Try Notetracks Today!
The platform for creators to review and collaborate on their audio projects.
Start Free
Share
With podcasts propelling towards the frontlines of many people’s media consumption, more and more creators are creating compelling episodes for release – including us! In our pursuit of creating our very own Notetracks podcast series, we’ve been on the hunt to add an experienced podcast editor onto our production team. Through all of our research, networking, outreach, and investigating, we’ve decided to compile our goldmine of tips into this useful guide for fellow podcast creators to find their perfect editing match.
If you’ve been doing the editing yourself, you might wonder why you’d need to get an editor –you’ve got the basics down, right? What more do you need? While it can be great to edit on your own, podcast editors are professionals who can transform your entire episode with their experience and skills. Having a good editor on your side can help to ensure that your audio is high-quality, well-produced, and free from distracting background noise or technical issues. Moreover, editors are excellent sources for feedback, often able to give great suggestions and help refine your content and delivery. Along with maintaining consistent tone and saving you a ton of time, podcast editors are remarkable collaborators to podcasters everywhere.
If you’re curious on how to find a podcast editor for your series, keep reading to get our favourite hints, tips, tricks, and methods on how to do so below.
To begin, your first course of action is to take your search to Google. By looking up phrases such as “podcast editors in my city”, “podcast editors near me”, “podcast editing services”, and the like, you’ll find a vast variety of podcast editing options for you to choose from. A lot of these options will be based near you and will most-likely be offered by an agency.
Agencies are great options for podcast creators with a larger budget, looking to streamline their editing and potentially other streams of operations, such as marketing or distribution. Agencies often have a few experienced editors for you to pick from, ensuring you’ll be matched with someone who can uphold and manage the sonic brand of your podcast.
Additionally in your search, you’ll most likely come across individual podcast editors, where you can contact them one-on-one after viewing their portfolio and determining if they’d be a good fit. Podcast editors who are unaffiliated with an agency may offer different features, pricing, and assistance compared to going through an already established production company. Make sure to compare and contrast each editor’s offerings to ensure they offer what you’re in search of regarding your editing goals.
Next, you should take a gander through your social media platforms to find a possible hire for your podcast’s new editor. With a whopping 212.40 million small businesses worldwide using social media platforms to grow their brand, podcast editors are promoting their editing services on socials more than ever before. Great platforms to peruse include Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok, but you can also refer to other platforms such as Twitter and Pinterest to continue your search.
For socials, make sure to use specific search terms that will garner you the results you’re actually looking for: something such as “podcast editing” will bring up a lot of varied content, so narrow it down to something such as “freelance podcast editors”, “[your city name here] podcast editor”, or include your niche, such as “music business podcast editors” to find what you’re looking for. On Instagram and TikTok, feel free to play around with hashtags in search as well to broaden your search further.
As previously mentioned, Facebook especially is an excellent platform to utilize in finding a podcast editor, as hundreds of groups exist where members offer up their services. Joining these groups allow you to network with these creators much more casually than reaching out on a site or job posting, so it could be a good way to break the ice if you’re a bit reach-out shy. Further, tons of businesses, agencies, and freelancers have their own Facebook page for their services, making the social network quite a powerful search engine in itself if Google isn’t sufficing. Good group to start with include the Podcast Editors Club and the Podcast Editors Mastermind Group, but conduct your own search to find additional communities that work for you.
A good amount of podcast editors are offering their services on freelancing platforms and marketplaces such as Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer. These websites allow editors to set their own prices and manage their clients by themselves, along with providing portfolios which can give you a good sense on their editing style, strengths, and focuses. These websites usually have a section where you can read reviews and ratings from previous clients to get a sense of the editor’s quality of work and reliability. Hiring an editor off a freelancing platform allows you to only work with them, one-on-one, thus fostering a close, valuable network connection as compared to working with a larger agency.
You can also check out more-so traditional job boards, such as Indeed or Glassdoor to see if any editors are offering up their services there too! While less common than posting looking for someone to hire, editors and the like will occasionally post their services looking for someone to hire them, so take a gander. There’s also a myriad of remote work sites like WeWorkRemotely, Wellfound, and Remotive who have dedicated sections for editors, technical support, and the like, making your editor search more focused.
Additionally, some podcast editors on these sites do not mind negotiations or pitching a price to them, which can in turn save you a bit of money as compared to the stringent pricing at more-so established production companies. Moreover, joining freelance marketplaces online and job boards will give you a broad variety of editors from all around the world, allowing you to branch out past your local area and access a larger number of prospects than before. Ensure those you reach out to can operate within your means – for example, if you want an editor who can work during the day, make sure they’re not in a completely different time zone that would make coordination and communication difficult.
Additionally, you should think about who’s already in your network who could offer their (or someone they know) services to you. The first person you should reach out to is someone you know who already has a podcast, and then ask them if they have any editors they recommend. If you don’t know any podcasters, go through your contact lists and see who works in audio editing, alongside editors, or are adjacent to podcasting and craft out a simple message. Something such as asking if they know any editors who’re looking for clients is more than effective enough to get some suggestions thrown your way. When reaching out to a mutual connection, make sure to let them know where you got their contact from, why you’re reaching out, and what you’re looking for in a podcast editor.
In person events can often be some of the best places to make connections and secure yourself an amazing editor! Editors, podcasters, and marketers everywhere attend events and conventions every year, hoping to broaden their network and foster valuable industry partnerships. Get out there and introduce yourself as a podcaster looking for an editor and you’ll be sure to meet some engineers who’re looking for work and opportunity. Even if you’re not securing an editor right away, you are creating professional relationships with some who’ll keep you in mind when they have an opening to edit for you. A few events to check out include Podfest and Podcast Movement which both run annually and have thousands of attendees every year.
Lastly, you can also look at your favourite podcast’s credits and find out who their editor is. While we’re not saying you need to hire an advanced editor already on a prior team, knowing who does the work that inspires you the most can connect you to other editors in your genre. The best practice is to look at podcasts similar to yours or in the same realm – for example, if you manage a finance podcast, a editor who works on a self-help podcast might not be the best match. The same goes when deciding whether you’d like to produce an audio or video podcast. You can utilize podcast directories and databases like Podchaser to find podcast credits. Even if you don’t reach out to that podcast’s editor themselves, finding out who they are let’s you browse their profiles online and see who they’re connected to who’d be a good match for your podcast.
Securing the perfect podcast editor for your series will take some time and patience, but with our guide, you’re well aware of all the best practices to do so. With the right editor, you can create a professional and engaging podcast that keeps your listeners coming back for more, propelling you and your podcast to greater heights.
Podcasters and editors work the best together when they have a place to communicate and collaborate seamlessly – which is where Notetracks comes in! With our plethora of commenting, recording, editing, and collaboration tools, you and your new editor will be equipped with a dynamic platform where creating entertaining podcasts becomes a breeze. Check us out today.
Let us know in the comments if you have any other tips on finding podcast editors you'd like to share!
Be the first to know about the latest news, posts and features.
