Not as boring as you probably think Content curation

Content creation The solution to every problem. Right?

Theres just one problem with that (insert picture of overwhelmed person)

Content curation Your solution to the content creation problem

What is content curation? The process of sorting through the vast amounts of content on the web and presenting it in a meaningful and organized way around a specific theme. Beth Kanter, @kanter

Curation Aggregation A content curator cherry picks the best content that is important and relevant to share with their community -- Beth Kanter

Think playlist Content curation is like creating a music playlist the job of content curator is highly personal and individualistic Nancy Pekala, @nancypekal a

The granddaddy of them all Buzzfeed http://pando.com/2012/09/20/here-are-the-13- most-viewed-buzzfeed-posts-ever-and-its-13- best-reported-posts-too/

Why is that useful? We are living in an era of content abundance Beth Kanter Helps you keep up with the rapid flow of information Donna Papacosta @DonnaPapacosta attention has become so scare as to become as valuable as currency Robin Good, @RobinGood its like drinking from a fire hose

What to do And how to do it

Step 1: strategy

Planning What do you or your company want to accomplish? What does your audience want or need? Focus your content area and select platforms

Curation contributes to content marketing objectives Sets you/your company up as THE source for information about a niche area Builds personal/brand awareness, gets you noticed by influencers Attracts social links that influence SEO Keeps people engaged with you/your brand Lee Odden, @leeodden

Focus If youre throwing content at your followers and friends on such a broad array of topics that it comes off as a jumbled mess, theyll flee. Becky Gaylord

Step 2: find great content

What is great content? Evergreens they dont change rapidly and can be planned in advance Tutorials Resource lists FAQS Images Adam Vincenzini, @AdamVinc enzini Industry news Expert tips and how- to/advice Presentations Case studies Book reviews Photographs, videos Infographics Podcasts and webinars Donna Papacosta

Where to find great content Subscribe to blogs and newsletters Check traditional media daily Use Twitter lists Read LinkedIn Today Set up and save relevant Twitter searches Subscribe to Twitter lists Donna Papacosta

Other places to find content Links people share with you on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Slideshare, other social sites StumbleUpon, Reddit, Digg social sharing sites Real-time search (like Social Mention) Competitor sites News release distribution sites like PRNewswire or MarketwireReview

Tools to try Newsle Feedly Factiva PostPost PearlTrees Flipboard Scoop.it Paper.li Postplanner(Facebook)

Step 3: organize

Sorting through it all @cshirky (filter failure quote here)

Start with social bookmarking

Be discerning Curate content that is of impeccable quality [it] is a differentiator as a curator. Jay Baer, @jaybaer The object is not to find as much information as possible and dump it on people, it is to find the best of relevant content and to be discerning. Donna Papacosta

SEO reasons to be discerning http://youtu.be/o7sfUDr3w8I

Step 4:

4 strategies to add value when curating Summarizing Quoting Storyboarding Weaving together multiple pieces of content Parallelizing Taking content that seems unrelated to the topical focus and making comparisons to draw them together PawanDeshpande,@ TweetsfromPawan

Keeping it ethical Draw from many sources Always include the link to the original source Quote sparingly If reproducing some of the content: Use a thumbnail, not the original photo/art Copy only part of the text Add your own thoughts, opinions or ideas PawanDeshpande

Tools for sharing Twitter Tweet links Paper.li

Tools for sharing Scoop.it Makes sharing a game Leaderboard Comparison MyCommunity: suggestions of people to compare (compete) with Silver and gold Level Up badges

Tools for sharing Blogs, including Tumblr

Tools for sharing Storify https://storify.com/KarenRussell/red-and-black-or- red-and-dead

Still more tools for sharing Curata Scribit Compendium

Tips Include share it buttons on your sites Always make sure the link is included (especially Pinterest) It takes time and a consistent presence Eventually people will learn to count on the quality of the content you share

Example: CMO.com Run by Adobe For chief marketing officers

Example: Counterparties Reuters: finance news and commentary

A personal example

Adding curation to the mix You cant win with *just* curation

Content curation doesnt stand alone Created Contributed Curated Sites like The Huffington Post embrace the three-legged-stool philosophy of creating some content, inviting visitors to contribute some content, and gathering links and articles from the web. Steve Rosenbaum, @magnify

The 70/30 Rule Your content should be 70% of curated, 30% branded . Todd Defren, @tdefren

How often to share? Source: Heidi Cohen, @heidicohen

Content curation is king graphic