How would you get your first big ticket client?

Been trying to get my first big ticket client (min price about $500/mo) through cold emailing but my workflow not working out the way I had hoped. What’s a nice workflow/system you’ve been using that you think could help me get my first (really second) client? Money is no issue, I’m willing to spend up to $500/mo, even more if it leads to net profit in a few months?

For context right now I’m generating leads from Apollo and using Smartlead to send emails to these folk. I considered using clay but I’m still on the fence about it