I'm a content junkie, I guess. If you've been following me for any length of time, you've probably figured out that I'm a huge fan of using content to build your career services business. Whether that's using content to attract media attention ("Feed the Media" special report and teleseminar), or blogging ("Resume Writer's Guide to Blogging for Profit and Promotion" special report), or using content in many other ways ("Using Content to Capture New Career Clients" teleseminar, "Resume Writer's Guide to Article Marketing" special report, "Resume Writer's Guide to Profiting From Speaking: How to Use Teleseminars, Webinars, Workshops and Seminars To Attract New Clients and Generate Revenue" special report, and "Capture Clients With Content: Use Information to Attract Resume Clients" special report), one of the most powerful tools we have as resume writers is the knowledge we possess about the job search process and how to help jobseekers be more successful in their job search efforts.
But what if you don't want to generate original content? What if you want to instead focus on sharing best practices and targeted information? Then content curation might be exactly what you should focus on.
Content curation means pulling together content from various sources and presenting it to the reader in your own unique way. It may be easier to understand content curation by defining what it is not. Content curation doesn't mean presenting a list of stories or a weekly roundup of links. It's definitely not a simple cut-and-paste job where you just point to content that's out there.
Instead, the idea is to take the information available and make sense of it for your readers. It starts with carefully sifting through all that's out there and selecting the best items that would interest your readers. You then put this content together into an easy-to-digest format that tells a story, making it relevant, valuable and memorable.
Why Curate Content?
The content is already out there for your readers to enjoy, so why put it together for them? This is the key to good content curation — it's not just a pile of information. We're inundated by a deluge of information every minute of every day. The Internet is wonderful because of this, but it also can be overwhelming. Everyone has to sift through all that's out there to find what they're truly interested in reading. A good content curator does this for you, and builds a following of loyal readers as a result.
How Content Curation Helps You
Like the content you write yourself, the content you curate can help you establish authority and create a connection with your readers.
Think of it from the reader's point of view. Your blog or website is a source of the exact information they want on a regular basis. It saves them from having to do their own sifting online. Over time, they come to see you as a go-to source for their information. They see you as a knowledgeable expert in the career services field.
If your content is relevant and helpful to your readers, they'll keep coming back for more. It doesn't matter to them whether you're the actual content creator or not.
Curating content should be taken just as seriously as creating your own content from scratch, but one of the advantages of this approach is that it is easier and more cost effective than writing your own content or hiring a writer. It's just a matter of understanding your readers well and choosing the right content.
Check out: Best Practices for Content Curation
