I see this post is a bit old but I hope you're still looking for answers! You asked for a hack, so I'm thinking you've exhausted some of the more standard ideas. I don't know much about your business, but local services probably tells me just enough....

One problem with two-sided markets is you need demand for both sides. But demand is difficult to drum up if one side sees lack of demand on the other. And so it goes. One way to solve for this is to use a matching algorithm to match someone making a request with local service providers. What this does is it keeps the small number of actual providers from being exposed to the end user. So they'll still have a decent user experience if you can effectively communicate the small return to them. I used this technique when I founded my music company. We hadn't yet cleared the 7 million tracks from the major labels, so to make it appear as if we had every song ever written, I developed an algorithm that matched personal attributes (mood, things they enjoy, etc.) and delivered music that matched their profile. Obviously, it came from the database we had which was much smaller at the time. The second thing we did was remove search so that the diminutive size of our catalogue would not be exposed. Of course, we changed up everything once all the clearances were in place. But these two tactics were instrumental in landing more paying clients, the "other side" of the market (in our world). Lots more but no room. PLS upvote so others can read it.