The right YouTube Video editor for you
I'm writing this from 8+ years of editing experience as a freelancer, production house and video agency owner. I've hired 50+ editors and I've looked at 100s of portfolios.
I will walk you through where to find it, what skills and qualities to look for, what to pay and most of all, what to avoid.
This is a very in-depth guide on hiring video editors for your YouTube channel or business. Forward it to your hiring manager if this is something you have been struggling with.
Budget
Set your budget for this before you look for an editor, if you don't know what you are willing to spend, you don't know what you are looking for in an editor.
I have a fixed range that I'm willing to spend on a video. For us that is $150 for a 10 min talkinghead video. I'm willing to go up to $200 if the experience and quality are great, and yes I will even go higher if needed but rarely.
Editors usually like to charge per edited minute, fair for them, and annoying for you. That means we are in the $15-20 range per minute for us.
DON'T hire an editor per hour of their time, that is 100% against you.
I prefer in the long term to agree to a fixed price per video that is within certain effort margins (Similar length videos with a similar style of graphics and complications). That means no renegotiating no surprises on either end, that means sometimes you pay a few bucks more for one edit but less for another.
What is a good editor?
The obvious answer is that he makes good videos. Yes, that is probably the number one priority. The question you need to ask yourself, at what cost and I'm not talking about just your dollars but also your time and sanity.
Let me explain, often when you look at someone's portfolio and work, you don't have the whole picture, their end result might look great but how much hand-holding and direction was needed to get to that point? That handholding is your precious time to work on your business.
Some editors are good at using a template and showcasing that to other as "good editing".
Here is a list of qualities that I look for in an editor (I actually score them on this so. I have a full picture of them).
Editor Skills
I average out the score and so I have a better understanding when working with people, what to assign to people and who to pay extra attention to.
Fundamentals
This is pretty straightforward, these are the technical skills they have in video experience, probably the only thing most of you look at when reviewing someone's work.
Creativity
Can they only do what everyone else is doing or do they have their own style or touch in editing, what makes them stand out?
YouTube Understanding
Important for us, do they understand how to keep the audience engaged? Not just retention editing but really pulling people into the video.
Graphic Design
Something I struggled with as an editor, understanding how to visualise text and graphics on screen so it looks good.
Motion Graphics
Putting those graphics into motion, does it feel natural or jarring?
Video Flow
Does the edit flow, are they just good at using templates or can we enjoy watching the video without getting confused or irritated?
Adaptability (feedback)
Another thing I struggled with, taking feedback on the edit. Might seem normal but as creatives, we are proud of what we create and like it our way and it's annoying when others don't like it.
Time management
Something most underestimate how important, how good are they in delivering, last minute. on time? When working in different time zone, do they manage to get you an edit just before you go to sleep or at the star of your day etc.
Reliability
Are they consistent? First they give you all the time and devotion, delivering great work on time and then suddenly they manage to get another client or they slack off and the work is not what they promised.
Communication
I'm the kinda guy that over communicates, love it or hate it. But being responsive is important to me. Are the editors sloppy with their communication, are they clear? I've received applications where it was just a Google Drive link, even if your work is decent I wouldn't consider it as it's just off-putting.
English level
Most people we hire are from Asia, South America or East Europe, places where English is not the first language. They need to understand the content, avoid spelling and grammar mistakes and be able to understand you.
Tenacity
The next 3 are more for in-house hires,
How willing are they to work on the video until they get it exactly right for you? Are they going the extra mile?
Curiosity
I like people who come up with new things and find different ways to solve problems. Part of my curiosity is trying new styles of edits, finding a way to get the job done faster and just overall creativity.
Enthusiasm
This quality is a lot about how enjoyable it is to work with someone. Maybe you are the kinda person who just wants your editors to get the job done but for me when working with someone energy is a lot.
Where to look for video editors?
There is no right answer but I will share where I find our editors.
Referrals
Social proof is super important, this means that someone (you trust) already went through the paces with someone.
Ask for referrals of other people with YouTube channels or ask editors you worked with if they know more people.
I recently made the mistake of working with a referral of a friend but the editor had a different skillset, they missed the YouTube understanding as they were commercial editors. So technically good but no flow. So make sure that the person who refers understands what good is.
Facebook
I'd say half of the people I hired are through Facebook groups, I look for them in the groups where they are all together, creative groups, video editor groups etc. This provides you with a larger pool to work with so there is also competition for that position. Note that this takes a lot of work to go over all the applications.
Had about 70 applicants, and reached out to 5 = 7%
LinkedIn
I post on LinkedIn as well, a bit more from an authority standpoint and you have to cast a wider net hoping people that find you. But the editors that are on LinkedIn understand what we employers are looking for.
15 Applications and I reached out to 1-2 of them = 13%
Onlinejobs.ph
This is a recruitment site for Filipinos. It costs you $69 a month but higher-quality applicants on here.
I just went over 50 applications and reached out to 10 perhaps = 20%, I was very happy with 3-4 of them that I most likely will hire.
Inbound
Once in a while editors will reach out to you, this is if you are active on YouTube. A lot of people reach out to Mike with 1+ mil subs. This is where the communication skills come in play, if they are cocky, sloppy or incapable to reach out properly to you, that's a turnoff.
10 reached out to Mike or us and I hired 1 this week = 10%, reason I didn't hire others is because they were over our budget, they know they are talking to someone with 1+ mil subs so assume you are willing to spend more.
Local
Wherever you are in the world, there will be people local to you who are either starting out, students, or beginners who need experience. Give them a chance if you have the luxury (you have time to give them more attention) and patience to work with them.
These methods are 90% of how I find my editors these days.
YouTube Jobs platform
There are platforms like YTjobs.com where you can find more people with more social proof, so far I haven't hired here as their prices are usually a lot higher.
X (formally Twitter)
I've tried hiring here before and might have found 1-2 but the platform is so saturated and toxic that I avoid this.
How to test editors
I have different degrees of testing editors depending on how I find them and how good they seem out of the gate. Testing is important before moving on with more permanent agreements.
Remember you don't want to commit, and spend a lot of time and effort into someone before getting a better idea of all their skills, and a few of the skills only come to light after a while.
Free test edit
The safest way is to have them perform a short (one-minute) test edit.
Pros and cons here. Pros this is a cheap way to test the working relationship and tick off most of their quality checklist. Con, they might think they get ripped off doing work for you for free and that will deter a few people.
To avoid losing people to this test and losing potential talent is to make it clear that this edit has no commercial value to us besides the fact that it just tests out the editor and nothing else. We made a satirical script and recording that has no value to us. Then make it very clear to the editor that it's purely to test editors and set a baseline across multiple applicants.
Test video
This is what probably most people do immediately and we only do this with people that have more experience and have a good portfolio and credibility.
Agree to a price for the video and set the expectations that this is to try them out and based on the experience and quality you can think about the next steps together.
I do this for potential full-time hires as well. I prefer hiring full-time after working with them freelance for a while, again to test other qualities like communication, and enthusiasm, ... If I have the luxury to wait to hire someone full-time or not.
Probation
When I do hire full-time, I make sure it's clear they are on a 3 month probation period (usually slightly lower salary) where we will review their performance. Based on that we can increase salary or we get rid of them.
Something I will test out this week is hiring two editors at the same time, making it clear to them that I will only keep one, the one that performs best after 3 months. knowing our business and how fast it scales I'll probably keep both of them. This way they work their ass off.
General tips - Take note!
Time is money
To circle back to the qualities of a video editor, a lack of some of them will take more time for you to compensate for their shortcomings. Pick any of them and if there is a significant shortcoming you need to compensate that with your time by extra reviews, more effort in communicating, ...
So be very picky about who you work with.
Beginners have benefits
Working with beginners can have multiple benefits, they have more energy, and enthusiasm and are easier to mold into what you are looking for versus an experienced person who likes to do it their way. On top of that they are usually cheaper.
Again, this might take more of your time to mold them into what you want and need.
For me this is how I keep costs down as an agency, I have a lot of experience editing, I know what I want in and edit and person and I know how to train them. We've gone a step further and I have someone in the company now, a senior editor turned creative director, who helps me out with training, reviewing and hiring.
Use Forms!
One of the biggest tips that I can give you to not get overwhelmed is to create a Google Form where the editors apply.
- All applications are centralized, no need to communicate on 4 different platforms.
- All information in one place and you can review every question you have easily
- No need to respond to people if they are not a fit, just make sure where you put your job post "We will get back to you if you are a fit for what we are looking for".
That saves you so much time getting back to people and they don't harass you with follow-ups.
- I go over the 100s of applications in one go and have our VA reach out to them with further requests.
Let us help you
Over the years we created a database of editors, and vetted and trained them for our agency and our clients. If you need help hiring, reach out and perhaps we can help you out.
I hope this was helpful in any way, I got carried away as this is what I do daily. Feel free to reach out with any questions about this topic and iof you are an editor reading this yourself, feel free to apply here.
