You probably use Google many times a day. What if there was a comparable tool for finding people? Actually, there is, although most people don’t think of it or use it in this way. It’s called LinkedIn, a network of 125,000,000 business professionals.
Salespeople: What if you could find a boatload (a technical term meaning hundreds) of CEOs, or any other specific job title, within 50 miles of you? LinkedIn makes it possible to find and connect with these target customers. It’s the Advanced People Search tool and it’s free.
Login to LinkedIn and look for People Search in the upper right. Click the “Advanced” button next to that box. Then search for “people” based on any combination of the following attributes:
- First and/or Last Name
- Job Title
- Current or Past Company (great for recruiting and for gaining competitive insights)
- School
- Keyword (imagine the value given that you’re essentially searching people’s online resumes)
- Location (by country or by ZIP Code radius)
- Language
- Industry
- LinkedIn Groups (joining a group expands your network)
- Relationship (especially valuable for reaching people 1 or 2 degrees of separation from you)
And those are just the free options. Pony up for the premium service and unlock a whole lot more. LinkedIn can also show you who knows whom. Use your connections to get introduced to people. But instead of using LinkedIn introduction tools, I recommend connecting IRL; meaning In Real Life. Even in this crazy social networking age, pick up the phone and ask your connections (presumably people you actually know) to orchestrate three-way coffees or lunches with the people you want to meet. I like your chances relative to the salespeople who are still cold calling.