The Tempation Of Cheap

I've worked on many projects where I had to overcome someone's decision to go the cheap way, yet when starting my own projects I'm tempted to go the cheap way.

The profit margins using cheap inputs can be enormous.

Yet those cheap inputs and methods create standards and expectations, which future clients and colleagues will measure you by.

This isn't about being expensive- its about being on the good side of the value equation between you and your client. Even if their budget is $50, you deliver (in their eyes) $51 of content. Going the cheap route too often delivers only $45 worth of goods- and eventually the client will figure it out.

In the long run, being known as "the guy/company/organization who does things on the cheap" will cut into future profits.

Lines

When deciding how much to pay somebody, there is a fine line between fair and cheap.

Cheap is the right choice if the relationship is to be short term.

Fair gives you a much better shot at building a long-term relationship.

Peter

Solutions

The cheap solution is seldom the best solution, or at least a solution that can scale to solve future problems.

This should be self-explanatory, yet every day I encounter a cheap solution standing in the way of someone getting their work done.

If you do choose the cheap solution, at least have the decency to have low expectations.

Peter

Catch It While You Can

A few months ago I sampled Guiding Light, which had switched from the traditional soap production format to a handheld, small format, shoot everything in the field kind of storytelling. I thought it looked underlit, and, well, cheap. (Note: I would only attempt this with a DVR. Catch it while you can.

Unfortunately, the producers didn't really exploit the small cameras by radically evolving their style- the show still cut like your traditional soap. Perhaps they were limited in what they could try by the unions, writers, producers, or the fear of losing the 35 viewers they had left. Perhaps it was a decision made by an accountant who picked up a "Broadcast Quality at 10% of the price!" brochure at Best Buy.

Whatever margins the lower production costs drove were not enough to save the series from cancellation.

I hate seeing folks lose their jobs, but I am relieved that the strategy of making your show look worse than the competition, with no benefit for the viewer, was not rewarded.

Peter