So, you’ve gone through the motion of setting up a blog, writing posts on your topic and setting up a posting schedule -- what’s next?
If you’re like most of us, you’ve got hundreds of other things to work on to build your business. If you’re full-time in your endeavor, then you may have an easier time carving out a specific writing schedule as opposed to part timers who juggle a full-time job and work on their business when they can.
Finding the time to write blog posts may be somewhat difficult or next to impossible and if you’re not a writer, then creating content may be both frustrating and a continual struggle. If your business has a limited budget, then buying content to post may not be an option.
Enter the world of curated content.
Never heard of it?
Let me introduce you.
Curated content is content that comes from others who write articles for magazines, newspapers, journals, etc.
Let’s say you market upscale cooking accessories – pots and pans, bakeware, utensils, etc. You have a blog that discusses the latest and greatest in this niche and are also starting to write reviews about cookbooks. You’re having a hard time creating valuable and interesting content for your readers on a regular basis and need to seek out other options.
You subscribe to a number of cooking magazines and are always reading great articles that discuss many different facets on this topic.
You can curate an article by writing about it and commenting on it. Benefits: You’re using a credible source for your information. Until you’ve written a lot of blog posts, how confident is your audience in viewing you as a trusted expert who delivers good information that is truthful and relevant?
An article that comes from a well-known publication will create credibility for you and allow for your own commentary on the subject.
Here’s a short example on how to curate an article in a publication for your blog:
“I read an interesting piece the other day in (name of publication) on baking with silicon bakeware that was written by (author’s name). (She/he was very adamant about how much better your cookies, cakes, etc. come out when you use this type of bakeware. (author’s name) states the reasons for this: (take from article). I’d like to share with you my personal experience with this type of bakeware…………………”)
You’re utilizing a credible source of information, you’re taking excerpts from the article and using them to build your own post and you’re relating personal experience about the subject matter and also giving your own commentary on it.
By using other individual’s work, you’ve created fresh content for your blog and credibility for yourself as well.
Additionally, you’ve cited where the original article came from and you can also link to that article for still more credibility on your site.
Also, you can reference other blog posts that you’ve written that relate to the subject matter so readers begin to view you as a trusted source as your own material aligns with more well known credible sources.
Engage your audience into helping you locate good content that you can curate for your blog by asking them to share articles that they’ve read, etc. This is also a way to create comments and conversation on your blog.
Curated content isn’t just about “copying” content that others have written. It’s about utilizing that content to build your own credibility and share information.
It also helps you keep up with the latest and greatest in your field and provides an unlimited amount of diversity for your blog posts without having to do hours of research.
