A Website Still Brings In 5-10 Clients a Month – Twenty-One Years Later

Who: Gaynor Paynter
What: Transcription, copy-editing, proofreading, typing, formatting, and virtual assistance for individuals, students, and businesses
Format: Service & expertise · South Africa and international, English
Started: April 2005
Audience: 1,000 Facebook followers, 2,170 LinkedIn connections – professional network rather than a content audience
Payers: Around 1,000 clients over 21 years – students, business owners, authors, and journalists
Promotion budget: Effectively $0 ongoing – about R3,000 spent in total across three brochure campaigns, none of which worked
Income: Main income
Status: Active but stalled
Channels: Own website, search, social media, communities & forums, offline & word of mouth

What worked: Her own website, actively submitted to directories and search engines since 2005, now brings in an estimated 300 visits and 5–10 client conversions a month.
The result: Around 1,000 clients over 21 years, from students to journalists to authors.
The catch: Three separate brochure campaigns – 2005, 2012, and during Covid – cost roughly R3,000 combined and never produced a single client.

I was born on 21 March 1975 in Kensington, South Africa, and, with the exception of a few years after marrying in 1996, have lived here my whole life.

I matriculated from Jeppe Girls High in 1992 with a university exemption and half colours for chess. I got a secretarial diploma at the then Germiston Technical College, with a distinction in Information Processing (typing). I've always had an entrepreneurial flair – during school I sold artwork through advertising in the Top 40 Music Magazine, for R5 a piece.

My first full-time job was at a company called Kaydee Masterplanners Industries (KMI) in Heriotdale in 1995 – reception and admin, and my first exposure to transcribing. One of my bosses made notes on a small microcassette recorder, which I transcribed during the gaps between phone calls and in-person visitors. In 1996 I married Damian, and our first son, Andrew, came along in 1998.

I was retrenched in 2000 and did freelance typing and temp jobs. I then became pregnant with our second son, Brandon – but one employer took me on 'semi-permanently,' which became permanent. It was at a recruitment company, where I prepared CVs and interviewed candidates.

By 2005, the internet had progressed enough for me to 'birth' Typewrite Transcription, Copy-Editing and Virtual Assistant Services. For three months, I worked at the recruitment company during the day, and on Typewrite by night, all the while with a husband and two little boys. The 1st of April 2005 was the first 'official' day of Typewrite, although it wasn't registered with CIPRO (now CIPC) until 2009.

Services I've provided have grown and diversified over the years – starting out with typing, adding transcribing, then proofreading, and more. In 2009 I wrote the e-book "Working From Home as a Transcriptionist in South Africa," a resource for people starting out – at the time, there wasn't much support like it available. I'm currently working on a book of poetry with watercolor illustrations.

The same year, my friend and colleague Alison Fourie and I founded TAVASA – the Transcriptionists and Virtual Assistants of South Africa. We were among the early pioneers in South Africa's virtual market, and when we started, there wasn't much support for people doing this kind of work. We decided to fill the niche and built the first support forum of its kind in the country.

The business's name changed too, from Typewrite Transcription and Typing Services CC to something that better matched the business and the markets it serves: Typewrite Transcription, Copy-Editing and Virtual Assistant Services. Through it all – including Covid, when I was fortunate enough to keep working while many of my clients weren't – I've kept adapting, and I'm looking forward to building the company further in the years ahead.

My very first client was a gentleman writing his life story, who came to me through word of mouth – a family member told him about me. Another big client found me on the internet in 2005; I transcribed fire forensic reports for them for many years, and they referred others to me as well.

I found more clients by spreading the word around my community, but I also marketed directly on the internet, and found a client in Australia who stayed with me for a long time. The student and academic market became a big part of my audience early on – they were essentially the people who made me realize my business idea had merit. From there I picked up corporate clients and individuals – journalists and authors.

The very first thing I did was start a website, and it's been running in various forms since 2005. I actively marketed it by spending hours submitting it to business directories, search engines, and everywhere else I could think of. Almost every post I made contained a link to it, and I told everyone I met about it. Today, my website brings in an estimated 300 unique visits a month, converting into roughly 5 to 10 new clients.

I also had a blog, which was a big deal in those days, and posted on it regularly. In 2009 I got active on social media – Facebook, then Twitter, then LinkedIn as it came along. LinkedIn is still very useful to me: as part of my CV and employment-related services, I write LinkedIn profiles, and for a while I trained people on LinkedIn and other social media for the community.

Founding TAVASA gave me a community channel as well as a support network – it put me and my work in front of other people in the same industry. I also wrapped my car, which helped get my name out there, and I completed a Copy-Editing course from UCT to improve my skills and offerings. I do short courses wherever I can.

I tried placing physical adverts and brochures in post boxes and letter boxes – both PO boxes and street letter boxes – on three separate occasions over the years: right at the start in 2005, again around 2012, and once more during Covid. I spent a fair amount of money printing the brochures, plus time walking the streets to distribute them, and I don't think any of the three attempts had much effect. Around R3,000 in total, spent over three tries across two decades, with nothing to show for it.

In 2005 I discovered there was a big niche for transcribing student interviews and other academic materials. I'd started out offering a variety of services, but this was what soon took up the bulk of my time – and it became the foundation the rest of the business grew from.

"I wouldn't really say I have an audience, as I'm not a content creator per se," Gaynor says, "but they are people in a similar industry, other small business owners, students, journalists, editors, and so on."

The student and academic market is a big part of her client base, alongside corporate clients, authors, and journalists – a mix she's built up over 21 years of varied, ongoing work rather than through any single audience-building push.

The world has changed so much in the 21 years I've been offering this service. If we want to survive and grow, we have to embrace the technologies of the day, like AI, both as tools in our own businesses and as something we help clients who are intimidated by them navigate. Courts and institutions like universities still need certified documentation – transcripts, dissertations – and I want to keep using my expertise to support the people who need that.

That's part of why I'm now actively focusing on growing the copy-editing side of the business – after completing my copy-editing diploma, I'd like to work more with publishers and corporate magazines going forward.

I provide transcription, copy-editing and professional services to help businesses save time, communicate clearly and present their work professionally.

Website: typewritetranscription.co.za
LinkedIn: typewritetranscription
Facebook: TypewriteTranscription

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