I was lucky enough to read and review Deborah’s Ng’s book Online Community Management for Dummies. This book is a great go-to resource for both aspiring and practicing community managers and it’s earned a spot on my office bookshelf.
Deborah nails it and I recommend this book for a few reasons:
It’s comprehensive
Deborah covers the fundamentals and then some. I appreciate that she includes such topics as:
- a common sense approach to reaching out and partnering with bloggers;
- no nonsense advice on how to *not* be a spammer when you’re cruising the web building awareness for your community; and
- encouraging collaboration with competitors as a win-win strategy for building brand awareness and accessing new audiences.
It’s easy to digest
We’ve all been primed on writing for the web: use headlines and bullets to create easy to digest content. This book is written in a similar style. The information is easy to skim and you can dig into the parts that are most relevant for you. It’s a book you can pick up and flip through to find exactly what you need.
It’s friendly
Deborah does a great job of sharing her information with a friendly and feel-good attitude. Her tone is that of a good friend who wants you to succeed;
a helpful boost of confidence as you navigate the world of community management.
It’s based in real experience
Deborah’s the community manager over at Blog World. It’s obvious that this is not a speculative piece of advice, but rather good solid information from an experienced and successful practitioner.
A One-Stop Resource
I’ve read a hundreds of articles that touch on various truths and great advice for community managers. And yes, I’ve bookmarked them, but they are still just that — fragmented information spread out across the web. There’s something about having a one-stop resource that helps me feel grounded in this work. There are a ton of great tips and best practices packed into this book.
This is a great book for people who:
- have “found” themselves in a community role
- are taking the Community Management Training
- are interested in community management as a profession
- are experienced community managers who appreciate being reminded of various strategies and techniques
On a final note, while many examples in the book focus on external facing B2C communities, the strategies and techniques easily translate to any community. For example, with a little creativity you can adapt ideas and suggestions and make them appropriate for a non-profit or an internal employee community.
I asked Deborah on Twitter who she wrote this book for and she responded: “It’s for anyone who is interested in creating positive, productive, online communities.”
I recommend this book and give my sincere thanks to Deborah for putting together such a valuable resource.
————————————————————————————————————-
The Community Roundtable is committed to advancing the business of community and being a valued resource to community management and social media professionals through our monthly subscription report, membership based peer network, community management training program and customizable advisory services for corporations and individuals.
