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.
Under salary vs. contracting, you left out having to add on for health insurance, which is a huge cost for most people, unless they get it through their spouse.
Yes that’s true – benefits such insurance, 401k etc are quite important. I’ll add them.
Thanks Joe!
Hey Connie, thats very generous of you to be open with such information :) Positions such as web strategist, community manager are terms which are quite alien in this part of the world.
Although I suspect a very popular community site like Stomp.com.sg will probably have someone who handles that role in some degree.
I did a search on Jobstreet.com.sg, simply pouring through terms “web strategist” (0 results), “community” (0 results) and web (400+ not quite relevant positions).
In general, I notice rates are about 20% – 30% lower than in North America – lower taxations, lower costs of living(debatable) etc.
Hey David,
I was glad to help. The info has helped my sister & I. For searching try e-commerce.
And in terms of contracting, my accountant said I needed to pay in 45% to cover state & federal taxes as well as FICA. ouch! Now imagine if I needed to pay for insurance benefits too?!
Although we live in Minnesota & our tax rate is one of the highest in the nation.
Hey Connie, thanks for sharing. I recently found myself in the same predicament and after some researching and triangulating, I came up with similar results.
Thanks Andy for confirming. Yes, there are some numbers out there, but asking people is helpful too.
[…] question is asked often – What is the average salary? Last September I tackled it & posted some numbers. But it’s like trying to nail down measurement of social media – it’s quite […]
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