Connie Bensen

As you get to know me, you’ll find that I’m very open.. But in turn, I expect the same in return. So when I saw this question posted by a friend at the Community Manager Facebook Group I sent him a PM with the info I had gathered.

David Yeo (Singapore) wrote on Sep 28, 2007 at 11:38 PM

I’d like to find out what is a fair amount to pay for a community manager ? I reckon it varies with places and the amount of work to perform.

I researched this last summer & had some numbers for him. But then others have been wanting them, so I thought it easiest to post the info here. Please comment if you have numbers that you believe are more reflective of the marketplace.

For the web strategist position, I have seen $80 – $120 k/yr on Jeremiah Owyang’s blog. For consulting work another friend told me that the rates range from $50 – $400 /hr.

Talking about rates of pay is sticky business, I realize that. So I’ll add the factors that I think need to be taken into account:

• A Community Manager is responsible for a proportion of what a Web Strategist does. This will vary widely depending on the position.
• Location – another big factor. I’m working remotely which is of a lot of value to me, but will add costs for my periodic travel to the home office. My cost of living is lower in rural MN.
• Size of company & point of adoption – I think this affects the value they place on the position
• Salary vs contracting – If you’re contracting, you need to ask a % more to compensate for:
  • paying all of your FICA here in the US
  • health & life insurance benefits, 401k, paid vacation & sick leave, etc
  • home office costs.
• People come from different backgrounds – IT vs Marketing & experience
• Jeremiah O. has a list of these types of positions but I’ve found very few list salaries.
• These positions go by a number of names which makes it hard to research them on salary websites.

What am I forgetting? These numbers have been helpful to my sister & I. Job satisfaction rates really high for me & that’s for another post.

Yesterday’s comment on Twitter by Connie Reece relating what Geoff Livingston had said in his presentation at Blog Orlando caught my attention.

Geoff: Don’t start a campaign until you know what the community wants. Read Listen Comment

This really struck a chord with me because I am starting on this journey of engaging new communities. My sister & I have supported ACDSee products on a variety of sites, so we’ve learned some things related to this. And now I will be reaching out to segments other than digital scrapbookers that use ACDSee products.

What Geoff says is so true. Being relevant is very important! Here are the steps I suggest:

• Identify Conversations – using Google Alerts or RSS
• Read & Listen
• Consider what the Community wants
• Be relevant & engage in a transparent manner
• Follow the rules of the Community (everyone else needs to)
• Outside linking is one thing that trips me up
• if the rules are accidently violated – apologize & fix it immediately

I’ve found that the philosophies of some sites/communities aren’t aligned with mine, but I still have to respect what’s been established. 

More opportunities for information & discussion can be found here:

• Community Manager Facebook group
• Web Strategy group

Yes! I’ve been asked to speak at the Facebook Conference in Seattle on Dec 5 & 6. And you’re invited! Steve Broback, Jason Preston, & Teresa are putting together a great conference:

The goal of Web Community Forum Seattle 2007 is to discuss and propose some tentative best practices for community building for business, political campaigns, marketing, and other professional efforts using Facebook and the Facebook platform.

Jeremiah Owyang is keynoting. I will be talking about Group Management & you can read more about that here.

I’m excited about connecting in real life with these people that I’ve been networking with online. If you’re free that week, please join us. And if you’re in the Seattle area come join us for an evening meet up. In another month one of us will need to start organizing something. Three years ago I was in Seattle for an American Library Association Convention & loved the city & it’s food! ACD’s home offices are in Victoria, BC, so I will be visiting them too!

This is not a word that I practice often & if you’re here looking for some profound thoughts, you’ll need to wait. I had a couple this morning & planned on blogging about Strategic Planning, but have decided that can wait.

I had a busy first week with my new job! Lots of conference calls & I made my home office homey. My cats love the new microsuede chair & my new printer is fabulous. This weekend my sister will make my laptop talk to my 19" flat panel so I can have lots of real estate. The VPN is kind of trippy on one screen. I had 3 long conference calls & won’t be flying out to the home office until mid-October. I will share some photos of my home office in the near future.

This is the view from our rented house. Weekend is starting early here! Our 3 day retreat was planned months ago & wasn’t to be missed. Twice a year my sister & I get together with others to scrapbook & relax. We rent a large space with kitchen facilities & cook our meals together. It’s kind of like deer hunting camp only MUCH more refined. This weekend we’re at a house that sleeps 16-20 (there are 8 of us though).

I’m very excited that my best friend is joining us! She moved away over a year ago & that was such a sad time for me. I haven’t seen her since that time so it will be fun to reunite! More photos to come.    In the spring I’m planning a trip to Europe, so I’m going to practice this word ‘Vacation’ more!