How Do I Build a B2B Lead List Myself? The Free Way, in an Afternoon

Start with one line, not a database

Most lists go wrong before the first search. The buyer is described as "SMEs" or "decision-makers in tech", and the list that comes back is everyone and no one.

Write your buyer in one line instead. Role, type of company, size, and where they are. For example: Heads of Finance at UK SaaS companies with 50 to 200 staff.

If you can't describe the buyer in one line, no tool will find them for you.

If you can, add a reason to talk now. A company that is hiring for the role you help, just raised money, or just launched in a new market has a reason to listen this month. That is your "why now".

Find the people

Open LinkedIn search and filter by people. Use the job title from your line, the location, and keywords for the industry. Save the search, because you'll come back to it.

Then work through the results one by one and open each profile. You're checking three things:

• Are they still in that role? Profiles go stale. Look at the dates.
• Is the company really your type? Check its website, not just the LinkedIn page.
• Would they actually decide, or at least have a say? A Head of Finance at a 20-person company is a different job from one at a 2,000-person company.

If any answer is no, skip them. Skipping is most of the work, and it's the part that makes the list worth having.

Write down why each one fits

This is the column most people leave out, and it matters more than any other. For each person, write one sentence on why they're on your list. "Hiring two finance analysts." "Posted last week about month-end taking too long." "Just opened a London office."

That sentence becomes the first line of your message. It's the difference between an email that reads like a mail merge and one that reads like you paid attention, because you did.

Set up one simple sheet

You don't need a CRM yet. One spreadsheet, these columns:

1. Name
2. Role
3. Company and website
4. LinkedIn profile
5. Why they fit (your one sentence)
6. Work email
7. Status (not contacted, contacted, replied, meeting)

Fifty rows like this take an afternoon. Five thousand rows from a download take a minute, and you can't send a single good message from them.

Find and check the email

Most companies use a pattern like first.last@company.com. Find one real address from the company (a press page, a blog post, a team page) and you usually know the pattern for everyone.

Then check each address with an email verifier before you send. Sending to addresses that bounce hurts your domain's reputation, and it's hard to get back. If you can't confirm an address, contact that person on LinkedIn instead.

Then write like a person

The list is half the job. When you reach out:

• Open with your "why they fit" line, in plain words.
• Say what you do in one sentence.
• Ask a small question they can answer in a line.

Keep it short. No attachments, no calendar link in the first message. You're starting a conversation, and nobody wants a meeting with a stranger yet.

When it's worth getting help

Doing this yourself teaches you a lot about your buyer, so do it at least once. It gets heavy when you need a fresh list every week, or when nobody on the team has the afternoon to spare.

That's what our free list is for: tell us your buyer in one line, and we build and check 50 for you, with the "why they fit" column filled in.