Choose your situation
Building a prospect list from scratch: the four sources
The right tool depends on your target, not on your habits. Two questions are enough to choose: is your target on LinkedIn, and is it in France?
Two questions to choose
The four sources side by side
| Source | Who for | Volume | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales Navigator | Decision makers and managers, in every country | 2,500 profiles per day and per account; up to 80,000 per search with automatic splitting (Grow and Scale) | Profile, job title, company and its website. No email. |
| Classic LinkedIn search | The same targets, without a Sales Navigator subscription | 1,000 profiles per search | Profile, headline, location; the company only if the search filters on one company. No email. |
| Basile | Companies and directors in France, by sector, size or area | 100,000 exportable rows a month from the entry plan | Registry data, Google Maps, LinkedIn, published generic emails and landlines. |
| Local data | Tradespeople, shops, independent professions | Depends on the trade and the area | Address, phone, generic address; rarely a LinkedIn profile. |
With an active Emelia plan, extracting Sales Navigator or the classic LinkedIn search uses no credits. Without a plan, each extracted contact costs 0.5 credit, and one extraction is free during the trial. Basile is a separate subscription.
What no source will give you directly
Named email addresses. LinkedIn does not show them, and neither do the registries. Whatever the source, plan a second step: the email search, which starts from the name and the company website, and finds about one address in two on average.
Who are you looking for?
Frequently asked questions
The questions we get asked on this topic, answered briefly.
Where can I find a free prospect list?
The classic LinkedIn search, extracted with an Emelia plan, costs you nothing beyond your subscription: up to 1,000 profiles per search. The free files floating around online are almost always old and already worn out, with a bounce rate that puts your sending domain at risk.
Does Emelia work outside France?
Yes. LinkedIn and Sales Navigator extraction works in every country, as does the email search, with rates that vary from country to country. Only Basile is limited to France.
Can you combine several sources?
Yes, and it is common: a Sales Navigator extraction for decision makers, a Basile list for small businesses. Then merge or deduplicate the lists in Lead Lists, by email address or by LinkedIn URL, before running the email search, so you never pay twice for the same person.