Pleased to Meet You -- and Millions of Other Contacts

Have a Nice Day... You meet a new business contact at a conference. You exchange cards. The next day all your business contact information (title, address, telephone and e-mail) is publicly available on the web. Is this possible? Yep. Is it ethical? Hmm.

In fact, your new "friend" has uploaded your title, address, telephone and e-mail to Jigsaw. Ready or not, you are now part of a new "online business contact marketplace where marketers, recruiters, and sales professionals can get fresh and accurate business contact information."

"Jigsaw's mission is to map every business organization on the planet, contact by contact, and keep them current through a collaborative effort. The resulting database will help business people perform their jobs more efficiently and strategically."

Curious, I signed up for a 14-day free trial and received 50 "points," which entitles me to business contact information for 10 people (5 points each). Monthly membership costs $25 for 25 contacts, or you can remain a free member by uploading 25 contacts per month.

So I browsed around to see what I could find. Wow. For example, a search for Verizon Communications turned up 3,612 contacts, including 91 at the "C Level" and 163 at the "VP Level." A search for a national law firm, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, generated 1,221 names.

Even real estate professionals are well represented. A search for "Property Leasing and Management" contacts in Chicago produced 485 contacts, including 290 at CB Richard Ellis. Amazing. All these listings contain title, address, phone and e-mail.

Jigsaw claims 3 million contacts online with 10,000 new contacts added daily. Does it work for real estate brokers? Is Jigsaw a good source for corporate real estate contacts?

-- Peter Pike