5 MYTHS ABOUT OUTSOURCING EDITING
This article is written from the words of our client Steven Robertson, who has been working with Sem Media for over two years.
In this article, Steven will tell about something he never shared with the public before. The decision he made almost two years ago has completely changed everything, his life, and his business, and allowed him to make more money than he ever made in his entire life – that’s the decision was outsourcing editing.
«Steven please tell a little bit more about yourself and how you became a videographer?»
Steven: «From an early age, I was always imagining movies in my head. I joined a media class in junior high and became very popular for my editing skills. I learned a lot of things in that class, but probably the most important was that being a filmmaker was what I was meant to do. I started my own business in 2014 and I think in my busiest season of just video weddings I shoot between 25 – 50 weddings in one year.
That sounds really great and obviously I am thankful for this success in my business for the years, but on the other hand, what you didn’t see it was really that just killing me. It was really this awful burning and the post-production process. When you shoot so many weddings you are going you know little bit tired. I think I had twelve or more weeks in a row when I had a wedding or event or something to do with almost maybe one week off in twelve weeks. Now that’s a lot. It drains you physically. You have only a few days to recover then you spend the entire week trying to post something on social media from your past week’s weddings of course you have to edit weddings from a week before and then it became three, four, or five weddings that need to be edited ASAP. It becomes just impossible to manage all of it.
But it looks like everything is great. I am successful. I am traveling all over the country, shooting this wedding, doing all these things, having a great time and really I love all my couples it was really great, nevertheless it was. And most important the post-production process continued even after the wedding season. The most stressful time always ended up being around the holidays. Everybody wants their wedding film so they can watch it with friends and family for Christmas or Thanksgiving, but I shot weddings up until the very end of October and the begging of November. I still had these huge piles of post-production work. So I had a 6-7 weeks turnaround time which means people who got married in summer get their wedding films only by Christmas if not later.
It honestly became a big problem in my life, because by the time I finished my last editing in April and the wedding season started again. So this cycle will repeat. What is more, I couldn’t grow my business in any other way because all of my time and all of my energy and all of my mental capacity was being taken up just this you know keeping up with editing. I wasn’t able to do anything I have planned, because a lot of my time was sucked up purely by editing.»
«And Steven, what you decided to do with that?»
Steven: «Obviously, I started looking for a company that can help with editing. So I want to talk today about 5 myths I believed about outsourcing video editing.»
Myth #1 No one can’t replicate my editing style
I just think it is not true. In my opinion, with some intentionality, there are only a few things that we do and we think it unique to us that allow us to stand out, but if we really broke it down we can probably teach somebody else how to do it.
So when you go to outsource your editing you going to make sure and chose somebody who has a good system that allows you to share those specific things that you may want to include. Maybe you have a specific thing that really unique to you that defines the kinds of your films and your style and so on. You should be able to communicate this to somebody else. They should be able to replicate it to a certain extent.
Now is it going to be exactly the same thing you are doing? Probably no. But I found sometimes, honestly by outsourcing editing they actually edit better than I. It might cause they are not emotionally connected to the footage. You may have a really hard wedding day and have a shot that you really love as you know you worked really hard to get it and think you should include it in the video. On the controversy, the editors from outsourcing haven’t this emotional connection so they can see more clearly like this is the better shot or this shot doesn’t make sense in the edit, or whatever.
However, if you are one of those people who are booked for your editing, you have such a unique editing style, and you think that editing is the main advantage that makes you so special then yes it may be complicated to find somebody who you can outsource your editing. Nevertheless, your wedding packages definitely included full ceremony cuts, full dances, documentary cuts, etc. All these other types of editing things that you still need to go through and do. You can outsource all these things and focus only on your feature film or you can change the order and outsource the feature film instead of all these other things. That’s why I highly recommend Sem Media as they can do all these different things.
“So no matter who you are or what your style is, outsourcing editing can be really valuable for you and your business.“
Steven Robertson
Myth #2 Outsourcing is expensive
This is another popular wrong opinion among people who never outsourced before. That’s why I love Sem Media so much. Their prices are affordable and realistic. Honestly, the quality of these services is at the best level, and even if Sem Media will have higher prices I continue to work with this team because they are worth their money and even more than they ask for these brilliant services.
So I think no matter who you are you can adjust to these prices and still make a good profit, moreover, you never have to worry about the quality or the delivery or something else as Sem Media is always staying on top of all these things and they are doing an amazing job.
Of course, if you have a tight budget and can’t afford to outsource the full film you can outsource something smaller (highlight, ceremony, etc.) that is not so expensive but they eating your time.
A part of the time you saved by outsourcing you should use to promote your business to make more money improve your skills and whatever use your time wisely and you reach unbelievable success for sure.
Myth #3 I will piss off the clients if they find out
I haven’t publicly talked about outsourcing editing since I start doing that about a year. I started working with Sem Media in 2020. I outsourced almost every video to Sem Media.
Honestly, I never notify my couples about that. In fact they don’t really care about it. Their main goal is to get a stunning video from this special day. When clients have specifics about what they would like to see in the final video I always collect this information and send it to Sem Media.
What is important Sem Media has a short questionnaire where you can leave notes from the couple so the editor always knows the same information as the videographer.
“My advice is not to overthink too much you don’t have to tell your clients about outsourcing however even if you say I don’t think they will care a lot about that.“
Steven Robertson
Myth #4 The whole process of outsourcing is too complicated
One more time this is the wrong opinion. If you are working with professionals like Sem Media everything will be easy. Obviously, you will have some responsibilities from your end like sharing with editors your preferences regarding color grading, and the storyline which you would like to show. That will be at the beginning of your cooperation, but once you figured out all this vital information and create a system with your editor’s team the whole process will be just a pleasure for you.
In this aspect Sem Media team is great. As I mentioned they have this special questionnaire where you can include all the important details and they always pay attention to your notes to create the same video that you imagine in your head.
Steven Robertson
“So give it a try and you will be surprised why you didn’t do this earlier.“
Myth #5 I am independent and I don’t need any help
I believed that for years and this myth is also not true. It seems that there are so many hours in a day, but you have to devote your time to family, business, friends, etc., and everyone realizes that it’s not enough time for all these important things not to mention the little things. No matter how you manage your time you will need some help.
The value of the changes in my life after I started outsourcing is priceless and it helps me to receive a work&life balance. I was at the point when I hated the editing, feel guilty about my delivery time, disappointed my clients, and just burned. My whole life became a mess. Hopefully, I realized that I need some help because running a business and shooting 40 weddings is not worth it if you don’t enjoy your life.
It’s great to say we shot 40 weddings look how successful we are but you can’t enjoy any area of your life if you are editing on Christmas Eve like I have many years in the past. It’s not worth it.
“Even if you have this extra money without outsourcing will you be happy? I think you know the answer.“
Steven Robertson
It is much more valuable to live your life without stress and feeling guilty. I can’t even describe how better my life is now after I start outsourcing and forget about these sleepless nights and exhausting hours in front of the screen trying to edit as soon as I can.
«Steven, what you can say to sum up ?»
Steven: «Now my typical working week is filming, sending the footage to Sem Media and that’s it. The rest week I worked on expanding my business, finding new clients, and doing whatever I want. I love my work again and it’s all because one day I decided to outsource and I found Sem Media. My reliable partners and true friends.
If you are reading this and hesitate about outsourcing I think you should try Sem Media. I am really happy to work with them and I am having a great experience.»
“Please give it a try at least for one wedding and this will change all aspects of your life.“
Steven Robertson