Good advice from Simon there about the power of the iron. It does seem counter-intuitive that "hotter" is better for not damaging pots, but Simon explained it well.
Coincidentally I just posted about soldering in another thread, so out of laziness, I will cut and paste it here.
My comment may be more relevant if you find there are issues when you test the signal path.
"Well, the important thing is that it's working!
Your suspicion about cleaning up the solder on the pot may very well have been a big part of the problem. When I see dirty great blobs of solder, it sends up red flags for me. High potential for cold solder joints or shorts. I'm not trying to be critical, just honest.
Good soldering technique takes practise and an appropriately sized iron. I've seen some jobs that could only be qualified as "art".
My skill level is far from an artform but has steadily improved over 20 years of doing it and still improving!"
The neater you can get your soldering, the less likely you are to have problems.
edit to add:
If you think you'll continue doing more soldering and building, it's worth buying a "third hand" contraption. It makes soldering so much easier.
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