I run a one-person clipping agency for four podcasters. Gross $5,982.46/mo last month. Net $5,100 after tooling. Here's the exact playbook.
The clients
All four are mid-size podcasters — 40K to 200K download range. I charge flat $1,500/month to output 60 clips per podcast per month, delivered in batches weekly. Two of them pay more for added editing.
The pipeline
- Monday: Clients drop raw episode links in a shared Slack.
- Tuesday: I run everything through Bolly.AI overnight. ~240 candidate clips generated.
- Wednesday: I pick the final 60 per show based on retention prediction + client brand fit.
- Thursday-Friday: Minor cleanup, custom thumbnails for hero clips, delivery.
What I actually do vs. what AI does
Bolly.AI handles: clipping, reframing, captioning, silence removal, caption styling. I handle: brand judgment, hook copy rewrites, thumbnail decisions, client communication.
The moat isn't the AI — it's that clients don't want to touch the AI. They want someone to take the raw file and hand back publishable clips with taste applied.
What I'd do differently
I'd productize faster. Instead of charging by clip-count, I'd charge by outcome tier (Basic, Performance, Viral). Same work, 30% more margin, and clients self-select up the ladder.
I'd also start a waitlist page. I'm turning down 2–3 inquiries a week at this point.