Finally got my first paying users after years of side projects

I’ve been building side projects for years but never really got users beyond a few free signups. This time I built a CRM-style tool for fitness coaches to manage clients and promised myself I’d actually sell it.

Marketing’s never been my thing but I just forced myself to start emailing. I exported unlimited leads with Warpleads (I liked that I wasn’t limited to 50/day or whatever), then used Apollo for more niche fitness-related roles. I sent just under 3,000 emails, got 90+ replies, booked 35 calls, and closed 21 paying customers at $49/month.

Finally hit $1,000+ MRR after years of failed launches. It feels really good to see it actually working.

When you were starting out, what worked best to hit those first 20-30 users?