Okay, so here’s the thing.
Mitchell Tebo has tried a lot of side hustles. But postcards? Postcards are what finally worked for him.
And yeah—that sounds ridiculous. Bear with me.
The Postcard That Changed Everything
It’s a 9x12 inch piece of cardstock. Oversized. The kind of thing that shows up in your mailbox and you actually look at because it doesn’t fit with the rest of the junk mail. That’s the whole point.
Here’s the play: you sell advertising space on this card to local businesses. Sixteen slots. Each business pays around $500 to get featured. You collect the money upfront, design the card (or have them send their own ads), then ship it off to a print company who handles the rest—printing, postage, delivery to 5,000 homes.
Your cost? About $3,000.
Your revenue? $8,000.
Do the math. That’s $5,000 profit. From one postcard.
Mitchell teaches this whole system in the 9x12 Method community — templates, scripts, everything. But let’s keep going.
”But Who Would Pay $500 For a Postcard Ad?”
Businesses that already spend thousands on mail marketing, that’s who.
Think about it from their perspective. They’re used to paying for mailers, flyers, EDDM campaigns. Solo mail marketing costs a fortune. But split across 16 non-competing businesses? Suddenly $500 gets them in front of 5,000 local homes for about 10 cents per door.
That’s… actually a great deal.
The conversation is simple. You reach out—email, Facebook Messenger, phone if you’re feeling bold—and say: “Hey, I’m putting together a community postcard going out to 5,000 homes in [your town]. Want your business featured?”
Some say no. Most say maybe. Enough say yes.
Mitchell’s Results (And They’re Kind of Insane)
Here’s where it gets interesting.
His first month doing this, Mitchell sold out one card. Five grand. Not bad, right?
Month two: two cards. Ten grand.
Month three: three cards. Fifteen thousand dollars.
All local. All businesses he could drive to if he wanted. Which he doesn’t, because that’s the whole point—this runs through email and Messenger. He works from his bedroom. Sometimes the couch.
The freedom is what got him. Not the money—though yeah, the money’s nice. It’s the fact that he built something that doesn’t require being anywhere specific, doesn’t need a warehouse, doesn’t break if TikTok changes its algorithm overnight.
The Part Nobody Talks About
Is it easy? Eh.
It’s simple. There’s a difference.
You’re going to send a lot of emails. Like, a lot. Some businesses won’t respond. Some will ghost you after showing interest. A few will be weirdly rude for no reason.
But the ones who get it? They become repeat customers. They refer their business friends. They ask when the next card is going out.
That’s when it stops feeling like a hustle and starts feeling like… a real business.
The 9x12 community is full of people sharing exactly which scripts work, which businesses convert best, and how to handle the weird objections. Worth checking out if you’re serious.
Why This Works When Other Side Hustles Don’t
Most side hustles fail because they’re competing in markets that are already oversaturated, or they require skills that take years to develop, or they depend on platforms you don’t control.
This is different.
You’re selling something businesses already want. You’re offering it cheaper than they can get it elsewhere. And you’re operating locally—which means your competition isn’t the entire internet. It’s whoever else in your town happens to be doing the same thing. (Spoiler: probably nobody.)
That’s the edge. It’s not sexy. It’s not “passive income while you sleep.” But it works.
So What’s The Catch?
Honestly? There isn’t one huge catch. More like a handful of small ones:
- You need to be okay with rejection. Not everyone’s going to buy. That’s fine.
- You need to follow up. People are busy. They forget. A polite nudge works wonders.
- You need a system. Track who you’ve contacted, who’s interested, who’s paid. Spreadsheet minimum. CRM if you’re fancy.
And you need to actually start. Which, statistically speaking, most people reading this won’t do. Not because it’s hard—but because it feels too simple to work.
It works.
Ready to Try It?
Look, this blog post can only explain so much. The 9x12 Method community has thousands of people doing exactly this—sharing templates, scripts, what’s working, what’s not. Mitchell runs it himself, and the members are genuinely helpful.
No pressure. But also—what’s the alternative? Another year of scrolling through hustle TikToks and doing nothing?
Your call.
That postcard sitting on your counter might just be someone’s $5,000 payday. Maybe it should be yours.