There is a way to download all the data LinkedIn has on your account.  Contact names, job titles, companies and, if the people you have LinkedIn with have made their emails + phone numbers public, as many many do, those too.

I have been on LinkedIn since October 6, 2006.  Since then I have connected with thousands of contacts, friends, clients and colleagues.  I was wondering if there was an easy way to see who I was (and therefore who I was not) connected to - and there is!

 Have a look at the video below.  It is dead easy to get a file that includes all these files: 

The files I have used to audit my LinkedIn network are Connections and Contacts.  See below to see which fields you get.

Connections:

Contacts:

I am no Excel wizard but even I managed to combine these two.  What I was then able to do is sort by Company and have a look at who I was connected to in which companies really easily.

What I discovered is that there were quite a few key clients and prospects where my network is not good enough.  I know that to make LinkedIn work as hard as possible for me I need to be connected to the right people, in the right jobs in the right firms. 

So what now?   I have set myself the task of ensuring I am connecting to the people I am missing - clients and prospects, influencers and colleagues who I want to influence - and who hopefully will find what I share on LinkedIn useful.  

Of course, what I share on LinkedIn remains very important - if my content is no good this whole plan will backfire.  What I find useful though is a sense of control and a plan.

This download is a snapshot of who I am connected to in March 2020.  I plan to go through this process at the end of each quarter and be able to show how my network quality is improving.

This week I have been discussing how Business Development and Marketing people in firms can help their experts (who are often not that tech savvy).  They have told me they intend to ask their experts (many of whom are lawyers and consultants) to download the file and send them over so the Business Development team can go through the list and see if it matches with that individual's target audience and the firms growth strategy.  

This might seem like a big task but think of all the time it can save and the revenue it will earn if the people at the sharp end of your business - the fee earners, the rain makers - are digitally connected to the right people.

Please do note that just because you have an email address of someone it does not mean you can use it to spam them.  GDPR rules apply :)