The search for business contacts is fast moving online. Social networks — long the domain of youngsters interacting with their friends — are increasingly attracting the corporate set on the hunt for sales leads, new hires, new jobs, vendors, contractors and other contacts.

For business users, the most popular site these days is LinkedIn, which boasts more than 13 million active members, up from 8.5 million last year. Among other, albeit much smaller, networks are ones run by Orkut, Ryze, Tribe.net and Spoke. Facebook, the iconic popular network for students, is also now full of specialized business networks.

Consider setting up your own company networking site, providing an easy way for your employees to present ideas, for customers to check out and comment on your products and services and for vendors to seek your business, among other things. Firms can create their own networks using the online service Ning or their own in-house software.

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