Every job you finish is a week of free advertising on a street you already know converts. The neighbours watched your truck for three days. They saw the finished work. They have the same roof, the same driveway, the same tired paint you just replaced next door.
Then you drive away and none of them can remember your company name.
What actually goes on the card
The card that works is specific, local and about them. The card that fails is a brochure.
| Works | Doesn't |
|---|---|
| "We just replaced a roof on Oak Street" | "Quality roofing since 1998" |
| A photo of the actual finished job | A stock photo of a house |
| "Free estimate — (555) 123-4567" | "Contact us for a consultation" |
| One trade, said plainly | Nine services in a bulleted list |
| A QR code to your Google reviews | A QR code to your homepage |
How many, and when
A residential street is somewhere between 40 and 80 houses. Five hundred cards covers the streets around six to twelve jobs, which is a season for most small crews.
Timing beats volume. Cards go out while the job is still visible — the day you finish, or the day after, when the new roof is obviously new and the fresh paint is obviously fresh. A card that lands three weeks later is a cold advert.
| Quantity | Price | Per door | Covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 250 | $79 | 32¢ | Three to five streets |
| 500 | $119 | 24¢ | Six to twelve jobs |
| 1,000 | $189 | 19¢ | A season |
Five places the card works besides the door
- Handed to the neighbour who wanders over to ask what you are doing. This happens on every job and most crews have nothing to give them.
- Left with the estimate. A card in the folder outlasts the quote.
- Stapled to the invoice with "know anyone else who needs this?" written on the back.
- On the counter at the supply house, the diner, the hardware store.
- In the truck so you are never the contractor who had to write a number on a scrap of paper.
Make it match the sign in the lawn
The reason this compounds is repetition. Somebody sees the sign in their neighbour's yard, then the magnet on the truck in the driveway, then the card on their door. Three impressions in a week from one job.
That only works if all three look like the same company. Same colours, same logo, same phone number, same layout. Order them together and one proof covers the lot — the Contractor Kit pairs the signs and the truck magnets, and postcards drop straight into it.