Day 6: found someone who started where I am and pulled it off.
I went straight to Chris M. Walker himself and asked, since he started exactly where I am right now, as an SEO freelancer trying to get visibility.
What he did first: He told me the very first thing he did was simply identify a service he knew people actually wanted. Then, to get eyes on it, he didn't overcomplicate things or wait for a perfect strategy, he just posted it on the marketplace and shared it on Facebook and Twitter. A simple, boring, repeatable move that started it all.