We’re here with a complete and detailed guide on how to hire a video editor. We’re here to tell you how to outsource video editing smartly.
Why exactly? How’s that any difficult?
Those are the questions popping up in your mind. Aren’t they? Well, it is difficult. Many beginners fail to realize that.
Finding a good video editor is like finding a needle in a haystack. It’s true that Fiverr lists 37000+ self-proclaimed video editing professionals. And so does Upwork.
In fact, you may find several freelance video editors offering their services on Freelancer, LinkedIn, personal websites, and even as part of apparently successful teams and agencies.
Despite the abundance of professionals, we repeat: finding a good video editor is difficult.
A video editor may have command over professional video editing tools. They may have the right resources to execute the job. But even so, they may not:
- Have an aesthetic sense that complies with yours.
- Respect the confidentiality of your content.
- Address queries and concerns in the pre and post-editing stages.
And if you hire a video editor without any prior homework, you’ll most likely come up with these concerns after it’s cost you a good deal of money (most video editors out there charge $120 -$150!).
That’s a lot of money (and hopes) down the drain.
So, we’ve compiled this post to minimize your chances of making a bad decision. Here we will teach you how to assess the authenticity of a video editor’s skills and how you can go about the whole process to achieve desired results.
But before that, let’s first assess whether you even need to invest in a video editor right now or not.
Table of Contents
Why Outsource Video Editing?
Alternate to hiring a video editor, you can edit the video by yourself or have your in-house video editor look into the matter.
Although both these cases are practical, let us tell you: it’s a bad idea. And that’s particularly true if you are editing video content for YouTube and social media.
Why?
That’s because it’ll cost you:
- Plenty of time
- Bulks of money
- Loads of energy
All for a clip that may never trend. Yes, there’s a high chance of that happening even if you give your 100 percent.
You know how picky the algorithms are these days. You may be creating the best content and still not receive any attention only due to bad timing and minor lacking.
So, ideally, your business building and branding strategy should revolve around creating more quality content. Instead of producing one video in months, you should focus on creating the next video as soon as you’re done shooting your first one.
We’re not suggesting you should focus on frequency more than quality. Of course, you shouldn’t.
But you certainly shouldn’t invest all of your three resources in one video. It’s a bad business move.
Besides, outsourcing increases the chances of your video’s success. Video editing is a constantly and rapidly evolving field.
At times you may be unaware of the latest technologies or may lack the latest software. But if you choose to outsource, you can easily overcome these lacking without investing money in learning about these tools and buying them. You can entrust a professional video editor who’s already using them with expertise.
The question arises: how do you find such a video editor?
Let’s get to that bit.
How to Hire a Video Editor?
Before diving further into the process, there’s one thing you ought to be clear about. Once you hire a video editor and you feel comfortable working with them, it’s best you stick with them.
Don’t go out seeking another video editor every time you’ve got a job. That’s because the hiring process is a bit time-taking. And doing this over and over is again a reckless business move.
We recommend you to make this investment twice only if your first hire turned out a failure.
Step 1: Determine Your Preferences
First, know what you want. What do you want the output of your video to be?
What action should your video prompt amongst viewers? Will it educate them? Or will it entertain them? Or will it sell something to them?
To get clarity on the matter, get into the viewer’s brain. And think from his perspective.
Imagine the impact you wish to feel upon watching the video.
Once you have this clear and sorted, you will have a clear idea of the edits and effects that you require. Be very specific about:
- Purpose of the video (Awareness/Conversion/Customer Retention)
- Length of the video
- Target audience
When defining your target audience, be as particular as you can be. You may narrow down your audience by region, gender, age, and even interest. It will help your future editor, edit the video accordingly. For example, they may have to be careful with colors and frame transitions when editing for kids.
Next, settle for a reasonable turnaround time. You should compile all of these details in a document. This all-embracing instructions brief will ease communication between you and potential candidates.
Step 2: Find a Suitable Video Editor
Now, here begins the real part of your hunt. Here are some of the places where you can find video editors online:
Upwork
Upwork happens to be the largest freelancing platform. And hence, that’s where you’ll find talent in bulk.
Luckily, Upwork also offers filters. You can narrow down your options using filters for:
- Position
- Budget
- Geographic Location
- Expertise
The downside of hiring from Upwork is its processing fee. The platform charges 20 percent from both companies and people.
Fiverr
Next to Upwork, we have Fiverr. Here in this post, Fiverr gives a detailed explanation about how you can hire a video editor via Fiverr. But if you haven’t got the time, let us sum it up for you.
Hiring a video editor on Fiverr is more or less the same as Upwork. You can apply filters, browse through a list of professionals, and assess the potential of each candidate in your filtered options one by one (manually). It will be a time taking process. And you may or may not find the perfect editor.
Plus, the platform will charge you $1 for every order below $20. And 5% of the entire order for orders above $20.
People per Hour
Similar to Upwork and Fiverr, People per Hour is an online freelance platform where you can recruit talent from around the world. Over here, they’re explaining their method of recruitment. But before you invest your time in reading this, let us tell you right away: the process is exactly the same.
The good part here is that people per hour will not charge you any buyer fees. Instead, the platform will charge you a 10% surcharge for paying the freelancer.
Online Groups & Companies
There are several online groups and communities as well where you can find great talent. You can look for local online photographers or the filming community. These are usually Facebook or LinkedIn groups. At times, these communities maybe even run their Instagram pages.
You can reach out to them by simply googling “best video editors near me”. The search results will bring some of the best video editors within your reach. The process of hiring them is super simple.
Browse their site or page and check out their work. If it appeals to you, you can discuss your project with them and settle reasonable rates if they don’t have fixed rates.
In this scenario, trusting individuals with no online portfolio, website, or social proof of work is a bit risky. You may get scammed.
Hence, we recommend trusting entire groups or registered firms and companies because they won’t run away with your money.
On that note, let us introduce you to ourselves, i.e., editvideo.io.
Editvideo.io
Editvideo.io ranks amongst the best reliable video editors. We’ve got a team of skilled and experienced video editors. And our custom answer for how to hire a video editor is super simple.
All you’ve to do is browse through our pricing plans, which clearly mention the included services. We do not believe in keeping you in the grey area in terms of deliverables. Some of our service highlights are:
- Unlimited revisions
- Free subtitles
- Up to 20 social media boosters
- Dedicated cloud storage
Once you’ve subscribed to a plan, a dedicated video editor will cater to your requirements and deliver your edited video timely. At best, we revert assigned projects within 24-48 hours. Again, if you’re not well aware of the editing market, that’s the quickest turnaround time for quality video editing.
We assign the same editor to all your projects to provide you with a mini custom team. Your dedicated editor eventually commands over your preferences.
For seamless communication and execution, we use project management tools like monday.com and fram.io. You can have a clear insight into what’s going on with your footage whenever you want.
Sounds unreal, but that’s why renowned videographers from across the globe trust us with their video editing needs. We keep it transparent, professional, and simple.
Editvideo.io is the best video editing place – here’s why:
Step 3: Settle the Budget
Now, here comes the final tricky part. We, on editvideo.io, eliminate this hassle for you. We have only three plans, which you can visit here and pick the one that best suits your business.
However, it will take some time to determine the amount you pay on other hiring platforms. By the rule of the thumb, it’s best to keep your payments in milestones (especially when working with freelancers). If you like the piece of work reverted, set up another milestone.
As mentioned earlier, video editors generally charge $120-$150 per video. Hourly charges vary from $10-$100, depending on the expertise. At editvideo.io, you’ll get a rate of $42 per video.
So, set aside a budget of minimal possible charges from your preferred hiring platform along with the additional fees that the platform charges (if any). Once you’ve received your first order, determine if you wish to invest more in the same place.
Some Technical Benchmarks…and Relax.
We hope to have a clear idea about how to outsource video editing and how to hire a video editor professionally & smartly. Just make sure that your hired candidate has access to the proper equipment and software that’s necessary to do the job. If you have no idea, trust someone with a solid history of successful video editing projects.
Also, check out the date of their client’s reviews. If they’re up to date, your potential candidate has the necessary 21st-century software to do the job. (Just btw, Adobe Premiere & Final Cut Pro are essential.)
Once you’ve checked them against all these technical and abstract benchmarks, test them against your intuition. If you have a good feeling, give it a go
