If you live in the world of marketing, you've likely wanted to find someone's contact information but had no idea where to start looking. Whether you're trying to cold-call a lead, pitch an investor, email a press release to an editor, or strike up a conversation with a potential employer, there are plenty of reasons to dig up contact information.

Email is one of the best ways to reach someone you're trying to connect with for the first time. It's less intrusive than a phone call and gives the recipient a chance to chew over whatever you're proposing.

Knowing where and how to look for information is the first step in finding critical contact information. In 2017, there's no better tool for finding information than Google—which processes over 40,000 search queries every second (see this nifty Google search counter ).

With the help of a few tools, you'll be able to find just about anybody's email address.

Getting Started: Using Google Better

Most users don't realize that Google has search operators built into its engine that allow you to get more specific with your searches—and find what you're really looking for more quickly and with fewer searches.

Google doesn't come with a readily available user manual, so I'll provide some quick tips to help you use Google more effectively to help you find contact information.

The 'Site:' Operator