When is it time to hire a video editor?
I’m noticing that more and more people are beginning to work for themselves, are planting seeds for early retirement and are trying to generate passive income through a number of avenues. Particularly, I’ve seen that there has been an uptick in people creating YouTube Channels in the past few years since Covid. According to Sprout Social, there are over 51 million Youtube Channels right now which is a 36% increase since 2022. YouTube is a great place to connect with people who have similar interests so it’s no surprise that we’re seeing a surge of channels being created after 2020/2021.
With the growing interest in YouTube Channels, we can assume that there has also been an increase in a need for video editors or courses on video editing softwares.
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A question that I hear a lot is “ when do I know when to hire an editor and when do I just do the editing myself?” It’s a fair question, especially coming from people who are just starting out and want to give it a real try. Now, this doesn’t just go for YouTube edits. This can be applied to anyone including people editing for social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok or people scaling up their production companies.
The following tips are geared towards people who already understand basic editing techniques so if you haven’t gotten started learning that bit yet I highly recommend you sign up for a course or start watching some videos on editing softwares. DaVinci Resolve is a 95% free software that can get you started. It has always been one of my favorites which is why I created a course on it. We’d love to have you join! If you’re not interested in learning some editing skills, you should probably hire an editor!
These are the tips I usually give people who ask this question:
Understand the Workload
Not every job/gig/project will take the same amount of work. Being an editor is a very creative job so when you take this on as a side hustle or extra project, you have to understand how long each task will reasonably take you. Are you going to be filming AND editing this project? Will you be using stock footage? Is there going to be voice over work you need to do? Consider all the little pieces that will go into creating a video from start to finish.
Find a Good Editor/Backup
If you’re going to be creating content regularly and setting up a posting schedule, you may want to at least FIND an editor or someone who can help with the workload in case there’s an emergency and you literally can’t make any videos or you want to take a break from it but still have content come out. You can go to Fiverr or Upwork but most of the time I recommend asking around to your friends/family or anyone you know who may know someone in the space. Chances are you’ll find someone whose dentist’s son is a video editor.
A lot of headaches can arise when you hire an editor but as long as the communication lines are open and they understand what style you’re going for and can provide that in a timely manner, you should be fine!
Be Practical With Your Time
Editing takes time. We’ve all been there where we sit down to some fresh footage, lay down our track and as we plug away at building the visual elements 3 hours has gone by. If you have time to devote to editing, I recommend you do it yourself. The editing software available now as opposed to 10 years ago are way more user friendly and because of YouTube and other learning sources like SkillShare and Teachable it is really accessible to anyone. However, if you’ll only have time to work on your videos in your “spare time” understand that this means you’ll be giving up time with friend and family, time to relax by yourself and other hobbies as well, to make sure your videos get done. This might be enough of a reason to hire an editor.
Avoid Crushing Your Creativity
My last tip, I really tell myself more than anyone I know. Editing is a creative job. With that comes the need to have the mental space to BE creative. I cannot tell you how many times in my 7+ years of having a YouTube channel that I sat and stared at an edit and could not imagine how to start it. When I would stress out, there was no way I could create. I had to make time to unwind and to remember why I started this channel years ago. To avoid this I would do a few things:
Whenever inspiration hits you, write it down somewhere. This will keep you from having to come up with fresh ideas when you “have the time” and instead allows you to take advantage of your flow state which is probably not when you make yourself sit down at the computer.
Do something new that has nothing to do with your niche/genre you’re creating in. This lets you foster an open mindset and see things from a new perspective which does wonders for your creative process.
Take breaks during brainstorming sessions. Sometimes the best ideas come from those in between moments. Don’t we all have our best ideas in the shower or on the ride to the grocery store when our thoughts are on autopilot? That’s because when our minds are relaxed we aren’t stressed about performing and our minds can wander freely and creatively. Embrace those moments.
I hope this helped you decide whether it’s time for you to hire an editor. Again if you’re interested in learning how to edit we do offer a number of courses including one for DaVinci Resolve. It’s one of the most affordable editing softwares out there AND user-friendly. Join the hundreds of students we’ve helped get started today!
