Ask This Question to Understand What a Working Relationship Looks Like

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If there's one thing that I wish I could just shout from the rooftops

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about hiring a podcast editor, it might be.

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Don't hire just any old editor to get a seat filled.

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Make sure that you're going to be working with an editor that you actually want to work with.

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In fact, that's what this entire show is about.

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In this episode, we're going to take a look at one question that's designed to give you confidence,

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to help you understand whether or not the person you're talking with is a flake or a solid performer.

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Whether their style matches your style, and whether or not you can trust that they're going to get you consistent.

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In other words, do you even want to work with this editor?

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It's a simple question, but it opens the door to so much of what you need to know.

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Welcome to Hiring a Podcast Editor.

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My name is Bryan Entzminger.

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I'm a podcast editor and manager at TopTierAudio.com.

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This show is intended to help you be able to find the right podcast editor for you.

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Whether you're looking for your first editor or your next editor in season one, we're going to help you

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get clarity on what you really want before you start connecting with editors, and then provide you with

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the tools to make the right decision for yourself.

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This show is sponsored by top tier audio.com, where we provide podcast production services for

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multi-passionate coaches, trainers, and consultants.

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Be sure to stick around to the end and I'll tell you how you can get a free tool to help you organize

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your thoughts and make sure you don't miss anything.

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One of the things that I think people sometimes forget is that the working relationship with a podcast editor can span years.

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I should mention just like last time that this is true also for podcast managers, podcast producers,

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pretty much any podcast service provider.

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That relationship could last for years, and unless you're hiring an.

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You're not going to have much or really even any control over your editor's schedule or their

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availability or what it's like to work with them.

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Because of that, it's crucial to understand what it might be like to work with them and whether

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or not you're comfortable with that relationship.

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Of course, it might seem like the obvious answer is to just make a list of things that are important to

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you and go down that list and start filling it out.

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Maybe that list that you made in the first section of the free download, "15 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Podcast

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Editor," but we're going to take a slightly different approach.

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Instead, we're going to ask a more open-ended question so that we don't miss anything that we might not have considered at first.

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With that said, we're not going to ignore the list.

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That list is going to be important because as we listen to the answers that this editor gives, we're going to

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compare their answers to what we've put together and maybe ask some probing questions if there seem to be some gaps.

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Here's the question.

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What does it look like to work with you?

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Or if you'd prefer, describe the typical process or workflow for working together.

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I know sounds really simple, but it's not, and when you ask this question, be prepared for the person you're

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talking with to maybe ask some clarifying questions, especially around the context of what you're looking.

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This is important because this will help you understand what it's going to be like to communicate with this person,

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and communication is key for any longstanding relationship.

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They may have questions around whether you're looking for information about onboarding or episode production,

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or the overall working arrangements or something else.

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, it's okay to guide the conversation to one and then come back to the other and maybe take a slightly different approach.

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In fact, I would recommend that you go ahead and guide the conversation first toward the overall working

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relationship, and then do come back and talk about individual episodes and make sure that you understand that as well.

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When the editor that you're talking with starts to answer, you're going to be listening for things

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that help you understand process and defined.

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now, it's not so much, it's, it's going to be a little bit, do I want them to fill this role?

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And is that something that they do?

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Let's be honest.

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And it's going to be some of what are they going to expect from you?

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But the real question is, does it seem like they have a defined process?

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or does it sound like they're just making it up as they go along?

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Does it seem like they have defined roles in the working relationship, or does it sound like they're just

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making that up and nobody's responsible for anything?

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Do you understand from their conversation, what marks the beginning of a working relationship?

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Is it once you've signed the contract you're working together?

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Is it once the first payment is made?

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Is it when files are delivered?

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Do they even use contracts?

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These are important things to.

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by the same approach.

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What about the beginning of a new episode?

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What starts that?

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Is it when you say, Hey, I've got a new episode for you?

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Or is it when the first file is delivered or all of the files are delivered?

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How do you know when they're ready to start working on a new episode?

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And.

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How do you get the files to them?

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Do you send them by Dropbox or Google Drive, or do they want micro SD cards?

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Like how do you get the files to them?

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Make sure that you understand that.

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As well as their turnaround timelines.

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How many days or weeks do they need to turn an episode around?

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Listen for what they're going to expect you to do, as well as what you can expect them to do, and make sure that these

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roles feel right to you, that you want to do the parts they want you to do, or someone on your team perhaps can do.

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and that they're doing the things that you would want them to do.

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Thinking a, again, about the episode production, when is it considered complete?

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What marks the end?

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Is it when they send files back to you?

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Is there a revision request?

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Or how do they handle error corrections?

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All of those things are important.

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How do they handle vacations and holidays?

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Do they just randomly take time off, or do they plan ahead and ask you to do the same for that matter?

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Do they have a process for you to plan for your vacations and holiday?

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So that you can make sure that nothing happens, that delays the release of your show.

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What happens if files are late?

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Is the show released late?

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Is there a rush fee?

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Are they able to turn it around in less than the agreed amount of time?

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What are their billing practices?

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Do they bill in advance at the beginning of the month?

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Is money due when you deliver an episode to them on a per episode basis?

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Do they bill after the fact?

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How is all of that handled?

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And if they do offer payment, What are those terms?

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Is it due on receipt or is it due 15 days?

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Make sure you understand all of that.

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Once you have a pretty good feel for how the working relationship functions, it's time to move on to a bit

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of a more granular view of their internal processes.

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Hi there.

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I'm popping in for just a second to tell you about Boomcaster.

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If you're going to be recording your podcast while streaming live, either with a co-host or with guests

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or something like that, you're going to need a service that does that and gives you high quality

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recordings, and Boomcaster is a great service for that.

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They offer an excellent live streaming experience.

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And super high quality audio and video recordings.

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So later you can edit those into your final podcast episode.

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You can find them at Boomcaster.com or click the link in the episode notes.

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If you use that, you'll also get a discount on your purchase and your purchase will benefit

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the show, so I'd really appreciate that.

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Boomcaster is what I recommend for you to capture those great recordings for your podcast.

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Now taking a more granular view into their production processes or even their internal processes isn't so much

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to make sure that you agree with everything that they do.

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It's to make sure that you understand what that process looks like just from a high level so that you know kind of what

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it looks like and why things take the amount of time that they do, and also just to make sure that you have confide.

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That they have a process in place.

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Again, you're trying to make sure that they're not just making it up on the fly unless that's

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the kind of person you want to work with.

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I know it's not the kind of person I want to work with.

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What I want, if I'm hiring somebody, is somebody who has a strong internal process for their overall production flow.

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When an episode arrives, this is what happens first.

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This is what happens second, third, fourth, fifth, and so on, all the way through the line.

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It's not so much important to me that the person I'm working with has a process that matches mine so much as it's

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important to know that they have a process, because that process becomes the structure that supports the creativity

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that you're hoping they're going to bring to your show while allowing them to deliver consistent results for.

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for me, my internal process, the process that I and my team follow when files arrive, we have some

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internal project management processes that I'm not really going to talk about cuz they're just.

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Administrative stuff, but we do have that.

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We take note of the files that arrived, when they arrived, when they're due, all of that kind of stuff.

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And then we go through and we start looking at the files.

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We check them, how long are they, if it's an interview, are all of the files the same length?

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Cuz that's kind of important to know because you might be missing something.

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Then we'll go through and do a quick quality check on all of the files and if there's some repair or remediation required.

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And there almost always, We'll go ahead and take care of that.

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Usually it's reduction of some light background noise.

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Maybe there's some popping peas or some mouth noises, or.

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Echo from the room, that kind of stuff.

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We'll go ahead and reduce as much of that as we can while without ruining the sound of the recording.

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And then we'll move on the next bit as we go ahead and start assembling the episodes.

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We've got kind of a rough sketch of what things are going to look like and we'll go through and remove any of the.

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Requested edits.

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If a client says, Hey, please remove this part and this part and this part, we'll go find those timestamps,

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remove the parts they want removed before we do anything else, so that we make sure we don't miss that.

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And then we'll move on and do a detailed edit where we listen to the whole thing, start to finish.

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Make sure that we're removing anything that's a distraction, filler, words that can be removed without

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changing the conversation or the context, or changing somebody's speech Patterns completely will remove.

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False starts, all of that kind of stuff.

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We're not trying to change the conversation.

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We're just trying to make sure that we're delivering the meat of the conversation without distractions.

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We'd go through and do that whole thing, and then we'd go through and we'd do what we call a mix and master.

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Well, we'll make sure that all of the voices sound good compared to each other, that it sounds consistent, that it matches.

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Volume level so one person isn't loud with another person soft so the music isn't super loud or super soft.

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All of those kind of things that just turn into a final product.

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And then we, we go ahead and do the mastering piece where we make sure that it's all going to match the loudness standards

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that are generally accepted for podcasting, so that if you listen to our show next to another show that's been done well,

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they're going to sound roughly the same volume so you don't.

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Turn your volume up or down so that you don't have to change the volume as you're listening because one person

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gets louder and softer and all that kind of stuff, just to make sure that you get a good final product.

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Then we'll add any necessary information to the file.

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If you've sent graphics or things like that, we go ahead and do all of that, and then we send it back.

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It's a really clean process.

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There are a few steps, but by having that process and by following that process, we

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can make sure that things don't get missed.

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While I'm not saying that you would necessarily need to work with a person that uses the same processes we use internally.

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You want somebody, I think you want somebody who has a process because that process is what facilitates consistent results.

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As you're taking notes, and especially once you get done, maybe you're getting ready to

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hop off the call, compare what you've talked.

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What they've described is the experience of working together, what they've described as their per

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episode production process, all of that stuff.

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Compare that to what you would like your three year ideal future to look like, and ask yourself

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this question, does this move you towards that?

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And if not, maybe this isn't the person for you.

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It's okay.

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There's more than one editor out there.

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I have the same perspective on clients.

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There's more than one client out there.

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I always want to make sure that I'm moving my clients toward their ideal future.

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and I would think you would want the same for yourself.

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It's that simple.

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One question, what's it like to work with you?

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And then listen and take notes.

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Make sure you come back next time, because it's also important to know what it's like to work together

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when things aren't going exactly as planned.

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In fact, we're going to spend a couple of episodes digging into two different areas that might be important to you, and

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it's possible that you've never even considered one of them.

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You won't want to miss.

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If you'd like to be able to get the clarity you need in order to avoid making a hiring mistake, be sure to download our

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guide 15 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Podcast Editor.

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You can find it at HireAPodcastEditor.com/15Questions, and it'll be linked up in the show notes.

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It's totally free.

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We don't require an email address or anything like that.

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We just want to make sure that you have the tools that you need to make the right decision for you.

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That guide has the questions we'll talk about on this show some instructions and.

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Even a place to take notes.

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If you want to get even more out of it though, be sure to subscribe to this show a HireAPodcastEditor.com/listen

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and share it with the rest of your team.

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Your work is important now.