over the last 4 years I've worked with nearly 72 YouTube video editors and I've made every mistake in the book but now finally have a great team of editors for both my agency and channel and so today I'm going to compile all of that experience into one simple guide so you can find the best video editors for your own channel But first you need to stop using third party platforms the current narrative for hiring any kind of YouTube freelancer let alone video editors is that you should use a platform like Fiverr or upwork the reason
this narrative exists is because a lot of people believe they can capitalize on or even exploit the currency differences between more and less economically developed countries and also the ease of use of these platforms now these platforms are great but when it comes to finding a highquality long-term video editor there are three big reasons why I wouldn't use them first I found that the quality of sellers on these platforms just isn't that great for lower budgets now it isn't because they aren't good it's instead because they are typically working with a bunch of different customers
meaning they aren't able to commit as much time to your project as someone who isn't dealing with a whole lot of people coming to them you might expect an imong godi style documentary edit for half price by working on one of these platforms when in reality you'll get something that isn't anywhere close don't get me wrong though Fiverr and upward can be really great for oneoff projects but generally speaking when you're looking for long-term quality it's very hard to find it unless you break the bank second you have the logistics of how the platform works
for example Fiverr takes 20% from the freelancer and charges the buyer in additional 5% while upwork takes 10% from the freelancer and charges the buyer an additional 5% this means means that if you agree on $100 for an edit you as the buyer will pay around $15 while the editor will only take home $80 to $90 this system results in a lot of really good Freelancers jacking up their prices to offset the differences which just isn't worth it when you're looking for a long-term collaboration in reality the demand for good video editors has gone up
massively in the last few years so if they're decent they likely won't be charging $ 20 to $30 on a platform like Fiverr instead they're going to be doing their own thing off platform which leads me on to reason three the platforms are typically just very clunky when it comes to long-term communication again oneoff projects I totally recommend you use one of these platforms but when it comes to long-term work that you're going to be doing recurringly one of the most important aspects you need to consider is communication and when working on a platform like
Fiverr or upwork it can be really difficult for instance these platforms are very particular about keeping sellers on their platform and so they penalize most forms of third-party communication between buyers and sellers this results and sellers being very hesitant to go off platform and join your systems as they're often using it as their livelihood now at this point you know why these platforms just won't work when looking for a highquality long-term video editor the good news however is that I have a bunch of tried and tested methods for finding good quality editors the first of
which I call the networking method the networking method involves connecting with other people within your space for example you could reach out to YouTubers that you know and ask them for recommendations on who they're using or who they know of that is looking for some more work this method is actually the the one I've used the most and would say it's the most effective for finding somebody good long term another option when networking is to just reach out to somebody whom you don't know and ask them who edited their video the best method for this
involves using Twitter in fact for all forms of communication with YouTubers Twitter is going to be your best friend simply because it's the most down toe and you know everything about a person by looking at their profile and using Twitter if you find an editor making posts or just find them using the search bar you can start a conversation with them and see if they're looking for new work you can also network with YouTubers or editors in posts and threads that way you might have editors reach out to you which can make things even easier
but when it comes to Twitter I actually have another technique that I call the rabbit hole method to use this method you'll first want to find a YouTuber and then see who they are following then when looking at their following try to find somebody with the word editor video editor YouTube video editor or anything similar as their tagline after that you can reach out to them and ask if they are available for a project or go even further into the Rabbit Hole by using the same tactic on the editor's profile file looking at who they
follow because I found that highquality editors tend to follow other highquality editors and vice versa so by looking at who editors are following they'll get access to editors that aren't being chased by other creators remember not every freelancer or person wants to be a Creator and so there are a ton of incredible editors out there without a good social media presence and it does make them harder to find but it also means they are much easier to keep on your team long term as they aren't being tempted by other creators but if Twitter isn't really
your thing you can also use the stalker method I call call this technique the stalker method because what you're essentially going to do is stock video editors profiles on the platform YouTube jobs now I know I said earlier you shouldn't use external platforms but this one is different YouTube jobs doesn't take any commission from the seller and they don't charge you at all the only time they do charge is if you want to create and advertise a listing but you don't need to do that instead you can just go to Talent filter for video editor
and then it's going to show you editors with verified reviews and collaborations from other YouTubers using this method you're going to find a nice balance between quality and price but for those who aren't worried about price and instead just want the best quality possible you'll then need the local method the local method involves finding video editors within your local area and by local I mean so close that you can meet with them over coffee in person the benefit of working with somebody locally is that you'll have access to meeting them and communicating in person which
is by far the most efficient and effective method for communicating objectives revisions and issues and to be honest I've also found that local editors are of much higher quality the only issue however is that local editors are going to charge you a lot more than somebody online depending on where you live for example here in the US the average salary is way higher than most other countries and a lot of editors are going to expect around a $5,000 a month or more full-time salary there is a way around this however and it involves hiring high
school or college students looking for more experience now you won't get the same quality but you will get the benefits of great communication at a cheaper rate and if you are talented enough yourself you can always train them and finally method six is the set and forget method the setting forget method involves using a platform like YouTube jobs or even something more formal like seek to create a job listing this will obviously cost you a bit of money but it will get you in touch with a lot of extremely professional and established video editors depending
on what you are willing to pay the other benefit of this is that you'll only need to spend an hour or two creating a listing and then we'll have hundreds if not thousands of people come to you and again it'll cost you but if you're stuck for time this is definitely one of the best methods all in all finding a decent video editor isn't going to be easy cuz you need to prioritize high quality over low prices stop using third party platforms and do some digging to find someone that is worth your time but once
you do this you'll save a lot of time and energy that you can then put to better use in growing your channel and presence as a Creator thanks for watching
