I’m launching a $2,500 YouTube Shorts Editing Contest

4 min read

I’m running a YouTube Shorts editing competition, and it starts right now. I’m offering a prize pool of $2,500 AUD for creating the best YouTube Shorts from my published podcast episodes.

The purpose of the contest? To help me find a talented editor to work with me for future episodes. I’d likely hire you as a contractor. I estimate I’ll need about 3-7 Shorts created per week (note: this is a rough estimate and may vary).

What I’m looking for

A great Shorts editor needs three things:

  1. Extreme attention to detail
    • You submit videos with captions that don’t have typos.
    • You source visual overlays that are sharp, not pixelated.
    • I don’t need to give you feedback on simple stuff.
  2. Aesthetic taste
    • You choose background music that lifts a clip rather than distracts from it.
    • You find thoughtful visuals and insert them at moments in a way that adds emotional punch.
    • You avoid cheap gimmicks—no emoji spam, no cringe clickbait.
  3. General knowledge (or at least curiosity)
    • You can spot episode segments that will tap into the zeitgeist.
    • You know when it’s safe to reorder a clip for a stronger hook—or when doing so would distort the guest’s meaning.
    • You have a keen sense of what my smart and curious audience will find interesting.

Of these, the scarcest (and most valuable) are curiosity and taste. Editing skills can be learned reasonably fast—I taught myself how to edit in Descript, for example, in about a day. But curiosity and taste are much rarer. That’s why I’m running this competition: to try to surface hidden talent.

How the competition works

  • Prize pool: $2,500 AUD
    • 1st place: $1,250 AUD
    • 2nd place: $750 AUD
    • 3rd place: $500 AUD
  • Deadline: Tuesday, 30 September, 4pm US Pacific Time
  • Submissions: Upload your 5 shorts (with draft titles) via this submission link.
  • Rules:
    • Shorts must be selected from at least 3 different podcast episodes.
    • Do not submit if you can’t commit to freelance editing work after the competition.
    • Shorts submitted for the competition will not be paid for individually, even if I publish them.*

How winners are chosen

Between 1–31 October, I’ll publish the most promising Shorts from the submissions on the podcast’s YouTube channel. This is to help me decide the winners by seeing which Shorts actually perform well.

I will aim to announce the winners by 14 November, with prize payments to be made shortly thereafter.

I’ll choose winners based on four things:

  1. Performance on YouTube (views, retention, engagement)
  2. My own judgment (fit with the show’s brand and style)
  3. Originality (choose clips that are different to the Shorts already published on my channel!)
  4. Responsiveness to feedback in the competition’s Slack channel

Contributing good ideas in Slack—even if someone else executes them—will count in your favour.

My goal is to hire at least one of the winners for ongoing work.

Resources

Technical guidelines

  • Aspect ratio: Vertical 9:16
  • Length: Up to 180 seconds (but 30–90 seconds is usually the sweet spot)
  • Hooks: The first 2 seconds are everything. Start on the juiciest part of the clip, not necessarily my question.
  • Editing: Cut out filler words, tangents, and lulls, but don’t chop so hard it feels disjointed.
  • Captions: Always include them. Keep them clean, white, and minimalist (no emojis). Be mindful of the “danger zone” in the YouTube Shorts interface (see here).
  • Overlays: Use images or video tastefully to hold attention and add meaning. I’ve used tools like Google Veo3 to generate custom AI visuals before, but you can also use stock or your own assets.
    • When sourcing overlays, all the normal rules of common sense apply. Don’t source things that risk copyright infringement. Use royalty-free/licensed assets.
  • Tools: I use Descript (here’s a random 10-min video tutorial, though there are plenty of others if you search online), but you can use CapCut, Premiere, Adobe, DaVinci or whatever you’re most comfortable with.

Key terms

  • Open to entrants worldwide, 18+. (Entrants are responsible for ensuring participation is legal in their country of residence.)
  • Submissions must be your own work, with rights to any third-party material you use.
  • By entering, you assign copyright and related rights in your submissions to Joseph Walker (The Joe Walker Podcast).
  • Only prize winners (1st: $1,250 AUD; 2nd: $750 AUD; 3rd: $500 AUD) receive payment. Non-winners will not be paid, even if their clips are published.
  • Winners are responsible for any taxes in their jurisdiction.
  • Winning does not guarantee ongoing work, but I hope to hire an editor from the participants, most likely from the winners.

Final note

If anything here isn’t clear, or seems off, email me (joe@jnwpod.com) and I’ll respond or update.

This competition is really a scouting exercise. If you care about doing great work and think you have what it takes, you’re probably someone I want to work with.

I’m really excited to see the Shorts you all come up with!

*This is just to keep things simple. To judge the contest I may publish submitted Shorts, but publication doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll win or be compensated.

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