Should small business owners be the main character in their own TV commercials or use a professional?

Sometimes it is nice to see the owner in the commercial if it is a smaller business. It is someone who is more available and cares about the business. If they are not being ridiculous I think that it is very effective. Especially when you can go to the business and actually speak to that person. I'd rather deal with an owner who takes the intitiative to create their own unique ad than someone who hires someone else. It comes off as though they either do not care about the business, or the have enough money to show off a little, in which case they really don't need my business anyway. On the other hand, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES do I want to see their children in these ads. There are several places locally that use the kids to do commercials and it is just annoying. The kids always come across as if they are snotty little brats saying to everyone "My dad is better than you because he owns____ company".

If it is a larger business, hire someone else to do it. And if you are not fluent in the language you are presenting in, definately hire the job out. If you fall into both of the categories I just mentioned, your ad may cause you to lose more business than it will gain should you choose to star in it.

Some of my best childhood television watching memories are of these local business owners' commercials. From Cleveland, Ohio, there was C. Miller, the owner of C. Miller Chevrolet. The guy would stand there in a Superman costume and had this trademark kiss he'd blow to the camera. Obviously, they're not talented, but they get you to remember the business, which is the point of advertising.

I definitely agree with you. I feel I connect with the businesses or products when a real person

is doing the "sell". Lately so many commercials are meaningless and you aren't really sure at all what they are trying to sell. So I do think that using the real entrepreneurs in the commercials would be, at the very least, more interesting.

Reminds me of another question: would you rather have money in your wallet, or money in the bank?

The answer of course, is BOTH. Why limit yourself? Celebrities are proven to help with sales, and there's no reason the biz owner couldn't be in the ad. For example there's a guy in the mortgage biz in Chicago, Scott Tucker, who's the "star" of his ads, and he's also hooked up with "Fridge" Perry the former Chicago Bears football player.

And, don't confuse "how to be effective" with "who should be in the ad". A bad ad is a bad ad even if Britney Spears is naked. There are certain elements that are common to ALL effective advertising, and if you don't have them, your results suffer.