If you're thinking of hiring a podcast editor, there's a 50/50 chance the first question you had was, "How much is this going to cost me?" Of course, as with most things, the answer is, "It depends."

But that doesn't mean anything goes.

[ 🗨️ Join the Conversation ]

Hiring a podcast editor can be a bit of a scary thing - not only because you're giving away a bit of the control of your show. Giving up a little of the creativity. Trusting someone else to make decisions that are at least as good as what you would do. But that trust factor is only one.

Bringing on an editor is also a financial commitment. That is, unless you think you can find someone who will be willing to offer the level of service you need for some kind of barter agreement of the promise of experience and exposure.

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

Like the other things we've talked about, it's possible to develop a plan. To have a framework for making the decision. All it takes is a bit of focus and planning.

Listen to Discover:

1. How to set your maximum budget
2. How to justify what you plan to spend on podcasting
3. Why asking, "How much does podcast editing cost?" is the wrong question

https://hireapodcasteditor.com/episode/what-should-you-spend-on-podcast-editing

Listen to Hiring a Podcast Editor

Hiring a Podcast Editor website

Mentioned in this episode:

15 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Podcast Editor

If you want to get the clarity you need to avoid a hiring mistake with your podcast, you will want to grab this free guide. No email required. We just want you to make the best decisionfor yourself and your show.

15 Questions Download

Sponsored by Top Tier Audio

Check out Top Tier Audio! We offer professional podcast production for coaches, trainers, and consultants.

Top Tier Audio

Try Boomcaster for your podcast recording and streaming.

If you're going to record your podcast while streaming live with cohosts or guests, you need a way to capture great recordings. Boomcaster offers an excellent livestreaming experience, and also captures high-quality audio and video recordings. You can pre-schedule your livestreams to Facebook, YouTube, or LinkedIn. Or all of them if you would like. Use the promo code 'TOPTIER' or the link in the show notes to get 20% off your purchase. And if you do that, you'll also be helping the show (and I'd appreciate that). Boomcaster is what I recommend to capture a great recording while streaming.

Boomcaster

Mentioned in this episode:

15 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Podcast Editor

If you want to get the clarity you need to avoid a hiring mistake with your podcast, you will want to grab this free guide. No email required. We just want you to make the best decisionfor yourself and your show.

15 Questions Download

Try Boomcaster for your podcast recording and streaming.

If you're going to record your podcast while streaming live with cohosts or guests, you need a way to capture great recordings. Boomcaster offers an excellent livestreaming experience, and also captures high-quality audio and video recordings. You can pre-schedule your livestreams to Facebook, YouTube, or LinkedIn. Or all of them if you would like. Use the promo code 'TOPTIER' or the link in the show notes to get 20% off your purchase. And if you do that, you'll also be helping the show (and I'd appreciate that). Boomcaster is what I recommend to capture a great recording while streaming.

Boomcaster

Sponsored by Top Tier Audio

Check out Top Tier Audio! We offer professional podcast production for coaches, trainers, and consultants.

Top Tier Audio

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

Bryan Entzminger: 00:00:00

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:00:06

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:00:11

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:00:16

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:00:20

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:00:25

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:00:31

Welcome to Hiring a Podcast Editor.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:00:33

My name is Bryan Entzminger.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:00:34

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:00:38

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:00:42

Whether you're looking for your first editor or your next editor in season one, we're gonna help you get clarity

Bryan Entzminger: 00:00:47

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:00:52

To make the right decision for yourself.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:00:54

This show is sponsored by TopTierAudio.com, where we provide podcast production services for

Bryan Entzminger: 00:01:00

multi-passionate coaches, trainers, and consultants.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:01:04

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:01:08

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:01:12

I know I've mentioned this before, but hiring a podcast editor can be a bit of a scary.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:01:18

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:01:22

You're giving up some of the creativity.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:01:24

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:01:30

trust factor is really only one part of the equation.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:01:33

Bringing on an editor is also a financial commitment.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:01:38

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:01:42

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:01:49

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:01:55

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:02:00

to have a framework for how to make the decision.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:02:03

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:02:07

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:02:10

One would be.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:02:12

What would you like to pay?

Bryan Entzminger: 00:02:14

Or what is your target budget?

Bryan Entzminger: 00:02:16

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:02:19

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:02:21

In fact, I think there should be.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:02:23

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:02:28

to fund it or how you can justify the expense.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:02:31

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:02:34

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:02:40

Where's the money gonna come from?

Bryan Entzminger: 00:02:41

Is it gonna come from your personal finances?

Bryan Entzminger: 00:02:44

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:02:48

Is the funding going to come from grants?

Bryan Entzminger: 00:02:51

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:02:57

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:03:01

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:03:06

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:03:12

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:03:18

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:03:24

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:03:32

is business income or personal finances, or whatever.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:03:36

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:03:42

into either per season or per episode numbers as well.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:03:47

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:03:54

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:03:59

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:04:06

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:04:11

What are those benefits?

Bryan Entzminger: 00:04:13

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:04:19

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:04:24

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:04:30

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:04:35

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:04:39

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:04:45

potential supporters lead to increased support and impact?

Bryan Entzminger: 00:04:49

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:04:53

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:04:57

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:05:03

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:05:08

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:05:11

Well, what is the value of your focus?

Bryan Entzminger: 00:05:14

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:05:19

They already hear your voice.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:05:21

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:05:23

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:05:27

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:05:34

Well, what is the investment in your brand worth?

Bryan Entzminger: 00:05:37

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:05:43

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:05:46

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:05:54

Hi there.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:05:55

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:05:58

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:06:03

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:06:07

recordings and Boomcaster is a great service for that.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:06:11

They offer an excellent live streaming experience.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:06:13

And super high quality audio and video recordings.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:06:17

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:06:20

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:06:24

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:06:29

So I'd really appreciate that.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:06:31

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:06:36

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:06:40

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:06:47

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:06:52

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:06:57

average cost of editing a podcast episode?

Bryan Entzminger: 00:07:00

How much do podcast editors get paid?

Bryan Entzminger: 00:07:02

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:07:08

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:07:14

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:07:22

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:07:26

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:07:31

So we're really just gonna answer two questions.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:07:34

The first question is, what is your maximum spend?

Bryan Entzminger: 00:07:38

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:07:43

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:07:47

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:07:50

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:07:54

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:07:57

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:08:03

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:08:06

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:08:12

you willing to invest to get that benefit?

Bryan Entzminger: 00:08:15

And that's really a question for you.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:08:17

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:08:23

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:08:27

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:08:33

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:08:36

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:08:43

And that's what we would put down as.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:08:46

Willing to spend or your desired budget.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:08:50

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:08:56

from your funding sources, you might wanna rethink this.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:09:00

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:09:06

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:09:09

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:09:14

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:09:18

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:09:26

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:09:33

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:09:38

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:09:43

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:09:47

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:09:53

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:09:54

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:10:00

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:10:05

You won't wanna.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:10:07

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:10:12

guide, 15 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Podcast Editor.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:10:17

You can find it at HireAPodcastEditor.com/15questions.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:10:21

It'll be linked up in the show notes.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:10:23

It's totally free.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:10:24

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:10:26

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:10:31

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:10:36

Even a place to take notes.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:10:38

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

Bryan Entzminger: 00:10:44

and share it with the rest of your team.

Bryan Entzminger: 00:10:46

Your work is important now.