100 Flyers a Day: How I’m Building My Online Business Offline (And the Woman at the Gas Pump Who Made It Real)

An Hour Later, I Met Her

Here’s the part I have to tell you because it’s why I know I’m on the right track.

About an hour after I set this 100-flyers-a-day goal, I rolled up to a gas pump and there was a woman next to me. I said hi — just being friendly. She ignored me completely. Not rude exactly, just… not having it. She walked into the convenience store, came back out, and started pumping. Then I heard her sigh. A big, heavy, “I’ve-had-enough” sigh. She pumped about seven dollars’ worth into her truck. Seven dollars. In a truck. And drove off.

I sat there for a minute and put it together.

She was struggling. Maybe she’s stretching every dollar. Maybe she just got bad news. Maybe she’s tired of pouring her paycheck into a fuel tank that drinks like a fish. I don’t know her story.

But I know this: I had just made a goal to put a solution in people’s hands, and an hour later, the universe sent me the exact person who needed that solution — and I had nothing to give her.

The flyers were sitting at Office Depot waiting to be picked up.

That woman is the reason I’m doing this. Not the people who already have it all figured out. The lady at the pump who’s silently doing the math in her head, deciding whether to top off or save for groceries — she’s who I’m building this for.

You can’t get that mission from behind a screen.

What I Thought I Needed (And What I Actually Need)

Here’s something I want any new business builder to hear: ask the question, even if it feels obvious.

When I started planning, my first thought was, “I need a printer.” I’d already bought one last year. It’s been jammed ever since. (If you know, you know.)

So I asked my AI chatbot what I actually needed to pass out 100 flyers a day. Glad I did. Because the answer surprised me: for 100 flyers a day, home printing is almost always the wrong move.

Quick math: home inkjet runs about $0.05–$0.10 per flyer. A print shop like VistaPrint, GotPrint, or your local printer can do 5,000 high-quality flyers for under $180 — about $0.036 each. Half the cost. Better paper. No 7 PM jams.

If you DO want a printer for in-house work (testing designs, same-day flyers, your own small operation), here’s what I’d recommend now that I know better:

• Printers — A reliable home printer that won’t make you cry: See my pick on Amazon
• Ink — The right ink saves you from buying a new printer next year: Get the right ink on Amazon
• Paper — Don’t underestimate paper weight. Cheap paper feels like junk: Quality paper on Amazon

And this one is huge — Rakuten cash back on Office Depot, Staples, OfficeMax, VistaPrint, GoDaddy, Mailchimp, FedEx, Stamps.com, and more. I use it on everything business-related. It’s a free way to put money back in your pocket while building. Join Rakuten here.

(Some of the links above are affiliate links — they cost you nothing extra and help support this journal.)

The Numbers: What 100 Flyers a Day Actually Looks Like

I love a good number, so let me share what motivated me.

Modern flyer and direct mail campaigns have a response rate average of about 4–5% — that’s up roughly 4x since 2016. People are tired of digital ads. Physical mail feels personal again.

Here’s what nobody talks about: the average flyer now stays in a home for 38 days (up from 17 days in 2016). That means even if someone doesn’t act today, your brand sits on their counter for over a month. Add a discount code and 50% of recipients hold onto the flyer for at least a week specifically because of the offer.

That’s why my flyer has a code on it. 10OFFMA for 10% off. (More on that in a minute.)

Now, my realistic expectations for MY 400 flyers a week:

Multiply that by:

• Autoship potential — fuel enhancer is a repeat-purchase product
• Partner businesses I’ll co-market with
• The 38-day shelf life of every flyer that didn’t convert today

Without telling you what the product retails for, I’ll just say this: it’s the kind of math that turns a side hustle into a system. The lifetime value of one customer on autoship dwarfs the first sale.

The drip effect compounds, too. Hitting the same neighborhood three times beats hitting three neighborhoods once. That’s the part most people miss. Consistency is what makes 100 flyers a day pay off.

The Psychology: We’re Looking for the YES People

When I was at AFLAC, my trainer said something that stuck with me forever:

“Happy people like AFLAC. Unhappy people don’t. God bless them. We’re looking for happy people.”

That’s how I’m running this flyer campaign. I’m not chasing people who don’t want my flyer. In my business world, the only people who exist are the ones who say YES. I’m goal-oriented. I have to create commerce. I can’t waste energy on a “no.”

Now hold up — I have one exception to that rule, and it’s the lady at the gas pump. If I’m reading the situation right and I’m sure what I have in my hand can fix what’s eating them up, I’ll break the happy-people rule. Because I can make their day. I have the right solution. That’s my business model in one sentence:

I just want to help.

I can help you. I’d love to help you. It’d be my pleasure to help you. The product I’m carrying is liquid gold for someone struggling with gas prices, and its value goes up every time the pump price does.

But for cold contacts — strangers I don’t know yet — I’m looking for the smile. The willingness. The “sure, what’s this?” energy. Don’t let other people’s bad day bring down your good day.

The Product That Started It All: AutoWorks Fuel Enhancer

This is what I’m putting in people’s hands. AutoWorks Fuel Enhancer is a premium fuel treatment that improves combustion, cleans your fuel injectors, restores lost engine power, and extends engine life. It works in gas AND diesel engines. Cars, trucks, SUVs, motorcycles, boats — if it burns fuel, AutoWorks helps it run cleaner and stretch farther.

For the lady at the pump and everyone like her — every fill-up gets your engine a little more efficient. Over a year of consistent use, that’s real money back in your pocket on something you were going to spend anyway.

If you want to try it, I made it easy:

🎯 Use code 10OFFMA at checkout for 10% off your order.

👉 Order AutoWorks Fuel Enhancer here

I’ve been on this product for 14 years personally. I’m not asking anyone to try something I haven’t been using since 2012.

Presentation Is Everything

Real talk: for years I’ve been very casual. T-shirts, comfortable, that’s part of who I am. But building a real business means dressing the part.

I watched a YouTube video where a guy said, “I’m dressed up like this because if I wasn’t, you wouldn’t take me seriously.” I half-agreed, half-disagreed — there ARE people who’ll take you seriously in jeans. But the point lands. Your appearance is part of your message.

When I walk up to someone, I want them to think:

“Whatever this guy is doing, I want to be part of it. He’s locked in. He’s ready. He’s got my attention. What does he have?”

That’s the energy.

A part of my presentation upgrade is this Pacific Mailer Padfolio Portfolio I picked up:

👉 Pacific Mailer Padfolio Portfolio Leather Binder (Piano Noir Faux Leather)

It holds my flyers, business cards, notes, and a writing pad in one clean leather binder. When I walk up to someone, I’m not pulling crumpled paper out of a shopping bag — I’m opening a portfolio. That changes the conversation before I even speak.

A few other presentation rules I’m following:

• Look sharp. You don’t need a suit. You need to look intentional.
• Stand tall, smile, eye contact.
• Have a one-line pitch you’ve rehearsed 30 times.
• Carry the product in your other hand. Visible. Real.
• Be calm. Be friendly. Don’t chase.

You’re not selling. You’re inviting.

A Quick Note on Where (and Where NOT) to Put Them

Quick checklist before you hit the streets in your own town:

• Best spots: parking lots of auto parts stores, home improvement stores, gas stations (with permission), rideshare staging areas, truck stops, community boards, laundromats, hand-to-hand at events.
• Never: mailboxes (that’s a federal violation under 18 U.S. Code § 1725 — only USPS mail goes there).
• Check first: most cities require a peddler’s or solicitor’s permit if you’re selling on the spot. Norfolk requires one through the Zoning Department. Check your local listings before you start. A 10-minute call saves you a $250 fine.

I’m saving the “sell on the spot” part of this strategy — payment processing, on-the-go transactions, on-the-fly objection handling — for a future post. For this 30-day sprint, my focus is exposure, leads, and site visits. Sales come second; relationships come first.

Old School Still Works (A Quick Trip Through Time)

One of the things I love about this strategy is that it’s PROVEN. Flyer marketing has been working for centuries.

• Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense (1776) helped spark the American Revolution. He printed and distributed it himself.
• Suffragettes ran flyer campaigns to win women the vote.
• During WWII, millions of leaflets were dropped from planes to influence public opinion.
• In every era — radio, TV, internet, social media — flyers have kept working when other channels got crowded.

Why? Because nothing else physically puts your message in a stranger’s hand. A scroll on a phone takes a second to dismiss. A flyer in your hand has to be received, looked at, and decided on. It interrupts the day in a way pixels can’t.

Where it’s going next is interesting too. The QR code rehabilitated flyers around 2020. Now we’re moving into “programmatic door drops” — flyer routes targeted by household data. AR-enabled flyers (point your phone, see a product video) are emerging in retail. Flyers aren’t competing with digital anymore — they’re a gateway INTO digital. The QR code on my flyer is the bridge. Old school out front, new school behind it.

Doing It With My Son

One of the best parts of this whole thing? I’m doing it with my son.

Some of these days I’ll be out passing flyers with him beside me. He’s learning what it looks like to set a goal, work for it, and meet people face to face. That’s the kind of education you don’t get in school. That’s a family business in the making.

If you’ve got kids old enough to be part of what you’re building — let them in. Let them see the work. Let them see the rejections, the wins, the conversations. Let them see you keep going.

That’s a lesson worth more than any flyer ever could be.

Your Move: Build Your Own Business Right Where You Are

If reading this made you think, “I could do something like this” — you can. And you don’t have to be passing out flyers about fuel enhancer. You can be doing it for any product, any service, any cause you believe in.

I learned a lot of what I’m doing through Wealthy Affiliate — a platform that teaches you to build a real online business from the ground up. It’s how I got my legs under me with 757BizClick. If you want to take a look:

👉 Start your own online business with Wealthy Affiliate

(Affiliate link — I only recommend it because I use it. If it’s not for you, no hard feelings.)

What’s Next in the Journal

This is just the start. I’m going to share what works, what doesn’t, the numbers as they come in, and the conversations I have on the street. The “selling on the spot” part (payment processing, on-the-go sales, objection handling) is coming in a future post.

For now, I’m putting on the polo, grabbing the Padfolio, loading up the flyers, and going to find the next person who needs what I have. Maybe it’s the lady at the pump. Maybe it’s you.

Subscribe to the journal. Let’s build.

Cedric Powell
757BizClick.com • 757-681-8900
Make Something Happen.

Quick Links Mentioned

• 🛒 AutoWorks Fuel Enhancer (10% off with code 10OFFMA): Shop here
• 💼 Pacific Mailer Padfolio Portfolio: Amazon
• 💵 Rakuten cash back (Office Depot, VistaPrint, GoDaddy, etc.): Join here
• 🖨️ Printer pick: Amazon
• 🖋️ Ink: Amazon
• 📄 Paper: Amazon
• 🚀 Start an online business — Wealthy Affiliate: Join here

admin

See Full Bio