How a Side Hustler Makes 5000 Monthly as a Freelance Podcast Production Assistant

Lucas: So Luna, we talk a lot on this show about freelancers who build practices around high-skill niches — data engineering, fractional COO work, grant writing. But there's a side hustle that's quietly exploding because of a numbers game. Luna: Oh I'm curious — what's the numbers game? Lucas: There are over five million podcasts in the world today. That's up from about 2 million just three years ago. And most of those hosts are one-person operations — they record, edit, write show notes, post on social, book guests, all themselves. Luna: Right, and that's a lot of work for someone who probably has a full-time job already. Lucas: Exactly. So a growing number of podcasters are hiring freelance production assistants — people who handle the time-consuming parts. Stuff like clipping audio for social, writing show notes, uploading episodes to hosting platforms, coordinating interview schedules. Luna: And you can pull in serious money doing that? I've seen rates around $25 to $50 an hour. Lucas: You've seen it right. Today's episode is about a freelancer named Jenna — she makes about $5,000 a month as a podcast production assistant, working roughly 15 hours a week. And she started with zero experience in audio. Luna: Okay, zero experience — that's encouraging. Where did she begin? Lucas: She was a marketing coordinator at a small SaaS company. Her boss had a company podcast and asked her to help with show notes. She figured out Descript and a bit of Canva, and within a few months she was doing all the production work. Then she started pitching her services on Upwork and through LinkedIn. Luna: So the first client was internal — that's a smart starting point. Use the job you're already in to build the portfolio. Lucas: Exactly. Jenna spent about six months doing her company's podcast before she felt confident enough to take outside clients. Her first external client was a small business coach who paid $300 a month for two episodes: show notes, audiogram clips for Instagram, and scheduling guests. That took her maybe six hours a month at first. Luna: And then she scaled up from there. How many clients does she have now? Lucas: She currently has five clients. Two are weekly shows that each pay $1,200 a month — those take about six hours per week per client. The other three are biweekly or monthly shows that pay between $400 and $800 a month. All told, about $5,000 monthly, averaging $80 an hour. Luna: Eighty dollars an hour is solid for work that doesn't require a degree or certification. What's the actual skill stack she uses? Like, what tools? Lucas: Core tools: Descript for editing and transcription, Headliner or Canva for audiograms and social graphics, and then whatever hosting platform the client uses — Libsyn, Buzzsprout, Transistor, whatever. She also uses a shared Google Calendar for guest booking and Notion for managing her pipeline. Luna: So it's really about being organized and having a basic grasp of audio editing. I bet the biggest differentiator is reliability — just showing up and delivering on time. Lucas: Hundred percent. Jenna says the number one reason clients stick with her is that she never misses a deadline and she communicates proactively. If an episode is going to be late because a guest cancels, she lets the host know immediately and reschedules. That kind of dependability is rare, and podcast hosts are willing to pay a premium for it. Luna: I can see that. I mean, if your podcast is a business tool — maybe you're a real estate agent or a consultant using it to get leads — you can't afford to have episodes drop late. You'll gladly pay someone $80 an hour to make sure it's seamless. Lucas: Right. And the work itself is not technically demanding. Jenna says she spends most of her time on show notes and social clips. The actual audio editing is usually just removing ums, awkward pauses, and maybe a five-minute segment that went off-topic. She rarely does heavy sound design or mixing. Luna: So if someone listening wants to start this as a side hustle tomorrow, what's the first step? Do they need to buy a bunch of gear? Lucas: Nope. Just a decent computer and a pair of headphones. You can download Descript's free tier — it lets you edit audio by editing text, which is incredibly intuitive. Then pick one niche. Maybe you focus on solo shows, or interview shows, or business podcasts. Jenna's entire pitch is 'I work with business coaches and consultants who have interview-style shows.' That focus makes her look like an expert. Luna: That makes sense. And then how do you find those first clients? Upwork is one option, but are there better platforms? Lucas: Jenna actually recommends a two-pronged approach. First, reach out to podcasters you already listen to — especially smaller shows with under 5,000 downloads per episode. A lot of those hosts are still doing everything themselves and would love help. Send a short email offering to do one episode's show notes for free as a sample. Luna: I like that — low friction for them, low risk for you. And if they like it, you have a paying client. Lucas: Exactly. The second prong is LinkedIn. Search for posts where someone launches a new podcast or mentions they're struggling with production. Jenna has landed three clients just by commenting on those posts with a helpful tip — not pitching herself, just saying 'Hey, if you're looking for a tool to automate your show notes, check out this one.' Then people DM her. Luna: That's a great inbound strategy. So let's talk about the numbers a bit more — 5,000 a month on 15 hours a week. What's the ceiling? Could someone do this full-time and hit six figures? Lucas: Absolutely. Jenna is actually planning to raise her rates this fall and drop her lower-paying clients. She wants to get to $7,000 a month on about 20 hours a week. But some full-time podcast production assistants I've seen make $80,000 to $100,000 a year working 30 to 35 hours a week, especially if they also offer services like guest research or social media management. Luna: That's impressive for a job that didn't really exist ten years ago. But I do wonder — with AI tools getting better at transcription and show notes, is this hustle at risk? Lucas: It's a fair question. Tools like Descript already do pretty good automatic transcription and can generate rough show notes. But here's the thing — podcast hosts want a human touch. They want show notes that pull out the most interesting quotes, that frame the episode in a compelling way for search engines, that catch the nuance of the conversation. AI still gets that wrong a lot. Luna: And also, the coordination part — scheduling guests, sending reminders, handling reschedules — that's pure human relationship work. AI can't do that. Lucas: Right. So the role is evolving. Instead of spending time on transcription, you spend time on the strategic stuff. The best podcast production assistants are really project managers who know a little audio. And that's a skill set that's only going to become more valuable as the podcast ecosystem grows. Luna: You know, this episode actually reminds me of something. We get a lot of listeners who tell us they've used tips from this show to start their own side hustles or grow their freelancing income. And we're really glad that these conversations are useful. Lucas: Yeah, it's honestly the best part of doing the show. And if you find value in what we do here, one way to keep it going is to support us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That's buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure at all — but listener support is what keeps this podcast ad-free and focused on real practical advice. Luna: Exactly. Every little bit helps us keep the lights on and continue bringing you these concrete case studies. Now, back to Jenna — she also mentioned something about the importance of having a contract that covers scope creep. Lucas: Oh, that's a huge point. When you start as a production assistant, clients often ask for 'one more thing' — 'hey, can you also post this on Twitter?' or 'can you transcribe this bonus episode?' Without a clear scope, you end up working for free. Jenna uses a simple freelance agreement that lists exactly what's included: show notes, audiograms, guest scheduling, and episode upload. Anything else is a separate project at her hourly rate. Luna: That's smart. And how does she price? Is it per episode or hourly? Lucas: She does per-episode pricing for most clients. That way the client knows the cost upfront, and Jenna gets faster as she gets more efficient — so her effective hourly rate goes up over time. For a weekly show with 30-minute episodes, she charges $300 per episode. That includes show notes, two audiograms, and scheduling. She books one hour for editing, 30 minutes for show notes, and 30 minutes for guest coordination — so about two hours total per episode, which is $150 an hour. Luna: That's a great margin. And it scales. If she gets faster, she makes more per hour. So the key takeaway for anyone listening is: you don't need to be a sound engineer to make money in podcast production. You need reliability, organization, and basic audio skills. Lucas: Exactly. And if you're already listening to podcasts, you have a head start — you know what good show notes look like, what makes a compelling audiogram, what kind of guest experience feels professional. That's your edge. Jenna started with zero experience and now she's making $5,000 a month. Her advice: just start with one client, do a great job, and the referrals will come. Luna: I love that. And I think it's a perfect example of how a side hustle can grow from something small into a real income stream. Thanks for breaking it down, Lucas. Lucas: You bet. Next episode we're looking at another niche: how a side hustler makes $6,000 a month as a freelance TikTok shop affiliate manager. That one has some surprising numbers. Luna: Okay, I'm already intrigued. See you next time.