4min
In this article we’ll detail what is a Linkedin URL, the different types of Linkedin URL that currently exist. We will then see how you can customize your own Linkedin URL and how it can benefit your overall SEO and employability. Finally, we’ll see how you can put a newly improved Linkedin URL to use.
A Linkedin URL is the place where a Linkedin Profile can be found on the internet. But your URL can be modified and this can have an impact on your overall visibility on the platform.
Your Linkedin URL is comprised of 2 parts:
This second part, the customizable part corresponds to your full name (here “pierre-baptiste-landoin”) followed by your user number (“98b8972b”).
There are three different types of Linkedin URLs :
This URL can serve as a digital business card or can be included in email signatures, it redirects directly to your personal profile.
This URL is used to share a company with colleagues, prospects and/or recruiters. Furthermore it helps in SEO optimization on Google
The Linkedin Groups are virtual gatherings where industry professionals with similar interests have the opportunity to connect, collaborate, exchange thoughts, and position themselves as experts in their field.
Having a tailored and optimized Linkedin profile URL is crucial to your personal branding. Not only does it appear more professional to potential employers or prospects but it also betters your SEO provided you use the right keywords.
According to a study, on average a Linkedin Top Voice Profile URL is around 3 times as likely as a Random Profile URL to be customized. Additionally, more than 95% of Linkedin Top Voices’ Profiles URLs are customized. Linkedin URLs : Top Voices vs Random People
Having a custom URL is common practice among the most successful profiles on the platform. The sheer fact that nearly every one of the best referenced Linkedin profiles focus on their URL being optimized should be enough for you to customize yours.
You could go a lot of ways when it comes to Linkedin URLs. It is mostly up to you to find what works best for you, here are a few examples of Linkedin URLs that could boost your profile.
Remember that Linkedin is a professional platform, your URL should reflect professionalism. Your Profile URL should not be too long nor too complicated.
Having consistency with other professional profiles (like your twitter handle, your professional website…) is a valuable asset as well.
Lastly, keep in mind you can only change your profile URL 5 times within a 6-months period.
Now that you are all set and have a fresh and improved profile URL, let’s see how you can put it to use :
You now have all the information you need to guarantee that you make the best Linkedin profile URL possible for yourself.
As a reminder :
4min
LinkedIn is much more than a job-hunting platform; it's a key tool for professional networking. To maximize its potential, it's crucial to understand and actively engage with your connections. To leverage LinkedIn effectively, you need to understand these connection levels and how they can benefit your professional growth. Waiting passively for opportunities is not advisable; instead, be proactive in building and maintaining your network.
Different degrees of connections offer varying levels of information accessible on a profile.
1st-degree connections are direct contacts by either sending or accepting a connection request.
YOU CAN :
Go to your profile
2nd-degree connections on LinkedIn are individuals linked to your 1st-degree connections, essentially making them 'friends of friends'.
3rd-degree connections on LinkedIn are individuals connected to your 2nd-degree contacts, expanding your network one step further.
LinkedIn InMail allows direct messaging to 2nd and 3rd-degree connections without a prior connection, offering a paid, efficient alternative to standard connection requests.
For more information about the LinkedIn prices : linkedin-premium-prices-and-benefits-2024-edition
You're allocated a maximum of 700 invitations per week on LinkedIn, but there are known workarounds to bypass this limit.
Email invitations are not considered for the weekly limit.
It's a profile type that allows you to send messages without needing a prior connection.
Here’s how to find Open Profiles on LinkedIn:
The weekly limitation are not applied for groups. You can directly send a message to a member of your group without being connected to each other.
Disadvantages : you’re message are land to message request.
THE NUMBER OF CONNECTIONS :
Less than 500 connections, people would think that you are not using LinkedIn effectively.
Too many connections could be not good for the impression, you should not connect to everyones without knowing them.
Optimizing Your LinkedIn Profile :
Help you look more professional :
Opt for quality over quantity: Avoid sending unnecessary connection requests with messages. If it doesn't add value, skip it to save time both for yourself and the recipient.
But if you send a note :
Remind that :
Linkedin stays a professional network, you should be formal and polite.
When you’re sending a request, you are able to make a limited message.
Here's my advice on what to do and what not to do:
DON'T DO :
DO :
I have an email finder with a low bounce rate. → too brutal and too classic.
Could you be interested in increasing your leads? → It sparks interest while remaining respectful and non-intrusive.
More than half of LinkedIn requests go unaccepted; let's explore alternatives for expanding your network.Don't be discouraged; stay focused on your objectives.
What is the difference between connect and follow on LinkedIn?
Being connected means both parties can view each other's shares and updates in their LinkedIn feed and exchange messages. Following someone lets you see their posts and articles on your feed, without establishing a direct connection.
Can first-degree connections influence your LinkedIn profile's visibility?
Absolutely. A robust network of 1st-degree connections enhances your visibility through improved search result placement, appearances in 'People You May Know,' and increased interaction, thereby boosting your profile's visibility.
How can I grow my network by leveraging first-degree connections on LinkedIn?
To extend your network through first-degree connections, explore their networks, send personalized connection requests to potential contacts, request introductions from those connections, start engaging conversations, and actively participate in LinkedIn groups where your connections are involved.
Why can’t I see my 3rd degree in LinkedIn?
Do LinkedIn connection requests have a time limit?
Indeed, LinkedIn connection requests do expire. They automatically lapse six months after being sent if they are not accepted.
4min
LinkedIn Premium offers are the paid plans on LinkedIn. LinkedIn regularly updates its offerings, and prices vary slightly by country.
Here is an overview with the latest update (January 2024) and the US prices.
There are a total of 9 plans, including 8 Premium ones:
The “Sales Navigator Advanced Plus” and “Recruiter” plans are not available for self-service. To subscribe, you must contact a LinkedIn business representative. These plans require a minimum commitment of 12 months.
A free LinkedIn account allows you to freely set up your profile and enjoy basic features. However, you cannot:
If you need to recruit, prospect, or find a new job, it's probably better to switch to a paid plan.
Here are all the paid plans offered by LinkedIn:
Among LinkedIn's paying users, a consensus clearly emerges: 3 plans offer more value than the others.
These 3 plans are: Career, Recruiter, and Sales Navigator Core.
Why not the other plans?
Here are the 5 benefits that form the “common core” of Premium subscriptions:
InMails are private messages that allow you to contact anyone on LinkedIn, including people with whom you are not connected.
Free account users do not have this feature.
The advantage of InMails is to skip the preliminary step of sending a connection request:
LinkedIn Premium subscriptions allow you to see who visited your profile.
This feature has several uses:
By activating the Open Profile option, you allow your 2nd and 3rd degree connections to contact you for free via InMail.
No InMail credits will be deducted.
Here's how LinkedIn indicates an “Open” profile:
To activate the “Open Profile” option on your profile, edit your profile, click on “Open Profile” and then switch it to “On”:
LinkedIn Learning is a catalog of training courses freely accessible to those with a Premium subscription.
Over 16,000 courses are available on just about every imaginable subject:
You can train on topics as diverse as:
It's a fantastic knowledge base.
Furthermore, you can add “learning certificates” to your profile upon completing a course:
Employers are increasingly sensitive to candidates who proactively develop their skills. It’s an excellent way to enhance your profile.
With a free LinkedIn account, searches are doubly limited.
First, each search allows a maximum of 1000 results.
Second, the number of searches that can be performed each month is capped. This cap varies depending on the account's age. LinkedIn does not provide a clear numerical value. This is known as the “commercial limit.” Beyond this limit, you will see this message:
With a Premium plan, the number of results per search increases from 1000 to 2500, and it becomes possible to perform an unlimited number of searches per month.
Now, let's look at the specifics of each plan in detail.
This subscription is intended for job seekers.
With Premium Career you have access to:
In summary, Premium Career allows you to easily communicate with recruiters (InMails) and see accounts interested in your profile. You also have privileged access to information about job offers (candidates, average salary offered). According to a LinkedIn study, candidates with Premium Career are recruited almost 3x faster than their counterparts on a free plan.
This subscription is very similar to Premium Career. It's a different gateway to (almost) the same product.
Of course, you will have access to over 16,000 LinkedIn Learning courses, as well as all the features of Premium Career.
LinkedIn Learning does, however, differ from Career in one aspect: the existence of “For Teams” subscriptions (which Career does not have).
If you want to develop your team's skills, this version of the Learning product may be interesting. You will have access to tracking tools to visualize your team's skill development.
Let's say it right away, this is the least interesting plan!
With Premium Business you have access to everything already available with Premium Career plus two additional elements:
In summary, you pay €30 more than the Career plan for essentially 10 additional InMails. That's €3 per InMail. A bit excessive.
This subscription is intended for salespeople and entrepreneurs looking to find prospects in their target market.
It's the plan that offers the most "value for money."
With Premium Sales Navigator Core you have access to:
To best utilize LinkedIn Sales Navigator, it's often necessary to use a scraping tool to export your search results into a CSV file. Here is a list of interesting tools for doing this:
You can then upload your prospect list to Icypeas to find their email addresses.
Exporting your prospects also allows you to add them to your CRM for tracking your sales actions (outbound / nurturing).
The Sales Navigator Advanced subscription contains the features of Sales Navigator Core, plus:
It is clearly an offer dedicated to large companies.
The minimum order for the Sales Navigator Advanced Plus license is 20 licenses.
The Sales Navigator Advanced Plus subscription contains the features of Sales Navigator Advanced, as well as CRM integration (with Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and Hubspot).
This CRM integration allows you to keep all your contact sheets in your CRM up to date, thanks to LinkedIn data.
This subscription is for recruiters who want to find their ideal candidate but cannot afford the Recruiter subscription (about $749 per month).
With Premium Recruiter Lite you have access to:
Most recruiters believe that the “Recruiter Lite” license is not sufficient for effective recruiting. Moreover, for a price almost half less, the Sales Navigator Core license provides access to more search filters.
The Recruiter subscription is used by teams planning more than 5 or 6 hires in a year or those recruiting for high-demand roles (web developers, executive managers, etc.). It's also the license found in all headhunting firms.
LinkedIn Recruiter entitles you to:
There is a minimum of one-year commitment. The LinkedIn sales team is entitled to offer a maximum discount of 5%.
4min
We gathered here the main steps to build cold emails that get replies, along with some cold email templates. Here they are:
Cold emails are like starting a chat online with someone new. It's a good way to talk to someone who might not know much about your company. Since it's their first time hearing from you, we call them "cold leads”.
Therefore, the objective of a cold email is to get a response. You can then start a conversation with your prospect and introduce him to your product or service. That’s not directly a sales email.
Let’s dive into the different steps to build an effective cold email!
This is one of the most underestimated parts of cold emailing.
The “from line” is the line that displays who sent the message, this is something we usually set up when creating the email address, and then we forget about it.
However it plays an important role in determining whether the person will open or not your email since it is their first impression. This is what defines your open rate!
That's why it's smart to check your "from" line before you start a new cold email campaign.
The "from line” can take many shapes. We can change it whenever we want. We can switch up how our "from" line looks each time we start a new campaign, picking from different possible styles.
You can choose between at least 5 forms :
Here are the steps to follow if you want to change your “from” line in Gmail:
For choosing what to write, it depends on if you want your email to feel personal (no company name) or if you want to use the legitimacy of your company to be read (add your company name).
If your emails aren't being opened because of a poorly crafted subject line, you won't get any responses to your cold sales email campaigns. Therefore, when starting a new cold email, the second task is to construct an effective subject line.
Examples of good subject lines :
Here are the different possibilities you have:
Generally, your prospect prefers your subject line to be short!
Good subject lines typically relate to the recipient's need to enhance something, make a change, or innovate.
By the way, we advise you to a/b test different subject lines and compare the opening rates to find out which one is the best suited for your context.
Once you've convinced your recipient to open your message with a compelling 'from' line and subject line, you're half done. You now have roughly three seconds to grab their attention and encourage them to read beyond the first couple of lines. That's why an engaging introduction is crucial.
The introduction is the place where you talk about the problem of your prospect you can take care of. You also need to show that you contacted them deliberately, that you know their situation (you’ve done your homework!).
Here are the possibilities :
Overall, you want to be concise and personal!
Here is one of the easiest cold email introduction:
In order for your prospect to trust you, you want to provide value to him.
First of all, it includes avoiding sales pitches and preferring personal speech so that your prospect doesn’t get the impression that you only want its money.
Always position your prospects at the heart of your proposal. Offer as much value to them as possible. Identify potential challenges they might be encountering that you can assist with.
Always position your prospects at the heart of your proposal. Offer as much value to them as possible. Identify potential challenges they might be encountering that you can assist with.
Here’s a cold email example with value given.
If you're doing bulk email campaigns, you might not be able to personalize your cold email too much, but you need to always add some personalizations (first name, company name, field of work).
If you're drafting each email handly, you can then create a highly-personalized cold email.
Here are the things that you can personalize:
You don’t necessarily have to do all of them, but at least the first one
Shorter emails that are concise are more impactful to the mind. That’s why short emails have a higher response rate than longer ones.
To do so, you need to stick to short paragraphs (1-2 sentences), incorporate spaces, lists, and appealing formatting.
Things to keep at all cost:
Things you can discard :
Remember that you can also use photos instead of words to show what you can offer to your prospect.
You're nearly done. All that's left is to craft a call to action (CTA) that will motivate your prospects to take the desired action in response to your cold email, and improve your reply rate.
This might be scheduling a call, a zoom or replying to your email.
Things to do :
Finally, the email signature. It's a part of your message that deserves attention. The signature should inform the recipient about who you are and where they can acquire additional contact information about you and/or your organization.
A well-crafted signature can assist in shortening the body of the email, making the message more digestible and focused on the recipient.
You can create a suitable signature using our free email signature generator.
Things to do :
This is an example of a good signature:
Pierre Landoin
CEO and Co-Founder at @Icypeas
If your initial cold email doesn't elicit a response, sending a follow-up email can serve as a good strategy to reconnect with the recipient and keep your presence fresh in their mind. However, ensure that you're not dispatching a follow-up email prematurely, and avoid sending an excessive number of them. Otherwise you might look spammy.
Our advice in terms of follow-up is to limit to two to three follow up emails, and wait about a week before sending a follow-up.
What to say in a follow up email (possible options):
P.S: When you write your follow up email, we advise you to choose the same subject line so that your email appears in the same email list as your first email. Doing so, your prospect does not have to search for your previous email.
You now have all the information you need to start writing your first successful cold email sequences!
As a reminder, here are the steps to follow:
Hope it helps you land your next big deal!
4min
I've listed the 8 primary methods to find someone’s email address, ranked from most to least efficient, based on my personal experience:
The most efficient way to find email addresses. You can use an Email Finder like Icypeas to find anyone’s email address, as well as additional data: Linkedin profile, firmographics, technographics. Icypeas is a web app as well as a Chrome extension that allows you to find anybody’s email address using individual or bulk search. It also comes with an Email Verifier, and a Domain Scan to find role-based email within a company.
Icypeas allows you to create an account for free, and find your first email addresses from scratch. You can also automate the process using bulk searches.
All you have to do is :
And let Icypeas do the work for you…
You can also use the Icypeas Chrome Extension directly on LinkedIn.
Other tools include: Hunter, Voila Norbert,..
Ready to find all your prospect email addresses ? Get started with Icypeas here !
If you don’t want to use an email finder, you can still find the email address using a manual method.
The users of LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook often share their contact information. This includes email addresses.
To find your prospect email address, you need to go in their "About" or "Contact" sections. Let’s dive in each possibilities :
Many professionals put their email address on their LinkedIn profile. You only need to send them a connection request that they accept to access the info. Here are the steps to follow :
Many professionals put their email address on their LinkedIn profile. You only need to send them a connection request that they accept to access the info. Here are the steps to follow :
You’ll receive a download link via email.
Facebook is a reliable source of information when searching for bloggers’ or company’s email. Here’s how to do it :
Here are the three main ways of finding an email address on Twitter :
Check the Twitter Profile
You can check the person’s Twitter profile to see if he/she displayed an email address.
Check the website link (if is it a private website)
If it doesn't work out, go check the person’s website link.
It's probable that a user's own website will feature a contact page, which is likely to display their email address somewhere on the webpage. If not, maybe there will be a contact form to fill up.
Search for “Email” in the past posts of your prospect’s profile using Advanced Search.
People occasionally post their email addresses on Twitter, so browsing past tweets might reveal if your potential contact has done the same.
You can carry out this check via Twitter's advanced search function, which facilitates highly precise searches within chosen Twitter accounts.
That’s it, if your prospect has posted his email you should find it in less than 30 seconds.
PS : You can also type twitter.com/username + “keyword” in the Google search bar, and you will get the same result.
Depending on the field you're in, some companies or influencers may directly provide their email address on their Instagram profile:
Google is probably the more logical place to search for email addresses, but you need to use it wisely to get what you need.
Indeed, a straightforward search might make you wade through hundreds of pages that don't matter, taking up a lot of your time.
Here are three ways to discover anyone's email address using Google.
If you're uncertain about the accuracy of a prospect's email, advanced search operators can help fetch exact contact details.
By enclosing your search term in quotation marks, you instruct Google to look for results that exactly match that keyword.
All you need to do is input the potential email address, and if that email exists on the internet, it will be displayed like this:
Another method is to ask Google to search for your target information. To do so you need to:
You can also try adding more details like job title, past companies, city, and others to your search.
Another method to discover someone's email address involves using the search operator query "site:companywebsite.com" as your base, and then adding modifiers like:
Don’t forget to verify the email you found: You can use Icypeas Email Verifier to check whether the email you found is valid. Otherwise, you might have a very high bounce rate (above 10%) and damage your email deliverability during your cold email campaigns. Click here to get started for free!
Manual Guessing
Most companies use generic email structures for their employees, so it is possible to guess it based on common patterns. Here are the results of our study about the most common email patterns :
Note that if you already know an email address from another employee of the company, you can infer the good pattern from this email.
Automated guessing with Email Permutator
Email Permutator is a tool designed to streamline the process of guessing email addresses. By simply inputting a person's name and their company's domain, you can quickly and easily find their email address without wasting hours trying to list all potential email variations.
You will enter :
And let the magic work…
Once you get your different email variations, you can use an Email Verifier like Icypeas to know which email is valid.
Here are the steps to use Icypeas :
Or you can copy-paste the list of emails in Gmail's new message box, and then hover over each email to see if it is connected to a Gmail account.
Here’s an example with my email :
NB: This method might be effective only if the person you're seeking has an email address hosted by Google Workspace.
To explain a bit further, if the email does not exist, it will be displayed with a blue man. If, at the contrary, the picture is different from the little blue man (it can be a different color, or a picture of the person, or even a logo), it means that the email exists :
Numerous companies and bloggers employ their personal email addresses for sending out newsletters.
All you gotta do is :
If you're looking to discover the email address of a website or blog owner, WHOIS can be a helpful tool.
WHOIS is a request-and-response mechanism that is commonly utilized for accessing databases containing fundamental information about a registered domain. This might include contact details of the domain owner, the domain's availability status, and specifics about the company.
You just need to :
If none of the above-mentioned methods yield the email address you're looking for, consider connecting through social media, requesting a more particular email address, sending messages to general email addresses like info@ or hello@, or even engaging with the company's support team via chat.To do so, you can use Icypeas Domain Scan, click here to know how it works !
If you send a newsletter to your audience, you might want to check if your prospect has already subscribed to get your content. Or, there might be an email address of your lead’s coworker to help you identify the pattern.
You can check that by going to your email marketing tool, opening the entire list, and starting searching.
Whereas you don’t have access to a 2nd degree connection’s contact info, the people among your network that are connected to your prospect can !
Something you can do is ask these people the email of your prospect.
All you have to do is :
By the way, we did a little study at Icypeas to highlight the efficiency of each method. We took 1000 LinkedIn profiles randomly and tried all methods for each of them.
P.S :
Here are the data :
Keep in mind that this study examines only the case where you only have a few emails to find.
If you have more than 20 mails to find, the email finder is the first method since it automates the process infinitely.
And the results :
Other methods depend on the context.
For instance the newsletter works sometimes, be it that your prospect has a newsletter (which is not always the case).
P.S : LinkedIn mainly gives personal emails (9 out of 10).
Locating your prospect's email addresses is a crucial component of your outreach strategy.
To do so, we suggest the following:
Now that you know everything about email finding methods, I advise you to try all of these starting with the top.If the first method doesn't work, proceed to the second one, and so forth… P.S. Regardless of the method you opt for, remember to validate the email address to enhance your sender's reputation!
Temps de lecture : 4min
In this article we’ll detail what is a Linkedin URL, the different types of Linkedin URL that currently exist. We will then see how you can customize your own Linkedin URL and how it can benefit your overall SEO and employability. Finally, we’ll see how you can put a newly improved Linkedin URL to use.
A Linkedin URL is the place where a Linkedin Profile can be found on the internet. But your URL can be modified and this can have an impact on your overall visibility on the platform.
Your Linkedin URL is comprised of 2 parts:
This second part, the customizable part corresponds to your full name (here “pierre-baptiste-landoin”) followed by your user number (“98b8972b”).
There are three different types of Linkedin URLs :
This URL can serve as a digital business card or can be included in email signatures, it redirects directly to your personal profile.
This URL is used to share a company with colleagues, prospects and/or recruiters. Furthermore it helps in SEO optimization on Google
The Linkedin Groups are virtual gatherings where industry professionals with similar interests have the opportunity to connect, collaborate, exchange thoughts, and position themselves as experts in their field.
Having a tailored and optimized Linkedin profile URL is crucial to your personal branding. Not only does it appear more professional to potential employers or prospects but it also betters your SEO provided you use the right keywords.
According to a study, on average a Linkedin Top Voice Profile URL is around 3 times as likely as a Random Profile URL to be customized. Additionally, more than 95% of Linkedin Top Voices’ Profiles URLs are customized. Linkedin URLs : Top Voices vs Random People
Having a custom URL is common practice among the most successful profiles on the platform. The sheer fact that nearly every one of the best referenced Linkedin profiles focus on their URL being optimized should be enough for you to customize yours.
You could go a lot of ways when it comes to Linkedin URLs. It is mostly up to you to find what works best for you, here are a few examples of Linkedin URLs that could boost your profile.
Remember that Linkedin is a professional platform, your URL should reflect professionalism. Your Profile URL should not be too long nor too complicated.
Having consistency with other professional profiles (like your twitter handle, your professional website…) is a valuable asset as well.
Lastly, keep in mind you can only change your profile URL 5 times within a 6-months period.
Now that you are all set and have a fresh and improved profile URL, let’s see how you can put it to use :
You now have all the information you need to guarantee that you make the best Linkedin profile URL possible for yourself.
As a reminder :
Temps de lecture : 4min
LinkedIn is much more than a job-hunting platform; it's a key tool for professional networking. To maximize its potential, it's crucial to understand and actively engage with your connections. To leverage LinkedIn effectively, you need to understand these connection levels and how they can benefit your professional growth. Waiting passively for opportunities is not advisable; instead, be proactive in building and maintaining your network.
Different degrees of connections offer varying levels of information accessible on a profile.
1st-degree connections are direct contacts by either sending or accepting a connection request.
YOU CAN :
Go to your profile
2nd-degree connections on LinkedIn are individuals linked to your 1st-degree connections, essentially making them 'friends of friends'.
3rd-degree connections on LinkedIn are individuals connected to your 2nd-degree contacts, expanding your network one step further.
LinkedIn InMail allows direct messaging to 2nd and 3rd-degree connections without a prior connection, offering a paid, efficient alternative to standard connection requests.
For more information about the LinkedIn prices : linkedin-premium-prices-and-benefits-2024-edition
You're allocated a maximum of 700 invitations per week on LinkedIn, but there are known workarounds to bypass this limit.
Email invitations are not considered for the weekly limit.
It's a profile type that allows you to send messages without needing a prior connection.
Here’s how to find Open Profiles on LinkedIn:
The weekly limitation are not applied for groups. You can directly send a message to a member of your group without being connected to each other.
Disadvantages : you’re message are land to message request.
THE NUMBER OF CONNECTIONS :
Less than 500 connections, people would think that you are not using LinkedIn effectively.
Too many connections could be not good for the impression, you should not connect to everyones without knowing them.
Optimizing Your LinkedIn Profile :
Help you look more professional :
Opt for quality over quantity: Avoid sending unnecessary connection requests with messages. If it doesn't add value, skip it to save time both for yourself and the recipient.
But if you send a note :
Remind that :
Linkedin stays a professional network, you should be formal and polite.
When you’re sending a request, you are able to make a limited message.
Here's my advice on what to do and what not to do:
DON'T DO :
DO :
I have an email finder with a low bounce rate. → too brutal and too classic.
Could you be interested in increasing your leads? → It sparks interest while remaining respectful and non-intrusive.
More than half of LinkedIn requests go unaccepted; let's explore alternatives for expanding your network.Don't be discouraged; stay focused on your objectives.
What is the difference between connect and follow on LinkedIn?
Being connected means both parties can view each other's shares and updates in their LinkedIn feed and exchange messages. Following someone lets you see their posts and articles on your feed, without establishing a direct connection.
Can first-degree connections influence your LinkedIn profile's visibility?
Absolutely. A robust network of 1st-degree connections enhances your visibility through improved search result placement, appearances in 'People You May Know,' and increased interaction, thereby boosting your profile's visibility.
How can I grow my network by leveraging first-degree connections on LinkedIn?
To extend your network through first-degree connections, explore their networks, send personalized connection requests to potential contacts, request introductions from those connections, start engaging conversations, and actively participate in LinkedIn groups where your connections are involved.
Why can’t I see my 3rd degree in LinkedIn?
Do LinkedIn connection requests have a time limit?
Indeed, LinkedIn connection requests do expire. They automatically lapse six months after being sent if they are not accepted.
Temps de lecture : 4min
LinkedIn Premium offers are the paid plans on LinkedIn. LinkedIn regularly updates its offerings, and prices vary slightly by country.
Here is an overview with the latest update (January 2024) and the US prices.
There are a total of 9 plans, including 8 Premium ones:
The “Sales Navigator Advanced Plus” and “Recruiter” plans are not available for self-service. To subscribe, you must contact a LinkedIn business representative. These plans require a minimum commitment of 12 months.
A free LinkedIn account allows you to freely set up your profile and enjoy basic features. However, you cannot:
If you need to recruit, prospect, or find a new job, it's probably better to switch to a paid plan.
Here are all the paid plans offered by LinkedIn:
Among LinkedIn's paying users, a consensus clearly emerges: 3 plans offer more value than the others.
These 3 plans are: Career, Recruiter, and Sales Navigator Core.
Why not the other plans?
Here are the 5 benefits that form the “common core” of Premium subscriptions:
InMails are private messages that allow you to contact anyone on LinkedIn, including people with whom you are not connected.
Free account users do not have this feature.
The advantage of InMails is to skip the preliminary step of sending a connection request:
LinkedIn Premium subscriptions allow you to see who visited your profile.
This feature has several uses:
By activating the Open Profile option, you allow your 2nd and 3rd degree connections to contact you for free via InMail.
No InMail credits will be deducted.
Here's how LinkedIn indicates an “Open” profile:
To activate the “Open Profile” option on your profile, edit your profile, click on “Open Profile” and then switch it to “On”:
LinkedIn Learning is a catalog of training courses freely accessible to those with a Premium subscription.
Over 16,000 courses are available on just about every imaginable subject:
You can train on topics as diverse as:
It's a fantastic knowledge base.
Furthermore, you can add “learning certificates” to your profile upon completing a course:
Employers are increasingly sensitive to candidates who proactively develop their skills. It’s an excellent way to enhance your profile.
With a free LinkedIn account, searches are doubly limited.
First, each search allows a maximum of 1000 results.
Second, the number of searches that can be performed each month is capped. This cap varies depending on the account's age. LinkedIn does not provide a clear numerical value. This is known as the “commercial limit.” Beyond this limit, you will see this message:
With a Premium plan, the number of results per search increases from 1000 to 2500, and it becomes possible to perform an unlimited number of searches per month.
Now, let's look at the specifics of each plan in detail.
This subscription is intended for job seekers.
With Premium Career you have access to:
In summary, Premium Career allows you to easily communicate with recruiters (InMails) and see accounts interested in your profile. You also have privileged access to information about job offers (candidates, average salary offered). According to a LinkedIn study, candidates with Premium Career are recruited almost 3x faster than their counterparts on a free plan.
This subscription is very similar to Premium Career. It's a different gateway to (almost) the same product.
Of course, you will have access to over 16,000 LinkedIn Learning courses, as well as all the features of Premium Career.
LinkedIn Learning does, however, differ from Career in one aspect: the existence of “For Teams” subscriptions (which Career does not have).
If you want to develop your team's skills, this version of the Learning product may be interesting. You will have access to tracking tools to visualize your team's skill development.
Let's say it right away, this is the least interesting plan!
With Premium Business you have access to everything already available with Premium Career plus two additional elements:
In summary, you pay €30 more than the Career plan for essentially 10 additional InMails. That's €3 per InMail. A bit excessive.
This subscription is intended for salespeople and entrepreneurs looking to find prospects in their target market.
It's the plan that offers the most "value for money."
With Premium Sales Navigator Core you have access to:
To best utilize LinkedIn Sales Navigator, it's often necessary to use a scraping tool to export your search results into a CSV file. Here is a list of interesting tools for doing this:
You can then upload your prospect list to Icypeas to find their email addresses.
Exporting your prospects also allows you to add them to your CRM for tracking your sales actions (outbound / nurturing).
The Sales Navigator Advanced subscription contains the features of Sales Navigator Core, plus:
It is clearly an offer dedicated to large companies.
The minimum order for the Sales Navigator Advanced Plus license is 20 licenses.
The Sales Navigator Advanced Plus subscription contains the features of Sales Navigator Advanced, as well as CRM integration (with Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and Hubspot).
This CRM integration allows you to keep all your contact sheets in your CRM up to date, thanks to LinkedIn data.
This subscription is for recruiters who want to find their ideal candidate but cannot afford the Recruiter subscription (about $749 per month).
With Premium Recruiter Lite you have access to:
Most recruiters believe that the “Recruiter Lite” license is not sufficient for effective recruiting. Moreover, for a price almost half less, the Sales Navigator Core license provides access to more search filters.
The Recruiter subscription is used by teams planning more than 5 or 6 hires in a year or those recruiting for high-demand roles (web developers, executive managers, etc.). It's also the license found in all headhunting firms.
LinkedIn Recruiter entitles you to:
There is a minimum of one-year commitment. The LinkedIn sales team is entitled to offer a maximum discount of 5%.
Temps de lecture : 4min
We gathered here the main steps to build cold emails that get replies, along with some cold email templates. Here they are:
Cold emails are like starting a chat online with someone new. It's a good way to talk to someone who might not know much about your company. Since it's their first time hearing from you, we call them "cold leads”.
Therefore, the objective of a cold email is to get a response. You can then start a conversation with your prospect and introduce him to your product or service. That’s not directly a sales email.
Let’s dive into the different steps to build an effective cold email!
This is one of the most underestimated parts of cold emailing.
The “from line” is the line that displays who sent the message, this is something we usually set up when creating the email address, and then we forget about it.
However it plays an important role in determining whether the person will open or not your email since it is their first impression. This is what defines your open rate!
That's why it's smart to check your "from" line before you start a new cold email campaign.
The "from line” can take many shapes. We can change it whenever we want. We can switch up how our "from" line looks each time we start a new campaign, picking from different possible styles.
You can choose between at least 5 forms :
Here are the steps to follow if you want to change your “from” line in Gmail:
For choosing what to write, it depends on if you want your email to feel personal (no company name) or if you want to use the legitimacy of your company to be read (add your company name).
If your emails aren't being opened because of a poorly crafted subject line, you won't get any responses to your cold sales email campaigns. Therefore, when starting a new cold email, the second task is to construct an effective subject line.
Examples of good subject lines :
Here are the different possibilities you have:
Generally, your prospect prefers your subject line to be short!
Good subject lines typically relate to the recipient's need to enhance something, make a change, or innovate.
By the way, we advise you to a/b test different subject lines and compare the opening rates to find out which one is the best suited for your context.
Once you've convinced your recipient to open your message with a compelling 'from' line and subject line, you're half done. You now have roughly three seconds to grab their attention and encourage them to read beyond the first couple of lines. That's why an engaging introduction is crucial.
The introduction is the place where you talk about the problem of your prospect you can take care of. You also need to show that you contacted them deliberately, that you know their situation (you’ve done your homework!).
Here are the possibilities :
Overall, you want to be concise and personal!
Here is one of the easiest cold email introduction:
In order for your prospect to trust you, you want to provide value to him.
First of all, it includes avoiding sales pitches and preferring personal speech so that your prospect doesn’t get the impression that you only want its money.
Always position your prospects at the heart of your proposal. Offer as much value to them as possible. Identify potential challenges they might be encountering that you can assist with.
Always position your prospects at the heart of your proposal. Offer as much value to them as possible. Identify potential challenges they might be encountering that you can assist with.
Here’s a cold email example with value given.
If you're doing bulk email campaigns, you might not be able to personalize your cold email too much, but you need to always add some personalizations (first name, company name, field of work).
If you're drafting each email handly, you can then create a highly-personalized cold email.
Here are the things that you can personalize:
You don’t necessarily have to do all of them, but at least the first one
Shorter emails that are concise are more impactful to the mind. That’s why short emails have a higher response rate than longer ones.
To do so, you need to stick to short paragraphs (1-2 sentences), incorporate spaces, lists, and appealing formatting.
Things to keep at all cost:
Things you can discard :
Remember that you can also use photos instead of words to show what you can offer to your prospect.
You're nearly done. All that's left is to craft a call to action (CTA) that will motivate your prospects to take the desired action in response to your cold email, and improve your reply rate.
This might be scheduling a call, a zoom or replying to your email.
Things to do :
Finally, the email signature. It's a part of your message that deserves attention. The signature should inform the recipient about who you are and where they can acquire additional contact information about you and/or your organization.
A well-crafted signature can assist in shortening the body of the email, making the message more digestible and focused on the recipient.
You can create a suitable signature using our free email signature generator.
Things to do :
This is an example of a good signature:
Pierre Landoin
CEO and Co-Founder at @Icypeas
If your initial cold email doesn't elicit a response, sending a follow-up email can serve as a good strategy to reconnect with the recipient and keep your presence fresh in their mind. However, ensure that you're not dispatching a follow-up email prematurely, and avoid sending an excessive number of them. Otherwise you might look spammy.
Our advice in terms of follow-up is to limit to two to three follow up emails, and wait about a week before sending a follow-up.
What to say in a follow up email (possible options):
P.S: When you write your follow up email, we advise you to choose the same subject line so that your email appears in the same email list as your first email. Doing so, your prospect does not have to search for your previous email.
You now have all the information you need to start writing your first successful cold email sequences!
As a reminder, here are the steps to follow:
Hope it helps you land your next big deal!
Temps de lecture : 4min
I've listed the 8 primary methods to find someone’s email address, ranked from most to least efficient, based on my personal experience:
The most efficient way to find email addresses. You can use an Email Finder like Icypeas to find anyone’s email address, as well as additional data: Linkedin profile, firmographics, technographics. Icypeas is a web app as well as a Chrome extension that allows you to find anybody’s email address using individual or bulk search. It also comes with an Email Verifier, and a Domain Scan to find role-based email within a company.
Icypeas allows you to create an account for free, and find your first email addresses from scratch. You can also automate the process using bulk searches.
All you have to do is :
And let Icypeas do the work for you…
You can also use the Icypeas Chrome Extension directly on LinkedIn.
Other tools include: Hunter, Voila Norbert,..
Ready to find all your prospect email addresses ? Get started with Icypeas here !
If you don’t want to use an email finder, you can still find the email address using a manual method.
The users of LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook often share their contact information. This includes email addresses.
To find your prospect email address, you need to go in their "About" or "Contact" sections. Let’s dive in each possibilities :
Many professionals put their email address on their LinkedIn profile. You only need to send them a connection request that they accept to access the info. Here are the steps to follow :
Many professionals put their email address on their LinkedIn profile. You only need to send them a connection request that they accept to access the info. Here are the steps to follow :
You’ll receive a download link via email.
Facebook is a reliable source of information when searching for bloggers’ or company’s email. Here’s how to do it :
Here are the three main ways of finding an email address on Twitter :
Check the Twitter Profile
You can check the person’s Twitter profile to see if he/she displayed an email address.
Check the website link (if is it a private website)
If it doesn't work out, go check the person’s website link.
It's probable that a user's own website will feature a contact page, which is likely to display their email address somewhere on the webpage. If not, maybe there will be a contact form to fill up.
Search for “Email” in the past posts of your prospect’s profile using Advanced Search.
People occasionally post their email addresses on Twitter, so browsing past tweets might reveal if your potential contact has done the same.
You can carry out this check via Twitter's advanced search function, which facilitates highly precise searches within chosen Twitter accounts.
That’s it, if your prospect has posted his email you should find it in less than 30 seconds.
PS : You can also type twitter.com/username + “keyword” in the Google search bar, and you will get the same result.
Depending on the field you're in, some companies or influencers may directly provide their email address on their Instagram profile:
Google is probably the more logical place to search for email addresses, but you need to use it wisely to get what you need.
Indeed, a straightforward search might make you wade through hundreds of pages that don't matter, taking up a lot of your time.
Here are three ways to discover anyone's email address using Google.
If you're uncertain about the accuracy of a prospect's email, advanced search operators can help fetch exact contact details.
By enclosing your search term in quotation marks, you instruct Google to look for results that exactly match that keyword.
All you need to do is input the potential email address, and if that email exists on the internet, it will be displayed like this:
Another method is to ask Google to search for your target information. To do so you need to:
You can also try adding more details like job title, past companies, city, and others to your search.
Another method to discover someone's email address involves using the search operator query "site:companywebsite.com" as your base, and then adding modifiers like:
Don’t forget to verify the email you found: You can use Icypeas Email Verifier to check whether the email you found is valid. Otherwise, you might have a very high bounce rate (above 10%) and damage your email deliverability during your cold email campaigns. Click here to get started for free!
Manual Guessing
Most companies use generic email structures for their employees, so it is possible to guess it based on common patterns. Here are the results of our study about the most common email patterns :
Note that if you already know an email address from another employee of the company, you can infer the good pattern from this email.
Automated guessing with Email Permutator
Email Permutator is a tool designed to streamline the process of guessing email addresses. By simply inputting a person's name and their company's domain, you can quickly and easily find their email address without wasting hours trying to list all potential email variations.
You will enter :
And let the magic work…
Once you get your different email variations, you can use an Email Verifier like Icypeas to know which email is valid.
Here are the steps to use Icypeas :
Or you can copy-paste the list of emails in Gmail's new message box, and then hover over each email to see if it is connected to a Gmail account.
Here’s an example with my email :
NB: This method might be effective only if the person you're seeking has an email address hosted by Google Workspace.
To explain a bit further, if the email does not exist, it will be displayed with a blue man. If, at the contrary, the picture is different from the little blue man (it can be a different color, or a picture of the person, or even a logo), it means that the email exists :
Numerous companies and bloggers employ their personal email addresses for sending out newsletters.
All you gotta do is :
If you're looking to discover the email address of a website or blog owner, WHOIS can be a helpful tool.
WHOIS is a request-and-response mechanism that is commonly utilized for accessing databases containing fundamental information about a registered domain. This might include contact details of the domain owner, the domain's availability status, and specifics about the company.
You just need to :
If none of the above-mentioned methods yield the email address you're looking for, consider connecting through social media, requesting a more particular email address, sending messages to general email addresses like info@ or hello@, or even engaging with the company's support team via chat.To do so, you can use Icypeas Domain Scan, click here to know how it works !
If you send a newsletter to your audience, you might want to check if your prospect has already subscribed to get your content. Or, there might be an email address of your lead’s coworker to help you identify the pattern.
You can check that by going to your email marketing tool, opening the entire list, and starting searching.
Whereas you don’t have access to a 2nd degree connection’s contact info, the people among your network that are connected to your prospect can !
Something you can do is ask these people the email of your prospect.
All you have to do is :
By the way, we did a little study at Icypeas to highlight the efficiency of each method. We took 1000 LinkedIn profiles randomly and tried all methods for each of them.
P.S :
Here are the data :
Keep in mind that this study examines only the case where you only have a few emails to find.
If you have more than 20 mails to find, the email finder is the first method since it automates the process infinitely.
And the results :
Other methods depend on the context.
For instance the newsletter works sometimes, be it that your prospect has a newsletter (which is not always the case).
P.S : LinkedIn mainly gives personal emails (9 out of 10).
Locating your prospect's email addresses is a crucial component of your outreach strategy.
To do so, we suggest the following:
Now that you know everything about email finding methods, I advise you to try all of these starting with the top.If the first method doesn't work, proceed to the second one, and so forth… P.S. Regardless of the method you opt for, remember to validate the email address to enhance your sender's reputation!
