What do you think about this craigslist ad?

I think if they get work, which they might, the budgets will be very limited. While it's true that just because you have a camera doesn't mean you can shoot and edit well with it and that those skills are worth a lot, this is a $2,000 dollar camera. A lot of people can just go out and buy a $2,000 dollar camera without breaking the bank and they probably will if they want 4k for a small project. I can see a band just buying one of these and shooting their own music video before giving this guy $2,000 bucks to shoot it for them.
There's no link to a reel so they're not advertising their great production skills, they're advertising the camera. The closer their budget is to the price of the camera for a project the more likely someone will just go, heck I'll just buy one of those cameras myself and shoot it. how hard could it be? There's tutorials on youtube.
 
Not sure if this is the type of feedback you were looking for but what i think of the ad itself is that is pretty cheesy/corny, and that the people who posted it are very young/inexperienced. If they did have samples/a reel, you would not be impressed by them/it. Is that true? Who knows, maybe theyre 30 year industry veterans with great work under their belts but the ad wording says otherwise.
 
Here's what I think:

I think this thread will be alive longer than the listing. For that reason, I am copying the text from your link below (as you should have done). ;)


Hello! We just purchased 2 Sony FDR AX-100's 4K cameras & A Sony FDR AX-1. We are shooting & delivering 4K footage at affordable rates. It's simple, we didn't spend $10K on our cameras so were not going to charge you as if we did. We do everything from music videos, commercials, TV shows, pilots, feature films, you name it. We can also handle your 4K post work with ease. Don't get left behind, get your project shot in true 4K without breaking the bank. We are also shooting in 4K and down converting to HD for the prettiest/cleanest HD footage on the planet!
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And trying to get ahead of the wave, I suppose, which is a good, proactive thing.

Is it your ad or your competition's?
 
Well you asked for it so here goes:

I think they are using buzzwords like 4K and
competing on price....saying it will be cheaper
than everyone else. I don't think that's a good way
to go. I also see no link to any of their work or any
kind of reel. My guess is they're young guys trying
to break in and this is the best way they can think of to do that.
 
Not my ad, I just stumbled across it. Sounds gimmicky to me. Sure you may have 4k camera's but can you produce good work? Instead of trying to convince you to choose them based on their finished product, they are trying to get you to choose them based on the current buzz words.
 
STYLZ said:
http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/cwg/4418685107.html
Just curious.
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Hey, this is what I think of that ad... I'll go with these people here

I'm pretty sure these people have it together, where as those las vegas people are... well... las vegas people... need I say more...

But I what I don't quite get is why my San Diego people have a 'mountain shot' whereas your Las Vegas people have a 'surf shot'???

Is surfing that popular on Lake Mead???
 
David Jimerson said:
If they're offering what's currently hot for less than everyone else, you don't think that's a good way to go?
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I guess I was a bit unclear. What reasons do they give for
you choosing them? They give 2.....and they are both
'buzzwords'. '4k' and 'cheap'

First, they are using the 4k Buzzword. Most clients aren't looking
for 4k yet (many don't even know what 4k is!) and those
that are most likely aren't looking for 4k from FDR AX100s.
So they seem to be hoping for 'uneducated' clients who
dont know much, but have heard hype about 4k and are
hoping to be hired based on the fact they offer 4k...I might
wonder how they plan to deliver 4k, but 'surprisingly'
they don't touch on that in their ad.

Second, they talk about costing less than everyone else.
This is a tempting way to try and break in, but almost never
a good long term strategy. In fact, it can make it hard as
your clients will stay with you until you find out you need
to raise your rates...then, because they are looking for best
price, they will find the new guy with lower rates. A lot of people
have talked about this better than I, but it is not a way
you build relationships long term with clients. As another
poster on another thread said, one of the hardest lessons
to learn, is telling a potential client, 'I'm worth more than that'.

A better way in my opinion is to compete on value vs. price.
Easy to say, hard to do. It's not easy to stay in business if your
only source of income is 'filmmaker/motion pictures/digital cinema'.
Thats why people try to compete on price, that is easily defined.
Unfortunately, it can be used against you just as easily as you
use it against others. There is always someone cheaper...unless your
goal is to be the cheapest around!! Which means you need to build
relationships with clients who value your skills....even when someone cheaper
comes along. My clients assume I will stay up on relevant industry trends.
They might ask me to explain 4k to them, or if I could offer it to them,
because they value my skills with and opinion on this type of thing.

I will say that if I have clients that leave me to go to the 'cheaper' guy,
they are probably not clients I want for the long term anyways.
 
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That's missing part of the picture though

1, If its a client that hired you just once, that's not a whole lot of relationship to them.

2, If they see a legitimate prospective improvement/comparable for a lower cost, any good business person would at least hear it out (again, depending on #1)

3, What if a competitor is offering something new, and you either can't offer it or don't make the effort to? (it's on your shoulders to maintain your value)


So, if a longstanding happy client all of a sudden ditches me for highschool graduate #78 without so much of a question comment concern or idea, then yes, that's poor business and a crappy thing for them to do.

But if it's a newish client and someone came along offering an ability or value that i either can't or don't want to match, but the client at least had a dialoge with me about it, well then thats a choice both the client and service provider make as reasonable businesspeople.
 
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