Forget this idea that business and personal life are separate, at least if you want to find true success in social networking. What is becoming increasingly clear is that the lines between our business and personal lives are blurring (when social networking in particular), like it or not.

The most common questions I get about social networking, the most frequent dilemmas I hear about, and the most prominent social media mistakes I see are all tied to someone (or a company) with a resistance to these worlds colliding.

People get on Facebook, and they get confused about whether they should friend old high school buddies or business associates. They sign up for Twitter to promote a business, then use their company logo as their avatar and wonder why they get no followers.

Here’s the thing. Even if you want the worlds separate, there is no 100 percent guarantee. You should proceed with the assumption that everyone can see and read everything you do on social networks. Period. Use appropriate caution in what you say and post.

So, once you move past that, just think about it all in real world terms. You don’t go to business meetings and refuse to mention you have a wife or kids. Most of us don’t visit family and zip your lips about what you do for a living. Social networking isn’t much different than real-life networking. It’s no secret, either. Entrepreneurs back in the 1950s knew customers like the personal touch.

Think of some of today’s biggest movers and shakers in the social web, such as Guy Kawasaki, Liz Strauss and Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh. There is one common characteristic. They engage people on a personal level, and they are people first and foremost.

So here is a checklist of five key points to be sure you have made your peace with those business and personal worlds colliding:

1. Have a face - If you are socializing, you do that as a person. You can represent a company, but you are a person first. No one wants to talk to a logo.
2. Talk about your personal life - No, you don’t need to tweet every moment of angst and embarassment, but small hints that you are human are a nice touch.
3. Mingle first - If you join a social network, take some time to feel it out. Don’t just jump in and start bugging people to Digg your site.
4. Ge a giver - Don’t just be there to self-promote or, frankly, it will backfire. Whatever social network you use, be sure you enter it first contributing to the community, not taking. Ask how you can help your followers or friends.
5. Enjoy the colliding worlds - You will probably discover you have business associates who share much in common with you personally, and old high school buddies who would make wonderful customers or clients. Because, you know, people do work and customers are people. Plus, like-minded people tend to have similar interests.

Social networking illustration © Rodolfo Clix.

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