30 Second Commercials For Local Businesses/Stores

Steven Bogda

Steven Bogda

Well-known member
Hi
How much is the average amount one would ask for if they shoot a 30 second commercial for say a hair salon, or a local diner that is ready to air on TV. I am trying to find places to do this for, but I have not done it before so I am hoping to do a few for real cheap just so I have something to show when I actually charge a normal amount.

Also,
Has anyone had experience with something like this? Any advice on finding places like this to approach about making a commercial?

Thanks
 
Keep in mind that the cable company will often shoot these ads at no charge. Just be aware of your competition and their advantage in the marketplace at this particular level.

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Oh wow I had no idea they do stuff for free. I only know of a few people who make commercials for local places and ask for like 500 bucks. And the commercials end up not being that great.
 
Steven Bogda said:
Oh wow I had no idea they do stuff for free. I only know of a few people who make commercials for local places and ask for like 500 bucks. And the commercials end up not being that great.
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Totally- most of the local commercials you see on TV were shot by the local TV station/cable station for free. They charge for the air time and throw in the commercials for free. Which is why- a most local commercials suck, b- it's nearly impossible to break into as a freelancer. Better to hook up with a local ad agency- which can at least arrange for higher end regional commercials. And now for one of the worst examples:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZXpW4S2Q1E


Noah
 
One of the things that worked for me was finding a few people that I knew that had businesses. I talked to them about helping them with a spot, with them just covering the expenses. I went to the local cable company and got some info on rates to air the spots and put a package together.

I didn't make any money on those, but they helped with my reel, got me some experience and contacts, and led to some paying jobs.

The one thing you have going for you is creativity. If you can brainstorm an interesting concept that can be shot cheaply, and executed well, that's a great calling card.
 
Since the local stations will do it for free, you have to be able to prove that you offer a superior product that is worth paying for. Another member here actually did that and has become very successful. It can be done, but you have to be able to do a damn good job.

TIP: Show them what a difference a 35mm adapter makes :D
 
Agreed. If your stuff is unquestionably better than you can find a market for it. Many local business owners who are all getting the same mediocre product from the same cable/broadcaster are looking for something that makes them stand out.

If you can provide that, then you have a business at it's most basic form. Providing a service that very few people can provide.

Make friends with the ad agencies as Nick suggested.
 
The best way to convince a local business owner to hire you is to learn about advertising.

In most cases they're not going to hire you just because of production value. They want to be sure they can get a return on their investment. Check out books like Wizard of Ads by Roy H. Williams or Juicing the Orange by Fallon.

There are two main reasons why local ads fail:

1. Most commercials look like commercials. What you need to do is convince your potential clients to step outside the box and make ads that don't look or sound like ads, that are entertaining but still convey a substantial position to separate the business from the competition.

2. Lack of Frequency. If you only see an ad once, you'll forget it. Or at least who it was for (which is why print advertising is not effective unless it advertises something that is happening Today). Your ads need to be in people's faces constantly to create top-of-mind awareness. 52 weeks a year. Because a Heritage Toyota ad will never motivate somebody to go buy a Toyota tomorrow. But if you run it consistently enough, then hopefully when that customer is in the market for a new car, Heritage Toyota will be the first dealer they think of. (It is far more effective to reach 1% of the audience 100 times than to reach 100% of the audience once and is often cheaper too)

Unfortunately the reps at local stations don't know a whole lot about advertising. They're sales people and they tend to be good at it. So a good understanding of how and why advertising does or doesn't work would be a huge advantage even over free production.

Or, like mentioned above, another great way to get this kind of work is to find an ad agency that hires outside production companies to shoot their spots. Convince the agency that if they hired you they could pay you a salary or hourly and actually make a profit on production instead of giving it all away to other businesses.

Also, ad agencies make a 15% commision on the airtime that they buy for their clients so if you have a good business model you really don't even need to make that much money on production. This makes it much easier to compete with the station's free production.
 
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jason.adams said:
Agreed. If your stuff is unquestionably better than you can find a market for it. Many local business owners who are all getting the same mediocre product from the same cable/broadcaster are looking for something that makes them stand out.

If you can provide that, then you have a business at it's most basic form. Providing a service that very few people can provide.

Make friends with the ad agencies as Nick suggested.
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Haha. I was talking about you in my post, Jason. I expected you would stop in here.
 
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