Iggy Pintado talks networking, connectedness and social media
Officially in the top 25 most connected business networkers in Australia, Iggy Pintado takes being connected to new levels. Just don’t call him a social media expert.
STORY JEN BISHOP
With more than 8,000 direct connections on Linkedin, almost 10,000 Twitter followers and more than 1,000 Facebook friends, Iggy Pintado is quite literally all over social media. But he’s quick to point out he’s not a social media guru. What he’s an expert in is connectedness. His new book, Connection Generation, talks about how connection determines our place in society and in business.
As well as having a very memorable name, Iggy’s an accomplished and experienced business leader, executive, coach, speaker and author. Over the past 22 years, he’s held executive positions in marketing, sales, channels, operations and online management at both technology giant IBM and, until recently, at Telstra. In 2008, he co-founded a business networking consulting business based in Sydney, called ConnectGen.
These days, he’s moved away from the corporate world and works largely with small businesses in a coaching capacity. A popular speak at events, he’s become something of a legend in the small business community and is very active on social networking site Twitter. But despite all his online connections, he says it’s not about social media, it’s about connectedness.
“After years in corporate marketing with the likes of IBM and Telstra, I’ve built a pretty good list of professional and personal contacts. But being connected isn’t just about collecting a whole bunch of business cards, email addresses or Twitter followers,” he says. “The expertise lies in the process of rekindling, reactivating, maintaining and managing those contacts in preparation for accessing and activating them when the right opportunity arises at the right time. This takes a rigour and discipline that I call managing your connectedness. That’s what I’ve developed my commercial expertise in.“
Time and cash poor
It’s no secret that small business owners are time-poor. They also lack the huge marketing budgets of the larger corporates. But through clever connecting and use of social media, Iggy says they can make a huge difference to their business with little financial or time input.
“My experience with small businesses is that they don’t necessarily have a lot of time or financial resources to do things like identifying and targeting business opportunities, networking for potential alliances and generally promoting their business offerings. In developing and joining online networks and other communities of interest, they have the flexibility to do these things in their own time and spend as little or as much time as they require to extract value from it.
“Most of these social networking platforms are free, so the cost is in investing the right amount of time to derive the benefits from assessing opportunities that can assist in supporting your business. My top tips are to follow the four Ps of online networking: purpose, profile, participation and persistence!”
Iggy says the principals of networking are exactly the same as they were years ago, it’s just that social media and online networking have made it “more effective, efficient and instant”. He adds: “We can now network from anywhere (home, office, on the go) at any time and with anyone in the globe in real time. That’s the opportunity of 21st century networking today.”
Small business loves social media
He also thinks social media is much better suited to small businesses, which is why SME owners are embracing it–and people like him–with such gusto. “Many of the social media platforms are easier to develop and implement into online business presences when you’re a smaller and nimbler business,” he says. “They’re easy to integrate with an existing website and cost-effective to implement. By learning how to leverage these online tools, which is what my book is all about, any small business can be just as proficient in the researching, networking and promoting of their business using social media as any large organisation.”
So, is the old-fashioned business card, given out at traditional networking functions, dead? “Not at all,” says Iggy. “We still need to present ourselves and our businesses to each other and the business card is still a very effective way to do this. What’s changed is what you do with the business card once you’ve received it.
“My mantra is that every connection is a potential social or business opportunity. If people truly believed this, they would spend more time working through the opportunities they have in their pockets or handbags. Instead, people leave collected business cards on their desks or file them in a box thinking that they’ll have the time to forage through it when the right opportunity comes along.” How often do we actually get around to it?
Embrace LinkedIn
“Enter online networks like LinkedIn,” says Iggy. “This tool in particular is a most effective and efficient method of maintaining an electronic connection with the individual attached to that business card. By inviting them to connect with you on Linkedin, their business details accompany their profiles, which are easily searchable and portable. I describe this as a PRM; a Personal Relationship Management tool. So, while the old-fashioned business card holder may be on its last legs, the business card is still the catalyst for making that initial face-to-face connection.”
It’s not a problem many of us will face, but super-networker Iggy has exceeded the maximum 3,000 people you’re allowed to invite to connect with you on LinkedIn. These days, he has to ask new people to connect with him instead, and he usually does this by email, after taking someone’s business card.
LinkedIn recently celebrated its 50 millionth member worldwide and 15 percent of recruiters are thought to use it regularly. The site is growing at roughly one new member per second. Incredibly, when LinkedIn launched in 2003, it took 477 days—almost a year and four months—to reach its first million members. The last million took only 12 days. LinkedIn has been global since inception. There are now 11 million users in Europe alone. India is currently the fastest-growing country with almost 3 million users, while the Netherlands has the highest rate of adoption per capita outside the US, at 30 percent. There are ?? members in Australia.
Online v old school
So, what’s the difference between old school networking and online, or social, networking? And can they achieve the same purpose? “Networking is the art of meeting people or joining a group of people who share a common interest or goal. Business networking is the means by which individuals and groups connect for the common purpose of conducting business,” says Iggy.
“Online networking is the ability to identify, develop and manage social and business connections via the internet. The main benefit of participating in online networking is that you can take advantage of access that is unavailable with traditional networking. Online networks link business professionals, providing unmatched flexibility to enable participants to make connections, share information and post inquiries at any time, from any place, across the country and across the world.
“Online networking is based on traditional networking in many ways. As a business, you want to promote your business, meet prospects, make contacts, build relationships, generate opportunities and close sales. Just as prospecting, relationship and brand building and networking take time in the business world, it’s the same online, only more effective and efficient.”
Iggy’s passion for passing on his knowledge and insights to large and small organisations alike, means he is regularly invited to speak at business conferences, tertiary institutions and leadership seminars and is a highly regarded and sought-after mentor. His insights into business management and marketing have led to his engagement in external consulting and committee work with the Australian Marketing Institute (AMI) Advisory Council, the Blue Chips Marketing Council and IBM’s Small Medium Enterprise committee.
Face-to-face isn’t dead
It would be a bit sad if our iPhone and BlackBerry generation only ever connected online, and Iggy says that’s not the point: “It’s not just about connecting online, it’s about connecting in line with what you want to get out of it. If I want to wish my mother a happy birthday, I’m not going to do it on Facebook, I’ll go and visit her. It’s what’s appropriate. Online’s just another option open to us. It’s not the only channel. But by being connected on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, you’re suddenly available 24/7.”
Since the advent of Twitter, is Facebook a bit over as far as business goes? Not necessarily. Another of Iggy’s mantras is “go where they gather,” so if your customer or potential customer is likely to be on Facebook, you’d be stupid not to have a Facebook presence. And a Facebook Page is better than a Facebook Group, because you’re allowed more fans of your page than you are group members. His advice for attracting and keeping your followers is simple: keep them interested and add value. If you don’t, they’ll soon unfollow you.
–Follow Iggy on Twitter @iggypintado or add him on LinkedIn or Facebook.
Officially in the top 25 most connected business networkers in Australia, Iggy Pintado takes being connected to new levels. Just don’t call him a social media expert.
With more than 8,000 direct connections on Linkedin, almost 10,000 Twitter followers and more than 1,000 Facebook friends, Iggy Pintado is quite literally all over social media. But he’s quick to point out he’s not a social media guru. What he’s an expert in is connectedness. His new book, Connection Generation, talks about how connection determines our place in society and in business.
As well as having a very memorable name, Iggy’s an accomplished and experienced business leader, executive, coach, speaker and author. Over the past 22 years, he’s held executive positions in marketing, sales, channels, operations and online management at both technology giant IBM and, until recently, at Telstra. In 2008, he co-founded a business networking consulting business based in Sydney, called ConnectGen.
These days, he’s moved away from the corporate world and works largely with small businesses in a coaching capacity. A popular speak at events, he’s become something of a legend in the small business community and is very active on social networking site Twitter. But despite all his online connections, he says it’s not about social media, it’s about connectedness.
“After years in corporate marketing with the likes of IBM and Telstra, I’ve built a pretty good list of professional and personal contacts. But being connected isn’t just about collecting a whole bunch of business cards, email addresses or Twitter followers,” he says. “The expertise lies in the process of rekindling, reactivating, maintaining and managing those contacts in preparation for accessing and activating them when the right opportunity arises at the right time. This takes a rigour and discipline that I call managing your connectedness. That’s what I’ve developed my commercial expertise in.“
Time and cash poor
It’s no secret that small business owners are time-poor. They also lack the huge marketing budgets of the larger corporates. But through clever connecting and use of social media, Iggy says they can make a huge difference to their business with little financial or time input.
“My experience with small businesses is that they don’t necessarily have a lot of time or financial resources to do things like identifying and targeting business opportunities, networking for potential alliances and generally promoting their business offerings. In developing and joining online networks and other communities of interest, they have the flexibility to do these things in their own time and spend as little or as much time as they require to extract value from it.
“Most of these social networking platforms are free, so the cost is in investing the right amount of time to derive the benefits from assessing opportunities that can assist in supporting your business. My top tips are to follow the four Ps of online networking: purpose, profile, participation and persistence!”
Iggy says the principals of networking are exactly the same as they were years ago, it’s just that social media and online networking have made it “more effective, efficient and instant”. He adds: “We can now network from anywhere (home, office, on the go) at any time and with anyone in the globe in real time. That’s the opportunity of 21st century networking today.”
Small business loves social media
He also thinks social media is much better suited to small businesses, which is why SME owners are embracing it–and people like him–with such gusto. “Many of the social media platforms are easier to develop and implement into online business presences when you’re a smaller and nimbler business,” he says. “They’re easy to integrate with an existing website and cost-effective to implement. By learning how to leverage these online tools, which is what my book is all about, any small business can be just as proficient in the researching, networking and promoting of their business using social media as any large organisation.”
So, is the old-fashioned business card, given out at traditional networking functions, dead? “Not at all,” says Iggy. “We still need to present ourselves and our businesses to each other and the business card is still a very effective way to do this. What’s changed is what you do with the business card once you’ve received it.
“My mantra is that every connection is a potential social or business opportunity. If people truly believed this, they would spend more time working through the opportunities they have in their pockets or handbags. Instead, people leave collected business cards on their desks or file them in a box thinking that they’ll have the time to forage through it when the right opportunity comes along.” How often do we actually get around to it?
Embrace LinkedIn
“Enter online networks like LinkedIn,” says Iggy. “This tool in particular is a most effective and efficient method of maintaining an electronic connection with the individual attached to that business card. By inviting them to connect with you on Linkedin, their business details accompany their profiles, which are easily searchable and portable. I describe this as a PRM; a Personal Relationship Management tool. So, while the old-fashioned business card holder may be on its last legs, the business card is still the catalyst for making that initial face-to-face connection.”
It’s not a problem many of us will face, but super-networker Iggy has exceeded the maximum 3,000 people you’re allowed to invite to connect with you on LinkedIn. These days, he has to ask new people to connect with him instead, and he usually does this by email, after taking someone’s business card.
LinkedIn recently celebrated its 50 millionth member worldwide and 15 percent of recruiters are thought to use it regularly. The site is growing at roughly one new member per second. Incredibly, when LinkedIn launched in 2003, it took 477 days—almost a year and four months—to reach its first million members. The last million took only 12 days. LinkedIn has been global since inception. There are now 11 million users in Europe alone. India is currently the fastest-growing country with almost 3 million users, while the Netherlands has the highest rate of adoption per capita outside the US, at 30 percent. There are ?? members in Australia.
Online v old school
So, what’s the difference between old school networking and online, or social, networking? And can they achieve the same purpose? “Networking is the art of meeting people or joining a group of people who share a common interest or goal. Business networking is the means by which individuals and groups connect for the common purpose of conducting business,” says Iggy.
“Online networking is the ability to identify, develop and manage social and business connections via the internet. The main benefit of participating in online networking is that you can take advantage of access that is unavailable with traditional networking. Online networks link business professionals, providing unmatched flexibility to enable participants to make connections, share information and post inquiries at any time, from any place, across the country and across the world.
“Online networking is based on traditional networking in many ways. As a business, you want to promote your business, meet prospects, make contacts, build relationships, generate opportunities and close sales. Just as prospecting, relationship and brand building and networking take time in the business world, it’s the same online, only more effective and efficient.”
Iggy’s passion for passing on his knowledge and insights to large and small organisations alike, means he is regularly invited to speak at business conferences, tertiary institutions and leadership seminars and is a highly regarded and sought-after mentor. His insights into business management and marketing have led to his engagement in external consulting and committee work with the Australian Marketing Institute (AMI) Advisory Council, the Blue Chips Marketing Council and IBM’s Small Medium Enterprise committee.
Face-to-face isn’t dead
It would be a bit sad if our iPhone and BlackBerry generation only ever connected online, and Iggy says that’s not the point: “It’s not just about connecting online, it’s about connecting in line with what you want to get out of it. If I want to wish my mother a happy birthday, I’m not going to do it on Facebook, I’ll go and visit her. It’s what’s appropriate. Online’s just another option open to us. It’s not the only channel. But by being connected on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, you’re suddenly available 24/7.”
Since the advent of Twitter, is Facebook a bit over as far as business goes? Not necessarily. Another of Iggy’s mantras is “go where they gather,” so if your customer or potential customer is likely to be on Facebook, you’d be stupid not to have a Facebook presence. And a Facebook Page is better than a Facebook Group, because you’re allowed more fans of your page than you are group members. His advice for attracting and keeping your followers is simple: keep them interested and add value. If you don’t, they’ll soon unfollow you.
–Follow Iggy on Twitter @iggypintado or add him on LinkedIn or Facebook.
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Jen Bishop
Jen was the publisher at Loyalty Media and editor of Dynamic Business, Australia's largest circulating small business magazine, from 2008 until 2012. She is now a full-time blogger at The Interiors Addict.
