Traction is 100% about persistence. Nobody cares about your code. You need to constantly approach bloggers to write about you, post in forums, online communities and link sharing sites such as this, generate content and optimize your visibility on search engines, and mainly just keep plugging at it until something sticks.

Also, not every service can have organic traction. Some services are just not social / sharable (I would even say most services), and must rely on tried-and-true user acquisition techniques - ads, affiliates and so forth. It's also possible that your service is not of enough interest or use to people who are not friends and family (just putting it out there).