What Should You Spend On Podcast Editing?

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If you're thinking of hiring a podcast editor, there's probably about a 50/50 chance that the very

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first question you had was, How much is this gonna cost me?

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Of course, as with many things, the answer is it depends.

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But that doesn't mean that the answer has to be, well, anything goes.

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If you wanna have a good plan for what you're willing to pay for editing before you ever start

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looking for editors, you'll want to keep listen.

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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 gonna help you get clarity

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on what you really want before you start connecting with editors, and then provide you with the tools.

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To make the right decision for yourself.

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This show is sponsored by TopTierAudio.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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I know I've mentioned this before, but hiring a podcast editor can be a bit of a scary.

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I mean, first off, you're giving away a little bit of the control of your show.

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You're giving up some of the creativity.

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You're trusting someone to make decisions that are at least as good as what you would do, but that

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trust factor is really only one part of the equation.

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Bringing on an editor is also a financial commitment.

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I guess unless you think that you can find somebody who's willing to offer you the level of service that you

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want and need for some kind of barter agreement or the promise of experience or exposure or something like that.

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Not to fear though, while there is a financial commitment, it doesn't have to be scary.

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Like the other things that we've talked about in previous episodes, it's possible to develop a plan,

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to have a framework for how to make the decision.

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All it takes is a little bit of focus and a little bit of planning.

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When we think about this, I like to think of it in two ways.

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One would be.

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What would you like to pay?

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Or what is your target budget?

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And the other one would be, what's your maximum budget?

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And it's okay if there's a gap between these.

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In fact, I think there should be.

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But before we start talking about what the budget should be, let's talk about how you're going

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to fund it or how you can justify the expense.

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And we're gonna break that down with three question.

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The first question is, what do you expect to be the funding sources?

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Where's the money gonna come from?

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Is it gonna come from your personal finances?

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Is it coming from business income, maybe a marketing budget or something like that?

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Is the funding going to come from grants?

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Do you think that the funding is gonna come from donations from your audience, or something like that?

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Make a note of all of the places that you think the funding is going to come.

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Not all the places it could come from, but all the places you believe it will come from.

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If you've already downloaded the 15 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Podcast Editor guide, you can do that.

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If not, that is available for free at Hire a podcast editor.com/fifteen questions.

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Just write down all of those sources of funding where you think the money's going to come.

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Question number two then is what do you believe is the maximum feasible funding from each source, whether that

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is business income or personal finances, or whatever.

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Write down those numbers for all of the funding sources that are in play, and if possible, break those down

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into either per season or per episode numbers as well.

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Question number three is what do you believe are the most reasonable expected benefits of having a podcast editor?

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Now, if you're thinking of launching a podcast and bringing on an editor so that you can deliver

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professional quality from the very beginning, Then this will be also possibly the results of having a podcast.

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But think about this in terms of whatever it is that this editor is making possible for you.

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What are those benefits?

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We'll go through a couple of categories, but I do just wanna make a a quick mention that especially in the case of business

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focused podcasts, these benefits may be pretty easy to quantify.

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If what you're podcasting for or about is something that's related to social change or a non-profit or something

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like that, it might be a little bit more difficult to quantify those, but I would encourage you to do your very

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best, even if these benefits aren't business related.

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As I think about a non-profit, the first question would be, does getting your stories out to supporters or

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potential supporters lead to increased support and impact?

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And if it does, what's that expected value?

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What bringing on an editor is going to give you is more time.

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What's the value of your time and how much time are you getting back if it's higher quality?

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Is there a way to quantify the higher quality of what a professional editor would be able to bring to the table?

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Is it the ability to focus because you're not distracted?

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Well, what is the value of your focus?

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Is it improved sales conversations because the people that are coming to you already know how you.

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They already hear your voice.

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They've, they're already connected to you.

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Well, if that's the case, then what's the value of what seems like a shorter sales cycle?

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What if the value is in terms of positioning or influence, or the affinity of your potential customers?

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Well, what is the investment in your brand worth?

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Go through the various categories of where you think you're gonna see that value, and then write down as best

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you can, what you think those benefits will be in dollars.

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And if you can maybe think about converting those into a per episode or a per season benefit.

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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

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guests or something like that, you're gonna 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 the show.

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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 we have a handle on two things, and these are two key ingredients.

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The first is the maximum that you can reasonably pay, and the second is the expected benefit.

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These two things will help you develop your desired budget and your maximum budget.

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But before we get into that, it might be tempting to stop here and just ask, Well, what's the

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average cost of editing a podcast episode?

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How much do podcast editors get paid?

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And I could share some numbers with you, but the reality is that it wouldn't be super valuable because rates can

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vary pretty widely based on things like the scope of work or how quickly you need it turned around, or the level

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of skill required to deliver what you're looking for, or perhaps equipment that's required in order to do that.

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I don't know that there's a lot of value in that, but what there is value in is understanding what it's

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worth to you so that when you start talking to people, you at least have an idea of what you're looking for.

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So we're really just gonna answer two questions.

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The first question is, what is your maximum spend?

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And this really is just, if you take all of those funding sources that we talked about earlier,

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and you add that number up, what is that number?

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That's the maximum that you believe that you could spend for this podcast.

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Now, this is not me trying to get you to aim high.

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This is not me trying to get you to spend at all.

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This is your, I cannot afford to spend one penny more than this answer.

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So go ahead and take a minute and write that down.

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Question number two is based on the expected benefits of having an editor, how much are

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you willing to invest to get that benefit?

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And that's really a question for you.

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In some cases, you might be willing to spend a dollar to get a dollar 10 back.

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In other cases, you might be looking for a 10 to one ratio for a return.

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I don't know what that is, but whatever it is that you would be looking for, you can pretty easily take that ratio

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and you say, Okay, well I have this much expected benefit.

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If I want this kind of return, this is what I would reasonably willing to invest to get that.

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And that's what we would put down as.

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Willing to spend or your desired budget.

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Now, I do wanna note here that if the budget for your desired spend is greater than you could possibly spend

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from your funding sources, you might wanna rethink this.

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This might not be the time to go out and spend your desired budget if your total funding doesn't support that.

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This is just a thought, but now you have your two.

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You have your maximum budget, that's the one that you can't possibly go over, and you have your desired budget.

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That's the one that you would like to spend at, or.

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And you also have all of the notes and everything behind that as far as why you're willing to make those decisions, which then

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helps you understand and evaluate as you go forward, whether this is continuing to be a worthwhile investment for you.

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As we're going through this, you're continuing to make progress, and if you're following the process,

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you have a firm handle already on what you need and want, and now what you're willing to pay.

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But the next question is, well, where can I find a great podcast editor?

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Do you just post on Facebook or start searching Google for editor websites or things like that?

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Well, that's what we're gonna talk about next time.

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And believe it or not, like a lot of things we've talked about, the answer might not be the same for every person.

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The right answer for you might not be the right answer for somebody else, so make sure that you come back.

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You won't wanna.

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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.

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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 suggestions.

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Even a place to take notes.

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If you wanna get even more out of it though, be sure to subscribe to this show at HiraPodcastEditor.com/listen

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and share it with the rest of your team.

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Your work is important now.