Struggling to get LVP jobs in north jersey, marketing feels like a waste

Man, been laying floors for 15 years here in north jersey, mostly hardwood and LVP installs with brands like Shaw and Coretec. But my marketing game's been tanking hard, spent $2k last quarter on Google Ads and only landed two small gigs worth $1,800 total. Feels like everyone's going the cheap DIY route after watching those Home Depot tutorials. Saw a thread on r/Flooring where guys were sharing referral tricks, but nothing's clicking for me up here with the old houses and picky homeowners. Anyone else in the northeast dealing with this crap? I joined the Flooring Contractors Network Facebook group, but it's mostly complaints, no real leads. TBH, I'm thinking of dropping the ads and just hitting up realtors directly, but idk if that'll move the needle on my $150k goal this year.

Haha, north jersey ads? That's like yelling into a black hole, everyone wants the cheapest laminate from Home Depot. Try posting your before/afters on NextDoor, got me three LVP jobs last month without spending a dime.

Same boat here, ads are BS. Switched to yard signs at every job site and doubled my LVP installs without the hassle.

Forget the ads, they're rigged for the big box stores anyway. Go old school with business cards at every lumber yard, that's how I fill my schedule with hardwood gigs.

Yard signs work until the HOA fines you, then it's a crap-show. But yeah, commiserating with you, marketing sucks for us small guys.

LOL, remember when we used to just drive around with a truck full of samples? Now it's all algorithms screwing us over.