Define the companies and roles you sell to, collect companies from free sources like job boards, event lists, review sites and public registries, find the right person at each, and verify every email before you send. Paid databases like Apollo and Hunter save time once the free sources run dry.
Good cold email is a small, well-chosen list, a short first email about the recipient's problem, two or three follow-ups and a sending setup with SPF, DKIM and DMARC on a separate domain. CAN-SPAM applies to B2B email too, with penalties up to $53,088 per message. Here's the full playbook.
Start free with the Census Bureau's USA Trade Online to find the countries buying your product, then use shipment-level data to name the importers. Customs-record databases such as Volza start at $1,500 a year. The US Commercial Service will find and meet partners for you from $2,400.
Hunter is the cheapest way to find and verify emails, at $49 a month for 2,000 credits. Lusha is simple and strong for phone numbers, from $49.90 a month for 400 credits. Apollo combines a large database, filters and email sequences, with a free plan and paid plans from $49 per user. Here's how to choose.