I have found that cold calling is not worth the time and effort. I might get 2% of business owners on the phone, and in 100% of cases they are irritated that I have interrupted their day. I am seen as a telemarketer, not a potential business partner, at that point. I have had some luck in throwing meeting notices onto owners calendarsredacted% of the time they show up. This hasn't turned into an LOI though. I only use this strategy for businesses that are somewhat pre-vetted and I'm confident are a decent target.

Depends on what type of business. If the business has high presence online - LinkedIn is great. If its offline (local) - direct mail, cold call, email, networking