Traits of a Great Freelance Video Editing Client

Last week I had a new freelance video editing project come in. My #1 freelance writing client wanted a video created and turned to me to do the editing. Will they also be a great freelance video editing client?

I got going with it, working almost a full day over the course of a handful of nights and a Saturday morning. Then I got an email saying to stop working on the project and that they wanted to table it for a couple months while they work up a larger marketing campaign.

Well, damn. I spent almost a day on this thing and I’m going to have to wait to get paid until we complete the project… 

But that didn’t happen. They told me to bill for the hours I’ve worked so far. The next day I had a few hundred bucks sitting in my PayPal account. Reasons like this are exactly why I love working with this company.

Sure, my project got put on hold and I made a fraction of what I would have otherwise but something happened outside of my point of contact’s control and they made good on the work that I got done and paid me immediately. These are traits of a great freelance client.

Below I’ve brainstormed a few more traits of a great freelance client, specifically for video editors. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this as well.

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Naptime Blog Update

Since my son was born this summer I’ve found it difficult to find time for anything that doesn’t revolve around him, my wife, my dog, my 9-5, or the mountain of bottles I need to wash that seems to never disappear next to my sink.

For the past 6 ½ years I’ve been living separate lives from my home/office lives through my various blogs and online platforms. It’s disheartening to see my projects grow cobwebs.

After some self-reflection while a 17lb tiny human slept on my chest I realized I’m letting perfection and the size of what I want to create get in the way. In my mind I want everything I create to be near flawless and be of substantial length.

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The Video Editor’s Digest | Edition #46

Hey there and welcome back to the Video Editor’s Digest! In this edition we cover the Avid / Chrome SIP issue, music visualizer in AE & more.

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The Video Editor’s Digest | Edition #45

Hey there and welcome back to the Video Editor’s Digest! In this edition we cover post production at Netflix, a new feature in Premiere, 2D vs. 3D animation & more.

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The Video Editor’s Digest | Edition #44

Hey there and welcome back to the Video Editor’s Digest! In this edition we cover blend modes in Avid Media Composer, a giant free room tones library, finding freelance clients & more.

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The Video Editor’s Digest | Edition #43

Hey there and welcome back to the Video Editor’s Digest! In this edition we cover Hollywood’s favorite NLE, the freelancer’s triangle, The Mandalorian, animated textures in AE & more.

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The Video Editor’s Digest | Edition #42

Hey there and welcome back to the Video Editor’s Digest! In this edition we cover creating GIFs in Premiere, how many producers should be on a project, YouTube Content ID policy changes & more.

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The Video Editor’s Digest | Edition #41

Hey there and welcome back to the Video Editor’s Digest! In this edition we cover 4K workflow in Avid, Resolve’s Boring Detector, camera humor & more.

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Networking for Video Editors

Networking for video editors is literally the most important thing you can do for your career.

Let me say that one more time for those in the back.

📣 NETWORKING FOR VIDEO EDITORS IS LITERALLY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR. 📣

We all have different career paths. Two editors can be working at the same post house at the same seniority level making the same amount and they both got there in dramatically different ways.

One editor got their job through Indeed and 1,000 online applications. The other editor got their job over a beer with someone from their network. I know plenty of editors who are the former. They apply to everything on Glassdoor and eventually land a gig. Me, I’m the other editor.

For me, every single job I’ve ever had or gig I’ve landed is because of networking. It was because I knew someone else who was in need of my skills. Those people knew I had those skills and was looking for work. I wasn’t annoying about it (at least in my opinion I wasn’t). And it was because I never stopped networking.

If you take anything away from this post I hope it’s the following:

  1. The most important thing you can do for your career is to network
  2. You have to tell people about your skills, what you can do, and what you want to do
  3. The people you tell about your skills must know you’re looking for work or are interested in doing work in the future
  4. Don’t be annoying to these people you’re networking with
  5. Never stop networking, even when you have more than enough work

The rest of this post will focus on the why’s and how’s behind these networking fundamentals for video editors.

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The Video Editor’s Digest | Edition #40

Hey there and welcome back to the Video Editor’s Digest! In this edition we cover a free audio syncing tool, Stranger Things FX in AE, artsy movie trailers, & more.

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