# How to make a commercial for your small business

You do not need a crew to make a commercial for a local business. You need one offer, a short story and a clear ending with your name and address. These seven steps work with a camera or with Veolora, which writes the story, films three vertical shots and stitches the film for you.

## How to make a commercial in seven steps

1. **Pick one offer.** One dish, one service or one deal. A commercial that lists everything is remembered for nothing.
2. **Decide who it is for.** Picture one person nearby who should come in this week, and what stops them today.
3. **Choose a story.** Give that person a want, put your shop in the middle, and end with a twist. Three beats, about five seconds each.
4. **Write short lines.** A five-second shot holds about twelve spoken words. Read every line out loud and cut what you stumble on.
5. **Film three shots.** Keep the same faces and costumes in every shot. Veolora does this by carrying one character reference from shot to shot.
6. **Put your brand in the shot.** Show your name on the sign rather than saying it. Veolora films your logo onto the sign from a reference image.
7. **Finish and export.** Add subtitles, end on a card with your address and one line of offer, and export a vertical 9:16 MP4 with sound.

## An example script, from brief to three shots

Here is how to make a commercial for a pumpkin pie stand in October. The brief is one line: Hollow Patch Pies, pumpkin pie, open late this week. The story borrows the Headless Horseman, because every viewer already knows him and the season does the rest.

Shot one is the hook: a schoolteacher runs from the Horseman through the fog, shouting, "Please! Take anything you want!" Shot two is the shop: the Horseman stops at the stand under the Hollow Patch sign and the owner asks, "One pumpkin pie, extra whipped cream?" Shot three is the twist: the teacher peeks out from a hay bale, "He just wanted the pie?", and the owner smiles at the camera, "Everyone in town does." The store card closes on the address and "Open late this week". You can watch the finished version at the top of this page.

## How to make a commercial people finish watching

Viewers decide in the first second whether to keep watching, so open on a person mid-problem, never on a logo or a wide shot of your building. Keep the camera close, change something every two or three seconds, and save the reveal for the last shot. Subtitles matter more than the voice: most people watch with the sound off at first.

Length is a choice, not a rule. Fifteen seconds suits a cold audience on social feeds; thirty seconds suits people who already know you and will sit through a longer joke. Whichever you pick, learning how to make a commercial is mostly learning what to cut.

## Sound, music and subtitles

Every shot comes with its own generated sound: the characters' voices and the noise of the place, like a crowd on a street or the clatter of a kitchen. Veolora does not add any music to the file, so there is no song licence to worry about when you run it as a paid ad.

If you want a trending song, add it inside TikTok or Instagram from their licensed music library when you post, and keep the voices audible. Subtitles are burned into the video because most people start watching with the sound off; keep each line short enough to read in the time it is spoken.

## How Veolora makes the commercial

Enter your shop name, address, the thing to feature and an optional logo. Veolora suggests three short-drama ideas for your business. Pick one and it writes the plan: the characters, three shots, the lines in each shot and the store card. On a desktop the plan is a canvas; on a phone each shot is its own full screen, like a short-video feed.

Every shot shows its price before it is filmed. Shots are generated vertically at 768p with English or Mandarin dialogue, and your prompt is checked automatically before anything is sent. Finished clips are ready to watch as soon as they come back. The film is then stitched in your browser with subtitles and the store card, so nothing is uploaded again for editing.

## How much does it cost to make a commercial?

The cost depends far more on people and days than on length.

| Way to make it | What you pay for | Typical turnaround |
|---|---|---|
| Local video crew | A shoot day, actors, location and editing | One to three weeks |
| Freelance editor with stock footage | Editing time and stock licences | A few days |
| Doing it yourself on a phone | Your time and maybe a light | A weekend |
| Veolora short drama | 45 credits for 15 seconds, 90 for 30 seconds | Minutes once you pick a story |

Credit packs and plans are on Pricing (https://veolora.com/pricing). Writing, editing and stitching use no credits.

## What to have ready before you start

- Your shop name exactly as it appears on your sign.
- Your logo as a PNG, ideally on a transparent background so the sign is not painted white.
- The address or landmark people should look for.
- One offer or closing line of six words or fewer.
- A rough idea of who you want to come in.

## Common mistakes when making a commercial

- Opening on the logo instead of a person or a problem.
- Putting the shop name in every line of dialogue.
- Writing lines longer than the shot.
- Changing actors or costumes between shots.
- Ending without an address, a time or a reason to come now.

## Making a commercial with Veolora: questions

**How long does it take to make a commercial?**
Choosing a story and editing the lines takes a few minutes. Each shot usually comes back in under a minute, and stitching happens in your browser.

**Which languages can the characters speak?**
English or Mandarin, with subtitles that follow the dialogue.

**What if one shot comes out wrong?**
Lock the shots you like and film only that one again. A technical failure returns its credits.

**Can I use photos of my staff as characters?**
Use character references only for invented characters or people who have agreed in writing. Never upload someone's face without consent.

**Who can use the finished commercial?**
You can post and advertise with it for your own business. Use only names, logos and offers you are allowed to use; see the terms (https://veolora.com/terms).

**Can I make a 30-second commercial?**
Yes. Choose 30 seconds and each of the three shots becomes ten seconds long, which leaves room for longer lines.