It's important to know exactly what your competitors and customers are up to and track developments in your industry. I find Google Alerts fantastic for this.

You simply visit that page, enter some keywords, and you'll then receive a regular email update whenever Google finds anything new on that subject on the web! How useful is that!

It's great to be armed with this kind of knowledge. Customers are always so impressed when you know about their company's latest announcements, or key industry news - and it could highlight potential opportunities to you before anyone else.

Have a play at http://www.google.co.uk/alerts, and create your own electronic researcher.