Direct-mail recruiting for local employers
Reach the people who live close enough to say yes.
Businesses need applicants. Work Reach puts your invitation to apply in every mailbox within about a 20-minute drive, reaching nearby people, including those who aren't actively looking and may not know you exist, without fighting for attention online.
- A 20-minute driveOur working target area
- Every mailboxOn the selected USPS routes
- Beyond job boardsPeople who opt in by responding
Commute-first targeting
Start with the drive, not the job board.
Your help-wanted sign reaches people who drive past your building. A Work Reach card puts the same message into the homes around you, with the pay, the shift and exactly where the job is.
- A 20-minute driving commute zone. We mail the area within a 20-minute drive of your site, assuming a vehicle; transit and cycling aren't modeled. The aim is fewer offers turned down over the commute. That people generally won't drive more than 20 minutes is Work Reach's working assumption, not a proven rule.
- Every mailbox in that zone. Route mail reaches households a purchased name or address list can miss. We confirm USPS route eligibility and the residential and business mix for each zone before quoting coverage.
- Reach beyond job boards and digital ads. Many nearby residents never see your online postings, and temp agencies may not recruit by commute.
- Opt-in by self-selection. The cards introduce you, make the case for the job and ask people to act, for example by scanning a QR code. A response shows interest. It doesn't mean the person is qualified or will accept an offer.
Research below is national, not specific to Walker or to manufacturing. It shows that proximity matters to workers. It does not prove direct mail beats other channels; each client's pilot is what tests that.
Nearly half of workers say commute cost or length has influenced them to turn down a job.
- 32%would need at least 20% more pay to accept a commute 20 minutes longer than they prefer (Monster).
- 23%of current job seekers are focusing on jobs closer to home (Benzinga, reporting Monster).
- 38%of 10,000 rejected hourly offers on one staffing platform were turned down over location, versus 10% over pay (HR Dive). One platform's data, not a national estimate.
- FedA Federal Reserve working paper finds commuting time affects job acceptance ("Costly Commuting and the Job Ladder").
Address and budget calculator
See which mailboxes your budget reaches.
Enter a worksite address and a budget for a campaign. A campaign is a minimum of three mailings of the same card to the same homes, one every three weeks (weeks 1, 4 and 7), and the budget covers all three. We find the USPS carrier routes fully within a 20-minute drive and select them for optimal commute time: the route closest to your site first, then routes with most homes within about 15 minutes, as far as the budget goes. A larger budget reaches more households. Drive times assume a vehicle; transit and cycling aren't modeled.
Living nearby doesn't make someone qualified or mean they'll apply. The card invites interested people to respond, and you decide who fits.
Selected routes
| Route | City | Mailboxes | Distance |
|---|
20-minute drive area · USPS carrier routes
Three mailings is the minimum. For the most impact, we recommend eight mailings, one every three weeks. A year-round plan is 18 mailings. For those plans, more than one card design, all addresses, or route-by-route control, open the advanced route calculator. It uses the same pricing.
Sample card
One card, front and back.
Here's a sample of what the card could look like. We'll help you design the right card for you as part of a campaign.
Sample concept · fictional employer, not an active mailing
Two languages, one card
This sample is in English on the front and Spanish on the back, and each side tells the whole story, because a card can land either side up. If some of the households near your site read Spanish first, a second language may help the card reach people an English-only card would miss. We think that can make a stronger mailing, but we haven't measured it yet. A campaign can test it. The layout is flexible too: both languages on each side, or other languages your area needs.
How a campaign is priced
Four lines, each with its status.
A campaign is a minimum of three mailings to the same homes, one every three weeks (weeks 1, 4 and 7), because one card is easy to miss. For the most impact, we recommend eight mailings, one every three weeks. Pieces are the residential mailboxes on the selected routes. Printing and postage repeat for each mailing; the Work Reach fee is charged once per campaign. The calculators on this site use these same rules from one shared pricing file.
| Line | Status | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Printing, 11" × 6.25" two-sidedPieces plus a 3% print overage, rounded up | Planning rate, not a vendor quote | $0.20 / card, each mailing |
| USPS EDDM Retail postageEvery residential mailbox on the selected routes | Verified | $0.26 / piece, each mailing |
| Work Reach feeOnce per campaign, whatever the number of homes. Includes one card design; each extra card design is $250 | Decided | $750 / campaign |
| Card processing2.9% + 30¢, grossed up so the fee is covered: total = (subtotal + $0.30) ÷ 0.971 | Card payment | 2.9% + 30¢ |
Sales tax is not included. The tax classification of this service is not yet confirmed.
Worked example: 1,155 mailboxes, three mailings, one card design
| Printing1,190 cards (1,155 + 3%, rounded up) × $0.20 × 3 mailings | $714.00 |
| Postage1,155 × $0.26 × 3 mailings | $900.90 |
| Work Reach feeOne campaign fee, includes one card design | $750.00 |
| Subtotal | $2,364.90 |
| Card processing($2,364.90 + $0.30) ÷ 0.971 − $2,364.90 | $70.94 |
| TotalBefore any sales tax | $2,435.84 |
With three different card designs, the fee is $1,250 and the total is $2,950.77. With eight mailings of one card, the fee stays $750 and the total is $5,207.72. EDDM Retail needs at least 200 pieces per mailing. A firm quote follows once routes are chosen and printing is quoted.
How it works
A marketing service, not a staffing agency.
Work Reach is not a staffing agency. You make every hiring decision, and you own every lead. We guarantee the cards go out as agreed. We do not guarantee hires.
- Qualify. Open roles, decision-maker, budget, who answers responses.
- Confirm facts. You approve pay, shifts and requirements in writing.
- Routes and quote. Carrier routes within a 20-minute drive, household counts and a print quote.
- Design and approve. We help design the card; you sign off before print.
- Print and mail. Every mailbox on the selected routes, at least three times, one mailing every three weeks.
- Review. You see who applied; then renew, change or stop.
Talk through a campaign.
Mark Carpenter meets with employers in person.
Contact details coming soon. Placeholder: the contact method hasn't been decided yet. There is no form, booking or chat on this page, and it collects no data.