LinkedIn is a powerful tool for networking and connecting with professionals in your industry. By building a network of connections on this platform, you can expand your reach, find new job opportunities, and grow your business.
However, what happens when you want to take your connections with you outside of LinkedIn? Maybe you want to use your LinkedIn connections to build an email list, create a sales database, or keep track of your professional contacts. Unfortunately, LinkedIn doesn't make it easy to export your contacts.
In this article, we'll explore some advanced techniques for exporting LinkedIn contacts and the tools you can use to do it more efficiently. Whether you're a job seeker, recruiter, or business owner, this guide will help you use LinkedIn connections wherever you go.
Understanding LinkedIn contact export limitations
Before we dive into the advanced techniques and tools for extracting LinkedIn contacts, it's essential to understand the company's limitations on exporting them. These limitations are in place to protect users' privacy and prevent platform abuse.
LinkedIn allows you to export up to 2,000 contacts at a time, and you can only do this once every 24 hours. LinkedIn only allows you to extract specific fields for each contact, such as their name, email address, company, and job title. Other fields, such as phone number and address, are unavailable for export.
It's also worth noting that the company may flag your account for suspicious activity if you try to export too many contacts too quickly. This could result in your account being temporarily or permanently suspended, so it's important to use caution when extracting contacts and stay within LinkedIn's limits.
Now that you understand the limitations of exporting LinkedIn contacts, let's dive into the advanced techniques and tools for doing it more efficiently.
Technique #1: Exporting LinkedIn Contacts as a CSV File
One of the simplest and most straightforward ways to extract contacts is to download them as a CSV (Comma-Separated Values) file. Here's how to do it:
1. Log in to your account and navigate to the "My Network" tab.
2. Click on "Connections" to see your list of contacts.
3. Click on the gear icon on the right-hand side and select "Export Contacts" from the dropdown menu.
4. Choose the format as "CSV file" and select the fields you want to export.
5. Click on "Export" and save the file to your computer.
The CSV file will contain all the selected fields for your LinkedIn connections. You can use this file to import your contacts into other tools or to keep a backup of your LinkedIn connections.
It's important to note that LinkedIn may occasionally change the format of the CSV file or the fields available for export, so it's a good idea to check your exported file for accuracy before relying on it for any critical purposes.
Now that you know how to export your LinkedIn contacts as a CSV file, let's move on to the next technique.
Technique #2: Using Google Sheets to export LinkedIn contacts
Another way to extract contacts is by using Google Sheets. This technique requires more setup than exporting as a CSV file but can provide more flexibility and control over your data.
1. Log in to your LinkedIn account and navigate to the "My Network" tab.
2. Click on "Connections" to see your list of contacts.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "Export Connections" in the bottom right corner.
4. Choose the file format as "Microsoft Excel (.xlsx)" and select the fields you want to export.
5. Click on "Export" and save the file to your computer.
6. Open Google Sheets and create a new spreadsheet.
7. Click on "File" in the top left corner and select "Import" from the dropdown menu.
8. Click on "Upload" and select the exported file from your computer.
9. Choose "Replace spreadsheet" to replace the existing sheet with the new data.
10. Review the data and make any necessary edits or changes.
11. Once satisfied with the data, you can use Google Sheets to manipulate, analyse, or export it as needed.
Using Google Sheets to export your LinkedIn contacts provides the added benefits of cloud-based storage, collaborative editing, and the ability to quickly manipulate and analyse your data. However, it requires more setup than exporting as a CSV file , so it may not be the best option for everyone.
Let's move on to the next technique.
Technique #3: Exporting LinkedIn contacts using SignalHire
SignalHire is a comprehensive sourcing and recruitment platform that provides tools for candidate search, outreach, and engagement. The platform also offers a Chrome extension that allows users to extract contact information from LinkedIn profiles and export them to ATS or CRM.
You can export contacts to CSV format through the tool itself. There you can perform other actions with them and even monitor the progress of the recruitment.
Here's how to use SignalHire to export your LinkedIn contacts:
1. Install the SignalHire Chrome extension.
2. Navigate to the LinkedIn profile of the contact you want to extract.
3. Click the SignalHire extension icon in your browser toolbar.
4. Click "Export" to export the contact.
SignalHire also offers advanced features like CRM integration, making it a useful tool for recruiters and sales professionals looking to manage their LinkedIn contacts and outreach efforts.
Using SignalHire as a LinkedIn lead extractor is a straightforward and efficient process. The platform's additional features can provide added value for professionals looking to streamline their recruitment and sales workflows.
Technique #4: Exporting LinkedIn contacts using Sales Navigator
Sales Navigator is a LinkedIn premium feature that provides advanced lead search and lead management tools. If you have a Sales Navigator subscription, you can use it to extract contacts quickly.
1. Log in to your LinkedIn Sales Navigator account.
2. Click on the "Leads" tab and select "All Leads" from the dropdown menu.
3. Click on the "Settings" icon (gear icon) on the right-hand side of the page.
4. Select "Export All" to export all your leads or "Export Selected" to export specific leads.
5. Choose the file format you want to export your leads, such as CSV or XLSX.
6. Click "Export" to download the file.
Sales Navigator allows you to export up to 25,000 leads at a time. If you have over 25,000 leads, you can export them in batches using the pagination feature.
Advantages of Using Sales Navigator to Export LinkedIn Contacts
- It allows you to export multiple contacts quickly and easily.
- You can use advanced search filters to target and export specific leads.
- It provides additional lead management tools to help you organise and manage your contacts more effectively.
Disadvantages of Using Sales Navigator to Export LinkedIn Contacts
- It requires a LinkedIn Sales Navigator subscription to use this technique, which can be expensive.
- The extracted file may contain more information than you need, making it harder to manage and use effectively.
Overall, Sales Navigator is an excellent option for exporting LinkedIn contacts if you have a subscription. However, consider other options if you don't want to buy it.
Technique #5: Exporting LinkedIn contacts using PhantomBuster
PhantomBuster is a powerful automation tool that extracts data from various websites, including LinkedIn. With PhantomBuster, you can export your contacts quickly and easily.
Here's how to use PhantomBuster to export your LinkedIn contacts:
1. Sign up for a PhantomBuster account and navigate to the LinkedIn network booster.
2. Select the "LinkedIn Network Booster" and click "Use This API."
3. Choose the data type you want to extract, such as first name, last name, email, company, and position.
4. Enter your LinkedIn credentials and authorise PhantomBuster to access your LinkedIn account.
5. Click "Launch" to start the export process.
6. Once the export is complete, you can download the data as a CSV file.
PhantomBuster offers a variety of pricing plans, including a free plan that allows you to export up to 50 contacts per month. Paid plans start at $29 monthly and offer more advanced features and higher export limits.
While PhantomBuster is a powerful tool, it's important to note that LinkedIn's terms of service prohibit using automation tools to extract data from their platform. Use PhantomBuster at your own risk, and comply with LinkedIn's terms of service.
Final thoughts
In conclusion, extracting LinkedIn contacts can be a useful way to grow your network, stay in touch with colleagues, and reach out to potential clients or partners. While LinkedIn has some limitations on contact exporting, several advanced techniques and tools can help you extract and organise your contacts efficiently.
By using CSV files, Google Sheets, Sales Navigator, SignalHire, PhantomBuster, and other tools, you can easily extract your LinkedIn contacts and manage them in a way that best suits your needs. Just make sure to follow LinkedIn's policies and be respectful of people's privacy and preferences.
Whether you're looking to export your contacts for professional networking or marketing purposes, these advanced techniques will help you get the most out of your LinkedIn experience. So, try and see how they can help you reach your goals.
Copyright 2023. Featured post made possible by William Alferdon, SignalHire.com.