Nielson online have revealed this week that social networking is now more popular than email. The report 'Global Faces and Networked Places' states 67% of Britons use social networking sites with the greatest reach in the UK. Facebook, the UK's most popular networking site is visited by a reported 47% of web users each month. So how can you make the most of these tools?

- Raise your profile by following industry/retail related sites for market updates and respond to customers queries including a link to your website in the signature. Remember to be objective and do not sell!

- Create business/fan pages with networking sites like My Space, Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. They can be quite time consuming to maintain so only sign up for sites that are relevant for your market and realistically manageable. Status updates can be managed using tools such as Ping:Fm and Atomkeep to ensure timely and consistent distribution of information.

- Create a dialogue with your customers. Sharing news about your latest product lines and special promotions is fine but not what social networking sites were intended for. Think back to the days when local, small store owners would know their regular customers by name and their regular purchasing habits. Using networking sites can work in a similar way as well as generating new prospects due to its viral nature.