For those of you out there that have not yet heard, the KISS principle (acronym for “Keep It Simple, Stupid”) states that design simplicity should be a key goal and unnecessary complexity avoided. It serves as a useful principle in a wide array of disciplines, such as software development, animation, journalism, photography, engineering, and strategic planning. Common variants of the acronym include: “Keep It Sweet & Simple”, and “Keep It Short & Simple”.

This principle can also be applied to social networking strategies when using social networking sites to promote your business, affiliate program or other money making opportunities. Remember, less CAN be more, if you do it correctly. Many new social marketers think that they need to join every social network possible and establish a presence to make the most of their efforts. This isn’t always true. Sure, having a presence on several social networks will, most likely, put you or your business in front of the most people, but spreading yourself too thin can make your efforts less effective.

Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t join several social networks. That’s not what I’m trying to say at all. In fact, I strongly suggest that when starting out, you should join more than just a few and “kick the tires” for a while on each of them until you find the ideal mix of audience and features to suit your needs, then focus on a small group of social networks that fit your criteria. By focusing your attention on your preferred social networks, you can better engage your audience and participate more effectively in your online community. I recently came across a very informative article at SiteProNews that pretty much echoes this opinion.

If you happen to be using social networking sites to promote an affiliate program or some other online business opportunity, you can also learn from the KISS principle. It is very important to “be yourself” when using a social network to promote these types of programs. Let your personality shine through.  Being yourself is your unique advantage over everyone else that is marketing in your social network. First and foremost, you should be using the social network for the purpose in which it is intended. Socialize with your friends and other community members so that they may gain a sense of who you are and the types of things that you’re interested in. Speak from the heart and don’t fake it. Lack of sincerity comes through online just like it does in real life, so be true to your network. The last thing that you want, is to be considered as a “false friend” or someone who is only looking out for themselves and/or their program or opportunity.

Once you have a good reputation established within your community and you have presented yourself as a trustworthy friend, you should slowly start to introduce your opprtunity or program to others. Some people will be more receptive than others and you should focus on working with those members of your community first. As more people in your community get involved with you and your opportunity, you will be able to grow your audience much easier. You may even find people beginning to contact you and ask about your opportunity before you engage them personally.

Remember, it’s also a good idea to make sure that the program you’re promoting is a quality one. Don’t waste your time promoting everything and anything out there that makes outrageous claims of fortune. Find yourself an honest program that you TRULY BELIEVE IN. The program itself should be easy to follow and the promotion tools provided should be relatively easy to use, even for the most computer illiterate people in your network. Most improtantly, members of your program should actually get something of value for being involved and should not have to rely solely on referring others to receive benefits. In my experience, I have found that if you’re lucky, you might be able to get a few (one or two) experienced multi-level-marketers (MLMers) to join a program in which income generation is geared toward referring others. However, programs that offer something of value to people that don’t want to spend their time referring others, yet still provides them the opportunity to do so if they choose, grow much faster than those solely geared toward recruiting. 

For example, there’s a  great new program called Moola that’s free to join. Loosely described, Moola is something like a free super-jackpot game show, which allows anyone a chance to become a millionaire on the internet, rather than watching others do so on TV. The chances that anyone will actually become a millionaire with this program are probably pretty slim, but it does provide an entertaining gaming environment that provides value in the way of fun games and an online community to play against your friends and/or other Moola members. People who join can earn money without having to recruit which gives this program a wider appeal. Interested? Get your own Moola account and get in on the fun!

Now that I’ve made my shameless plug, I guess it’s time to wrap this post up.

Social networking can be a great assest to businesses (large or small) as well as the individual online entrepreneur looking to promote his/her program. If you fit into one of these categories, you NEED to capitalize on the marketing advantages that social networking platforms present and you can. It’s really not that hard. Put the KISS principle into action and continue to seek the knowledge of others that have social ketworking expertise. Listen, and I mean really listen, to their advice and the money will follow.