Content Curation
Content Curation is..
- New and wonderful
- Not spammy
- Going to make us all rich
- Google approved
- All The Above
- None of the Above
Over the last week or two it seems like the world has gone content curation mad. People are throwing out products left right and center , how to courses and software on top of software. Some of it is absolute junk but some of it is good stuff.
I Like This Image So I Used It!
I have seen a couple of people saying that content curation is “Google approved” – Unless they called Matt Cutts or one of his bosses and asked him specifically then it is not “google approved” (I checked with him at lunch yesterday and he said no one called him).
“Content Curation can not be used the same way auto blogging was, it is not spammy at all”..
Ok this kind of thing is great because it made me laugh really loud. You sell someone a tool, you can NEVER control how it is used, people will always use things in ways you do not intend…e.g
Mix this content curation software (which looks really good by the way , it is not mine and that is not an aff link)
and my easy spin intro plugin
http://easyspinintro.com/ - use your own clickbank ID to buy it and save some money - http://CLICKBANKID.easyspin.hop.clickbank.net
And after a bit or work setting it all up you could be posting unique and curated content to all your wordpress sites all day long. Or even better get your outsourcers to do it all for you. If you have loads of sites and are wondering how you can ever add enough unique content to work with the freshness requirements of the latest algo changes this may be the answer.
Lot cheaper than getting content written by real people! I am not saying you should or should not do this, I am just sharing my ideas, you use (or dont use) my ideas as you see fit.
The quality of your feeds will determine the quality of the content you can curate, if you just get feeds from junk sites you will have junk to use. If your site is all about “left handed banana colored golf clubs” you will not get great info on that, go for feeds from bigger parts of the niche.
My Point
My real point is that content curation is just the same as everything else, you can do it any way you want (I watched someone peel a banana in the strangest way the other day). Some people will go to great lengths to learn all about their market and will become market leaders and end up rich and famous, some people will just copy and paste their life away and end up working in a dark room in the basement surrounded by computers and whiteboards..hang on thats me..
Some people will take the middle road and do some curation with some unique content and they will do ok with it, I think this will be most people as it has a low entry point and is relatively easy. The right way to do content curation is the one you are happiest with, and hopefully it makes you some money as well.
Content Curation Is Not The Answer You Are Looking For
The thing to remember is that this is only one part of the puzzle, everyone is looking for the answer to making money online and like all answers to complicated questions (politics, religion, how does this TV remote work) it should be given in parts. Your site needs to be in the right market, you need to have good content, you need to have a plan to get traffic (seo, paid traffic, from lists) and you need to work out the best way to make sure that you earn the maximum roi.
Content curation is the buzz word in IM right now , part of that is due to the shock of the latest Google Link Network clampdowns and part is because everyone wants the magic bullet. I appreciate that people want instant riches, but when you are building a business it takes time and work to become an overnight success.
You are building a business aren’t you?
Please let me know your thoughts on Content Curation, magic bullets, quick fixes and how you plan to build your business..
Paul, I used to use the PowerAutoblog plugin with good effect, but that’s not working for me with Google’s new standards. Although I’ve given up on making any money at IM, I still have some sites that I would like to get ranked well. I was able to get the PageOneCurator for $21.90, and since it has a 30-day guarantee, I’ll have plenty of time to give it a workout and see if it will do what I want.
I think my views on content curation might differ from yours, but we agree on several important points.
I’m especially glad to see you openly refute a few claims that content curation is “Google approved.” I’ve been appalled to see people call autoblog “curating” methods “Panda safe,” but… well, the Panda/Farmer update occurred awhile ago, so it’s technically true that the new plugins are Panda-safe, only because Panda is a past update, not what’s going on now.
The feeds issue is an important one. I don’t curate from feeds alone. In fact, they’re a small part of the field I’m drawing from, and if people curate exclusively from feeds, they’re missing part of what makes curated content valuable in a niche: Visitors want to find articles, videos, and other resources they didn’t know about before. A site’s curated content isn’t terribly valuable if it’s drawn from the same set of feeds as the website visitor follows.
That’s why I gave a recent curation product a negative review, at my own site.
All in all, I’ll be relieved when the trendiness of content curation is over, and the “get rich while you sleep” crowd has moved on to something else. (News flash: There is no way to get rich while you sleep, unless you have people working for you while you’re sleeping. *chuckle*)
I think curated content is tremendously valuable. I think it’ll be a long-term winner in terms of how people use the Internet to find information.
However, it’s not a good choice for every webmaster. It might not even be right for most webmasters.
I’m very enthusiastic about curated content, but that’s because I’ve been using curated content since the 1990s. I just didn’t know it had a name, until recently. To me it was simply a case of posting links and blurbs with my own commentary, saying, “Look at this cool information I found!”
Thanks for this thoughtful post, Paul.
Thanks for your comment.
I would say you sound enthusiastic about GOOD Curated Content..
Yes but curating from feeds is easy and who wants to actually work for their money?
You can make money while you sleep – i often wake up to sales in the morning- the problem is that I pulled in a lot of 12+ hour days to get to that point.
Can I email you, maybe we can catch up on Skype and record some of your thoughts for my readers?
Hi Paul:
Nice article on Content Curation.
I downloaded a free copy of CurationSoft, tried it out, and I like the drag-and-drop functionality of it. Since it’s free, you’re limited to just one content source. The paid version gives you a number of content sources, including YouTube, Flickr, and so on. The only thing I don’t like about it is the recurring annual cost … call me a cheap …
I haven’t purchased Paul Clifford’s app … though I viewed the YouTube video of his product several times. It’s very similar to CurationSoft, “sans” the drag-and-drop functionality and the multi-plaform compatibility. I do like his pricing, though.
Which content curation app do you prefer?
I’d like a hybrid of both …
Thanks,
Glenn
Hola Paul,
great article as always. You know how I feel about content curation… I think when is done right a great model to follow to make money out of your blog. Eibhlin MacIntosh nailed the issue right on – it is a long term winner. For starters, CC is not autoblogging by definition if is auto is not curation. Therefore, all those that are following the magic bullet software fest are going to get very disappointed six months down the road. You need quality feeds and you need quality sources. Missing one makes you a mediocre curator. Your expectation as a curator is to find the most relevant obscure pieces of content related to your niche.
The next step is to either build a market related blog or an authority blog. The second one requires to get more knowledge on the topic/market. It is not hard, once you start curating,you will get that knowledge by learning on the spot.
If is a market related blog and you are acting as a just the “curator” you don’t need to be almighty expert – just the middle man between the market and the related piece.
I don’t see this getting saturated due to the fact that people are lazy and won’t get it right… period. the same reason why people fail in this business: 1. lack of action, 2. No plan , and 3. getting in with the wrong mindset.
Anyways, I really like this post as it puts things in perspective. I kind of disagree that you can do what you want with curation but that is just my POV. Curation must respect some quality guideliness…