B2B leads come from six places you can search for nothing: directories and registries, job boards, news and filings, event and association lists, online communities, and your own customer base. None of them hands you a clean spreadsheet. Each one hands you a reason to write to a particular company, which is more useful than a bare name.

This page is about where leads come from. If you already have the names and want the step list, build a list without buying one covers it. Our example is Owen, who runs a three-person video studio and wants to sell short product videos to mid-size manufacturers within a day's drive.

Define the company, not just the title

Most B2B searches fail because they begin with a title ("marketing manager") instead of a company. Titles are the same everywhere. Companies are where the money is. Owen writes: "Manufacturers of consumer or trade products, 30 to 300 employees, within 200 miles, that sell through distributors and have a weak or missing product video page." That last clause is the one that makes a company a lead instead of a name.

Check it can be searched. Size, place and industry can. "Weak video page" you check by opening their site, which takes 30 seconds. If you need to practice shaping the description, how to find your ideal customers shows the test for each clause.

Directories and registries

This is the sturdiest free source. Industry directories list companies by product category and location. State economic development offices publish manufacturer directories. Secretary of State records show who's registered and when. Trade publications run "buyers' guides" that are really lists of companies who pay to be found.

Owen finds his state's manufacturers directory, filters by county and product type, and exports 140 companies in about 40 minutes. It takes another hour to add a website and a likely contact for each. Effort: medium. Payoff: a big, stable base list that doesn't go out of date every week.

Job boards as a buying signal

Job posts are public announcements of what a company is about to spend money on. A manufacturer hiring a "digital marketing specialist" or "e-commerce coordinator" is about to need photos, video and copy. A company hiring a second accountant is probably struggling with volume. Search job boards for the roles that mean your product is relevant, filtered by your area.

Owen finds 11 manufacturers hiring for marketing roles. He writes to each hiring manager, not the job applicant: "I saw you're hiring a marketing coordinator. Until that person starts, we could produce your first three product videos so they land with something already in hand." Effort: low. Payoff: high intent, small volume. A deeper look at this kind of signal is in how to find companies that are about to buy.

News and filings

Local business journals, press releases and regulatory filings show expansions, new plants, new product lines, leadership changes and awards. Each is a reason to write. A company that just announced a new product line needs launch assets now. A company that won a regional award has an owner who's happy to hear from someone who noticed.

Set up free alerts for the industry and the region you serve. Search terms like "opens new facility" plus your county, or "launches new" plus your product category. Spend 15 minutes a week on this and keep the results in a running sheet. Effort: low. Payoff: medium, and it makes your first line specific.

Events and association lists

Trade shows publish exhibitor lists, and associations publish member rosters. Exhibitors paid for a booth, which tells you they spend money on sales and marketing. Speaker lists identify people willing to be public. Post-event, many shows share attendee-facing pages that include company names.

Owen pulls last year's exhibitors at a regional manufacturing show and gets 85 companies. He matches them to his area filter and keeps 30. A note referencing the show works well: "I saw you exhibited at the Midwest Fab Expo last spring." Effort: medium. Payoff: well-qualified companies with a known budget.

Communities where buyers ask questions

Manufacturers, owners and buyers ask questions in LinkedIn groups, industry forums and subreddits. Search for the problem you solve ("product demo video for distributor", "trade show video") and read the threads. You'll find the language buyers use and, sometimes, a person asking for exactly what you do.

If you reply, follow the community's rules, say that you own the business, and answer the question first. Reddit in particular punishes drive-by promotion. Rocketship's Conversations feature finds Reddit threads where people ask for what you sell and drafts a reply and a DM in your voice, but you post them yourself from your own account with one tap. Effort: medium. Payoff: small volume, high warmth.

LinkedIn is its own category. Its free search can find the people at a company once you have the company, and posts show what they care about this quarter. The limits and the rules are in how to find B2B leads on LinkedIn without Sales Navigator. Use it to confirm a name, then move the conversation to email or the phone, where a reply is easier to give.

From lead to first message

You now have maybe 200 companies and a signal on 40 of them. Don't write to all 200. Write to the 40 first, each with one specific line. Owen's:

Subject: Product video for your new line

Hi Karen, I saw the news about the new modular shelving line. We make 60-second product videos for manufacturers, usually shot in two days at your plant. If a distributor-ready demo would help the launch, I can send two examples and a flat price. Owen Fisk, Fisk Film Works, 12 Mill Lane, Dayton. Reply "pass" and I'll leave you alone.

Include your address and an opt-out to comply with CAN-SPAM, and keep daily volume to 20 to 50 per inbox at the start. Follow up twice. This is the part that the Rocketship AI worker does on its own: you describe the buyer in plain English, it finds them by name with verified contact details, emails them from your own Gmail, follows up and books the meeting.

What a database would cost you instead

The free methods are slower than a database, and they give you better reasons to write. Databases are quicker at volume and weaker at timing. If you do decide to buy, know what's included first. The real expense is rarely the subscription alone, as what a sales stack costs assembled explains: lead data, a sending tool, a CRM and a scheduler add up, and the handoffs between them cost your time.

For comparison, Rocketship Launch is $24.99 a month and includes 50 leads a month, with enrichment credits tracked separately (100 on Launch, about 20 fully verified contacts). Use the free methods to learn who your buyer is, then decide how much of the rest you want to automate.

You can do all of this by hand and learn a lot doing it. Rocketship finds the buyers, emails them from your own Gmail, follows up, and books the meeting on its own. Plans that get you customers start at $24.99 a month (Launch), and every monthly plan starts with a 7-day free trial, card required. Answering your existing number is included; a dedicated line is $5 a month.