The Fetch Blog

Curated reads and events for professionals

Tag: community manager

Featured job: community manager, Thumbtack, San Francisco — April 11, 2014

Featured job: community manager, Thumbtack, San Francisco

/The Fetch community

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Thumbtack bridges the online and offline world, bringing new work to hundreds of thousands of small businesses and connecting customers quickly with experienced professionals.

They’re now looking for a community manager to help support those professionals in a way that has them beaming with praise and positivity.

As the community manager for Thumbtack’s 400,000+ service pros, you’ll be charged with developing and maintaining a healthy relationship between Thumbtack and their business owners and professionals. You’ll be a member of their marketing team, with a mission to amplify and encourage positive – empowering our service pros and giving them a voice.

About you

You’re outgoing, friendly and relatable with the empathy needed to connect with and influence a variety of different personalities. You’re perceptive, compassionate and enjoy interacting with people, both on and offline. You get excited by the opportunity to discover what our professionals want and want nothing more than to help them achieve it. You’re good at stepping into a community member’s shoes. And not only are you unstoppable at explaining product changes and complicated issues in simple language, but you’re just as great getting people to sing a brand’s praises.

Responsibilities

  • Develop content and communicate with service professionals – largely via email newsletters – to help them be successful on Thumbtack
  • Amplify existing positive goodwill on Thumbtack using social media. Find ways to best honor the community – sing their praises, share their stories and help them be better business owners
  • Encourage happy pros to post their experiences in online blogs and forums, while responding to those that have already been published, making writers feel heard
  • Engage with those posting positive experiences and stories via social media, including Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Secret

ThumbtackThanksgiving

Requirements

  • 2+ years experience in managing an online community, specifically using social media
  • Excellent writing skills – ability to write about complex issues clearly and simply
  • Great, positive attitude, even when confronted with negative sentiment. You need to be able to take community criticism in stride and find ways to focus attention on productive and positive tasks (and it’s up to you to decide what these are). This means patience and a sense of humor go a long way!
  • Ability to work independently without a lot of support
  • A passion for small businesses and the Thumbtack mission

Bonus points

  • Knowledge and understanding of social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Google+, YouTube) and how to use them most effectively.
  • Experience managing evolving communities at a startup internet company
  • General marketing and creative know-how

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If interested, please apply here: http://grnh.se/34fmn2

7 reasons why you should focus on building a community around your startup — January 21, 2014

7 reasons why you should focus on building a community around your startup

/The Fetch community

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A community comes in many forms. It’s greatest form, some might say, is a movement. David Spinks elaborates…

I know, it’s a bold request to ask a startup to focus on anything other than their product and growth.

I know, because I’m a startup founder myself.

Time is our most limited resource and that you have to say no to a lot of things in order to maintain your focus, and sanity.

So why am I writing a post telling you to focus on community? Because I’ve seen first hand, and in the example of many other startups, the power that community can wield even at the earliest stages of your growth.

Lyft, Airbnb, Eventbrite, Lift, Foursquare, Soundcloud, Skillshare, Udemy, Github, Binpress, Yammer, Hootsuite, Buffer… I could rattle off startups all day who have invested a great deal of time and resources into building community. Social products, B2B, B2C, technical products, toys, fitness, non profits… name the kind of company and I can name several companies building a strong community around their brand and products.

Why is that? With all the things a startup has to figure out, why do they focus on community?

7. Create highly engaged evangelists

The simplest and most valuable thing you’ll get from a community is highly engaged customers or users.

When done right, your community creates a sense of belonging. Members feel like they’re part of something important and they’re proud, they feel special. Their experience with your brand then becomes so much more than just products and features. They develop strong emotions around your brand. They build relationships with other members.

My mentor Aki Sano once said something along the lines of “You’ll know you have a great business when you can find just one person who’s absolutely in love with your product”.

I’ve seen first hand how building a strong community can create an environment where your members do in fact fall in love with your brand.

This high engagement leads to the rest of the benefits…

6. Stay close to your customers

Perhaps the most important value is that you get to stay very close to your customers.

Your community = your customers.

By creating a community where your users/customers can interact, converse, share and help each other, it gives you an opportunity to be a fly on the wall and learn more about who they are.

There are things you’ll learn from watching them talk to each other that you’ll never see in a survey.

And when you have a highly engaged community, you have a pool of customers that you can call on individually to give feedback, test features, hop on a call or whatever else you need to do to learn more about their experience.

5. Support network for reviews and rebuttals

For many companies, getting good reviews early on can make your product. Your community will jump at the opportunity to support you and show you some love.

They’ll also be a great resource for testimonials. When we needed some more customer quotes for our homepage, it was as simple as posting in the community and asking for volunteers.

At the same time, there’s a good chance if you’re building up some steam that there will be trolls out there to pull you down. Your community can be the people who stand up to defend you and call out their bullshit.

4. Build the foundation for a movement

A community comes in many forms. It’s greatest form, some might say, is a movement.

You’re an entrepreneur, which probably means you’ve set your sights on a real big vision. You’re not looking to just make a quick buck. You’re in it to change the world.

Well, community is what can help you get there. All of the massive companies you know today started with a small, loyal community. That first community serves as the foundation for growth for years to come. Look at Facebook, Instagram, Ebay, Pinterest, Craigslist, Couchsurfing, Meetup, Yelp… I can go on. They all started with a small, loyal community that developed into a larger movement.

3. Improve your customers’ experience

Humans need community. It’s helped us evolve and survive since the beginning of our time. It touches on a basic human need.

So when we have the chance to become part of a community and feel that sense of belonging, we’re happy. That means that community can serve as an added bonus for your product. Not only do your customers get access to your features, they get access to a support group, a network of peers.

Most products become better when people don’t feel like they’re alone in the game.

2. Defensibility

Anyone might be able to copy your product, your brand, your design and even your voice. But there’s one thing no other company will ever be able to copy and that’s your community.

There’s no faking community. A true community is built on relationships that can only be formed through genuine interactions and a dynamic of trust and respect. This dynamic can take a long time to develop.

Your community members are loyal, and they’ve invested time into building a reputation amongst the group of peers that you’ve brought together. It will take a lot for another company to take that away from you.

1. Make more money

In the end, it’s just a good business strategy. Your community members, being more loyal and engaged, are more likely to come back and buy again.

Make people happy. That’s what it’s all about. If you can do that, with your product and potentially with a community, you’re on your way.

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Now I’m not saying every startup should blindly jump into building a community now. It’s important to understand why you need a community. It’s important to tie it back to your goals and make sure it’s in line with everything else you’re working on.

So take a look at what it is you’re really hoping to accomplish and then think about how a community might be able to help you achieve those goals.

Not sure where to get started?

If you want to become more efficient at building community for your startup, and understand how community dynamics work, come join us at CMX Summit on Feb 6 in San Francisco. (Use promo code ‘thefetch25’ for 25% off.)

We’re bringing together some of the world’s leading minds with completely unique perspectives on how to build communities. Or if you’re looking to hire a community manager, you’re guaranteed to meet the industry’s best at CMX.

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About our contributor // David Spinks is the CEO of TheCommunityManager.com and LetsFeast.com. Lifelong student, community builder and writer. Follow him on Twitter via @DavidSpinks.

Image credit: California Pass

15 places to find a startup job in London — July 20, 2013

15 places to find a startup job in London

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Breaking into the London startup scene and getting your first job can be hard – especially if you are moving from a corporate role or you’re a recent university graduate.

Although, there are no shortage of networking events happening around Silicon Roundabout, we wanted to put together a comprehensive list of job boards specifically listing startup tech roles.

For the larger tech companies, Linkedin is a great resource – especially for getting those important introductions – however the sites below are also a great place to start.

So without further ado, and in no particular order, here are my Top 15 Startup Job Boards for London roles:

1. Google Campus London is a great place to start looking for fresh startup roles and tech and dev jobs.

2. 3beards Jobs Board is the one stop shop for all tech related jobs going in Tech City at the moment.

3. Work in Startups lists startup roles including technical, marketing, intern and co-founder listings.

4. EscTheCity is a website for those who want to escape the corporate rat race and explore all types of opportunities such as working for a startup, volunteer work and anything else in between.

5. Tech City Jobs is powered by TechHub and JobsPage. Regular listings for dev & tech jobs around Silicon Roundabout.

6. Built in London comes from the team at Steer, who have put together all jobs available at startups based in London.

7. Mind The Product includes exclusive listings for product management roles.

8. Hacker Jobs UK lists only technical and development roles.

9. Upstart Jobs posts all types of startup roles from developers, marketing and sales vacancies.

10. UK Startup Jobs has a variety of listings from technical roles, to sales and biz dev to marketing roles.

11. JobPage is a crowd sourced job network and feature listings for all types of roles from sales assistants, to managers and account executives at an agency. But since they are startup themselves check back here for any related tech and startup roles.

12. Mars Jobs was born in Berlin, but has recently started to list startup jobs based in London.

13. Online Community Manager Jobs is the place to look for social media and community management roles.

14. Chinwag Jobs Board is a great resource for all digital, social media, web design, ecommerce, UX and technical roles.

15. Gorkana lists online journalism, social media and editorial and PR jobs.

16. Somewhere Hq London added by @Josef 

17. F6s Jobs added by @ParallelBrains

18. Careers 2.0 UK added by @ParallelBrains

19. Dreakstake added by @carlosdajackal

20. Foundee added by @carlosdajackal

21. Enternships added by @NatashaHodgson @isoworg

Which sites do you use to look for startup jobs? Please add your suggestions in the comments section below or tweet us @thefetchLDN and we’ll add to it.

And don’t forget to sign-up to The Fetch to get the above curated into one weekly email digest.

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About our contributor // Chloe Nicholls is the editor and chief content strategist at PublicBeta, video producer at Newspepper.com and the curator of The Fetch London.

Image Credit: Helena Carrington

Interview: London Local, Alex Shebar of Yelp — May 16, 2013

Interview: London Local, Alex Shebar of Yelp

/Eliza

This week Eliza interviews self-proclaimed king of all trades and Yelp’s Senior London Community Manager, Alex Shebar. Follow Alex on Twitter via @alexshebar.

Alex Shebar
Alex Shebar

You’re currently working as Yelp’s Senior London Community Manager. What part of your job requires the most creativity?

You’re going to scoff at me when I say this but it’s keeping London from not being boring. What? London? Boring? Never? Yes! It can be, when you go to the same restaurant or the same bar or the same event week in and week out. There’s so much to do in this city that a lot of times, people start to take it for granted. They begin to go to where they already know over and over. I throw a ton of events that show off amazing hidden gems, new food, crafted cocktails and things people have never seen before. I’m showing off new spots to my entire community, even to those who have lived here all their life. Finding ways to get people out of a rut and routine, that’s what requires more creativity.

Also, it takes some serious creativity on how not to get fat eating and drinking with the yelpers all the time. I’m not sure I’ve figured that part of the job out yet.

As a U.S. transplant and former Yelp Cincinnati CM, what surprised you the most about the event scene in London?

London is insane when it comes to events, and I mean that with love. You can literally be out every night of the week and not see the same thing twice. Hell, you can be out every night of the year and still not see the same thing twice. Also, I’m always shocked how early places close here compared with the US. Most bars shut up shop about 11pm/midnight. In the states, that’s when you’re just getting started, here it’s when they’re sending you to bed.

Having worked with multiple Yelp communities, what do think is the secret to creating a great offline community?

Honestly, the secret to a great offline community isn’t anything people don’t normally do in their daily life. Find fun people and put together fun things they want to do.

People may say they’re too tired to go out or it’s hard to meet new people, but if you can give them an event or a reason that sounds like something they just can’t miss, they’ll step out of their comfort zone, move away from the computer and actually be part of the community in real life. It’s all about authenticity and creativity.

Do you perceive a difference between the attitude towards online community in the U.S. versus the U.K?

When I moved to London, everyone I knew went, “Oh, everything is going to be so different.” Honestly, not so much. It’s like that scene in Pulp Fiction where it’s the little differences that get you (like Where’s Waldo being called Where’s Wally here. What?) But overall, no, a community of people who are interested in great local spots are the same from country to country. In England, people may be a little more hesitant to come out to events without knowing other people there first, but even that is small.

Word on the street is that Yelp found you through Twitter. Would you share the story behind that?

True! I was doing a major year-long project called Watch This where we were screening the American Film Institute’s Top 100 movies in a year, two movies a week. The project basically started in the living room and basements of friends’ houses where we would watch the films and invite anyone to join. It grew larger and then businesses started coming to me asking if they could show them. Eventually we were doing screenings for hundreds of people. At the same time, Yelp was looking for it’s first community manager in Cincinnati, Ohio.

They found me on Twitter, we got talking, they encouraged me to apply. That’s how it all began. So don’t ever let people tell you Twitter is a waste of time. Have them come talk to me.

Your career started off in writing and communication. What advice would you give to aspiring members of the tech community who struggle with writing?

Good question. It would have to be the same advice I was given when I was a journalist writing about complicated issues. Start by thinking about how you’d explain it to a child. Write that out. At this point, you’ll have the basics of whatever you’re talking about. Now you can spruce it up and make it sound a little better and submit something worth reading. Really though, people struggle the most with writing at the beginning because they don’t know where to start. Start there.

If you could only watch one film for the rest of your life, what would it be? 

Tough question! Probably O’ Brother Where Art Thou. I still can’t say why I love that film so much (besides the great story and fantastic music) but it’s just damn good.

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About our contributor // Eliza Dropkin is a lover of live music, good food, and beautiful places. Connect with her on Twitter via @elizadropkin.

Interview: Sydney local, Jenna Price — March 11, 2013

Interview: Sydney local, Jenna Price

/The Fetch community

This week Community Ambassador Lisa Fox interviews Jenna Price from Destroy the Joint. 

jenna-price

For those that are not familiar with Destroy the Joint could you please explain what it is?

Destroy the Joint (DtJ) is an online community which began on Facebook and it aims to bring sexism and misogyny to public attention and then to stop them. Our community uses a variety of tools, from email campaigns, to boycotts, to Facebook posts, to phone calls, to change the way women are treated in Australia.

How did you become involved and what is your role?

I became involved because I clicked on a Facebook invitation! Seriously though, I got involved because it is devastating to think women are still judged on their gender or their appearance – and even worse, treated differently because they are women. Women are paid less in all kinds of jobs, from unskilled to professional; get fewer job opportunities, struggle to get promoted; aren’t on corporate boards; the list is a long one. I’m one of eight admins who organise the page ( along with Sally McManus, Emily Mayo, El Gibbs, Amanda Mack, Jill Tomlinson, Wendy French and Jennie Hill), 40 moderators who keep the conversation civil; and now we are joined by 25000 Destroyers. I love that so much.

Destroy the Joint

You were a journalist for a number of years and are now a journalism lecturer at UTS, how is social media reinventing journalism?

Journalism continues – we just do it differently. It thrills me to read my students liveblogging a courtcase or tweeting an AFL match. I like to think that the speed and sheer inventiveness of social media inspires everyone but I see that some of my journalistic colleagues get a bit anxious about it. The biggest worry I hear is that they will make mistakes. But there have been mistakes in the media for as long as media has existed – the message here is if you are going twice as fast, you need to be twice as careful. That’s the newest skill – the need to be hypervigilant at breakneck speed.

What is your favourite example of innovative journalism?

Good journalism always tells us something new – and the basic skills are the same as they have ever been. Be accurate, be quick, tell the audience something it doesn’t know. I love Media Storm and ProPublica, I love the liveblogs on the Guardian website – but I also really love the way the Destroy the Joint community crowdsources sexism, researches sexism and reports on sexism. It’s advocacy journalism and I think that’s really innovative.

What does 2013 hold for Destroy the Joint? Are there any specific campaigns or events you would like to share?

So much, so many. We are keen to shine a light on how candidates for the Federal election measure up to what Destroyers want – and that would include the position on reproductive rights. We are in talks with Telstra on provisions for victims of domestic violence who seek silent numbers at no cost. Getting rid of the tax on tampons. Closing the pay gap. We could be here all century. And we will be, fighting all the way.

Editor notes:

  • A big congratulations to Destroy the Joint on taking out the Agenda Setter category of the NAB Women’s Agenda Awards last Friday.
  • On 26 February 2013, a Telstra spokesman was reported as saying Telstra is reviewing its policy on charging the monthly $2.90 silent-line fee for customers who were the victims of domestic violence. It will currently waive the fee in some circumstances. 

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About our Ambassador // Lisa Fox is a recovering a Government Lawyer and the Cofounder and Director of the peer-to-peer rental site, Open Shed.  Lisa is passionate about spreading the word about the Australian Collaborative Consumption movement and helping Australians access what they need when they need it! Connect with Lisa via @_lisafox or @openshed.