As promised in our July edition of Get Stellar, here are my top 10 ways to grow your LinkedIn network:

1. Take out your business card collection, or if you're organized, use your Contacts in Outlook, or even on your PDA or Blackberry. Go through each one and do a quick search on LinkedIn, and if you find them there, send them an invite using the relevant page. Make sure you personalize the e-mails, you could very well open up a discussion that may quickly develop into business. Not to mention, there is nothing worse than boring template emails.

2. Think of people you have worked with during your career, and if you can find them - link to them. They may have gone to the same school, college, or university, or you may have worked with them at current or previous organizations. You will be surprised at how many of these people are on LinkedIn.

3. Each time you get a request to join a network, either accept it or archive it. Do not choose the 'I don't know this person' as once a person gets five of these, their account is frozen, and you could then be responsible for having them removed. My advice in the beginning would be to accept all requests to link up. 

4. Get into the habit of being a 'name magpie.' Each time you think of people you haven't yet linked to, write down the names somewhere safe. Next time you are online, go searching on LinkedIn and as before, when you find them, link to them. Linking is also a great way of finding what people have been up to since you last met.

5. If you do find someone in your network who you would like to connect to but don't have an e-mail address for, then you can still contact them. Request an introduction through someone in your network that is connected to the person you want to connect to (if there are multiple connections here, you can even choose which introducer to use). Just make sure you explain why you want to be introduced, as the introducer does have the power of veto.

6. Don't be afraid to ask current colleagues, ex-colleagues, business partners, etc. for recommendations. They do help in building your profile further, but my advice is to only seek recommendations from people that you would recommend yourself. I also suggest recommending other contacts. It's a great way to help others, along with creating additional methods of promoting your company.

7. Regularly go through the connections of all your first level contacts. They are also expanding their networks, and it is likely you will find mutual contacts to whom you will be able to link.

8. Connect with power networkers or 'hubs' in your industry. These are the people who have hundreds or possibly thousands of contacts and are usually only too pleased to link with others. They are often referred to as 'open networkers' and most have their e-mail address in their profile. Don't be shy with these people; they are motivated by expanding their networks. When you next do a search for someone, sort the search by connections (drop down box), and you will find them.

9. Join as many LinkedIn groups as you have time for. Stay active within the groups and add your comments and news worthy events. The more time you dedicate to LinkedIn and your groups, the more others will see your name and want to connect with you.

10. Tell everyone about LinkedIn and make sure you use it (go to your profile, 'Promote your profile'): it is great advertising, and you will get people inviting you to join their network.

LinkedIn is a great business tool, and one that I firmly advocate using in business. From a recruitment perspective, I use it as a regular high quality source of prospective candidates, and from a business development perspective you get the chance to do some 'homework' on your business prospects. When you get used to using LinkedIn, it will become second nature to you, and you will find yourself 'checking out' every potential business contact you deal with before you meet them!

If you are just starting off on LinkedIn and want to further expand your network to tap into my millions of contacts, then please just send me an invitation and I will happily oblige.

Not sure where to start? Steller Blue can help get your social media marketing off the ground. Call 920.905.0290 for more information on our services.

Jim Dobinski - Marketing Director
Stellar Blue Web Design, LLC
Visit Jim's LinkedIn profile.

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What Is Google Chrome?

Google Chrome OS is being touted as a lightweight open source operating system based on Linux. This means it won't take up much memory, so it has much smaller hardware requirements. It will also boot up faster.

Because the operating system is designed to mainly let you browse the web, it won't be dogged down with a bunch of features that are rarely used but take up precious resources. This design also makes it simpler to use, with a streamlined interface designed to get you on the web quickly.

 What type of applications will be available for it?

Google Chrome OS is designed as a web-based OS, which means its main functionality is to connect you to the web. While it may have external applications that have web-centric functions, such as checking the mail, most applications for it are browser-based, which means they will run in any computer with a web browser.

In addition to providing quick and easy access to the web, Google Chrome OS has upped the ante for web developers by providing a state-of-the-art environment to push web applications to the max. This means some web applications may be designed from the ground up to run in Google Chrome, though they should run just as fine using the Chrome browser under the Windows operating system.

Will I sacrifice utility by only using web applications?

While Google Chrome OS is not as versatile as a full-fledged operating system like Microsoft Windows or Mac OS X, and won't have access to the applications you can find at Best Buy, it is still able to run a wide variety of applications as web apps.

The cloud computing movement has led to a lot of sophisticated software being made for the web browser. This includes free office software like Zoho suite along with state-of-the-art word processors like Buzzword and even more sophisticated games.

So, while you won't get the vast array of software that is available for the Windows operating system, you will still have access to a lot of the same functionality.

The bright side of cloud computing is that your applications and data can be accessed from a variety of devices, from your PC to your laptop to your smartphone.

The Google Chrome OS is pointed directly at netbooks, laptops and desktop PCs. Because it is a lightweight operating system without stiff requirements, it can be run on less expensive equipment, thus helping to drive down the price of computers.