The relentless pursuit of finding journalist emails is necessary part of PR.

For an open staff writer position with Wirecutter listed this week on LinkedIn, the job description mentioned the ideal person is “savvy at finding ways to get in touch with brands and other experts.” This is an essential skill across the board for succeeding in the media industry in this digital age.

It had me thinking about all the times I see asks for email addresses, in my inbox and across social media. I’m going to put this bluntly, though: If you need to ask, you need to level up your contact-hunting skills to thrive in the media industry.

Top Tips for Finding Journalist Emails

It’s actually quite easy to find anyone’s email address using a few tools or tricks — no pricey databases required. Of course, there are instances where a journalist purposely makes their email hard to guess (i.e., adding a random mix of numbers to the end of their name @hotmail.com), but usually, through some stealthy sleuthing and a bit of trial and error, it’s possible to figure it out. Here are 8 things to try.

Hunter.io

Install the Hunter.io extension in your browser, and it will help you to pull emails associated with that site. The free plan grants you quite a few searches before having to upgrade. Navigate to a publication, journalist or company’s site; click the Hunter.io button once installed, and enter the person’s name you’re looking for. You can also use this to simply discover the email format the site uses, and apply that to the person you’re trying to contact.

FYI: Most common email formats for top publishers are first_last@condenast.com, first.last@dotdashmpd.com, and first.last@hearst.com.

X

Find the handle of the person you’re trying to contact, then type that + the word “email” into the search bar. Once you’ve returned results, click over to the “latest” tab to sort by most recent interactions. This will bring up any tweets that person has shared with the word “email” in them, often revealing their own email address. (For example, try this with travel writer Kassondra Cloos to see that this works.)

LinkedIn

If you’re connected to someone already, click on the “Contact info” beneath their profile photo and title. If they’ve filled that section out (which I highly recommend everyone does!), you’ll find their email there.

Google Search

It sounds basic, but often you can find a person’s email by conducting a Google search of their name + publication (they they work for or write for) + the word “email.” You can also search for email formats this way plug in their name to that format. One extra hack: Try this same search but add the word “.pdf” to the search. This can bring up random presentations, programs or PDFs they’ve contributed to that include their email address.

Gmail

If you’re guessing at a person’s email address, try typing in your guesses one at a time into the search bar at the top of Gmail. If you guess correctly and that person has their Google profile filled out, their photo will populate alongside the email, showing it’s valid. (Note: This isn’t an exact science, though, as many people don’t upload a profile photo. I encourage you to do so!)

Email Checker

This looks like a sketchy website, but I use Email Checker frequently to test out email addresses before reaching out. It’s pretty accurate in its results, too, telling you if an email is “OK” or “bad.”

Instagram

Many journalists will have an “email me” button on their Instagram profile or even list their email address in their bio on the platform. Don’t be the person who DMs asking for it when it might be right in front of you.

Trial and Error

If you still can’t find someone’s email address, go ahead and send your email to your best guess. If it bounces back, try again. I’ve had instances where it took me 10 tries to find the right email address, but it finally landed.

It only takes about 5 minutes to try all of these methods. If you’ve exhausted these tips and are still coming up short, then it’s time to ask a friend — or turn to a trusted community such as the one that’s integral to Pitchcraft. (We’re big fans of openly sharing journalist contacts, by the way!)