Local commercials are a lot of things, but mostly they’re bad. Go to any small-to-medium TV market in America, and you’ll find wooden acting, awful scripts, grade Z production values and a complete lack of self-awareness in local TV spots.

But deep down, they’ve got heart. There’s an earnestness there that can’t be matched by the slickest of Madison Avenue agencies. Local commercials aren’t just people talking to you — they are you. They’re made by your friends, your neighbors, and other folks you run into every single day.

That’s one of the reasons that I fell in love with producing TV spots in a small Southeastern town, and why I continue to do it today. I’m helping connect businesses directly with their customers, with a level of personal contact that was strangely missing from the national spots I worked on.

Along the way, I’ve learned a few things about how to make an effective, cost-conscious commercial. Your local commercial doesn’t have to suck.
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