LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform with over 850 million members. While it provides many opportunities to connect and engage with other professionals, some of its useful features like accessing contact information are restricted to paid premium accounts.
However, there are still a few ethical ways to get someone’s contact details from their LinkedIn profile without sending them a connection request. This can be helpful to get in touch with recruiting managers, sales prospects, potential business partners, and others on LinkedIn without paying for premium access.
Check Website Links on LinkedIn Profile
Many LinkedIn users include links to their personal websites or companies in the contact info section. Visit these websites to look for email addresses, contact forms, phone numbers etc. published there.
For example, a freelance designer may link to their portfolio website which has their email address on the Contact page. Similarly, someone working at a company may provide a link to the company website where you can find their contact details.
Look for Contact Details in Experience & Education
Sometimes people mention their direct phone numbers and emails under the Experience and Education sections of their LinkedIn profiles. Job titles like Marketing Manager, Sales Director etc. often include work phone and email.
Academic profiles of professors and lecturers may have their institutional contact information mentioned along with the university name. Look carefully through these sections to uncover any contact details provided.
Check PDF Resumes & Portfolios
In addition to linking out to external sites, some LinkedIn users upload PDF versions of their resumes and portfolios which include their email addresses and phone numbers. Download any publicly shared PDFs and look through them to find professional contact information.
This can be especially worthwhile for freelancers and creative professionals like designers, developers, writers etc. who often share detailed multi-page PDF portfolios. Their resumes and bios on these PDFs have all their contact details.
Look for Contact Info in Posts & Articles
LinkedIn members who actively publish long-form posts and articles will sometimes include their professional contact details like email addresses under the posts.
This allows site visitors to directly get in touch with the authors. Look through the long posts shared by your prospect to see if they have published any contact means at the end.
Check Details of Connected Profiles
Even without connecting directly, you can check the contact details of professionals connected to your prospect if they are visible on the 3rd degree connection’s profile.
For example, if you and your prospect are both connected to a common person, you may be able to find the prospect’s details through the shared connection’s profile if they are publicly available.
Use Advanced Google Search Operators
Use Google search operators like site:, intitle:, intext: etc. along with keywords related to the person’s name and company to try and find contact details listed publicly on websites and pages mentioning them.
For example: John Smith XYZ Company email -site:linkedin.com intitle:”John Smith”
This searches for pages with “John Smith” in title that mention his email while excluding LinkedIn results.
Check Their Company’s Website
Most corporate websites have a team page that lists the contact details like email addresses and phone numbers of key executives and employees. Visit your prospect’s company website to find their work contact information.
Alternatively, look for a company directory or staff contacts page to search for their work email and phone number through their name and designation.
Use Rapportive Chrome Extension
Rapportive is a handy Chrome extension that shows you email addresses and other details associated with a person’s name when you search for them on Google Chrome.
Simply type your prospect’s full name into the Chrome search/address bar and their details will be surfaced by Rapportive if available publicly online.
Search on Hunter.io
Hunter.io is a great web app that lets you easily find professional email addresses in just a few clicks. Just enter your prospect’s name, company, and position to generate likely matching work email IDs.
It searches through many public sources to find email patterns and suggestions. The free version shows limited results while paid plans unlock more advanced search features.
Find Mutual Connections on LinkedIn
Check if you have any 2nd degree connections in common with the prospect. Reach out to mutual connections and ask them nicely if they can share your prospect’s contact information to get in touch.
But ensure you explain why you need to contact them directly and how it would be valuable. Respect their privacy if the mutual connection does not wish to share the info.
Search Public Employee Directories
For prospects working in public sector jobs like government, military, universities etc. look for public employee directories published online by these organizations.
These listings have work contact details of all the employees. Search such directories through their name, department and position to find their professional contact information.
Pay for Premium LinkedIn Access
While not free, paying for premium LinkedIn account options like Sales Navigator gives you the ability to directly view email addresses and contact info of all LinkedIn members with full profiles.
The paid Sales Navigator plans start from around $80 per month. So this option only makes sense if you will regularly need to contact many prospects.
Join Relevant LinkedIn Groups
Participate actively in LinkedIn Groups related to your prospect’s industry and interests. Once you build connections and establish credibility, you can directly ask other members to share any contact details they may have of your prospect.
But avoid spamming groups with contact requests and always respect members’ privacy. Provide proper context on why you need to get in touch before requesting any personal details.
Attend Events, Conferences & Meetups
Find out if your prospect attends any public events like industry conferences, trade shows, local business meetups etc. These provide a good opportunity to network with them directly and get their business card containing contact information.
Introduce yourself as someone interested in connecting for professional reasons and then politely ask for a business card after starting a conversation.
Subscribe to Their Company Newsletter
Most company websites and blogs allow subscribing to their newsletter or email updates from the business. Subscribe to receive regular updates and press releases which often include contact details of the team members.
Go through new newsletter editions thoroughly whenever received to try and find your prospect’s name along with their professional contact information like email address and phone number.
Leverage Cross-Channel Social Media Presence
Check your prospect’s social media footprints on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc. to uncover any contact details they may have published there like email addresses, usernames etc.
Many people use the same usernames/handles across social platforms. So their publicly available details on one channel can help you find their accounts on other networks.
Search Email/Phone Number Databases
Paid white pages directories like Spokeo, PeopleLooker, PeopleFinders, etc. let you look up detailed professional contact info associated with a person’s identity. However, the accuracy can be low.
Use such databases ethically just to generate possible email IDs and phone numbers to contact your prospect. Do not misuse any personal data which may be accessible on such platforms.
Ask For an Introduction
If you have an existing connection who knows your prospect well personally or professionally, request them for a warm introduction to share contact details and help establish initial contact.
But only make such requests to direct connections who have a good relationship with your prospect to avoid coming across as intrusive.
Guess Email Addresses Strategically
For prospects at a company, guess email addresses using common corporate conventions like [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] etc.
For individuals, guess email usernames using name variants like john.smith432@, smithjohn@, johnsmith123@ etc. across popular email platforms.
Conclusion
While LinkedIn controls access to contact details to encourage more direct engagement on their platform, there are still several ethical, public ways to find someone’s professional contact info without connecting with them.
This includes searching websites they link to from their profile, looking for publicly listed details across social media channels, subscribing to company newsletters, networking at events they attend and more.
However, it is still important to respect people’s privacy. Make reasonable attempts to find contact details but do not obsessively hunt down someone’s personal information across the internet without consent.
