10 Ways to Create Content Through Curation

As marketers are becoming publishers, the ongoing need for content is becoming more and more prevalent. Not only is there a need for more content, it has to be of value to your target reader. Talk about pressure!

But some good news here – not all content has to be original. You can organize other’s content in a way that adds value to your readers. And it’s a win-win for those who create the original content too.

I enjoyed today’s webinar by Curata entitled Feeding the Content Beast. Great info from Pawan Deshpande (@TweetsFromPawan) and Rick Burnes (@rickburnes)!

If you were not able to attend, fear not – in true content curation fashion, I tweeted it it for you. Here are my notes in 140 characters or less snippets:

First, What is Content Curation and why is it smart?

• So many channels, so little time to generate quality content!
• How often should you create new content? How often DO you? Over 43% at least once/day!
• Why is content important? It’s the first step in attracting visitors to your website, then to leads, then sales.
• Inbound marketing centers around valuable content.
• Companies that blog rank higher in search engines, have more indexed pages, and lots more website visitors. Yea!
• The marketer is becoming the publisher. It’s become expected. Whether blogs, podcasts, videos, etc.
• Use an editorial calendar for content marketing!
• The content beast has a high metabolism (good one!)
• What keeps you from generating content? Time is a key culprit! Being disciplined can help.
• Blogging more than once per week makes a big difference in customer acquisition. Weekly is the MINIMUM!
• Content Curation = find, groups, organizes and share the best and most relevant content on a specific topic online.
• Organizing content adds value.
• Benefits of content curation: increased traffic/subscribers at a lower cost.

As promised – 10 tips to feed the content beast!

1. Get into the content mindset. Look for the opportunities!
2. Tweetable Facts! Build a blog post of tweetable facts with links to tweet.
3. Don’t try to be Hemmingway. Be realistic. Aim for being useful to your target audience. It’s not art!
4. Conduct a poll or survey. It’s a two-fer content trick – ask for info, then post the results. Smart!
5. Share the load. One person can’t do it all – enlist others to pitch in. Appeal to blogger’s competitive nature. 😉
6. Create a guest blog post. Goes both ways. It’s a win-win content/link. Love SEO!
7. Reuse your best old content. Chances are, readers didn’t see your best content the first time.
8. Conduct an Interview. Can be done via email – great way to get a fresh perspective, and SEO win/win.
9. Test your Content. Compare the content you’re producing and don’t assume.
10. Create an Infographic. And not just the cool kids are doing it. Long and far reach, make it embed-able.

While these are great ideas, you’ll have a better shot at getting them implemented if you take the time to plan out your content. Check out this post on How To Build An Editorial Calendar in 3 Simple Steps!

One final note, when sharing other’s content, be ethical. Share a title, snippet and thumbnail and refer reader to original publication. For more information about content curation, visit www.GetCurata.com!

Happy Blogging!