I started this at 17 with no freelancing experience and no idea what I was doing. I'd messed around with editing for about a year — filming and editing random videos on my own and sometimes with my friends, learning the basics of Adobe Premiere Pro — but nothing serious. Nothing that would make anyone want to pay me.

At the time I was working a landscaping job near the end of the school year. Long hours outside in the heat after school, sunburns, cuts, scrapes, doing manual labor for hours. It was tough work, and somewhere in the middle of it I started thinking there had to be a better way to make money. I already knew some editing basics, so I figured I'd give it a real shot.

I went in with almost nothing — no idea how to get clients, no idea how to handle clients, and honestly not even that confident in my editing yet. But about two months in, I was making $2,000 a month. And I'm not done scaling.

This guide is everything I did to get there — my exact roadmap, all my advice, and what I even plan to do to keep growing from here. I'm not speculating on things I haven't done. Everything in here is stuff I actually lived.

I also want you to keep something in mind before you keep reading: you can do this. Like everything in life, it takes work. But I personally find it a lot harder to do landscaping or work fast food than to learn a skill that lets you work from anywhere with internet, has the potential to make serious money, and lets you do something creative and fun. The barrier is lower than you think.

One more thing: if you can't sit down and read through this entire guide and actually study what I'm telling you, then I genuinely don't know if you're cut out to start a business. This isn't meant to be harsh — it's just the truth. If you can't put in the effort to read a guide, the work that comes after it is going to be a lot harder.

The right mindset going in

This is going to take a while to learn, and that's completely fine. Don't get frustrated — we're playing a long-term game here. Results don't come immediately in life. Think about working out: you're not going to build muscle the first day you go to the gym. Editing is the same way, except the results come a lot faster than building muscle. Still, it's going to take work, time, and frustration. That's just part of it.

Come in with a chill mindset. Just relax, learn, and do the things you need to do. Don't take it so seriously. One thing I had to work on myself was getting out of my own head — "I need to learn this right now, there's so much to learn, I don't know enough yet." Just start. Just go. Take it easy on yourself, but make sure you're actually putting in the time and taking the action to build the skill.

Stick to the basics

You don't need to go crazy with motion graphics and animations. Seriously. Start with simple cuts, simple zooms, basic audio work, sound effects, images on screen, B-roll. That's it. Master the fundamentals first.

I keep my editing pretty minimal even now. I don't do a ton of motion graphics or complex animations, and I'm still making $2K a month. So don't go down the rabbit hole of trying to learn After Effects and advanced motion design right away. Stick with basic editing — it's more than enough to get paid and get clients.

What computer do you need?

Before anything else, let's talk about computers because it comes up a lot.

You don't need anything crazy. You just need a computer that can run the editing software. That's the only requirement. If you're not sure whether your current computer can handle it, just ask an AI — literally type "will this computer run Premiere Pro?" and give it your specs. It'll tell you.

If you're thinking about buying a computer, same thing — ask AI for recommendations and keep it minimal. You don't need to go out and spend $2,000 or even $1,000. Edit on whatever works. If you have a family computer or your parents have an old one sitting around, ask AI if it'll run the software. If it does, get to work.

Once you start making money, if you want to invest in something faster, go for it. But don't let not having a top-of-the-line setup stop you from starting.

Choosing your software

There are a few solid options depending on where you're at:

• Adobe Premiere Pro — This is what I use and what I'd recommend. It's industry standard, which means there are more YouTube tutorials, courses, and resources on it than anything else. If you get stuck on something, someone has already made a video explaining how to fix it.
• DaVinci Resolve — This is a completely free, professional-grade option that I've heard great things about. It's similar to Premiere in a lot of ways and is genuinely used by professionals. If you don't want to pay for software right away, this is the move.
• CapCut — I haven't used it myself, but a lot of social media creators use it and it's much simpler to learn than the other two. If professional software feels overwhelming at first, CapCut isn't a bad starting point. Just know you'll probably want to move to Premiere or DaVinci eventually.

How to actually learn

Once you have your software, you have two main paths: buy a course or learn through YouTube. Both work. Here's my honest take on each.

My parents bought me Full Time Filmmaker, which is a course by Parker Walbeck that covers everything from camera basics to editing to the business side of filmmaking. The full membership is a few hundred dollars, but they also have a $27 starter course that's worth checking out if you want to dip your toes in first. I found it genuinely useful and it gave me a solid foundation.

That said — you can absolutely learn everything you need for free on YouTube. There are entire channels dedicated to teaching Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and editing techniques. If a course isn't in the budget, YouTube is where I'd go. Search for beginner tutorials on whatever software you're using and just start working through them.

The honest truth about learning editing is that it takes time and it's frustrating at first. Both Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve are massive pieces of software and nobody knows everything about them — I'm still learning new things all the time. You're always going to hit moments on a project where you don't know how to do something. That's normal. Google it, YouTube it, figure it out. That's how you actually get good.

Getting footage to practice on

The simplest option is to just go out and film something yourself. It doesn't need to be anything special — walk around your neighborhood, film your friends, shoot anything. The point is just to have raw footage to cut together.

Another great option is to message people on social media and offer to edit a video for free. Tell them you're learning and want to practice on real content. Most people will say yes — everyone wants free help. This also has a bonus: you start building relationships with creators early, and some of them might become paying clients down the road.

What to learn first

Don't try to learn everything at once. Here's the order I'd focus on:

• Basic cuts — trimming clips, cutting between shots, pacing. This is the core of everything.
• Zooms — simple push-ins and pull-outs. Used constantly in social media content.
• Audio levels — learning how to balance your audio so it doesn't sound too loud or too quiet. Bad audio ruins good edits.
• Music — adding background music and making it fit the vibe of the video.
• Sound effects — whooshes, impacts, transitions. These add a lot of polish and aren't hard to learn.
• B-roll — cutting in extra footage over someone talking to keep things visually interesting.
• Images and text on screen — simple lower thirds, captions, overlays.

That's it. Get those down before you touch anything else. You can build an entire freelance editing business on just those skills — I have.

Keyboard shortcuts

Learn your keyboard shortcuts early. This one is huge and a lot of beginners skip it. Nobody has time to click through menus every time they need a basic tool. The editors who are fast are fast because they barely touch their mouse — their left hand is always on the keyboard hitting shortcuts while their right hand is on the mouse.

The main ones to learn first are the tools you use constantly — cutting clips, selecting, zooming in on the timeline, playing and pausing, ripple delete. Once those are muscle memory, everything speeds up dramatically. Look up the keyboard shortcuts for whatever software you're using and just start forcing yourself to use them. It'll feel slow at first, but within a week it becomes automatic.

Quick note before we get into this: everything in this chapter is based on my personal experience. This is what I do, how I do it, and what's worked for me. There are probably other ways to get clients — platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, and YouTubeJobs.com all have job listings where people are actively looking for editors. I've never used any of those. Every client I have has come from cold DMs on Instagram. I'm going to show you exactly what I do, not what everyone does.

Who to target

I personally target people in the business, entrepreneurial, and sales world — high-ticket sales guys, door-to-door sales, phone sales, fitness coaches, info product sellers, day traders, business owners in general. That's my lane, partly because I'm genuinely interested in that world, and partly because those people have money.

Think about it this way: if you message a small local plant shop, they probably don't have a budget for a video editor, and they likely don't even understand the value of content yet. But a sales manager using Instagram to recruit reps? A fitness coach selling a coaching program? A day trader building a personal brand? Those people understand that content makes them money, and they have the income to pay for help with it.

You don't have to target the same people I do. If you're into gaming, target gaming creators. If you like fitness, go after fitness people. The one rule is this: target people who either have money or can make money from content. That's the filter for everything.

One more thing: stick to people in the US if you can, or at least English-speaking countries like the UK or Canada. Taking payments internationally gets complicated fast, and a lot of smaller accounts outside the US won't have the budget anyway.

How to find them

My original method was hashtags. I'd ask AI something like: "I'm a freelance video editor trying to find clients on Instagram. Give me hashtags that sales people, door-to-door guys, and fitness coaches use." Then I'd look up those hashtags, scroll through the reels that came up, click on profiles, and check if they seemed like a good fit — right follower range, making money, content I could improve on. If they looked good, I'd message them, swipe back out, and keep scrolling.

The strategy I've found works even better: when you find a good prospect, click on their following list. People who are a good fit tend to follow similar people. Go through their following, clicking on profiles, checking if they match your criteria. If you find another good one, go through their following list too. It's basically an infinite chain — you can keep going forever.

It really just comes down to putting in the reps. Messaging hundreds of people. Instagram will cap how many DMs you can send in a day, so once you hit that limit, stop and go work on something else — editing practice, building your portfolio, whatever. I'm personally looking into running a second Instagram account to get around the daily limit, but I haven't fully figured that out yet so I won't give advice on something I haven't done.

You can also try other platforms. I've heard X (Twitter) is decent for this and I've messaged a few people there, but haven't gotten responses yet. It has potential though — just be aware results may vary.

What to DM them

This is where you can get creative, and honestly I've tried a lot of random things. The one rule I'd give you is: keep it short. If you write a paragraph explaining who you are and what you do and why they should hire you, they're not going to read it. People get DMs constantly. Short and attention-grabbing is the move.

When you're just starting out and don't have any work to show yet, I'd recommend offering to edit their first video for free. That's what I did early on. It gives you real editing practice, builds your portfolio, and if you do a good enough job, there's a real chance they become a paying client. It's a low-pressure way to get your foot in the door.

Once you have some work to show, the message I personally send right now is: "I'll edit your content for real, for real." Is it the most professional thing ever? No. Is it tested and optimized? Also no. But I think it catches attention because of how short and different it is — and because it's kind of funny. I get a lot of people responding with something like "for real, for real?" and that opens the conversation. From there you just keep it going naturally.

Another one I've used recently: "I'm genuinely trying to edit your content, my G." That's gotten some responses too.

There's definitely room for improvement on the messaging side — I haven't spent a ton of time testing and optimizing what works best. You might come up with something better. Try things, see what gets responses, and adjust. That's all I can really tell you.

What to expect

Most people are going to ignore your message. Whether they never saw it, didn't care, or just weren't interested — the majority of DMs you send will get no response. That's not a sign you're doing something wrong. That's just how it is. You're going to send a lot of messages that go nowhere, and you have to be okay with that going in.

Some people will tell you they're not interested, they already have an editor, or they don't need your services. Just move on. Don't argue, don't try to convince them — just keep going. On a few occasions I've even had people be outright rude. Same thing: just move on. Don't take it personally. They're just grouchy. Keep sending those DMs.

The other thing I'd tell you: even if someone responds and sounds interested, they are not a client yet. Don't get your hopes up until the money is actually in your bank account. People will say they're interested, go back and forth with you, and then disappear. It happens. Don't count a client until they've paid.

Follow-ups and staying organized

Follow-ups are important. A lot of people who don't respond right away will respond eventually if you check back in. I personally switch my Instagram to a professional account so I can use the labels feature to stay organized. When I message someone, I move them to my General tab. If they respond, I mark them as a Lead. Then I know exactly who to check back in with every now and then.

My follow-up message is simple — something like "Hey, checking in, what are we thinking?" That's it. Short and casual, same as the first message.

What to say after they respond

Honestly this depends entirely on what they said. Use your common sense — read the response, figure out what they're asking or saying, and just have a normal conversation. If you're not sure what to say, ask AI for ideas and then reword it in your own voice so it doesn't sound robotic. That's genuinely the best advice I can give here.

This one is pretty straightforward. Edit work for free or cheap until you have a solid handful of videos to show. That's the whole strategy. You need work to show people — without it, you don't look legit, and people aren't going to hire you.

Before I had a portfolio website, I'd just send people links. Four reels I edited, a couple YouTube videos. That was my portfolio. It worked. A portfolio site is not essential — having actual work to show is essential. Don't let not having a fancy website stop you from reaching out to people.

Building a portfolio site

When you're ready to build a site, it's easier than you think. You can literally pay $20 for Claude, chat with it to design your entire website, sign up for Netlify, and launch it for free. If you want a custom domain, that's maybe another $10–15 a year. AI can walk you through every single step of that process — I did exactly that for my own portfolio site.

If you don't want to deal with any of that, Carrd is a simple drag-and-drop site builder that's free to start. It won't be as custom, but it gets the job done. Personally I'd always go the Claude route — you'll get something that actually looks good and is fully yours.

Make your Instagram look professional

Your Instagram is basically your storefront. When a potential client checks your profile after you DM them, it needs to look like you're the real deal. Make posts about editing. Show your work. And most importantly — do before and after edits. This is huge. A before and after shows exactly what you're capable of in a way that nothing else does. You can see examples on my profile. I genuinely should make more of them myself.

AI can guide you on how to make your Instagram look more professional too — just ask it. There's no excuse not to put in that effort when it costs nothing.

I'm going to be upfront with you: my pricing isn't perfect. I'm still figuring it out myself. What I can do is tell you what I've done, what's worked, and what I'd recommend — but don't take this as the definitive blueprint, because I don't have one yet.

How to figure out what to charge

When I was starting out, I'd finish an edit, send it to AI, and ask: "How much is it reasonable to charge for a video like this?" Then I'd base my pricing around what it said. That's a genuinely good strategy, especially when you're new and have no reference point. Your rate should reflect your skill level, what you're editing, and how hard the edit is — there's no flat number that works for everything.

The main thing is: be reasonable. Don't charge so much that nobody hires you, but don't charge so little that it's not worth your time. When you're starting out, stay on the lower end — but there's a floor. Charging next to nothing attracts bad clients and will burn you out fast.

Be specific about what's included

Whatever you charge, make sure the deal is clear. Specify exactly what's included — how many videos, what type of edits, and how many rounds of revisions. You can offer one or two rounds of revisions included, and charge extra for anything beyond that. Or you can price revisions separately from the start. Either way, get it agreed on upfront. Vague deals lead to scope creep — clients keep asking for more than what was agreed on, and it becomes a problem fast.

Ask AI how to structure your deals and what to make sure is clear before you start working with someone. It'll give you a solid framework to work from.

Always shoot for retainer deals

Consistent monthly income is the goal. A retainer deal — where a client pays you a set amount every month for ongoing editing — is always better than one-off projects. It's predictable, it's reliable, and it compounds over time.

That said, don't lead with it. Do an edit or two first, maybe even three or four, build the relationship, and then bring it up naturally — something like "hey, do you want to just keep working together on a consistent basis?" Don't push the retainer as your opening pitch. Earn it first.

Payment methods

Every client I've worked with has paid me through Zelle, and it's worked perfectly. My main client now pays me through an ACH bank transfer as part of a more formal setup, but Zelle is how we started. Other peer-to-peer options like Venmo, Cash App, and Apple Pay would likely work just as well — I just haven't had to use them.

If you end up working with someone outside the US, you'll need a different payment processor that handles international transfers. I looked into it once for a client in the UK but it didn't end up working out, so I don't have personal experience to share there. For now, stick to US clients if you can — it keeps payments simple.

This one is simple. There's no big secret to keeping clients — just be someone worth keeping around.

• Deliver on time. If you say you'll have something done by a certain day, have it done by that day. Reliability is huge. Most people won't even say anything when you're late — they'll just quietly stop working with you.
• Do good work. Don't send over sloppy edits. Take pride in what you put out. If you wouldn't be happy showing it to someone else, fix it before you send it.
• Be a real person, not just a service. Interact with their posts. Drop a genuine comment when they post something cool. Be friendly. If you're working with people you actually think are cool, treat them like friends — because they kind of are. The editors who stick around long term aren't just delivering files, they're people their clients actually like.
• Communicate. If they ask for something and you can do it, do it. If you can't, tell them. Don't just go quiet or guess. A quick "hey, I can't do that but here's what I can do" goes a long way.

The actual process of working with a client is simple. Here's how it goes:

That's the whole process. No office, no commute, no inventory. Footage in, edit out, money in.

Quick recap

You've just gone through everything I know about getting to $2K a month as a freelance video editor. You know how to learn the skill, what software to use, how to find clients through cold DMs, how to build a portfolio from nothing, how to price your work, how to keep clients around, and how the whole editing process actually works. That's the full roadmap — the same one I used. Now it's on you to go do something with it.

Action trumps everything

Everything in this guide is straightforward. If you don't know how to do something, figure it out. If you can't edit something, learn it. If you don't know who to message, ask AI and start messaging. Action is always the path to getting what you want. It's always harder in the moment than it sounds just saying it out loud — but you don't get what you want without making it happen.

I've given you the whole guide. You can probably pass me if you just put in the work every single day and do what needs to be done.

Work ethic

A lot of people my age — younger, maybe even a little older — just don't get stuff done. They're always out, always hanging out, playing games, scrolling Instagram. None of that gets you where you want to be. If you really want to make this work, you have to be someone who shows up every day. Not when you feel like it. Every day.

One of the biggest things I can tell you, especially when you're working with real clients running real businesses — they need consistency, dependability, and results. I answer messages fast. I'm almost always at my computer. My clients know they can reach me and that I'll get things done quickly. That's not by accident — it's because I'm there every day putting in the time. If you don't show up every day, you're not going to make it. There's always going to be somebody else who will. Why not have it be you?

Mindset

Motivation isn't going to carry you every day — you're not going to feel pumped up all the time, and that's fine. It's about discipline. What I personally do is throw on a motivational video in the morning every now and then — just to get into the right headspace, remind myself it's time to work and get things done. I like Andrew Tate's content for this, but there are plenty of other people out there — David Goggins, Alex Hormozi, Hamza — find whoever resonates with you. The point isn't to feel motivated. The point is to remember that it's time to work.

You can escape the boring job

This skill — video editing — lets you work from anywhere with internet, on your own schedule, doing something creative. You don't have to work a landscaping job in the heat after school. You don't have to flip burgers or sit behind a register. You don't have to grind a 9-5 doing something you hate for the rest of your life. There's a real alternative, and it's more achievable than most people think. You're already holding the roadmap. Now go make it happen.