Hiring freelancers for $30k per month Faceless YouTube Channels

Hey, what's going on, you guys? So I'm going through a bunch of proposals for an editor for a history channel, for Nutty History. And as I was going through this, I realized I should record this into some content so that way I can let you guys know what I'm looking for, what's a good candidate, my thoughts on the process when it comes to hiring and finding freelancers, and that way you guys can all go through this process. Because for the longest time I tell people to just like, yeah, just go grind it out on Upwork and find the freelancers for your project because literally your scriptwriters, your video editors make or break your results on your content. And so here's what I actually mean by that. So just as a quick context, by the way, I threw up, I think, 7 job posts in the last like 3 days now or whatever, 2 days, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6 job posts, but 2 of them are for a scriptwriter. I found lots of good scriptwriters really quickly. I just need to like kind of trial them out. So I have 3 getting a trial right now and I'll break down in a moment. And then I keep doing the editor post as well. Okay. And by the way, I paid for this one as like a promo. You can see a little diamond on it. I found that like when you don't do a promo, it works just as good as well. So, um, oh, by the way, the differences of the job posts. So for example, I think this one I did for $100. Confirm real quick. All I did was I just changed up the pricing. I think I changed up just a little bit of the copy. Uh, $100. Okay. I had my AI write this up. Honestly, I don't love this job post. I think I changed it up a little bit on this. So don't, don't worry too much about the job post. I'm like trying stuff out. Okay. I'm being a little experimental in here, but anyways, more so I put $100. I started playing with this. I started doing expert instead of intermediate. It definitely got a different quality of people. I put it, I, I put $300. For intermediate, and I got lower quality people than when I put $40 a video for expert or whatever, advanced, whatever the higher setting is. So this goes to show it's like, you know, price doesn't always, you know, parlay into quality. So I did this one, I got $100 a video proposed on that one. I ended up doing this one, I think it has $200. Let's see, this one I did $200 for intermediate. And then let's see, I did another one right here. Let's see, what do I do for this one? $300. So I tried $300 for an expert. So I tried that out. And then I even did, I think, $40 for this one. Yeah, $40, $40 for an expert. I'll tell you straight up, like, I found the best people on this one so far. Like, these people are better than the $200, like, $100 to $200 intermediate people. I don't know why. It's interesting. I think just the job post kind of is different. I even tried away being a lot more simpler too here. Um, it seems like the simpler job post almost attracts like a higher quality editor because they don't— they can just kind of apply a lot faster. I will say I'm getting a lot more agencies applying to this one versus the other job posts. But, uh, anyways, let's go through some people. So We'll go through the proposals. Basically, uh, I've already gone through a couple of these, but we'll go through it real quick. So, um, interesting, this girl dropped in $20 and she even boosted it. So they spent more on this job to get noticed. Interesting. There's a few people that did the boosted. Um, so I click on her profile. Sometimes I look at the earnings. It is kind of like nice to know how much they make. It's kind of concerning though if she's made $20 grand and she's getting paid $20 a video. So You know, like, she probably has a lot of different clients. So $20 for a 8 to 12 minute video. I don't really, like, all I'm looking for is like, are they using AI to write with it? It's hard to, I'll point out some of the patterns I notice. She could have used AI with this, but it looks like, I think this is like written out herself. Um, I go to the videos, like here's one right here. Oh wow. Okay. So she edits for this video, this channel, Holland Crime Boulevard. So just like London. Oh, this is a good find. Okay. His syndicate is enormously wealthy. Yeah, he's a good editor. Okay, so if she's— wait, let me confirm that she's editing. Attached below are the channels I've worked for. Okay, so she said she's edited for those channels. The only thing would then be like, what proof do you have? You could always go through like the reviews and the comments. To see what's up. Oh, she's even a writer. Interesting. Okay. So she's like a, I don't understand this. So she did content writing, but then she did editing. So this one's really concerning. Okay. It's like she has really good work that she's linking and they look like they're really solid channels. It's just like, I don't have any proof that she was an editor. So what I'll do is on this one, I'll message, hey, I love the work that you showed me and the channels that you've linked me. Can you link me very specific videos? That you've made before in the past? And also, can you show me the timelines of the videos? I want to see like what your editing style is on it. Let me know. Thanks. So I, yeah, I just, I just, let's just jump on. Okay. So I like the work. It's just more so like, I don't like, I'm very skeptical. Like if she edited for these videos and this is legit, I just look at that one. We can look at the other channels real quick. Okay, um, let's see. Breaking news that will shake you to your core. Adam Pearce just dropped a bombshell that has the entire wrestling world absolutely devastated right now. And if you're not already sitting— yeah, this video is very boring, not that good. Even though I got like 50,000 views, it's like there's not much to it. It's just like some basic super cheap editing. So I'd be curious, the one channel that she did link, this one The Holland Crime Boulevard. This one's pretty legit, so I would be curious to see who's the editor for this one. Like, they got good packaging, good editing. So yeah, looks like recently they've had some trouble getting views and results, but, but yeah, I'd be curious, is she like the recent editor or is she the older editor? So, all right, Athletics Rewind. Yeah, this channel is not Anything that's special. Yeah, it's pretty concerning. Okay, so I don't think she's legit. I'll, we'll see, we'll see what happens when she actually gets back. There looks like there's some quality issues. I did look at this guy already. He's applied to a few. Um, the issue I had with this guy, and I'll show you, I think this is the same guy, right? No, it's a different guy actually. Okay, so I've experienced, um, I don't see anything that screams that this was written with AI. Totally could have been, but Okay, so I usually just go straight for the links. By the way, be careful when you click links. If you see anything that's like a.zip, don't open those. But drive.google or YouTube links are usually fine. Oh yeah, I've seen this portfolio. I think this— oh, this guy applied on a $200 one. So you applied on this one and the $200 one. So I was going through his work here. I'm very view biased. I like to see that they've gotten views for channels rather than just purely just the videos that they link. Um, let's see what they did for this. I'll break it down. Have you ever felt lost? It's just really basic. Like, I hate this font style with like this caption look. It's just, it's so nasty. And then they're using B-roll. If anybody's ever used like stock footage for B-roll, that usually shows that they just don't really aren't that high quality. You want people that find contextually accurate clips and videos and images. Um, this guy's like editing, but there's just like no substance in this content. Like I'm just looking at the visuals. There's like, yeah, using basic editing. So that's why I didn't like this guy. It looks like he's worked for a lot of different channels and products probably. Um, and I'll click on some of these. It's just like, okay, he shows that guy and he has a lot of like international content and stuff. Yeah, it's just super basic transitions. Um, you know, I, I have seen people that make videos for other languages. They typically aren't as high quality. There just is a different view standard for those projects. And I want somebody who has high standards usually. So yeah, it's just a lot of B-roll. Like you're seeing it in the images and stuff like that. So I usually stay away from B-roll driven. So cool. It looks like he makes thumbnails and stuff like that too. But yeah. Cool. Like not a good one. And he's only made $400. I hit the little thumbs down. I archive them. Okay. So this one, Ethiopia, I have, I've had, I have not seen as many high-quality African editors as compared to more Eastern Europe. Pakistan, it's very, very hit or miss, more misses than hits. Yeah, like, the more Western they are, the better. That being said, like, I do sometimes find it, like, come across a really good editor from, like, South Asia. Or like Eastern Europe and stuff like that. So, uh, let's check this out. It's just— and part of it too, it's just different culture. Yeah, I see this all the time too, or they just send me videos that just can't even open, so I don't even try. I just archive it. If you can't freaking make sure that your video is good or not in the, in the link, I just wouldn't even— I would just ignore it. Okay, so let's check out this one. Oh, I did look at those guys. I like those guys. I think I even hit him with a message. Yeah, okay. So I like, like he had, I'll show you why I liked his videos real quick, but I wanted to see more examples. He just linked me to, and there's some parts I didn't like about it. So I wanted to see more range of his, his, uh, his stuff. So here you go. Click on this video. Um, we'll play like 10, 20 seconds of it and I'll tell you what I like. On May 11th, 1911, Robert Paxton McCulloch was born in Missouri. His grandfather John the Face Beggs had built a fortune. So like the music, it like kind of matches the pacing of the guy's voice. The guy's kind of like almost whispering, so he matched the music really well. Um, the clips, visuals, everything is like super contextual to what he's talking about in the video. And because it's like historical too, he's like pulling historical images of people and whatnot. Um, so I love this video. It was just the only video that you sent me, so I, I usually just watch the first 10 seconds, but even just skipping through this real quick like he did a great job finding images and videos of what they're talking about. Like, this isn't stock— like, there is some stock footage, like, in the background right here for sure, but it's like you can't even tell that it's stock footage. And it's just like they make up for it by showing, uh, images and videos of, like, visuals of exactly what they're talking about. And it shows on screen, like, in text, like, some interesting stuff too. So this is a good one. This is a great example. So the main thing that we're looking for is a diamond in the rough. Like, this guy looks like he's only done 2 jobs on this Upwork account. He's out of Bangladesh. It looks pretty solid. I just want to see more of what he's done. I think I clicked on these. I don't know if these are part of, I'm still under trying to understand if these are part of it or not when it comes to, yeah, let's see. I don't know. Cause some people like I found though, they'll link these like this little portfolio they'll have and then they use a bunch of other people's videos and stuff and it's not theirs. So this is written with AI. Okay. So I was gonna tell you guys what's AI. Anytime they do these like em dashes is what they're called. These long dashes, uh, that's typically a sign of AI. Okay. Um, it's just because it's like, in order to type that key out, it's like you have to like, like, I think you have to do like Option, like, yeah, you have to, you have to like go out of your way and like, it's really hard to just type that key because even when you just do like regular dashes, it's not long. And I think you have to do like Option Dash or something for it to work. So that's why you'll see this thing just like, it's just kind of really random. So usually people are using ChatGPT to write or something like that. Cool. So let's watch this video. And the issue why, you know, one sec. And the issue why that's a problem for doing the long dashes and using AI to talk to you is that means they probably don't speak the good English, like really good English. So you probably have to go through a few rounds of revisions when it comes to the captions or like the text on screen because you'll get a lot of spelling errors because they don't speak English. So I, I try to stay away from people that use AI, especially when it comes to writing or when it comes to editing. Because for some times it just doesn't translate well. And then other times as well, they'll leave spelling errors and stuff on the content, which you just don't want to deal with. Devastating storm in all of United States history. Yeah, this guy's good with music, tension, emotion, like showing very contextual stuff. It's like he's good at showing emotion. Like emotional clips is what I've captured from all this guy. So we'll see if that's legit, if that's actually his, and if he has any other examples. This guy's been great. Like, this is better than most of the $300 video proposed rates that I've gotten, by the way. So this guy is pretty smart, um, he's pretty good. And you'll find some diamonds in the rough for this, like, like people like this. And usually what happens is with people like this, they were working for an agency at the time or something, and they're getting paid like $20 a video, and and then they go off and just start picking up their own work on the side like this guy probably is right now and they'll realize, oh wow, instead of getting paid like $10 or $20 a video, I can get paid $40 a video, which to them is like a huge more amount of money. And then to us it's like, it's like nothing, you know, compared to, compared to the like $300 editor or whatever the amount of money that these videos are going to make us. So this guy has a huge potential. Okay. So I'm pretty interested to see like what's up with this guy and what that all looks like. So, so I'm gonna— I messaged them, we'll wait for a response back. Okay, so let's go through a few more. So usually I'll just kind of go through these. Sometimes I'll go through 20 people and I don't find a single one that's good. You kind of have to be like patient. Okay, what is— what I would say, I probably put in, I don't know, an hour or two last night scrolling through a bunch of people that were applying to jobs for me last night for editing roles and scripting roles. Scripting definitely is a lot more hard to go through because you have to like sit down and read, and I'm more of a visual person, so reading is like a little bit harder for me. And so the visual is like you can kind of just burn through it real quick and see which ones like look good right away. And I think it's like you can just take in so many more data points when you, when you're looking at visuals versus when it comes to like reading something. It's a lot slower pace of, of, of taking in data points. And so those I'm more so looking like, okay, like do they show competency in reading? Can they take really complex subjects and boil it down into something really simple? But when it comes to editing, I'm just purely looking for visuals and what looks good. And it's like, it's kind of, I kind of lead with aesthetics first, like aesthetically, are they delivering? Because then if they got the aesthetics, then usually the rest is kind of natural. So, um, yeah, this person's like very formal. This, this lady right here. Let's see how she does her work. Oh, I've seen this clip multiple times from a couple different people. I don't know if there are multiple different accounts using the same clip. I've just seen this clip. Okay, so this is just something like you find when you've done Upwork for a couple days in a row. You'll see like some weird things like this. Yeah, concubines in ancient China video. I've seen a few people link me this video now. Ancient China. Concubinage was a common practice among the wealthy. It's a good video, like, it's good visually. And women who served as concubines often endured shocking— yeah, I don't know who's the original maker of that. Yeah, and then she'll link— I hate it when they link me files that just don't even work, so I was usually— I'll usually just shortlist them. At 3:17 in the morning, like, here, aesthetically, I'll show you what's the issue with this one right here. It's like, it's, it's a little— like, I'm nitpicking, and I am kind of a nitpick. This is gonna bug the shit out of me if I'm working with this person. But it's like, they use this white font and they put it in the spot that's a little bit darker, but it like kind of clips right here, and it kind of— it's like starting to clip right there. I don't love it. It's like they're using such an aggressive sound effect too with such a thin font. So we'll keep watching, but there's just like little things like that that I like It just bugs the shit out of me, you know? Like, there's a better font for this. Like, right here, like, the Eclipse's Island right here, I don't like it. Can that be improved? Yeah, but it's just like, the way you do one thing is the way you do everything, you know? Morning. The Persian Gulf looks calm enough to lie to you. It's just like, orange on freaking yellow. It's like, uh, I don't know. And then they use the exact same sound effect 2 times in a row, you know? It's like, okay, no explosions. And the music doesn't align. Here, let me play it all from the beginning, okay? The music doesn't align. Typhon's— I'm already out because I've seen like 3 things, 4 things, just bugged the shit out of me. At 3:17 in the morning, the Persian Gulf looks calm enough to lie to you. No explosions, no screaming anchors, no dramatic— like, part of it's the script, okay? And then that's why I'm like, the other video is really good. I'm like, okay, I don't, I don't think this is this is legit, you know. I don't think this is legit. Let's go through her— let's go through her portfolio, I guess, real quick. Maybe there's some good stuff in here. Let's say for— okay, I don't know if she— like, this girl is charging $40 a video and she links this video from Extinct Zoo. That's why I'm like, sometimes people just link a video that's not actually theirs. Okay, I am good in research and history niche video. Okay, so then that's where I'm like, okay, no way you made this video. For this big of a channel if you can barely like, I am good in research and history in each video. Okay. So that's why I will archive the person. I don't know why I shortlisted them. Cool. Sweet. So let's keep going. And you can verify too and try to look it up, but it's just like the, I don't think that was legit. There you go. M dash. That's AI, right? We already talked about that. He didn't link you any examples. Okay. Let's check this portfolio out. I just don't trust this portfolio. Even these links are kind of sketchy. It shows on the bottom left. Okay, that's a YouTube link. A modern mega ship is the largest moving object. Oh, I hate this AI voice. I hate the AI voice. Anyways, if they're working for small channels like that, I usually just move on. Like, you shouldn't be posting that on your portfolio if you're decent. Okay. And these are some people, it looks like I already shortlisted them, so I like give them a thumbs up and then I came back through and actually didn't like them. So that happens. It just kind of depends on your mood and stuff that day. I'm just looking for somebody who's just like convenient to work with. So, so far I like this Abdul guy a lot. We'll see how this feedback is. And then usually I just kind of go through, it's a little bit tedious for sure, but you do this every single day for like a couple weeks and you'll find like some badass people for sure. So let's check this guy out. Have you shared documentary style? Um, Hollywood loves the image of a cowboy in his wide-brimmed stetson. Music sucks. Think John Wayne, the ultimate cowboy. But here's the truth: cowboys actually wore a mix. Not bad. Prepare to discover the fiercest— oh, I hate the music. All right, no, archive. No, just not looking good, like any of his portfolio and stuff. Okay, um, I can make free sample for you. It's just like, I don't know, it's not the most English. Okay, looks like he did some sort of sleepy channel. Let's see his editing. So, in the middle of the 19th century, long before skyscrapers dotted the Manhattan skyline and deriva— Bro, they're talking about how— like, the script sucks on this video, okay? But they're talking about Manhattan skyline, etc., etc., and then he's doing like this intense edit of this castle. It's, it's just, it's just like in misalignment there. Okay, uh, let's see, there's another small channel, Dungeons and Dragons. I'll just play it though. I'm already like, if this is the channel he works for, then he probably sucks. Okay, can he be a diamond in the rough? He totally can be, but it's like usually people that are good won't work on projects that like aren't doing that good. Okay, I'd rather— like, I know out there— this is one mindset that I would have. Okay, there's one mindset that I usually try to have whenever it comes to like content and like finding, finding people is I know damn well that there's somebody out there who's working for my competitor channels that's already getting like 100,000+ views a video and they probably want more work, or they probably would be willing to work for me if the deal was right. Okay, I'd rather go all day hunting for that person and just burn through people as fast as I can until I find the person that like is, is that person. And then from there, I would then decide to, uh, like, and like pursue that relationship or that conversation. So I might have some people that are like good on like backup and on the bench, but I just really like— I want to find somebody who's already batteries included so I'm not wasting so much damn time. I, and I'll show you an example. Okay. I was just going through those real quick, but I did this scriptwriter proposal. This one, it's like, I did like kind of a more in-depth write-up for the job post. And it looks like I even, I'm anti-AI and I left, definitely left some of these like AI things inside here. But there was one that I found. Oh yeah. Like I like this guy. I found him on my research. Like it looks like he's an Ohio State University. Professor. I don't think he's responded back to me. I'll probably just follow up real quick. Hey John, just following up. Okay, cool. I don't think he's been online for a little bit. So some people, you just want to get them off the platform ASAP if you do work with them. Uh, there was one girl that I found on a different job post. She literally worked for Thoughty2, which is like a giant YouTube channel. Thoughty2. Yeah, she wrote for this channel. And so I found her on the job post. I think she was, she was on a $50 a script job post, which I thought was just absolutely insane. So like sometimes, like I try the $100, the $300, some sometimes even $1,000 a script or an edit. And sometimes I just find people that are better on the cheaper job posts. Okay. So just expect to probably go through like 300 people, let's say, if you're like reading these and then maybe talking to 20 to 30 and then getting like 10 different samples through that. And you'll find out, find some fricking badass people when it comes to work with. So if you guys, yeah, that's kind of my process and what I found that works the best. And then eventually, you know, after you've done this for like a week or two, you'll have a bench of just some badass people that'll write some badass videos for you that you just send them any video idea and they just work. They make viral videos with you and you just absolutely crush.