Freelance YouTube Video Editor? Here's How to Price Your Work

Lights, camera, action… YouTube content is in high demand these days, but are you charging what it’s worth?

Let’s break down our YouTube channel video shoot scope of work template to see how you align.

Welcome to Scope Smarter, Not Harder, a series from Wethos highlighting our services and scope of work templates from the Wethos Services Library. In this installment, we’re highlighting our top YouTube channel video shoot scope of work template!

Wethos users have access to over 60 scope of work templates and 700 services ranging from brand strategy to social media and design. Our scope of work tools streamline your proposal process so you can skip the freelance pricing mistakes and get to work.

Here’s our breakdown for a YouTube channel video shoot scope of work so you know how to charge for your next project!

Please note that our pricing recommendations are powered by tens of thousands of data points, all from real studios on our platform. If you have feedback on the pricing below, please let us know! We always want our system to become smarter with your help.

YouTube Channel Video Shoot scope of work

Phase 1: Setup: Channel Strategy

Our template describes this phase as the time to “investigate and articulate the brand’s YouTube channel strategy. This is the foundation for the channel’s effectiveness and creative going forward.”

Essentially, this phase will lay the groundwork for the rest of the project or retainer. So take your time getting the direction right. 

The brand strategist will take the lead for this phase. If that’s you, you’ll need to add teammates to your scope of work to handle the more technical aspects during later phases. If you’re a video editor, consider tapping into our network of independent creatives to partner up with a brand strategist.

Phase 2: Setup: Channel Setup & Optimization

Next, the brand strategist and video editor will team up to create and optimize the YouTube channel design and metadata strategy.

While the video editor will be in charge of developing creative assets for the channel, including a custom icon and custom banner for the channel page and a call-to-action end card for the videos, the brand strategist also plays a role in this phase. It’s the strategist’s job to keep the overall channel strategy in mind and to ensure the channel is optimized according to best practices.

Phase 3: Per Order: YouTube Video & Social Cutdowns

The bulk of your scope of work will be producing YouTube videos from concept to delivery. According to our scope of work template, the entire process is for one video. 

You and your team offer a ton of expertise and highly-desired skills — make sure your price reflects that. If you’re finding it difficult to communicate the value of the work and charge what you’re worth, here’s how to have a value-based pricing conversation with your clients.

Phase 4: Retainer: Account Management

If your services include retainer packages, then this is where you’d add that to the scope. Consider everything involved on a monthly basis to grow and maintain a YouTube channel — from running status meetings to ideating and executing fresh content — and charge accordingly.

The responsibility of leading creative ideation, managing projects, and reporting the data monthly will lie with the brand strategist, but you’ll also need to have a video editor on deck when it’s time to produce another video.