Here's what I learned from freelance editing and what I'd change in the space

I was previously a content creator in the computer hardware niche. Almost two years ago, I was editing only using CapCut on my desktop. My channel gained over 100k total views at just around 300 subscribers with long-form content alone. Regardless of the generic voiceover and basic editing used, the channel had gained a lot of traction in a small and competitive niche. It showed me that editing isn't about adding as much as possible, but rather about focusing on what actually matters.

I then began working on my editing skills and picked up DaVinci Resolve. It’s arguably the best video editing software I’ve ever used for two reasons: it’s free, and it is truly capable. It was around the time when I created my freelancing portfolio website and started looking for clients remotely.

Long story short, freelancing showed some flaws of current editors, and that led me to want something better. I wanted a tool that saved me as much time as possible, but without compromising on quality. The idea was to produce quality content more often and, as a result, increase my potential revenue as a content creator or freelancer.

One of the best pieces of advice that I’ve heard so far in the editing space, especially related to freelancing, is to focus on the most significant aspects of successful content in your niche. Though it initially seems unhelpful, it has been the key to improvement for me personally. For shorts/reels, focusing mainly on pacing (motion, sound effects, music, etc) is what has the biggest impact on the performance of your content. For advertising, however, that generally shifts to the quality (or premium nature) of the content in order to drive leads.

Your editing should serve your target audience and the ultimate goal of the content. Understanding that goal and focusing on the most effective ways to achieve it is key. This is the way I approach video editing and also the philosophy I recommend all creators to follow.

You should aim to use editing software (like Nexform Editor, DaVinci Resolve, and others) that increases the quality of your content WHILE saving you time. Nexform isn't the right tool for those who need advanced masking or professional color grading, but it does offer a very capable editor that runs smoothly in your browser and processes practically everything locally. Plus it's free to use. DaVinci is my preferred editor for long form content because of the great color grading and overall control over edits, being fully free as well.

My vision for the future of editing is to eliminate as much of the tedious work as possible, especially the parts of editing that shouldn't take an insane amount of your time, all while producing quality content.

Thank you for reading the post. If you have any thoughts, feel free to leave them in the comments (I reply to as many comments as possible).

Good luck with your work and have a nice rest of your day!

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