How to 2X your video editing income with 4 client outreach fixes

How do you double your video editing income through client outreach?

Fix four critical outreach mistakes that kill your chances of landing high-paying editing clients. Most editors struggle with income because they send form emails, talk about themselves first, overwhelm clients with links, and fail to ask for clear actions.

The billboard in the desert problem

Most creative types don't know much about running a business — I was no exception. When I started, my idea of sales and marketing was basically to post my new editing work on a portfolio website that basically had no one looking at it.

Looking back now, that was kind of like putting up a billboard in the desert. Sure, it's there, but if no one sees it, does it really matter?

After years of frustration with my editing income, I finally decided to get my work in front of more people. I took my billboard out of the desert and I put it in the city where people could finally see it.

Learning to edit for emotion and story was the biggest reason for my success as an editor. But getting better at emotional storytelling wasn't enough by itself.

If you're not doing any client outreach, what I'm about to share will make sure you're doing it right from the start. And if you're already doing some outreach, fixing these four mistakes should double your replies, double your jobs booked, and double your income.

Mistake 1: Sending form emails kills your credibility

I've made every mistake I'm about to share, and every day I get emails from editors reaching out to me for editing work who are making these mistakes, too.

From the opening line, I can tell these emails were generated with AI or maybe copy-pasted because they literally just pulled my YouTube channel handle as the greeting. In other examples, it just says "Hey," which is maybe not so obviously pulled from AI, but definitely not the start of a thoughtful, unique email.

You're not going to find your dream editing clients by sending mass emails, form emails, copy-pasted emails, or using an AI service that just finds a bunch of random people and blasts them an email.

Fix 1: Send unique personal emails to people you have found yourself. You're going to find a unique person and you're going to open your email with a simple greeting so they're not put off right away. Just start with their name.

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Mistake 2: Starting by talking about yourself

Here's a problem right off the bat: they jump right into explaining the services they offer. That's a big issue because I don't know this person. Why should I care about what services they offer?

Honestly, it's another sign of a mass form email or copy-pasted email. I check out at that point, I close the email, and they're not going to get a reply.

I think it's because when you hear the word sales, you think it's about pitching your services. I know it's a little counterintuitive, but what you should do instead is start by talking about the person you're reaching out to.

Fix 2: Do some research and start by talking about their work. Let's say this person is emailing me for some potential editing work. They should look at my previous work and start their email by sharing something about my work that stuck out to them.

It should be specific. Not only should it be specific, but it should be related to the exact type of work you provide. Just a few short lines of specific work they've seen of mine and what they liked about it. It's as simple as that. It doesn't have to be too long.

Mistake 3: Overwhelming clients with random links

Now it's time to actually say a bit about what you do. But how you do this is the difference between someone clicking your link or someone closing your email.

Just look at all these links. I'm overwhelmed. Where do I click? What do these links lead to? Not only is it distracting and overwhelming, but it's not very respectful of my time. They expect me, a person they don't know, to click all their links and watch all of their work.

That's like asking me to go on a scavenger hunt to find what I need. Remember, I don't know this person.

Fix 3: Send a single link that only shows clips of exactly what they need. We've identified an actual person and we've researched their work already in the first two steps. That means we know exactly what type of editing services they need.

What would they send to me if they wanted me to hire them to edit my YouTube videos? Well, they'd need to send me examples of YouTube videos they've worked on that are similar to the style of my videos, but elevated — a little bit better. That's what would make me consider clicking their link and possibly hiring them.

Mistake 4: Not asking for clear action

We've identified a person, built trust by talking about them, and shared our most relevant work at a single link. So, how do we end the email?

They simply just asked if I'd ever be open to outsourcing. Here's the problem: they're not asking me to take a specific action. It's kind of an open-ended question that doesn't really warrant a reply. At best, maybe I think to myself, "Okay, I'll keep that in mind," but then I still just close the email and I never open it again.

Fix 4: Ask for a chat or offer a free test edit. Getting a new client is all about building trust, and the best way to build trust is to have a face-to-face meeting. So, ask for one. You can simply say, "Would you be open to a quick chat?" That's a clear request that prompts a reply.

If you want to supercharge your outreach, instead of asking for a quick chat, offer to do a free test edit. Not only are you offering value upfront, but if you do a great job on the test edit, it's the very best way to build trust and possibly land a new client.

All it has to be is one line where you request an action like, "Would you like to take me up on a free test edit?" That's the sort of question that warrants a response.

The compounding effect of better outreach

Let's say you've been contacting potential editing clients, but you've been making some or all of these mistakes, and you're currently getting five replies for every hundred messages you send. Then, let's say conservatively, you follow my method, and now you get 10 replies for every 100 emails you send.

Over time, doubling the replies will lead to doubling the jobs, and doubling the jobs should lead to doubling your income. If you follow this consistently, these small changes can lead to huge results.

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