Online Community Management For Dummies®

Chapter 18

Ten Must-Have Skills for Community Managers

In This Chapter

• Using words to attract community
• Interacting with present and potential community members
• Focusing on individual tasks
• Helping develop products and services

People who aren't familiar with all the roles of an online community manager are surprised to find out that community managers do much more than hang out on Twitter all day. Also, aspiring community managers who see only the public side of the job are often surprised at all the different roles of a community manager. Make no mistake; this job requires skill in many different areas.

In this chapter, you discover ten vital skills a successful community manager must have.

People Skills

Because community management is a public job and because you have to deal with people on a daily basis, being a community manager requires skills far beyond that of a general education. Some of the skills are learned, and some of the skills are innate, but all are necessary.

Not everyone has what it takes to be a community manager, not only because of the many tasks and duties a community manager has to handle, but also because of the skillset. It takes a special person to run a community.

The ability to deal with people is a skill that many people don't have. It's not easy to treat all people the same way whether you agree with them or not, and it's certainly not easy to keep a pleasant, even tone with people who are making you so angry that you want to tear your hair out. ...