Interesting comparison on the difference between B2C and B2B communities from B2B expert Vanessa DiMauro who says on the community managers’ forum e-mint: “B2B online community building is less common than B2C communities and is just starting to garner attention in the media. I have been working exclusively in B2B for many years and i can say the entire strategy, process, rules and metrics are very different than b2c.” Sound interesting to you too?

Worth also checking out Vanessa’s Leader Networks White Paper (pdf) on the subject of creating professional peer-to-peer communities.

One final thought from discussion on e-mint is that for B2B community management it helps if you have some business experience to bring to bear. For example Vanessa’s presentation makes clear B2B communities benefit from simple presentation, not overloading with information. One further issue would be to discuss the pros and cons of anonymity in this B2B space, and possibly the value of profiles. One to come back to, for sure.

See below for her slideshare on this subject: