Where To Find Careers Content to Curate

This is the third post in a weeklong series on content curation. I've talked about what content curation is, and shared some best practices for content curation. But I'll bet you're wondering, "Where do I find the stuff to share?"

Where To Find Content to Curate 
The idea of content curation sounds simple enough. You find content your readers would like and share it with them, either summarizing it or just adding your opinions somewhere in the post. But where do you start? There's obviously a LOT of great content out there (and lots of NOT-SO-GREAT content too!). Once you start curating content, you'll realize that it takes a bit of focus and creativity to find really good content — content that is worth sharing.

Scheduling Your Content Search
The best way to find content is to work it into your regular routine. It's much better than spending a whole day tracking down content all at once. It's better because when you spend a little time each day, you find fresh content that's up to date. You also keep yourself from burning out searching the Internet for things to share. While you're curating content, you're also learning new things yourself — so the time you spend on content curation each day can be like a little mini "learning break" for you.

Choose a time to set aside each day. Try to find a time when you're most likely to enjoy the search. For example, first thing in the morning before you start your day, it might be fun to scan the Web looking for news. Or, you might prefer to do it at night while you're catching up on some TV.

Searching for content is also a great activity to do when you're killing time waiting for something. You might have 10 spare minutes before the kids come home, 20 minutes while waiting for a ballet lesson to finish, or a half hour while waiting on hold with tech support. These little nooks and crannies of time aren't great for serious, focused work, but you can use them to find content. You might not take the time to do the commenting at this point, but simply locating the content is going to give you a leg up when it comes time to actually curating. I recommend using Evernote to store your un-curated clips. You can start an Evernote Note for specific subjects and then copy-and-paste links into the Note for later use. (Have I mentioned how much I love Evernote?)

Resisting Shiny Object Syndrome
The Internet is full of shiny objects that can distract you and lead you astray. When you're looking for content, it's easier than ever to get distracted. You'll find something of interest to you and start reading, even though you have no intention of sharing it.

First of all, set aside your content search time and designate it for only searching. During that time, say to yourself, "I'm only looking for content to share." Every time you stop on a site and begin reading, ask yourself if it's something you might share. If it's not, save the link so that you can read it later in your spare time. (Again, this is a great use for an Evernote note called "To Read." Simply copy the link and paste it into the note, and move on!)

Search with an Open Mind
You need to stick to the task at hand, but don't get stuck in a rut. When you ask yourself whether the content in question is sharable, be open-minded. Try to see if there's a way you can tie it into your niche. Look for creative ideas from other industries. If you can do this successfully, you'll come up with unique content other resume writers wouldn't find.

For example, if you have a blog on executive career search, you may share an article on the new James Bond movie, Skyfall. You might reference how 007 works with a team to achieve outrageous objectives. If you work with students, you might share content about zombies. Why? Because this will attract their attention AND it's important to teach them about not "following the pack" when it comes to job search.

Think outside the box and don't forget that you can also share content you disagree with. This often gets the best reaction from readers.

Watch your audience's response to your content and judge whether or not it was a good find based on that response. Don't make the mistake of choosing content you like; always choose content that your readers will engage with.

Next up: Five Great Tools for Content Curation

Best Practices in Content Curation

Building on yesterday's post on content curation, today I want to share with you some "best practices" for curating content in your career services business.

As I talked about yesterday, content curation is all about providing jobseekers with the information they're looking for — and adding value to that content at the same time. It isn't difficult to do successfully, as long as you use these guidelines.

Know What Jobseekers Want
Successful content curation requires that you choose content that your readers (jobseekers) will find useful or intriguing. Start by understanding your readers and what they're looking for online, information-wise. The better you know their interests and needs, the better you'll be able to deliver the most relevant content. Some jobseekers are interested in the resume (they may have one that's not working, or they may be looking to create one for the first time); others want to know how social media can help in their job search (LinkedIn strategies especially); while others may be in the interviewing stage and be looking for ideas on questions to ask or salary negotiation techniques. Understanding what topics you can curate is the first step.

Follow Other Curators
The best way to learn any skill is to imitate those that came before. Follow other content curators and see not only what kind of information they share — but how they go about doing it. You can learn a great deal about sharing content and engaging readers by simply paying attention to the methods of the experts. Wendy Enelow does an excellent job of this for career services professionals in the Career Thought Leaders E-Bridge newsletter.

Here's a snippet from the Nov. 1 E-Bridge (Issue #20):

Choose the Right Tool
There are many good tools to help you deliver content to your readers. In fact, there are too many. Resist the temptation to bounce around among different tools. Instead, choose one that you like and that does what you need it to do, and stick with that one. You can deliver your content via email newsletter (I recommend AWeber), blog posts, via Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn (simply sharing links to content you come across), or using specific content curation tools. Pinterest can also be a great tool for curating content — especially those with strong visuals. (One great tip I heard last week was to curate videos in a YouTube channel using Pinterest. I did this a few weeks ago with "Call Me Maybe" videos on YouTube on a Pinterest board.)

Add Value
Don't just present the content "as is." Always add some extra value to it by commenting on it, giving it your own spin or opinion, or even contradicting it and creating some controversy. A blog post that starts off with, "I found this article online and I totally disagree with it," can get others commenting and giving their two cents. This is especially important when curating content and sharing it via Twitter and Facebook. Even a sentence or two can increase engagement and discussion.

Quote Articles
One important note about content curation: when you refer to an article in a blog post, don't just put a link to it. This makes your readers follow the link, which is extra work for them and also leads them off your site. Instead, include a snippet or quote so that your reader doesn't have to go anywhere to get the gist of what the article says. Then they can make an informed decision as to whether they want to read further. (Note: When using Twitter to share content, you obviously can't do this -- but it does work when using Facebook, LinkedIn, blog posts, and content curation tools.)

Mix It Up
Don't present the same type of content in your content curation efforts. Mix it up. Rather than just curating articles and blog posts, share videos, infographics, resource sites, and podcasts as well. By curating content from as many different sources as possible, you'll make the learning and reading experience more interesting both for your audience and for yourself.

Always double-check your content curation from the reader's point of view to see if it's truly providing value. Is it better to read your posts or just go straight to the source? Put yourself in their shoes and you'll understand what you need to do to add value to the content you're curating.

Next up: Where To Find Careers Content To Curate

Curating Content to Attract New Clients

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

Create an Email Marketing Course to Promote Your Resume Writing Business

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Even with the popularity of social media, email marketing remains one of the best ways to connect with prospective resume clients. The key is getting them to provide you with their email address. One way to capture email addresses of prospects is to enroll them in an email course! How do you get them to sign up for the email course? Help them solve a job search-related problem!

An email course combines email marketing with information marketing. Use an autoresponder like AWeber to set up the enrollment process (AWeber will automatically generate the code to copy-and-paste onto your website or blog to capture email addresses and it will also handle the fulfillment of the delivery of the emails to those who sign up.)

Probably the most intimidating part of this process is coming up with the content for the email course. But actually, that's not as difficult as it seems either! You can either re-purpose information you already share with your clients -- or use Pass-Along Materials.

(You can take almost any of the Pass-Along Materials and divide it into lessons. Each message can be anywhere from 150 to 1,000 words. Make sure each email message builds upon the last one while also offering a benefit. Be sure to include a call to action. For example, you may direct readers to visit your blog for more information on the topic, or you might send them to a sales page on your website where they can learn more about your services related to that topic.)

Your email course needs to scream BENEFIT to your readers. It's not as difficult as it might sound. One way to easily demonstrate the benefit is to position it in the title of the course. For example,"Five Ways to Make More Money in This Job -- Or Your Next Job" can walk them through the principles of salary negotiation.

Think about how you can provide the most value to prospective resume clients and then craft a course that solves a problem for them. Make sure the title of the course makes the benefit apparent. (One recommendation: Don't teach subscribers how to write more effective resumes or cover letters -- these types of courses are not as effective in converting prospects into clients as email courses focusing on topics that are related to other areas of the job search -- LinkedIn, salary negotiation, online reputation management, etc.)

When formatting your email course, each lesson should follow an easy-to-use format. This system ensures your readers know what to expect. It also makes it easier for you to create valuable content with less effort. Here's a template you can use or re-work to fit your needs:

• Address your reader by name and start the lesson with a short sentence that identifies the topic of the lesson. 
• Write the content of your lesson. Use bullet points, steps, or numbers to help make it easy to read.
• End the lesson with a look ahead to the next lesson. This helps motivate your reader to look forward to your emails. 
• Include a signature and a P.S. that includes a call to action. 
• Start the next lesson by briefly reviewing what they learned in the previous lesson and introducing the current lesson. 

If you currently have an email marketing system in place, consider updating it with a course. You can use it to drive traffic, build a larger list, sell more products or services, and strengthen your relationships with prospective — and even current — clients.