion dollars of so-called “toxic derivatives” were bought up by the Federal Reserve – are nothing but junk. They were constructed vehicles that referred to, basically, fantasy assets and collateral – and had no real purpose, except to generate fees and cash flow from nothing.

Jerry : And bonuses. Don’t forget the bonuses.

Zeus : Absolutely. Wall Street rewarded themselves – after they collapsed the world economy – with a near-record $144 billion in compensation. And they do that by basically extending counterfeit value in the form of these constructed, “fantastic” – not fantastic meaning, like, pure fantasy – economic vehicles that are not backed by anything. They just simply refer to assets, and then they make off with the transaction fees and bonuses on false paper profits. So this gets at the core of debt as asset. Debts have been considered assets, and this is a very twisted notion. And they certainly aren’t assets if people start defaulting on them. Debts require ability to pay, and because that has been forgotten we now have a situation where these so-called “toxic assets” and “toxic debts” really are junk. I advocate, in two chapters in this book, not only debt forgiveness but also finding ways to administer debt forgiveness. Because when you have something built on fraud – I mean, one of the titles is “Endgame : When Debt is Fraud, Debt Forgiveness is the Last and Only Remedy”. So we don’t expect a person to pay for a crime. If they are extended money in a fraudulent way, why should they have to pay it back? Now there is intricacies in how to deal with that, but we really should get –

Jerry : Well, I was listening to an interview you had done with Max Keiser on his show “On The Edge”, and I was struck by two things. First, the show was all about – and this was two year ago. As a matter-of-fact it was on September 17th, 2011. It was all about the Wall Street meltdown, and coincidentally enough on September 17th that’s the exact day that Occupy took over Zuccati Park. Is this something coincidental, or something you just pulled together yourself?

Zeus : Hahaha! I would call it auspicious – a meeting of the minds. What it is showing is that voice is a way to coordinate and pop-out in ways that we don’t expect. And it gives me real hope, because voice is the start of action. Real people need real food, water, clothing and shelter. They can’t go on extend and pretend. Finally, especially with Occupy Wall Street, people are finally saying, “And we need real accountability.” They’re starting to come out, and we’re finding that one of our basic needs – which people have forgotten about – is our need for community, and our need for voice. So to me I see it as a universal upsurge, and an auspicious coming together of people who care.

Jerry : Well, how could your book be of value to Occupiers and activists – not even considering the mainstream “Mom and Pop” out there, who haven’t given it a lot of thought, except a lot of their pain and blood, sweat and tears to surviving. How can your book possibly help in the face of the implacable and resolute enemies that we have both in the government and in banking. How would you, for example. counsel students with their staggering debts?

Zeus : Well, first of all, I would simply say, “Get active, creative, imaginative and organized.” One of the best ways to do this is to “stop feeding the beast” – that’s one of my steps in the “Five Courageous Steps To Transform Your Economy”, and there are specific ways to do that in the book. I think the most important thing about that is to start taking leadership, not to be reactive to the current system. To take as much energy away from it as you can, identify toxic practices – which I do in my book – and then take as much of your time and money away from that system as possible and use your leadership to organize and create the creative alternative. The last chapter in my book is called “Youth of the World Unite : How the Younger Generation Can Lead the Way To A New Frontier”. There is so much talent and ability there, and so much responsibility and liability being dumped on young people. I think they just need to go ahead and face that. Organize together and find ways to be really resourceful, and pull themselves out of that – essentially “death spiral” that former generations have provided for them – and develop their own leadership going forward. There are specific ways to do that.

Jerry : Okay. So what would it look like if we actually had an economy and a society built around the things that matter most to us. What would those things be, and what would that world look like?

Zeus : Basically my book is about going toward a democratic capitalism. We’ve never had it, but basically it is money serving people – not the other way around – people serving money. It also involves – because we have a sustainability issue – us really going from a more material to a non-material basis for our purpose of living. That is already kind of happening. We want to move from a : taking, exploiting and consuming society to a creating, giving and sharing society. Now that’s not kumbaya. That tag line that I like to use sometimes, that I’ve created is that, “I am a more fulfilled me by a more effective we.” If we can begin to develop that notion – and it is already coming up for the younger generations who not only believe that but experience that as a quality of life for them – then we can begin to turn the tide.

Jerry : Well, I can’t think of a better note on which to conclude our “15 Minutes of Fact” today Zeus. So allow me to ask you to give our audience some contact information on you and your book so that they may reach out to you directly. Now I know your email address is zeus@citizenzeus.com – and that’s your website as well. You’re also on LinkedIn and I notice that you’re also on Facebook. How else can people reach you and how can they find this book?

Zeus : Just type in : http://www.transformingeconomy.com . That will bring up the main page with email signup where you can get the “Five Courageous Steps To Transform Your Economy”. There’s a book link there where you can click on “Get The Book” where you can actually pick up the book. And I’m trying to develop community forums and so forth – but that is more in the works. You can also get at my main site – just having to do with transformation – and that is http://www.citizenzeus.com. It really focuses on transformation in economics, education and spirituality. So if you have interest in those areas go to http://www.citizenzeus.com and you’ll see some of my past essays there are well. So those are the two main resources I would point people to, and again you can contact me anytime at zeus@citizenzeus.com.

Jerry : Well Zeus, I can’t thank you enough for the time you have shared with us. You are living up to your reputation. I didn’t fallen asleep once. [laughter]. I hope that will also be true of the audience. That’s a good start – not falling asleep – I actually think you’ve activated me. I think that just might be happening. So, once again, this is Jerry Ashton with “15 Minutes of Fact”, searching out people with interesting ways of dealing with what we call “The Great Recession” – different and more likely fruitful ways in which to be able to build a stronger “we” so that you can become stronger yourself.

You can find me, of course, at Huffington Post – where I blog – my web site : http://www.writtenoffamerica.com, on Twitter as @WrittenOffUSA, and on LinkedIn.

Jerry Ashton signing off for “15 Minutes of Fact”

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Free Transcript Project : #2

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Source video
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Title : “15 Minutes Of Fact : From Graduating to Indentured Class — Will America Continue to Eat its Young?”

URL : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1LRmgIr0xI

Organization         : 15 Minutes of Fact podcast :
Web Site                 : https://www.youtube.com/user/15MinutesOfFact
Host                        : Jerry Ashton
Contact                  : jerryashton1@gmail.com

Guest                      : Cryn Johannsen
Web Site                 : http://alleducationmatters.blogspot.com/
Contact                   : https://www.linkedin.com/in/chasecrynjohannsen

Transcription Notes : This project is a good example of how transcription can remedy some of the problems which accompany less-than-ideal audio. There are numerous reasons why the final audio of a production may end up less than ideal. It may have been an on-location live interview in which there are many uncontrollable factors involved. It may be that the communication channel (ex. phone, Skype, etc.) had problems. It may be that the producer/host just didn’t have the resources and/or skills to apply the proper recording equipment or techniques or hire a competent person/organization to do it. In the end, what good quality transcription can do is make words which were inaudible clear (for instance, through figuring them out through context and/or research) and represent the production in a more accurate and complete form in writing.

In addition, YouTube actually has its own speech recognition (transcription) software for video. To show it, just click on the icon which looks like a page, immediately right of the “add to” link on the video page. To save you the calories and bewilderment of doing so, let me present for you here the exact text which is generated by the YouTube “transcriber” for this specific video :

YouTube automated transcription
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“0:00
from graduating class to endangered class
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American pieces all showed almost two years as I’ll ask after the time and
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attention over yesterday
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mes creating your handsome evolve its Keisha matters
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back in march it 2011 and still basking in the chilly spring up the Occupy
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movement
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Trenton I was working hard to see that student debt goes much attention is more
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realistic
0:25
this means we’re going for her and I believe”

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As you can see, the YouTube computer-generated transcriber is about as accurate as the subtitling on a bad Chinese Kung Fu movie – without all the funky acrobatics and scenery. As a result of this, a proper transcription by an experienced human transcriptionist does justice to YouTube videos.

Transcribing YouTube videos has several important benefits. It extends the reach of the video outside of the already very powerful YouTube marketing platform. It makes up for the horrible YouTube automated transcriber/subtitle generator. It also gives your videos more marketing punch as it provides many more words than the limited number of tags allowed for each video (around 50 I believe), and this enhances the SEO potency of the production.

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Transcript :

Jerry Ashton : From graduating class to indentured class, America eats its own. It’s been almost two years since I captured the time and attention of our guest today – Ms. Cryn Johannsen of “All Education Matters”. Back in March of 2011 and still basking in the chilly Spring of the Occupy movement, Cryn was working hard to see that student debt got as much attention as mortgage debt. It’s been slow going for her, but I believe however, that she and other education militants have finally achieved that attention. Just how far they’ve come and how far they have to go in freeing generations of students from a lifetime of debt will be our subject for today. So welcome to the show Cryn Johannsen.

Cryn : Thanks, but I do not consider myself a militant. I’m actually, truly a pragmatist. You’re right that I suppose the work has been slow-going – there’s been a lot of behind-the-scenes that I do on the hill. But I can tell you one thing – and I can’t divulge the particular office that I just went to recently – but from a wonderful staffer of a Congressman’s office, who I know quite well – maybe it is slow-going but they are listening. They are definitely listening, in such a way that I can actually say that I am incredibly hopeful about.

Jerry : Well, before we dive in then – and, by the way, I want you to know that you may not be an activist, but you are hardly a milktoast either. I would like you to give the listener a bit of your background in the world of student debt. How did this come about for you personally, and where do you find yourself today in this world of trying to make a change on student debt?

Cryn : Sure, well like many people my age I do carry student loan debt, but it is more than manageable. I have never been deliinquent on my loans. It’s never been a problem. I am very lucky. I consider myself blessed. I am a religious person – so I will say that on the radio. But in terms of diving into it, I myself have been working on my PhD on the intellectual history of Europe and there was a lot of conversations we always had about student loan debt. This was around the time of the housing crisis, in 2008, and I just began to piece together the parallels. The big difference was that you can walk away from your home – as we all know – if you’re underwater. However, with student loan debt you can’t do that. So, there was an intellectual curiosity with how the student loans and the U.S. government, and how these institutions were related to financial markets. It’s incredibly complex because you are talking about the U.S. government – “Uncle Sam” – they’re the biggest lender. Then you are talking about the universities – where the money is being funneled to. Then on top of that you’re also talking about a lending industry that was born out of the federal government. These are all very complex institutions, and all of them are interconnected because of the student loan debt.

Jerry : Okay, I’ve got the fact that there is a macro level at which this is being approached, but let me get to the thing which seems to be catching the attention of people right now. Student debt exceeds one trillion dollars. It is considered to be the next bubble to pop. So let me give you a couple of Time Magazine article facts. In the last five years the average student loan debt has risen 30%. More than half of student loan accounts add up to more than 40% of the total dollars owed, and they’re in deferral status – meaning that students are looking for a reprieve for a few years before they have to repay. But these delinquencies are increasing by 22% over the last five years. So how can any of us have hope of a way out in the face of these statistics.

Cryn : Well I think that’s a really good question, and one of the things I wanted to say though about my interest – just to return to my original personal interests – is that I have a deep love for people. And these people with student loan debt have opened up to me tremendously – because Americans are very ashamed to talk about debt. They are hopeless, and as your probably aware, I wrote an article for the Huffington Post which I received a scholarship from the “Economic Hardship and Reporting Project”. Barbara Ehrenreich, the author, and also Gary Rivlin – who’s also an author – they were the editors for my piece. It was about people who were committing suicice, and I continue to get these notes – it’s incredibly troubling. But I guess one of the things is that – I have a feeling, and I know that sounds odd – but I just have a feeling that 2013 is going to be the year for us – the indentured educated class. One of the reasons why is because I’ve gone through – and I’m not going to go into the details – but I’ve gone through a significant loss personally, very intense. I’ve prepared myself tremendously. The reason why I’m saying this is because I am so ready to get this done, more than ever before. And I’m not the only one. That’s what’s great. The more the merrier in my opinion, There’s a lot of us out there [crosstalk] and I think this is going to be the year, despite all of these terrible statistics. And they are terrible.

Jerry : Okay, well first of all, Gary Rivlin – I’m a fan of – when he wrote that book called “Broke USA” and he talked about how banks supported and financed loan companies, pawn shops, mortgage people – predators. So anybody who can align themselves with that guy automatically wins with me. How many people would you consider to fall into your category about being at least militant about changing the world of student debt.

Cryn : Well, again, I’m hesitant to use that word. I guess I’m more insistant through the power of love – as cheesy as that might sound, and people might say, “Oh, she sounds like she’s from the 1960s” – well so be it. Well, there’s plenty of us. I know that Robert Applebaum is still doing quite a bit. I believe Alan Colinge is – to the best of my knowledge. But they’re not the only ones out there. There are so many groups doing things, and the reporters continue to write about this left and right, and I think that’s fabulous. The more people talking about it the better. That’s the way it should be. So the more of us out there, the better. And I think the more and more people join our ranks [all with?] different approaches. I think it’s great.

Jerry : Well I know that you came up to New York City when Occupy was still blooming at Zuccati Park. Shortly after, of course, they pulled it out by the roots and thought that would get rid of it – but that didn’t happen. What was your impression of Occupy, and do you think Occupy has been an important force.

Cryn : Oh, it absolutely has. It’s a collective voice of people who are deeply in debt. These Americans having the courage to go out there with the placards showing how much debt they owed – bless their heart. That was the most powerful thing about that, because we hide the debt we have. We pretend because consumer capitalism – that everything is okay, and it doesn’t appear that there’s any trouble – but we all know that that’s not the case. Americans are just drowning in debt, and not just student loan debt. I was just in awe of the fact that these graduates were walking around with a placard showing how much money they owe, and saying, “This is really a part of my identity.” I think what we need to work on is moving away from that just being your identity, but it needs to be solved. It just needs to be solved. That’s one of the reason why I come to D.C, – where I am right now, because we’re trying to get this done.

Jerry : Okay. Let’s talk about that. Your way of being able to make a difference is by – instead of picketing governmental offices – you’re actually walking through the doors and talking to people. So give us some history about that, and how is that making any difference.

Cryn : Well I run “All Education Matters” on a shoestring budget, as I said. I’ve been very lucky to have people who have debt send me $5 here and $10 there. That’s enabled me to come to Washington DC and walk the halls, and knock on the doors and have the conversations. Because these offices are lobbied 24/7 – including the White House, of course – by the lenders. The Washington Post ownes Kaplan – which is a for profit school. So the Senators and the Congressmen read those papers and they say, “Oh, what the problem? There is no problem.” Well, but that’s changing , and I don’t think I’m the only one. I’m not going to toot my own horn but I have to walk these halls. I have to have these face-to-face interactions – which I’ve been doing for years. It used to be that when I first started doing this – when I came back from South Korea after teaching there – they were telling me behind closed doors, “Yes, we agree with you. There is a student lending crisis.” but they wouldn’t say it publicly. This last summer I was on a phone call with several Senators – including Sharon Brown, and I’m forgetting the Senator’s name, I apologize – but this was with hundreds and hundreds of people who represent millenials – the youth generation. I brought up the problem of suicide, and a Senator publicly thanked me for having my ear to the ground, and let me know that I remind them – and I’m not the only one, of course – but he told me that I remind them that the current borrowers are struggling. I thought that was a huge moment for the indentured educated class, to be recognized publicly on a phone call in that way, and to be thanked for that. It’s not me . I’me streaming voices of other people. That’s what I’m doing.

Jerry : Well you are channeling the essence of the spirit. So let’s talk about that. Let’s say that you have been serving your role and your function in getting out this word and we also talk about the fact that if a student is willing to put a placard in front of them saying, “I owe $80,000 of student debt.” I think that their willingness to do that isn’t to show themselves as victims, as much to publicly acknowledge that, “Guess what? I don’t know what happened, maybe, but I’m up [a creek?] without a paddle”. So, I think its important that it has to be brought to people’s attention however it is done. And you’re doing your job on that. Now I’ve heard that there are some governmental agencies investigating the relationship between college administrators and bankers. Do you know anything about this?

Cryn : Um, if memory serves me – and if I’m following it correctly – the new consumer financial bureau, the new bureau which is the brainchild of Elizabeth Warren. I’m so glad she’s Senator now. They have been doing excellent work on investigating the “for profits” and putting out supurb reports about student loan debt. This is a very good thing, and so if this is what you are referring to. They’re doing some great stuff. That’s our tax dollars at work right there, and I’m delighted at this new bureau. The other thing is that people are not aware of IBR (Income Based Repayment) program. Now there is a problem with that thought, which I want to make clear to the listeners. This is a loan forgiveness progress if you have federal loans, which is forgiven after 20 years, which is good. However – and hopefully this will change, and a staffer told that it probably would or should – you will be taxed on the remaining amount that has been forgiven. So the year that your loans are forgiven, guess who’s going to come knocking at your door? The IRS, which is not good. I don’t understand why they put this in, why they have that, but this is something that absolutely has to change, because then what is the benefit of the loans being forgiven [crosstalk] when you owe $10,000 or more that year for taxes.

Jerry : Well, let me address that. There is no such thing as loan forgiveness. As far as I’m concerned there is just loan trickery. It’s a form of a shell game. When you think of it, the American student is the only class of citizen – other than a felon – who can not declare bankruptcy on their debt.

Cryn : Right. It’s ridiculous.Punish people for getting an education. Why? Why are we like that? It’s very odd. I don’t get it.

Jerry : It isn’t odd if you happen to be on one side of the political spectrum in which you hold the fact that, number one, everybody has to be accountable and responsible, and, number two, you also fill up your wallet at the local university or college so that you can continue your campaign of good citizenship. That’s a personal gripe of mine, and I think that the relationship between college administrators and bankers has got to be put out into the spotlight.

Cryn : Right. But I think that more than that, Jerry, for me I guess I’m at the point where it’s no longer about pointing fingers and blaming. It’s more that this is a systemic problem – and I’ve said this many times – that this is a terrible systemic problem. And it can be sorted out. Lightning can strike down in D.C., as a matter of fact, and things can change. I know that people might think that, “Oh, she has rose tinted glasses on.” but that’s happened. Especially if there is the power of the type of movement you see with Occupy, and you’ve got lots of “busy beavers” – if you will – people like me, who continually bring it up and bring it up. There can be push, and there can be movement. You can look at the civil rights movement to see that sort of thing. And that started -many people argue, historians – that the civil rights movement began in the early 1900s. Then we moved forward with Martin Luther King in the 60s. This stuff takes time, and that’s alright. Now I wish it could be stopped immediately because of the people who want to kill themselves. It’s horrible. It hurts me in my heart, deeply. But it takes time.

Jerry : Speaking of time. We could do 15 hours and not 15 Minutes of Fact, so what I must do is end the session now, but please let the listener know how they can reach you. For example, do you have an email address, a web site, a Twitter account,. How can they reach you.

Cryn : I want them to follow me on Twitter. I’m very responsive on that. My name is @Cryn_Johannsen. They can also subscribe to me on Facebook. Just look up my name. They can also email me. It’s ccrynjohannsen@gmail.com. I promise to try to get in touch with them as soon as possible. I’m lso a teacher and I’m writing a book about the student loan lending crisis, So, I’ll keep you posted on announcements about that. There’s a big thing coming out about that. I’m very busy at work and I’m also teaching English as a Second Language, which is a big honor. So, I’m [heavily involved?] in education, as you can tell.

Jerry : And what do you do in your spare time, Cryn.

Cryn : Um, [inaudible], I’m just very busy. Busy, busy, busy, solving problems.

Jerry : OKay, well one thing I will do is ask you to give us a final word before we sign off.

Cryn : A what? A final word? Well I guess it’s all those people who are out there suffering. I want them to know that they’re not alone. Especially those who are suicidal. Please don’t be that way. I want them to turn to people they trust – family and friends. People they can speak to about this. This is not something that you should end your life over. I cannot say that enough times. I’m also speaking from a personal perspective, not about debt, but a great deal of suffering. Through suffering you can see solutions and things can get better. That’s my final thoughts on that.

Jerry : That’s a wonderful thought, Cryn. This is Jerry Ashton here at WGRNradio.com, bringing you “15 Minutes of Fact” as an innoculation against the many hours of foe which is usually generated by mainstream media. So I want to thank my listeners for attending to this show. Be reminded that you are searching out my blog at the Huffington Post, and friending me there would be appreciated as well. Signing off, Jerry Ashton.

[end]

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***If you have an interesting YouTube video, podcast, etc. which you would like transcribed I may be interested in taking on the project, free of charge. If the subject of your production is something which is especially interesting to me (some favorite subject of mine include : technology, health, philosophy, media, psychology, art, economic, globalization, and more) I may decide to work it into my “free transcription project” schedule. I am currently working at the comfortable pace of two transcription projects per week. I prefer audio/video files which are in the range of 15 to 30 minutes in length. It requires roughly one hour to transcribe 15 minutes of audio. I also ask that the audio of the production be of decent quality, since I post the audio/video on the individual transcription page and prefer to fill my pages with high quality content. Please email : freelance_transcriptionist@hotmail.com to discuss this potential opportunity further.

Day 6 : Dealing With Rejection in the Online Transcription Industry

Posted on by Standard 11

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In the past six days I’ve made some good progress towards the longer term goal of building a steady flow of online transcription work while simultaneously building my competency and skills so that I can accept and complete files audio files with confidence and efficiency, and ultimately make an adequate amount of income to survive, maintain this self-training, and eventually build a progressively larger amount of work (both in terms of quantity AND quality) and income. Actually, I don’t really need that much income during this beginning period, as I live a relatively spartan lifestyle, and so my living expenses are basic due to my current living location.

Although I haven’t written so much about my personal life up to this point, I think it is now a good time to reveal that I have lived in the “developing world” for the past decade. In my specific situation, trying to survive in the United States (the country where I was born) became too difficult. Many of the young people in my generation graduated university only to find themselves hopelessly drowning in student loan debt, with dwindling prospects for attaining any sort of long term, gainful employment in the field they had attained their degree in. The economies of the “developed” countries have taken a significant turn for the worse in the past two decades, and I was smart (and lucky) enough to realize that things were only going to get worse. Although my predictions have now been vindicated, there is a silver lining here. The development of the internet has created two major forces which are counterbalancing the implosion of the traditional economy. These are telecommuting and freelancing, in combination with various others.  We are now in an age where it is possible to work in a location independent manner (a.k.a. “digital nomadism”) if you are able to attain an adequate number of, and degree of, work skills which can be performed with a proper laptop computer and internet (especially including wifi) connection. I will discuss this issue in much more detail into the future.

Getting back to my personal story, over several years during my 20s, after drifting around the Unites States both to explore and try to find a place to settle and build a business, I began gradually exploring several developing countries in Asia. I started as a traveler, then made the transition into English teaching for several month periods, and when that got to be too stressful I transitioned into freelance photojournalism, then web journalism/blogging, editing, and am now finally ready to take the next step into the exciting field of transcription. I will write more about myself in future posts, but for now this is good, and relevant, information to know in relation to the topic being discussed at this point. The most important point is that my living costs are quite low (it is currently possible to survive on~$600 USD per month) and so I have the flexibility to work for cheap for a while as I spend the time and energy gaining transcribing experience and building a network of fellow transcriptionists and prospective clientele. This is an advantage that many newbies in the “developed world” do NOT generally have, primarily due to the high, and increasing, cost of living. I therefore want to take full advantage of my situation to get up and running as quickly (yet methodically) as possible. It took a LOT of sacrifice to leave my country of origin, and I intend to be successful at achieving the ability to make a proper living which I was not able to in the US. The alternative is to return there, where the situation is now drastically WORSE, for a multitude of reasons, and so I am taking this effort very seriously, and have created this blog to assist future newbies to the industry to minimize the time and energy they need to spend to attain steady progress in a short time.

At this point, I have now built a daily workflow consisting of : evaluating various audio files as they appear on the “available jobs” board of the online system of the company I work for. By evaluating different audio files I get a better sense of the characteristics of the different kinds of projects that are out there. In addition, since I am also actively working on some files at the same time, I am getting to know what I am capable of through experience. Plus, I am building my skills through self-study using various free resources (ex. blogs, forums, etc.). Finally, yesterday I began adding another major component to the mix. That is, evaluating new prospective online transcription companies (one or two per day) and applying to those which fit my desired criteria. I completed one application yesterday (to the Rev.com company) and hope to find and apply to another quality company today.

Now, at this point let me say that I have some bad news and some good news. I’ll start with the bad news, which isn’t really SUPER-bad, but just a bit frustrating – another “speed bump” on the road of life – but at the same time, a situation with which I will attempt to turn “lemons into lemonade”.

I indeed received a sooner-than-expected response email from Rev.com this morning. The email said exactly this :

Dear Mr. X,

Thank you for applying for the transcriptionist position with Rev. We have rigorous minimum standards and unfortunately your application did not meet those.

Please do not contact Rev regarding this decision, as we are unable to further elaborate on our reasons.

Again, thank you for your interest in working with Rev. You may re-apply in six months.

Regards,

Rev Recruiting

Now, it wasn’t so much the fact that I had invested quite a bit of time and energy in completing the application (including the significant writing component and the two transcriptions) – and thought that I did both quite well – that frustrated me upon receiving this email. It wasn’t even so much the fact that they didn’t give a reason for rejecting my application.

What WAS most frustrating about this rejection was the fact that they made ZERO effort to attempt to provide me with any sort of constructive information, or anything which would indicate that they valued my existence in any way (for example, as a potential FUTURE transcriber, a potential future CUSTOMER, etc.). They basically just slammed the virtual door shut in my face and said “Good luck.”

Now, as an experienced online marketer I would say that this is a significant loss on the part of the Rev company, in the sense that they are not taking advantage of the potential benefits of their online presence. So as not to sound like I’m being cynical simply because my application was rejected, let me elaborate on what I am talking about AND suggest some constructive alternatives to the strategy by which the Rev company currently rejects applicants.

First, we need to consider that many of the people who complete Rev’s transcriptionist application are inexperienced “newbies” who are in search of opportunities to build their skills and obtain new information about the industry. In addition, they have just spent an hour (or MORE) of their valuable time and effort writing and transcribing only to get a curt email saying “No thanks. Good luck”. If these applications have some errors (assuming that some applicants’ errors are more or less severe than others) can you really make such firm judgement of them based on an essay and two short transcriptions? After all, they are probably nervous, it may be their first transcription test, etc. Plus, if you don’t give them any kind of feedback on the reasons why their application was rejected then they won’t be able to address and work on those issues so that they can perform better on future transcription application tests, ESPECIALLY in the early phase where they may not be aware of some of the quality self-study resources available online. The last thing a “lost” newbie needs is to spend valuable time on an application, and end up feeling inadequate and confused.

The issue is actually broader than this, because it is well known in the online marketing industry that “Content Is King”. That is, information which HELPS people and is given away FREELY is the CURRENCY of the online world. It is for this very reason that I have (and WILL) spend COUNTLESS hours developing this blog. It is NOT an effort driven by the desire for self gain, but for the purpose of HELPING people, by providing them with free and actionable information. THIS is the true nature of proper human relations, and one which has been SADLY corrupted for far too long. The internet has now provided a platform for the REVIVAL of this more evolved form of human evolution.

By Rev leaving rejected applicants “hanging” the company is missing out on opportunities to contribute their expertise to the wider web community and raise the bar for the whole industry. I will elaborate on this by going back to my original review of the company, which I wrote about in the last post (Day 5 : Evaluating Online Transcription Companies).

In that post I talked about how Rev’s blog was not really designed to its fullest potential. The main blog page is merely a text link page, the categories are oddly/erratically organized, the blog post subjects are random in topic and they a very small handful of posts related to transcription. Now think about the potential of the Rev bloggers writing up some high-quality and regular posts about different aspects of the transcription industry (ex. future trends, the role of a company like Rev in the context of the whole industry, analysis of different aspects of the transcription industry, resources for aspiring transcriptionists, etc.). This kind of content is something that rejected applicants (like myself) could really benefit from. Especially since they stated very clearly that I can re-apply in six months, then having some blog articles to read over the next few weeks and months would allow me to get to know more about the company, keep them on my radar, and thus be in a better, more informed position if/when I re-apply. To illustrate this clearly I will compare Rev’s approach to another company (later in this post) which DOES implement this kind of proper web site interaction with the general public, and as you will see the result of this is VERY beneficial to the company, the industry, AND the general online (and offline) public.

For now, I will just say that by Rev making no effort to stay connected with the rejected applicant OR give them a quick little push forward they are breaking a cardinal rule of the new information age – in which “CONTENT (and CONNECTIONS) is king.” – and actually missing out on potential opportunities which will benefit their company’s reputation and profit margin, while at the same time creating a group of disgruntled rejected applicants who have naturally gone right on ahead and voiced this resentment on various popular transcription industry forums. This, of course, is bad publicity – but of the kind which could easily be AVOIDED. My point here is that by a simple change in marketing strategy (with some basic DIPLOMACY thrown in) Rev could easily provide their rejected applicants with some helpful guidance (perhaps directing them to their blog, or some other helpful, free resources for beginning transcriptionists) instead of just issuing a cold email which tends to make the applicant feel inadequate and bitter for wasting their valuable time and energy,  likely during a period of unemployment, where are overly stressed and struggling financially.

*** Disclaimer : As I stated previously on this blog, any critique I make of the online transcription companies is intended ONLY as CONSTRUCTIVE criticism based on my own personal experience, both in dealing with these companies AND as an experienced online marketer. My comments are intended to HELP and offer constructive suggestions. In addition, if any representatives of these companies wish to contact me and discuss the issue further I am MORE than happy to offer additional constructive suggestions/consultation free of charge. My main goal is always to make the internet a BETTER place for everyone, as I believe that this technology is the most powerful innovation in recorded history, and which has the power to dramatically transform the world and the quality of life of the majority of the people who inhabit this planet (and perhaps other planets) into the future – ESPECIALLY the vast number of those people who live in abject poverty throughout the less developed countries of the world.

I welcome your feedback, and can be reached for further discussion at any time via email at :

TranscriptJunky@gmail.com

or

https://twitter.com/TranscriptJunky

Okay. That being said, even though the application to Rev was not successful in the sense of actually being accepted into their system and thus being able to benefit from their alleged high-quality training program and member support system, the process HAS been beneficial in that I was able to leanr some valuable information by analyzing their web presence and see a good example of how one of the more tech-savvy companies is utilizing the power of internet technology to streamline their operation and make the application process straightforward for applicants.

Being now a bit battle-hardened – and thus even more determined to succeed – I decided to turn my research again to the online community for a good lead on the next online transcription company I should evaluate and possible apply to. This is another major benefit of the transcription forums. They provide you with the REAL information you need (through consensus) to minimize wasted time and energy on the lower quality companies). A few members of the Transcription Haven forum had given positive reviews of the TranscribeMe company. At first, I was hesitant to follow up on this company primarily because the reviews generally described that the audio transcription files are very short (a maximum of one minute for the transcription audio files). I couldn’t understand how this would be feasible to most people. In my opinion, this eliminates one of the most important motivating factors in transcription, which is to learn some information from the files you are transcribing. This, of course, would be difficult if the files are only one-minute long. However, it turns out that my confusing (while PARTIALLY valid) was due mainly to the fact that I did not more fully understand the system by which this company operated. That is, it uses global CROWDSOURCING to break the longer files into multiple one-minute sections, which enables the small sections to be transcribed faster, and then reassembles them. You can also work your way up the “QA” (Quality Assurance) level, at which point you are then able to work on the full audio files (resulting from to reassembled collection of one-minute segments).

In addition, I was discovering that the few cautious attempts I had made at transcribing the rather long (usually over 30 minutes) audio files made available by the first (current) transcription company I am freelancing for were quite a bit overwhelming in general. I was able to get them done, but felt that I just didn’t have the skill level necessary to do so in a relatively comfortable, or timely manner. Therefore, I had been working mainly on the editing projects at the current company and only taking on the shortest and easiest transcriptions. I was starting to think that being able to work on smaller files of only a few minutes in maximum length may be just what I needed as a stepping stone to more advanced work. It was also brought to my attention through the forums that TranscribeMe provides a well designed training program that you progress through as PART OF the application process. In other words, they are providing you with some VALUABLE free training, which helps you build confidence and experience, EVEN IF, you are rejected for some reason. I went on my intuition and the information in the reviews, and it turns out that deciding to pursue TranscribeMe was INDEED a good decision, at least for a next few months, and as the intended stepping stone.

In accordance with the research and evaluation strategy I have developed and documented on this blog so far, I will proceed through the standard steps of : (1) evaluating the web presence of the company, and then (2) proceeding through the application process if the evaluation proves appropriate.

As soon as you arrive at the main page of TranscribeMe.com you can tell that this company is not messing around. The design of the web site is top-notch, including an inviting color scheme, scrolling graphic article links, a clear link to their blog right at the top and bottom of the page, testimonials, accessible link to the section for transcribers, clear information to their star transcription app product, and more). You get the sense that they have put a lot of time and effort in presenting as much information of value to ALL of the many and different kinds of visitors who arrive at the site, and doing so in a manner which is easy for the visitor to find the information they need.

At this point I am quite a bit overwhelmed by the sheer AMOUNT of information on this site and so I decide to follow my visual instinct and click on the scrolling article with the pretty picture of their free mobile transcription app. The app page opens to reveal an excellent, comprehensive run-down on their very valuable (especially for the price – FREE) mobile app which allows the user to record audio, upload it to the TranscribeMe site and order a transcription right through their smartphone. On the page they have a few good static pictures of the app and description on how to use it. The level of streamlining (both in terms of technology and marketing) which they have achieved is quite commendable.

After being highly impressed by their mobile transcription app I decided to head over to the blog to see what other kind of valuable information the savvy marketing people at TranscribeMe were putting out. I figured that before even attempting to focus on their transcription work opportunities I would first evaluate the quantity and quality of free information they have put out for the benefit of the web community. In this way we can make a decent assessment of where their business philosophy and mission are at, and do so by evaluating the ACTUAL actions they have taken in putting content out for public consumption. After all, as the old saying goes, “Actions speak louder than words.”

So I head right over to the TranscribeMe blog which is clearly and easily accessible via the “blog” menu link clearly positioned right at the top of the page. Upon opening the main blog page I am grateful see a proper and very professionally executed blog (with all of the standard blog formatting that people are accustomed to (as opposed to the less polished/functional “text-only” main blog page at the Rev site). They also have on display their email newsletter sign-up form and Twitter and Facebook profile links clearly and immediately on the right side of the page. In other words they have taken great effort to make be user-friendly and attempt to connect with people who constitute their various target markets (transcription customers, transcribers, etc.)

With just a quick browse through the ten blog posts on the first page it is clear that the people at TranscribeMe are making a SERIOUS effort to cater to the information needs of EVERY segment of their overall market. A few of the posts on that first page which immediately catch my interest are :

1. TranscribeMe : Creating Jobs For Unlikely Candidates

2. How is TranscribeMe Different From Other Freelance Job Sites?

and

3. TranscribeMe Represents A Work Platform For The Future

While the post titles are interesting enough, I decide to click through to read the third article and get a feel for the quality of information they are putting out. As expected, the article is very well executed. In a clearly written and concise 412-word article they describe how TranscribeMe’s revolutionary, high tech micro-tasking system allows transcription jobs to be most efficiently completed through breaking each job up into manageable sections and distributing them to a massive global “crowd” (a.k.a. “crowdsourcing”) of experienced transcriptionists. In the end, this process produces the most time and cost effective solution to transcription and benefits all parties involved – the customer, the transcribers and the company itself. The post also talks about the multitude of work and continuing education training opportunities available to transcribers who work for the company, as well as their very helpful Yammer internal social media communication platform which provides highly efficient means of communicating and collaborating with the thousands of other workers in the organization, who are distributed throughout the world.

By the time I finish reading this article I feel like I have gained some excellent and practical knowledge about the company, the whole industry, the overall opportunity which TranscribeMe can offer me as a “newbie” transcriptionist, and the sense that collaborating with this company will provide significant benefits for personal growth and career development into the future, for however long it is feasible.

This is an excellent example of what a high quality blog presence look like. They provide valuable information to their target reader. After reading this article I am highly motivated to read MORE of there articles, and I will do exactly that (likely one post per day) in the coming days. In addition, if I decide to follow through with their online freelance transcription application I will have more than enough of their blog content to work through BOTH while I wait for the results of the test AND/OR if I my application should be rejected I will still be able to continue benefiting from the information they put out regularly on the blog.

Also, considering that they have OTHER major products BESIDES their transcription service (for example, their mobile app) it would only make sense that TranscribeMe would have it in their interest to maintain the connection with ANYONE who comes to the site (whether it be prospective transcribers, potential app/transcription customers, etc.) as – like in my personal case – many people likely first come to the TranscribeMe web site UNAWARE of the free mobile app they offer, and thus by discovering the information on the app they are transformed into potential transcribers AND customers. It’s a win-win situation. This is a good example of professional level marketing strategy, and even if I don’t get the chance to work as a transcriptionist for TranscribeMe they have already earned my respect for their professional online marketing savvy, and will certainly have me as a customer who will use their mobile transcription app into the future if that ever becomes necessary.

I think it is best to let the reader absorb the girth of information presented in this post by concluding here. In the next post I plan to continue my evaluation of the TranscribeMe site, focusing on the freelance transcription section of the site and (likely) moving through the application process. For now I suggest the reader have a look around their site, browse the blog and read a few posts to get a feel for their operation.