The reels, edits, and captions you already scroll past all day? Local shops and creators will pay you to make theirs. Drag the sliders to see what a week of projects adds up to.
Move the sliders 👇
One creator on the side or a full roster of shops — your call.
A few edits a week for friends and one small creator
2–3 shops or creators who send you work every week
Monthly retainers, batch filming, and their whole feed
From your first practice edit to signed monthly deals.
Decide what you'll sell first: short-form edits, reels from raw footage, scroll-stopping thumbnails, or full social management. Narrow beats "I do everything."
Get fast in CapCut, Premiere, or DaVinci. Re-edit a few clips you love and post them so your best work is proof, not a promise.
Offer a clear menu — a price per video, a 4-reels-a-month bundle, or a monthly retainer. Fixed packages are easier to say yes to than "it depends."
Message local shops, gyms, restaurants, and creators whose posts look flat. Show them one free sample edit of their own footage — it closes deals fast.
Start with a quick brief, send a first draft, take one round of revisions, and hit your deadline every time. Being on time is half the job.
Turn happy one-offs into monthly deals so income is steady. Ask for a short testimonial and one intro — that's how your roster grows itself.
Most of this is free or already on your phone.
Write down what's included — how many videos, how many revisions — before you start. Ask for half the payment upfront so no one ghosts you after delivery.
Keep the raw footage and your project files in the cloud until the client has paid and posted. A dead laptop should never mean lost work.
Never take passwords over chat. Use a proper access tool or a shared editor, and never post to someone's account without their okay in writing.
What new teen editors ask before their first client.
No. Most clients hand you footage they shot on a phone and just want it cut into something scroll-stopping. A laptop (or even a decent phone) that runs your editor smoothly is enough to start. Upgrade your gear later, once paying clients are covering it.
Start with CapCut — it's free, works on phone and desktop, and handles captions and trends fast. As bigger projects come in, learn Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve (the free version is genuinely powerful). Pick one, get really quick in it, then branch out.
Many teens start around $20–$40 for a short-form edit and raise prices as their reel gets stronger. Once a client sends steady work, offer a monthly retainer — say $250–$600 for a set number of videos. Bundles pay better than one-offs and give you predictable income.
Look at shops, gyms, cafes, and creators near you whose posts look flat or inconsistent. Send a short, friendly message and attach a free sample — one reel cut from their own footage. Showing them the improvement beats describing it, and it turns "maybe" into "when can you start?"
Put it in writing before you touch the footage: the price, what's included, and how many revision rounds they get (one or two is normal). Take half upfront and the rest before final files. If they want changes beyond the agreed rounds, that's a paid add-on — say so kindly and stick to it.