This report is aimed at managers, decision-makers and business executives who are seeking to engage with onilne communities both on their own websites and all around the social web. This guide is invaluable by helping you get up to speed faster and making sure your employees have the foundation they need to be effective.

This report comes in two parts. Part one is a 75 page collection of case studies, advice and discussion concerning the most important issues in online community. Part two is a companion Community Management aggregator that delivers the most-discussed articles each day written by experts on community management from around the web.

A team of five ReadWriteWeb researchers worked together scouring the web for hundreds of blog posts and articles about online community management. We curated that collection down to the very best articles, then excerpted the best talking points, data points, advice and reflection on key topics. We then wove all those nuggets of wisdom into a cohesive report, mixed with our own perspectives on often controversial topics. All this means we've saved you hundreds of hours of research and created the very best reference on building online communities.

Included in the report
We start out with the basics, comprehensive answers to the fundamental questions most companies ask about online community, "Should we be on Facebook?", "Should we have a blog?" etc. Then we deep dive into four key areas: Return on Investment, Job Description, the Marketing/Customer Service Balance and Dealing With Challenging Community Members. Each of those sections begins with a summary of highlights and one link that we recommend checking out if you read nothing else.

Following this is four extended interviews with successful community managers from four different kinds of companies: one from a very large traditional media organization (Mathew Ingram from Toronto's Globe and Mail), another from a large consumer tech company (Lucia Willow of Pandora Radio), a manager of various software developer communities (Dawn Foster), and a B2B service provider (Connie Bensen).

The final part of the written section of this guide is a collection of additional resources we think you'll find valuable: the podcasts that every community manager should listen to, the best Facebook group for community managers to connect through, and a list of some of the most important community management industry events to attend.

Take a sneak peek
Download a free sample section of the report.

The Online Companion
In addition to the written report, we've also assembled a collection of dynamic online resources that will keep delivering value well into the future.

Organizations that purchase the report also have access to the Community Management Aggregator. This is an automatically updated selection of the most talked-about articles being published by the sources that we cite in the first half of the report and more. If you're familiar with Techmeme.com, we think of this section as a little "Techmeme about Community Management"

If you don't want to visit this page daily, you can subscribe to the articles by email or RSS. We've also included a search box where you can search the full archive of all of these top sources we've listed. Think of this as a dynamic reference book made up of the written wisdom of top sources in the field.

Thanks for your interest and good luck with your online community work!

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