Our friends at ReadWriteWeb have released the “RWW Guide to Online Community Management,” a research report that guides you though the tricky issues that can crop up during community management. I thought I knew everything, but this report opened my eyes. It is chock-full of lessons and worth every penny of its $299 cost. You can sample the report by downloading this PDF file. Half the report is delivered in a PDF, while the other half is online and is called the “RWW Community Management Aggregator.” (Screenshot below the fold.)
“RWW Community Management Aggregator.” link is not of much value without the required password.
Michael, there’s a screenshot of the Aggregator at http://www.readwriteweb.com/reports/
What that part of the guide includes is the “most discussed” 4 or 5 blog posts each day from the 30-plus sources we cited in the original report, along with recent “greatest hits,” a search engine to search all those expert blog archives and links to all the topic experts we cited on Twitter. So it’s a dynamic collection of resources. I edited both parts of the guide and would be happy to answer any other questions you have.
Thanks Om, that’s an awesome review of the Guide. We worked real hard on it and glad it had so much to offer even someone with as much experience online as yourself!
Look: if I’m going to shell out $299, I want to know that these guys (who wrote, interviewed, etc) for the report made more money than me. It’s that simple.
I’ve sold companies, I’ve built a community of nearly five million visitors per month…no venture capital involved, been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, had my company mentioned in the NY Times, etc, etc.
*However* I can’t tell if the guys that this report is based on have a clue, did more than me, or need to STFU and let real business people do the talking.
So…how do I find out if this report is BS or not?
Jeremy, I am the editor of said report, some of my personal credentials are here http://marshallk.com/feedback and I believe the report will be worth your $299. As does Om, judging from his words above. Regarding your having been mentioned in the Times and WSJ, if it makes you feel any better, ReadWriteWeb is syndicated on the Technology page of NYTimes.com daily. I wouldn’t bring that up but your question is a legitimate one.
As Lavar Burton used to say, “You don’t have to take my word for it…” you can find other peoples’ thoughts on the quality of the resources included here
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/introducing_the_readwriteweb_guide_to_online_commu.php (scroll down to “what do reviewers say)
and at
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_rww_guide_to_online_community_management_what.php
I’ll be happy to send you a list of sources for our research if you’d like to email me at marshall@readwriteweb.com (I’ll include that in future versions of the free preview section)
Finally, as for whether any of the sources or myself have *made more money than you* I cannot say whether any have individually, but I assure you that their collective wisdom represents an aggregate of wealth beyond what any of us can likely muster on our own. If you have any other questions I’ll be happy to answer them via the email above.