Comments on: Online Community Manager: What Does It Take to be Successful?

By: Tracy Hodges

Tracy Hodges — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 02:22:56 +0000

do u know of any company that might take a intern to the community manager position. I would like to try to build a community that gives help and support for cancer patients, doctors and caregivers worldwide. When someone is dealing with a new cancer diagnosis the last thing they need is to have to surf the web and get false info.

Sincerely,

Tracy Hodges

By: Have You Thanked a Community Manager Today?

Have You Thanked a Community Manager Today? — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:06:30 +0000

[...] management last year, about online community manager jobs; what community managers actually do; what skills are required to be successful in the role; and the dark side of community [...]

By: Ivan

Ivan — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:32:57 +0000

Hi,

Thanx for the article it really gave me something to think over. Hope to read more hints about this type of job.

By: About Online Community Jobs « Community Resources Blog

About Online Community Jobs « Community Resources Blog — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:25:14 +0000

[...] Online Community Manager: What Does It Take to be Successful? [...]

By: About Online Community Manager Jobs

About Online Community Manager Jobs — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 20:14:30 +0000

[...] Online Community Manager: What Does It Take to be Successful? [...]

By: Steph

Steph — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 19:13:00 +0000

Great article! I’d add a thick skin to the list–you’re the easy target for people to lash out at, and being able to let that go at the end of day is the key to staying sane. Or at least laugh about. (I’m seriously considering getting tee shirts printed up that say “Master of the Grand Conspiracy” or possibly just “CENSOR.”)

By: Terry

Terry — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 15:30:57 +0000

Dawn, great article!

–but Colson,

ROI? I guess it depends on the purpose of the community you host. Is it a product itself, or is it a complimentary service produced as a kind of brand outreach? In the latter case, providers are better off measuring impact and success by other means, whether audience size, buzz or even something even more intangible. And if you ask your PR department, that's probably just fine.

By: businessgolf

businessgolf — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 13:40:33 +0000

I got a lot out of this series. Thanks, I will apply some of this to what I am doing with my social/business network

By: Dawn Foster

Dawn Foster — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 01:19:46 +0000

Guy – great point, I should have mentioned RSS & monitoring. It is so important to be able to find what people are saying about you, your company, and your products when they aren’t being said in your community!

Robert – excellent point on the dark side of community management. Our new editor Simon thinks I should devote a whole post to it next week :)

By: Colson

Colson — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 22:35:57 +0000

The one thing I feel being ignored in this conversation is ROI. Any additional staffing is overhead and needs to be justified. A good business sense and deep understanding of your operational goals will allow you to build brand equity and insert yourself into conversations that may drive a sale or at least an inquiry.

By: Robert S. Robbins

Robert S. Robbins — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 21:30:41 +0000

You seem to be ignoring the dark side of the profession. I’ve seen a lot of challenging issues come up in the online communities I participate in. For example: you’ll have to deal with trolls and other disruptive individuals, you’ll have to deal with copyright issues when content providers put up material they don’t own the rights to, and you’ll have to deal with security when women attract stalkers and kids are being preyed upon. YouTube started out as a video sharing site and then became a social networking site but they failed miserably when it came to managing that aspect of the business.

By: ryanjlewis

ryanjlewis — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 19:56:11 +0000

Great Posting! The only thing I would add could be someone with a Chamillion personality and a strong sense of social norms. Managers have to adjust to conversations and situations, so a good people person is a must.

Thanks for the post!

By: Guy Martin

Guy Martin — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 19:00:31 +0000

Hey Dawn,

I agree with your bullet points - I'd classify most of the information ones under something I've been teasing around in my mind called 'information synthesis and distribution'.

As a community manager, you need the personal networking contacts, ability to process information from those contacts and other sources (RSS feeds, etc.), and the ability to bring all of that together with your own expertise & experiences to best serve your community.

Keep up the interesting posts here - good stuff!