David-
Is your problem getting enough incoming leads or is it in closing the sales on the leads you are currently getting? If you want to start new jobs every week and you're not getting several fresh job inquiries every week, you need to pick up that end of the game. No one sells every single inquiry that crosses their desk. On the other hand, no matter how poor you think your sales skills are, you should be closing at least 50% of your qualified leads. So, if you want a new job each week, you'll need at least 2 qualified leads per week. You'll likely have a number of off target inquiries or raw leads you'll need to eliminate before you can get down to which ones are qualified. Depending on how hard you qualify your inquiries (raw leads), you might need as many as 3-10 or more inquiries to get them whittled down to a qualified lead status.
Are you targeting selling directly to home owners for their remodeling projects, or are you targeting builders, remodeling contractors, designers (trade professionals) and the like? Marketing is very different for those two groups.
If you're going out for homeowner business, most people will only remodel a kitchen once or twice in their lifetimes. Therefore you need to constantly be looking for and marketing to get the next one lined up. And if you expect repeat business from a homeowner-type kitchen remodeling client, you need to constantly remind them you also offer other services, if you in fact do so. Do you do closet systems, vanity or mud room cabinetry, home theaters, home offices, bookcases and built ins? Pat's idea of monthly mailings or monthly e-newsletters to past clients would likely do that fairly well.
On the other hand, marketing as a supplier to the trade has the plus of one client doing many projects on a continuing basis, but you need to displace their current supplier. What can you offer (other than better pricing or terms) that would get their attention? Everyone will try to get trade business with lower pricing and/or better terms. What makes you a different and better choice? Building relationships is critical to your success if you wish to sell as a supplier to the trade. Constant reminders (Pat's monthly mailing idea) can work wonders when that trade prospect has a problem with their current supplier.
I'd suggest you get together with as many of the trade pros you want to reach as you can, buy them lunch, and learn about their businesses by asking them about their problems. If they have problems you can help them solve efficiently, and you can take them off their plate and you can make a profit solving their problems, you may have the beginnings of a long term mutually profitable relationship. Plan to invite 25 trade prospects to lunch (you buy) during the next few weeks. Don't present your company or solutions until you talk over the prospects problems. Offer your solutions to their problems, and only present the parts of your company's services that meet their needs. Don't tell them absolutely everything you do, just the parts that will help them solve their problems. If you do so, you won't get to number 25 before you get new business. Otherwise, if you are not a problem solver, you are just another vendor in their eyes who wants to replace a trusted, long term relationship they have with their current vendor. That's not an easy one to overcome.
Direct mailing to a "targeted area" on a one time basis isn't going to work. What do you do with unsolicited direct mail (a.k.a junk mail). It heads straight to the trash, right? You need to mail the same area over and over and over again on a fairly frequent basis to even begin to have some name recognition. Fairly frequent means weekly or monthly, not once or twice per year. You need to catch the prospect at the time they are considering doing a project where you could be a supplier. And on top of that, you need to be known to and trusted by them so you can even have a chance of being contacted when they are shopping. What do you think the odds are getting a sales message in a single shot in front of a prospect who will only be doing a kitchen remodel a couple of times in their life at exactly the moment they are in the market? At best, it's very long odds. Constant marketing over months/years in as many forms as you can imagine in targeted areas will yield results. One or two shots with direct mail then quitting is a waste of your time and money. If you rely on solely on unsolicited direct mail to prospects, you really need go big or go home.
Long and short, working directly with homeowners is constant and consistent hunting and marketing. Price your work so you can have and spend a big budget to constantly inform and remind prospects of what you do. Some of the big home improvement companies spend upwards of 20% of their gross sales on marketing and sales expenses. Working with trade professionals is constant and consistent relationship building, if you want more than one project from them. Either way, you are going to have marketing costs. Pick the one that works for you and stick with it.
Finally, hire the proper people so you can concentrate on bringing in the business while your people produce the products you sell. Or, when you have plenty of work and profits, hire the right sales and marketing people so you can run both sides of the business, if that is what you want to do. There are not enough hours in the week to do both sales and production with only part time help unless they are very, very good and can crank out what you sell with very little of your supervision and direction. And if you personally cannot find enough business with the targets you select, you either need to add more targets, more geography, more products or all three, Otherwise, you don't have a business. You have a hobby with some expensive machinery in a shop.
Focus on where you want to be, then set up detailed business plans on how you are going to get there, then execute your plan. Good luck.
Dave