Do you like editing videos?
If so, you might be wondering how to make money as a video editor.
The demand for video content has exploded in the past years. And many businesses and personalities require video editors who can do the work for them.
There are many ways to make money as a video editor, and in this blog post we will discuss 5 of them.
So whether you are just starting out or you have been editing videos for years, read on to find out how you can make more money doing what you love!
1. Finding freelance work
This is where many video editors start. It’s a great way to make money as a video editor and it’s the best place to build your portfolio.
You’ll have some flexibility in choosing who you work with, and what type of videos you can edit. You can search for video editing jobs on websites like Upwork or Fiverr, where they take a cut out of your fees.
One thing to note about using freelance websites though is that you will likely have to offer lower rates than if you find your own clients.
There are so many people competing in sites like these that it basically promotes cheap work. If you live in high cost areas or countries, it might not be worth your time to work on edits that are long for a small fee.
If you want to simply start small and build your portfolio, then this is a good place to start. But if you’re thinking of building your own clientele and keeping most of the fees, then #2 is the right one for you.
2. Starting a video editing business
This is a great option if you have a lot of experience editing videos and are more comfortable with handling money and more responsibilities.
This is a step up from #1 because you’re thinking more strategically in terms of acquiring, delivering to and keeping clients.
You can start a video editing business by directly offering your services to businesses or individuals who need video editing. You cut out the middlemen such as UpWork and Fiverr, so you can keep all the revenue.
When you have a video editing business, in my experience, people take you more seriously. This is just something that I like with a business. You’ll have more opportunities to scale up as well because you can automate and delegate editing to people you hire for your business.
I don’t recommend starting a business though if you don’t have the fundamental skills in video editing, or you’re not mentally ready for more responsibilities.
What I mean by that is if you aren’t confident in your video editing skills and are still improving on it, don’t just jump to making a business because that’s an entirely new skillset that you have to learn.
Building a business will also require you to do many things all at once — marketing, accounting, operations, etc.
If you aren’t ready that kind of responsibility, don’t do it YET.
Ease into it until you’re in a position of comfort with your skills and mindset, but also a bit uncomfortable at the income level you’re in.
You basically want more money.
3. Creating video tutorials
If you are experienced in video editing, you can create video tutorials and sell them online. This is a great way to earn passive income and it can be very profitable.
If you don’t want to sell tutorials online, you can also post your tutorials on YouTube and build a channel around it.
There are many channels who do this. They provide value through their channel by posting How-To Guides on Editing, editing trends, tools that they use, and many more.
This is a good way to make money as a video editor because not only are you making money from it, but you’re also reinforcing your knowledge on video editing. That will make you a better and more effective video editor.
You can sell your tutorials on a site like SkillShare, or host in on your own by building your own course website.
This may take time though because you have to create content, build an audience and market your tutorials. This is usually a long term play for video editors, and the pay off will not be quick.
4. Selling video templates & presets
The creator economy is booming and there will be no shortage of content creators looking for designs and templates that will save them time in editing videos.
Selling templates and presets is a great way to build a semi-passive income stream from video editing. You can sell your templates and presets at sites like Envato Market and Creative Market, where they take a cut from your fees.
I use a lot of templates and presets when editing videos and have spent hundreds of dollars already, so there is a big market for this. You can create templates for those subscribe buttons on YouTube, social media videos, marketing ads, etc.
Volume is going to be your friend here because most templates and presets sell for around $10 to $50. But that depends on what you’re selling. So do your research on what is out there in the market, what people are looking for and what you can provide that’s different from the competition.
5. Consulting
You’d be surprised with this. There are businesses who need help with their video projects, but they want to do it on their own.
They’re those DIY content creators who want to save, so they’d rather learn from someone who already does, and do things their own way.
This is an opportunity because you can consult these businesses on video editing practices, time-saving tips, and most importantly, storyboarding videos.
I cannot stress enough how important storyboarding your videos is.
It’s basically planning out videos before editing them. Many people think it’s easy, but not everyone does it. If you have an enormous amount of editing skills, you’ll be able to consult them with ease and charge for your time.
Conclusion
These are just 5 of the many ways you can make money as a video editor. So if you are looking to earn more money, consider pursuing one of these options.
You could be making a lot more money than you are now in no time by doing something that you love doing.