Startup Ideas

Opus Clip Service Business: Plain-English Guide (2025)

Turn long videos into 10–30 short clips per week—exact Opus Clip settings, workflow, pricing, deliverables, and outreach scripts.

Unkoa Marketing Team

20 Sep 2025 — 6 min read

What you’re building

You sell short-form repurposing. You take a client’s long video and turn it into ready-to-post clips for TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, Facebook Reels, and LinkedIn.

Why clients buy: short video travels farther, takes time to produce, and most creators are inconsistent. You deliver consistent output with better hooks.

What you need

Opus Clip — auto-generate clips and captions; use Virality Score and ClipAnything prompts.
Notion — one place to track leads, projects, clips, and dates.
Google Drive or Dropbox — share files (MP4 + SRT).
SocialBee (or Repurpose) — schedule and repost when included.
Apollo — find leads and run short email sequences.
Instagram DMs — direct 1:1 outreach.
ManyChat — automate comment→DM after people engage.

One-minute view: how this service works

Collect inputs and brand details.
Generate clips in Opus Clip using the defaults below.
Pick winners and tighten starts/ends.
Export and package with captions, hashtags, and two thumbnails.
Deliver or schedule.
Review basic metrics, keep what works, iterate hooks.

Quick Start (60 minutes)

Goal: be operational today, send 10 DMs, and deliver one free clip.

Timeline

0–10 min — Build your tracker
Open Notion (or a sheet). Add columns: Client, Source URL, Start time, End time, Hook line, Platforms, Stage, Next action (date), Posted date, Views (7-day), Retention (50%), Notes.
10–25 min — Configure Opus Clip
New Project → Project Settings. Branding: Brand Template (logo, fonts, colors) and turn Animated Captions on. AI Settings: add 3-6 ClipAnything prompts (contrarian tip, numbers/steps, emotional + example). Target: 38-55s. Format: 9:16 (1080x1920). Captions: animated on.
25–35 min — Build a 25-lead list
Use Apollo (search “podcast host” / “business coach,” filter recent activity), or bookmark 25 profiles that posted long video in the last 14 days. Mark Stage = Idea.
35–45 min — Send 10 DMs
Use DM 1 below. After each send, set Stage = DM 1 and Next action = follow-up date (+2-3 days).
45–60 min — Produce and send one free clip
In Opus Clip: generate and select one 38-55s highlight. Export: MP4 1080x1920. Copy: one-sentence caption + 5 hashtags. Thumbnails: pick 2 frames. Link: share an unlisted YouTube/Drive link. Log it.

Opus Clip defaults that “just work”

Target length: 38-55s.
Format: Vertical 9:16, 1080x1920 (export this first).
Captions: high contrast, 2-3 lines, large font, at least 80px bottom safe margin.
Brand template: logo on; large headline; medium body; brand colors.
ClipAnything prompts: contrarian tip; numbers/steps; emotional moment + example.

Step-by-step workflow

Goal: produce 10-30 clean clips from one long video.

Collect: links to videos, brand kit (logo, fonts, hex), tone, banned topics, platform order, main CTA.
Create project: Opus Clip → New Project → paste URL/upload.
Branding: Settings → Branding → select/create Brand Template; turn Animated Captions on.
Prompts: Settings → AI Settings → add 3-6 ClipAnything keywords.
Target & format: 38-55s, primary export 9:16.
Generate: click Generate Clips; sort by Virality Score.
Pick winners (10-20): hook in the first 2s, one idea only, ends on a full sentence. If you only have 8 strong clips, stop—don’t force weak ones.
Tighten: trim 0.3-0.7s off start/end; fix obvious caption timing.

Bad source → fix

Muddy audio: ask for separate audio or apply AI denoise; then re-generate.
Huge headroom: crop tighter before export.
Slide-heavy content: choose moments with voice + steps; overlay only 1-2 keywords.

Polish (optional): remove long pauses, smooth jump cuts; keep b-roll minimal and relevant.
Export: MP4 1080x1920 (9:16). If needed: 1080x1080 (1:1) and 1920x1080 (16:9).
Package: MP4s + SRTs, a text file with captions + 3-8 niche hashtags, and two thumbnail frames.
Deliver or schedule: share folder link; if included, queue posts in SocialBee (or Repurpose) and log dates in Notion.

Quality checklist

Hook in 1-2s
Captions readable (high contrast, no typos)
Brand colors/logo/fonts match
Audio leveled, no clipping, music under voice
Safe zones (nothing under app UI bars)
Correct aspect/duration, picture clean

Deliverables (what you hand over)

Item	Format	Notes
Clips	MP4 1080x1920 (9:16)	10-30 per source; 1:1 or 16:9 only if requested
Captions	Burned-in + SRT	SRT for YouTube/Facebook/LinkedIn; IG/TikTok use burned-in or native
Copy	1-sentence caption + 3-8 hashtags	Per clip
Thumbnails	2 frames	Provide timestamps or export stills

Platform settings you can trust (2025)

Specs last verified 14 Sep 2025. Platforms change often—use these as working defaults.

Safe defaults: 38-55s, 9:16, burned-in captions; add SRTs for YouTube/Facebook/LinkedIn.

Platform	Aspect	Max length (practical)	Practical note
TikTok	9:16 (1080x1920)	Record up to ~10 min; uploads up to ~60 min	Keep text centered; add native sounds when helpful.
Instagram Reels	9:16	Up to 3 min	Keep edges clean; keep on-screen text short.
YouTube Shorts	9:16	≤ 60s for guaranteed Shorts; 3-min rolling out to some accounts	Strong first frame and hook.
Facebook Reels	9:16	Short form recommended	New uploads treated as Reels; export 9:16 with captions.
LinkedIn	9:16, 4:5, 1:1	Up to 10 min	Square or 4:5 often win in feed.

Captions: deliver burned-in for all; include SRTs for YT/FB/LI. On IG/TikTok use burned-in or native auto-captions.

Find clients and book work

Who to target

YouTube channels with long talking-head videos but few Shorts per upload.
Podcasts in evergreen niches (business, health, creator tools).
Coaches who run webinars but post Reels rarely.
LinkedIn creators who post carousels but not vertical video.

Build a lead list fast

Apollo: find 50-200 prospects (“podcast host,” “business coach,” “course creator”).
PhantomBuster: export public followers/commenters of 3-5 target accounts; sort by fit and recency.
Warm 2-3 days (like/comment) then DM. Note: use PhantomBuster conservatively and within platform ToS.

10-day micro-sequence

Day 0: like + specific comment.
Day 1: DM 1 (below): compliment + free clip offer.
Day 3: DM nudge + 1 insight (“At 03:12 there’s a perfect 45s hook—want me to cut it?”).
Day 5: short email offer if you have an address.
Day 8: send the free clip link.
Day 10: close (“I can deliver 12 weekly clips from your backlog—want options?”).

Paste-and-send

DM 1: "Hey [Name], loved your [episode on X]. I turn long videos into short, branded clips. Can I cut a free 60s highlight from your latest video to show you?"

Email 1 (subject): Quick idea for [Brand] — 90-120 words: personal line → problem → free-clip offer → "OK to send?"

Expectations

Email: 25-45% opens, 2-8% replies (with follow-ups).
Cold DMs can be <1% booked; warming + a real sample bumps replies.

Pricing (simple and sane)

Plan	Price	For	Includes
Per-clip	$15–$40	Testing or one-offs	1 clip + burned-in captions + SRT + caption line
Pack 12	$150–$300	Weekly presence	12 clips + SRTs + captions + 2 thumbnails
Retainer 28–40	$600–$1,200+	Consistent growth	28-40 clips + optional scheduling + monthly mini-report

Set your price: Per-clip floor = (target hourly) × (minutes per clip ÷ 60). Price = floor × (1 + overhead) × (1 + profit). Package = price × clips.

Make better clips (simple rules)

Hooks that work

"Most people get X wrong—here’s the fix."
"Here’s the 30-second version of [topic]."
"Three rules for [niche] that still work in 2025."

Thumbnails / first frame

Face centered, eyes above midline, headline ≤ 6 words, nothing covering chin or captions.

Cadence

Post 3-5 clips per platform weekly; test two hooks each week; monthly: keep top 20%, re-cut or re-title the rest.

Reporting (one page)

Track views, 3-second holds, 50% retention for each clip. Next month:

Double-down on the top 20% (same hooks/topics).
Rewrite hooks for the bottom 20%.
Test two new hook patterns.

Minimal toolkit recap (with links)

Core: Opus Clip, Notion, Drive/Dropbox, SocialBee (or Repurpose).

Outreach: Apollo (find + email), Instagram DMs (1:1), ManyChat (comment→DM).

Scraping (light): PhantomBuster (public data; throttle and follow ToS).

Wrap

Lead with value (the free clip). Ship on a schedule. Iterate hooks based on simple metrics. Keep the stack light and the workflow boring—because boring ships.

Affiliate disclosure: This guide contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.