A wonderful source to find leads for free is at local Public Libraries and here I will show you how to get them. Anyone can have access to great free leads for business sales with or without a library card at your local library. Most libraries will give you free (or limited) use of their computers as well -- just inquire as to what their rules or fees are. Although many of the free lead sources are printed publications, some are also available online if you are just a little computer savvy. Before you head out for the library, be sure that you have all the right tools you need for managing and organizing your free leads list.
If you're not sure of where to start within your library then ask for help from the Reference or Research Librarian at the front desk. The Reference Librarian is there to help you and they will know of many places for you to look for business leads other than what I have listed here; all are available for free within their shelves or through their access of online databases.
The Reference or Research Librarian will most likely lead you to these publications which are the most common when looking up names and addresses to businesses. Some of these sources will also include list of the names of corporate executives, phone numbers, fax numbers and website addresses. With a little investigation and research you may very well turn up a gold mine of free leads! Here is a quick list of these major resources:
Plunkett Research
Plunkett Research provides market research and industry information for use to government agencies, corporations, libraries, schools and universities, and individuals. They offer market research in several formats which include printed reference books and online. Plunkett covers about 26 industry sectors such as health care, retail, entertainment, energy,financial services and information technology. Many libraries have access to Plunkett online as well, that is available to library patrons.Standard and Poor's
Standard & Poor's (S&P) publishes financial research and analysis on stocks and bonds both in a printed book format and online. It is one of the top companies in this business. Standard and Poor's lists credit ratings and related evaluations and data primarily for investment purposes but this information may well be very valuable to you as a sales person, depending upon who your target market is. You may search by company name or industry among others. Also, look at acquisitions for each company to find related companies that fit into the profile of your ideal customer.Hoover's
Hoover's publishes information in either printed publications, that are known as Hoover's Handbooks, and also online formats. You will find detailed information about industries, companies, and their executives.Gale Research
Gale is a world leader in research and educational publishing for schools, libraries, and businesses. Gale is an authority on organizing reference publications such as magazine and newspaper articles but also full publications such as trade magazines and journals. Using Gale to research these publications as a resource for you is best used by finding a list of publications through Gale in your particular target of interest and then exploring available publications. Look for advertisements of organizations that you may be able to research further. Gale maintains over 600 databases of publications both online and in print.Other sources to look for if you are looking for names and addresses of individuals or smaller more specific businesses that you might be target marketing to are:
Telephone Directories
Most public libraries have shelves of telephone books for just about any major city you can think of. Use the yellow pages to find address and phone contact information for businesses that are located in your location of interest.Street Address or Reverse Directories
There are some libraries that also have directories which are known as either Street Address Directories or Reverse Address Directories. These are different than a phone book because you can look up a street and then find all the address, names and phone numbers of those that are located on that street -- both residential and businesses. A couple of ways that this can be useful is if you are cold calling door to door and want to select only the businesses in a particular area or street or also for creating mailing lists for a particular residential location. Remember that any phone numbers that are non-business phone numbers must always be checked against the "Do Not Call List" before you contact them.Public Record Information Service
Inquire with your library if they have free access to any public record information services. If they do then you can look up name, address, phone and other information from public records for leads such as:- New Homeowners
- Mortgages
- New Businesses
- Foreclosures
- Bankruptcies
- Probate Cases
- Incorporations
Did you ever imagine that there was this much information for you to build your lead list at your local library for free? I do believe that this is enough information to get you started. With a little bit of elbow grease you will soon be equipped with a very profitable lead list to expand your pipeline and all for free!