How to Hire a Video Editor for YouTube (Without Getting Burned)

Why Hiring an Editor Is a Leverage Decision, Not a Vanity Move

I've run a YouTube channel past 100K subscribers. I know what it feels like to sit in the edit suite at midnight cutting a 20-minute video when you should be doing literally anything else that grows the business. The moment I hired a dedicated video editor, my output doubled and my production anxiety dropped to zero.

This isn't about laziness. It's about leverage. If an hour of your time is worth $200 to your business, and you're spending 6 hours editing one video, you're torching $1,200 in opportunity cost - every single week. A good editor costs a fraction of that and frees you to do the things only you can do: ideate, present, sell, build.

But hiring the wrong editor - and plenty of people do - is worse than editing yourself. Missed deadlines, off-brand cuts, endless revision loops. This guide is about doing it right the first time.

One more thing before we get into the specifics: most guides on this topic treat hiring a video editor like filling any generic creative role. It's not. YouTube has its own algorithm, its own retention mechanics, its own pacing logic. The editor you need isn't just someone who knows Premiere Pro - it's someone who understands why the first 30 seconds of a YouTube video either hooks or loses the viewer for good. That distinction alone will save you months of frustration.

What Type of Editor Do You Actually Need?

Before you post a single job listing, get clear on your format. YouTube video editing is not one-size-fits-all. A talking-head interview-style channel needs a completely different skill set than a B-roll-heavy travel vlog or a fast-cut gaming channel. Expecting a YouTube editor to produce a full-length film is like asking a system administrator to build a mobile app - specialized editors bring distinct skills to the table, and using a catch-all job description risks attracting the wrong candidates altogether.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Long-form or short-form? Long-form (10+ minutes) requires strong narrative pacing and chapter structure. Short-form (Shorts, Reels) requires rapid retention-hook editing - punchy cuts, bold subtitles, high energy. Editors who do short-form vertical content need a strong understanding of aspect ratios and export settings for platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Facebook - that's a completely different technical workflow.
• Motion graphics needed? Editors who do custom animations and lower-thirds charge more. Know upfront whether you need that capability or just clean cuts. Basic motion graphics skills using After Effects for overlays, text animations, and simple transitions are a minimum bar if you want any visual polish.
• What software do they need to know? Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and After Effects are the industry standards. If someone is cutting your channel on Filmora or CapCut, they may not have the ceiling you need as you scale. That said, CapCut and mobile-first workflows are genuinely appropriate for some short-form-only creators - just know the tradeoff.
• Turnaround requirements? Publishing twice a week is a different workflow than once a month. Make sure your editor can handle your cadence before you hire them.
• Do you need faceless or AI-assisted editing? Faceless YouTube channels - where the video is built entirely from stock footage, screen recordings, and voiceover - are one of the fastest-growing formats. Editors for this style need proficiency in sourcing assets, syncing voiceovers to B-roll, and building visual rhythm without on-camera talent. This is its own specialty.
• Shorts repurposing or dedicated Shorts editor? Many creators now want a dedicated workflow where long-form content gets repurposed into Shorts. Some editors specialize specifically in content repurposing - pulling the highest-retention clips from a long video and reformatting them for vertical. If that's your goal, look for that explicitly.

One thing worth noting: demand for editors who specialize in AI workflows, Shorts optimization, and faceless YouTube channels has grown sharply. Hiring platforms now highlight AI-tool proficiency - tools like Descript, Runway, Premiere AI Assist, AutoCut, and DaVinci Resolve Neural tools - directly on editor profiles. If you're in those formats, look explicitly for that experience. Editors with this skillset can dramatically reduce your per-video cost and turnaround time.

How to Write a Job Description That Attracts the Right Candidates

Most job descriptions for video editors are either too generic or too loaded with buzzwords. The result: you get flooded with applicants who don't match what you actually need. A strong job description for a YouTube video editor should include specific job titles, clear project scopes, required technical skills and software proficiency, plus workflow expectations - this reduces mismatch before the first interview even happens.

Here's the structure that works:

• Job title: Be specific. "YouTube Long-Form Video Editor" is very different from "Social Media Video Editor." The clearer the title, the better the candidates who self-select in.
• Channel context: Tell them what your channel is about, your approximate upload cadence, and your audience. Editors who understand your niche from the jump will ask smarter questions and produce better first drafts.
• Deliverables: Outline exactly what you expect per video - finished length, whether you need captions, whether you need thumbnails, whether you need Shorts cut-downs. Focus on deliverables and workflow expectations, not abstract quality language.
• Software requirements: List the specific software you use or require. If you're on Final Cut Pro and they only know Premiere, that's a mismatch you want to catch early.
• Compensation model: State whether this is per-video, hourly, or retainer. Indicate the amount you're willing to pay and whether it's negotiable. If your offer is too low, you'll fail to attract the right professionals - so make sure your rate matches the quality you're expecting.
• Sample of your work: Include a link to your channel. Let candidates see exactly what they'd be working with. Editors who take time to watch a few videos before applying are the ones you actually want to talk to.

The most common mistake I see in creator job postings: they describe the ideal editor in vague terms ("passionate about storytelling," "creative thinker") and say nothing concrete about the actual workflow. That's how you end up interviewing 30 people and hiring the wrong one.

What Does It Actually Cost to Hire a YouTube Video Editor?

Here's the honest breakdown. Rates vary a lot depending on experience, location, and what you're asking for, so let me give you real ranges to benchmark against.

Hourly rates by experience level:

• Beginner editors: $25-$45/hour. Good for simple cuts, basic color correction, standard YouTube formatting. Expect more back-and-forth on revisions.
• Intermediate editors: $45-$70/hour. These editors understand pacing, can handle motion graphics basics, and typically require fewer revision rounds.
• Expert editors: $60-$120/hour. If you need cinematic storytelling, complex animations, or a true creative partner - this is the tier.

Per-video pricing is often more predictable for YouTube work. A basic jump-cut edit starts around $100. A basic 5-minute YouTube video starts around $250 on the low end. A typical 10-minute video with some graphics and sound design runs $500-$2,000 depending on complexity. If you're getting quotes in the $200-$400 range per long-form video from a solid mid-tier editor, that's market-rate for less complex content.

Subscription and retainer models are another option worth knowing about. Some video editing companies and certain freelancers offer flat monthly rates where you get a set number of edits or hours per month. Depending on the company and what's included, monthly subscription costs typically range between $350 and $2,000 - which starts to make sense if you're producing at high volume and want budget predictability. The tradeoff is you pay that fee whether or not you fully use the capacity in a given month.

One rule of thumb worth knowing: for a YouTube vlog-style video, editors typically spend roughly 1 hour of editing time per 1 minute of finished output. So a 10-minute final cut equals approximately 10 hours of editor time. Run your own math from there. For more complex content with animation and custom graphics, that ratio can run 2 hours of editing per finished minute or more.

Location matters too. A U.S.-based editor often starts at $50/hour due to cost of living. South Asian and Southeast Asian editors frequently deliver professional quality at $15-$30/hour. Eastern European editors tend to fall in the $25-$50/hour range. There's no inherent quality difference by geography - just factor in time zone overlap and communication for your workflow. Some of the best editors I've worked with have been based overseas and communicated better than local hires.

One cost-saving move: if you have consistent volume, negotiate a bulk or retainer discount. Many editors will drop per-video rates by 20-25% for reliable monthly work. Consistency is valuable to them - it means predictable income - and you should use that as leverage during rate negotiations.

A note on rush pricing: If you need a fast turnaround, expect a rush premium or a higher base rate. Editors block off their schedules for rush work, and that has real cost. Build your upload schedule with enough lead time to avoid this fee entirely. A 10-20% revision buffer in your budget also prevents surprise overages, especially if your feedback comes from multiple stakeholders.

Where to Find YouTube Video Editors

There are more places to look than most people realize. Here's where I'd actually spend time:

Upwork

The largest freelance marketplace out there, with millions of freelancers and hundreds of thousands of clients globally. You'll get a flood of proposals fast, which is both a blessing and a problem. The key is to not hire the first person who bids and definitely not the cheapest. Use Upwork's filter to look at job success scores, completed contracts, and reviews specific to video editing - not just general creative work. Fixed-price contracts make more sense than hourly for YouTube editing, because hourly can balloon if an editor works slowly. Upwork also now has built-in collaboration tools including cloud timelines and shared review dashboards - use these instead of sending files back and forth manually.

Fiverr

Good for one-off test projects and entry-level discovery. The quality range is enormous - you can find strong editors for $50/video or overpay for garbage. Treat Fiverr as a trial ground, not your long-term solution. Find someone good, then take them off-platform to a direct arrangement once you've built trust (check the platform's terms of service before doing so). Fiverr also now has AI usage disclosure tags on many profiles so you can see whether an editor uses AI for rough cuts, captioning, color matching, or full edits - which helps you filter between human-first editors and AI-heavy workflows.

Freelancer.com and Guru

Similar to Upwork but with slightly different talent pools. Freelancer.com in particular has a large international base and can surface quality editors from regions like Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe at competitive rates. Guru tends to attract slightly more experienced mid-level professionals. Worth checking if Upwork proposals aren't hitting the mark for your niche or budget.

Toptal

If you need top-tier quality and budget isn't the primary constraint, Toptal is a curated marketplace of screened, elite editing talent. You don't browse profiles - instead, you describe your project and within 48 hours they send you matched candidates to interview. There's typically a two-week trial period so you can evaluate the fit. The tradeoff is cost: rates are significantly higher than open marketplaces, and Toptal takes a substantial cut on top of the editor's rate. For most YouTube creators, Toptal is overkill - but for enterprise content studios or high-profile personal brands producing at a premium level, it's worth knowing about.

LinkedIn + YouTube Creator Communities

Underrated. Editors who hang out in YouTube creator Facebook groups, Discord servers, and LinkedIn communities are usually more plugged-in to what makes YouTube content actually perform. Referrals from other creators are gold - ask in your network before posting a cold job ad. LinkedIn is packed with professionals who showcase their work directly on their profiles, so you can review portfolios without any back-and-forth.

YouTube Itself

Search for channels in your niche that you admire. If the editing is exceptional, reach out to that creator and ask who edits for them. Many editors build their portfolios by editing for mid-size channels before going independent. This is one of the fastest ways to find someone who already understands your content style - they've already proven they can produce content for your niche.

Specialized Video Editing Platforms

Beyond the general freelance marketplaces, there are platforms built specifically for video content work - places like Vidpros, Video Husky, and Flocksy. Some of these operate on unlimited editing subscription models where for a flat monthly rate you can submit an unlimited number of editing projects (one active project at a time). This is almost like having an in-house editor with the redundancy of a team behind them. Good option if you're producing at consistent volume and want service-level guarantees a solo freelancer can't offer.

Traditional Job Boards (for Full-Time Roles)

If you're at the stage where you need a dedicated full-time editor, platforms like Indeed, LinkedIn, ZipRecruiter, and Glassdoor all have active video editor job listings. Most full-time editor roles now also require familiarity with AI tools like Runway, Descript, and Adobe Firefly - so include those requirements in your listing if relevant. Remote video editing roles have increased significantly, which means you can hire globally even for a full-time position.

And if you're running an agency or brand-side content operation and need to find editors at scale - or want to source contacts of YouTube creators to pitch your editing or production services - ScraperCity's YouTuber Email Finder can pull contact info for creators in any niche, which is useful for outreach-driven hiring or partnerships.

How to Vet Candidates Without Wasting Your Time

The vetting process is where most people go wrong. They look at a portfolio, think "this looks good," and hire someone - only to find the portfolio was the editor's best-ever work, not their typical work. The interview-to-outcome gap in creative hiring is brutal if you don't have a structured process.

Here's the tighter process I use:

Step 1: Ask for niche-specific examples

Don't just ask for "portfolio samples." Ask specifically for examples of videos similar to yours - same format, same length, same energy. If you run a B2B talking-head channel and they send you travel vlog samples, that's a mismatch even if the editing looks great. It's also smart to ask for samples of short-form edits (YouTube Shorts, TikTok, Reels) if multi-format repurposing is part of your workflow - most YouTube creators rely on this now, and not every editor is equally strong in both formats.

Step 2: Ask smart filtering questions in your job post

Add a qualifying question to your job listing that most people won't bother to answer properly - something like "What's the biggest retention mistake you see YouTube creators make in their first 60 seconds?" or "Name one channel whose editing you think is exceptional and explain why." Editors who actually understand YouTube will give you a real answer. Editors who are just bulk-applying will skip it or give a generic non-answer. This one trick cuts your applicant pool by 70% and leaves you with the candidates worth talking to.

Step 3: Send a paid test project

This is non-negotiable. Give your top two or three finalists the same raw footage clip - maybe 5 minutes of raw material - and pay them a small fee to edit it. You'll immediately see who can follow instructions, who has taste, and who actually understands pacing for your audience. Even if the portfolio looks good, run the test. Many editors now offer AI-assisted workflows, and a test project helps you see how they blend automation with real editorial judgment - you want to see the seams and the creative decisions, not just the final polish.

You can run the test two ways: give all finalists the same footage so you're comparing apples to apples, or give each a different piece of raw footage so you finish real content in the process. Both approaches work - the apples-to-apples method is more informative for comparison purposes.

Step 4: Evaluate communication, not just craft

How fast do they respond? Do they ask smart clarifying questions? Do they push back intelligently when something won't work? A brilliant editor who disappears for 48 hours between messages is going to destroy your upload schedule. Communication and reliability matter as much as the quality of the cut itself. Good editors ask about priorities: they want to understand content quality expectations, brand identity, and your upload goals before they start cutting.

Step 5: Check their revision process

Before you hire, ask: how do you handle revision requests? How many rounds are included? What's your turnaround on revisions? Bad revision workflows are one of the most common points of friction - vague feedback gets ignored, and you end up re-explaining the same notes five times. A good editor uses clear project management tools and can receive structured feedback without getting defensive.

Step 6: Have a contract ready before you start

Whoever you hire, have a freelance contract ready for signing before any work begins. Have all terms including payment arrangement, revision limits, turnaround expectations, ownership of the final file, and confidentiality spelled out. If you're hiring through a platform like Upwork, there are platform-level legal terms to be aware of as well. Skipping the contract is how you end up in a dispute over a deliverable that wasn't defined in the first place.

Interview Questions to Ask Before You Hire

Beyond the test project, a short conversation before hire will tell you a lot. Here are the questions I'd ask any finalist:

• "What YouTube channels do you think have the best editing right now, and why?" - Tests whether they actually watch and analyze YouTube content or just edit files for pay.
• "How do you think about the first 30 seconds of a YouTube video?" - A good editor knows retention mechanics. A great answer will reference hooks, pattern interrupts, and viewer expectations specific to the platform.
• "Walk me through your typical workflow from receiving raw footage to delivering the final file." - This reveals their process, their tool proficiency, and their ability to manage complexity. You want someone with a system, not someone who figures it out fresh each time.
• "How do you handle a situation where you disagree with the client's creative direction?" - The answer tells you everything about how they handle feedback. You want someone who expresses their perspective professionally but ultimately executes your vision.
• "What happens if you miss a deadline?" - Reliability is everything in a content operation. You want to hear accountability and a plan, not deflection.
• "Do you use any AI tools in your editing workflow? Which ones and for what?" - Not a disqualifying question either way - but knowing their AI usage helps you calibrate expectations around speed, cost, and the type of human review they apply.

How to Onboard and Manage Your Editor for the Long Term

Hiring is just the start. If you want an editor who stays, improves, and eventually works almost autonomously, you need to set them up with the right systems on day one. Most editor relationships break down not because of talent, but because of unclear expectations and bad workflow infrastructure.

Build a Style Guide

This is the single highest-leverage thing you can do. Document your editing preferences: pacing, color grade, font choices, lower-third style, intro/outro format, music vibe, B-roll usage rules, subtitle formatting. The more explicit this is, the fewer revisions you'll deal with. Think of it as your editor's operating manual - it trains them faster than any feedback session. Without guidelines, you'll waste time with revisions; with them, the first draft of a new video already hits 80% of what you want.

A strong style guide also includes examples - not just descriptions. Link to specific timestamps in your existing videos that represent the look, pacing, and energy you want. "Energy level like [video A], transitions like [video B], subtitle style like [video C]" is worth ten times more than any written description.

Use a Project Management Tool

Running your editor relationship through email or text messages is a mistake. Use something like Monday.com or a shared Notion workspace to manage video statuses, revision rounds, deadlines, and feedback. When everything lives in one place, nothing falls through the cracks. Project management tools also make it easy to track progress against growth targets, content quality metrics, and upload schedules - all in one dashboard your editor can see too.

Use Descript for Feedback

If you haven't tried Descript for reviewing edits, it's a game-changer. You can leave timestamped comments directly in the video transcript, record screen annotations, and communicate edits in a format editors can act on immediately - rather than sending a wall of notes that gets misinterpreted. It cuts revision cycle time significantly and eliminates the ambiguity that causes most back-and-forth.

Use Frame.io or Loom for Async Review

Another tool worth having in your stack: Frame.io (now part of Adobe) for structured video review with frame-accurate comments, or Loom for quick screen-recorded feedback videos. If you can record yourself talking over the rough cut and point to exactly what you want changed, you'll save hours of back-and-forth and your editor will love you for it. Async video feedback respects both your time and theirs.

Set Milestones, Not Deadlines

Don't just give an editor a due date. Break the workflow into milestones: rough cut by X, graphics and audio by Y, final export by Z. This gives you visibility into where a video is in the process and catches problems early - before a deadline miss blindsides you. It also creates natural checkpoints where you can course-correct before the editor has invested 10 hours into a direction you're going to reject.

Share Analytics Regularly

One of the most underrated moves for keeping a great editor engaged: share your YouTube analytics with them. Show them which videos performed best, what your average view duration looks like, and where viewers drop off. When an editor understands that the jump in retention at the 2:30 mark happened because of the way they cut that B-roll sequence, they internalize what "working" looks like. Editors who see their craft reflected in your growth become invested partners, not just contractors.

Conduct Regular Strategy Sessions

Don't let your relationship become purely transactional. Schedule brief periodic strategy sessions - even 20 minutes - to align on content direction, discuss what's performing, and let your editor weigh in on what they think could work better. Editors who watch a lot of content in your niche often have insights you've missed. Regular communication keeps everyone on the same page and ensures your creative direction stays focused and improving.

Freelancer vs. Agency vs. Full-Time: Which Makes Sense?

This depends on your volume and budget. There's no universally right answer - only the right answer for where you are right now.

• Freelancer: Best for most creators and businesses. Flexible, cost-effective, wide talent pool. Works well if you have consistent projects and a solid onboarding process. The main risk is reliability - freelancers can disappear or deprioritize your work if a bigger client comes along. Mitigate this by building a strong relationship and paying on time, every time - editors deprioritize clients who are slow payers or painful to work with.
• Video editing agency/subscription service: More expensive, but you get a team behind the work, built-in redundancy, and usually a structured workflow. Good if you're producing at high volume and can't afford one editor being the single point of failure. Platforms like Flocksy and Video Husky offer unlimited editing services at flat monthly rates - the unlimited model means one active project at a time, queue-based, but it removes the per-video budgeting overhead entirely.
• Full-time hire: Only makes sense if you have enough consistent work to fill 40 hours a week. Full-time editors come with payroll overhead, benefits, software licensing, equipment, and employment law compliance - including dealing with taxes, pensions, sick leave, PTO, and legal grounds for termination. Unless you're a large creator or content studio, freelance is almost always more efficient. If you do go full-time, use payroll software to handle the administrative overhead so it doesn't eat your time.

If you want to build out a full content team - not just a video editor but a whole production operation around your agency or brand - I walk through that hiring and systems process inside the 7-Figure Agency Blueprint.

Red Flags to Watch For When Hiring

After going through this process enough times, you develop pattern recognition for editors who are going to cause problems. Here are the signals I've learned to watch for:

• Portfolio that's all different styles: Some variety is fine, but if every video in their portfolio looks completely different with no consistent quality thread, they may not have a stable skill floor. You want to see consistent execution, not a best-of-all-time reel.
• No questions about your channel: An editor who doesn't ask anything about your audience, your goals, or your content before starting the test project is an editor who will make assumptions - and assumptions in creative work are expensive.
• Slow first response: Response time on Upwork or email during the hiring process is a reliable predictor of response time once they're hired. If they take 3 days to respond to your initial message, that pattern will repeat mid-project.
• Defensive about feedback: Pay attention during the test project debrief. When you give specific notes, do they engage constructively or get defensive? An editor who can't receive feedback professionally will make your entire content operation more stressful over time.
• No defined revision policy: If they can't answer "how many revision rounds are included" clearly, you're going to have a dispute about it later. A professional editor knows their workflow and can quote it.
• Rate that's suspiciously low: I'm not saying don't hire affordable editors - geography creates legitimate rate differences. But if a rate is dramatically below market with no geographic explanation, it usually means the editor is cutting corners somewhere: AI-generated content passed off as manual editing, stolen portfolio work, or chronic underdelivery on scope.

How to Keep a Great Editor Once You Find One

Finding a great editor is hard. Keeping one is actually harder for most creators, because they don't treat the relationship like a real business partnership. Here's what I do differently:

Pay early, not late. Editors talk to each other. Creators who pay on time (or early) get prioritized. Creators who string along payment get de-prioritized or dropped when a better client comes along. This is the simplest retention lever most people ignore.

Give credit and feedback that recognizes good work. When a video performs well, tell your editor. "That opening cut sequence nailed it - watch how the retention chart holds through the first 3 minutes" is the kind of specific feedback that makes an editor want to stay and keep leveling up. Most creators only message their editor when something went wrong.

Raise rates proactively. When your channel grows, your editor made that happen too. Revisit rates periodically. A modest rate increase when warranted costs you far less than losing a great editor and starting the search over - especially after you've invested months of onboarding and style training.

Give them creative input occasionally. The best editors aren't just technicians - they have real creative instincts. Once in a while, ask them: "Is there something you've been wanting to try with the edit that we haven't done yet?" This keeps them creatively engaged and occasionally surfaces a genuinely great idea.

Build in escalating autonomy. Start with tight direction and explicit notes. As your editor proves their taste, gradually reduce your micromanagement. An editor who has earned trust should eventually be able to produce a near-final draft from your raw footage with minimal direction. That's where the real leverage kicks in - when editing becomes nearly invisible in your workflow.

The One Mistake That Kills Good Editor Relationships

Not giving enough direction. Editors are not mind-readers. The more context you give them about your audience, your goals, your tone, and your style preferences, the better the output. Every time I've seen a client-editor relationship break down, it's because the client assumed the editor would "just know" what they wanted - and the editor assumed they were doing a good job.

Specificity is the antidote. Instead of "make it feel more energetic," say "cut this section tighter, add a sound effect on this beat, and use the jump-cut style from [example video]." That's actionable. That's what gets results.

The same principle applies to thumbnail direction, title feedback, and music choices. Vague creative feedback wastes everyone's time and creates resentment on both sides. Build the habit of specific, timestamped feedback from day one and your revision rounds will drop dramatically.

If you want to sharpen the way you run your entire outreach and hiring process - not just video editors, but building a team around your personal brand - I cover the full system inside Galadon Gold.

And if you're a creator or agency wanting to find and pitch YouTube channels for collaborations, sponsorships, or services - check out the Discovery Call Framework to convert those conversations into actual clients.

Tools to Streamline Your Video Production Workflow

Beyond the hiring process itself, the tools you use to manage your video production operation make a massive difference in how well your editor relationship functions. Here's the stack I'd recommend building:

• Descript: Transcript-based editing, timestamped feedback, and screen recording. Use this for giving revision notes to your editor and for basic review before they do the full cut.
• Monday.com: Project management for tracking video production stages, deadlines, and revision rounds. Far better than email chains.
• Frame.io: Frame-accurate video review with comment threads that your editor can respond to directly in context. Eliminates the "at the 2:14 mark" communication problem.
• Loom: Record quick screen-captured feedback videos instead of writing long notes. Faster to produce, easier to understand, and your editor will actually act on them because they can see and hear exactly what you mean.
• ScreenStudio: If you're doing tutorials or screen-capture content, ScreenStudio produces polished screen recordings that are easier for your editor to work with than raw screen captures.
• Google Drive or Dropbox: Raw footage needs to live somewhere your editor can access it reliably. Pick one cloud storage solution and standardize your folder structure from day one - video files organized by date and project name, separate folders for raw footage, assets, rough cuts, and finals.

Final Checklist Before You Hire

• ✅ Know your format and editing complexity level before posting a job
• ✅ Write a specific job description with deliverables, software requirements, and compensation model
• ✅ Add a qualifying question to your listing to filter out bulk applicants
• ✅ Set a realistic rate based on your format - not just the lowest bidder
• ✅ Require niche-specific portfolio samples, not just general work
• ✅ Ask the right interview questions to assess platform understanding and feedback culture
• ✅ Run a paid test project with your top 2-3 candidates
• ✅ Have a freelance contract ready before any work starts
• ✅ Build a style guide before the first video begins
• ✅ Use a project management tool - not email chains
• ✅ Set milestone-based workflows, not just due dates
• ✅ Share analytics regularly so your editor understands what performance looks like
• ✅ Give specific, timestamped feedback every time
• ✅ Pay on time, recognize good work, and revisit rates as the channel grows

A great video editor is one of the highest-ROI hires you can make as a creator or content-driven business. Get the process right and you'll never go back to editing yourself again - and you'll have built the production foundation that lets you scale your channel without scaling your personal time investment.