I don't get it. It's very vague. I did everything "correct": I invested in SEO, I had billing setup, I paid for ads, I created a niche product that caters to a specific audience. I ticked all the boxes of classical entrepreneurial literature, and yet I make coffee money from my side project.

I can continue beating it more and more, but I don't see how that's a strategy.

Let me repeat the edited-in question at the end of my first comment:

How many cold calls with prospective customers do you have daily? How often do you talk to people who might be interested on LinkedIn or other professional forums/social networks? How often do you attend in-person professional/networking events, conferences, tech talks? If you're not doing that at least few times a week, your odds are very low.

I used to build like you, do SEO and marketing, etc. But people buy from people - it's about trust. I got my first client after I finally took the phone and started calling - had to do it for 3 weeks (hundreds of calls, ugh) but it worked out. I got my second client when I went to my ~15th professional event. I had a big streak of luck on my ~20th event - 3 clients after one evening. I'd never get to have this kind of luck if I didn't try 20 times.

I do 0. Zero calls with customers. Because I don't know how to reach my customers. That's why I built a tool and invested in SEO and marketing, so they could come to me. And some did. Some even returned (which I consider a big success given the fact that my tool is designed for one time use).

I don't understand this part. I don't understand how to reach to people, and what do I offer them? Do I build the product beforehand? Do I offer them riches and wonders?

I sell software consulting services - a very saturated market. I bought access to a SaaS/database of companies and key management phone numbers, identified which companies use technologies I can offer from their job posts etc, and started calling. Many declined, many were rude to me, but at the end I found one that needed immediate help I could offer.

Offer solutions to problems, not products. Don't talk about all your features - ask them whether they have the problem you're solving and tell them about your solution. You'll have to get creative to get them talking - model situations, past successes and case studies of your other clients... Don't try to milk them - just set a fair price and be open about it, people don't like feeling you're going to take advantage of them. Build rapport, friendship and trust.

Check out how Michael Scott sells. I'm doing it just like him, it really works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYWwfdb2A88

I find it hard to believe that every indie hacker who built a successful macOS app/cron runner/uptime monitor--had to go through calling people and asking if they need a habit tracker.

Sure, they might have been active in online communities and "spammed" their app very time someone was looking for a habit tracker, but it's far from cold calling and talking with customers 6 days a week.

I understand that all niches are different. And from what you shared, it seems like you are in a big B2B business, which I believe requires more cold calling. But not everyone is doing consulting or building for big businesses. There are people, here and on other social networks, who build simple SaaS tools or macOS apps that can make a decent living off them.

Sure, I agree, this is just my own high level strategy that works for me but might not for you and your situation.

From what I saw, marketing is about data and a lot of money. If you don't have that, it's about having a big profile online account that people follow and trust - but I'm just not the person to build that, posting my stream of consciousness multiple times a day makes me cringe and my jokes are not funny. So I went B2B because I spent my career in large enterprises and understand them.

The same thing applies, though - people buy solutions from people they trust.

Yes, that makes sense. You grow in the industry you started in.