Why is everyone concerned about their content?
Content is your ideas, frameworks, processes, experiences and most of all your beliefs.
Before you hit the ground running, let's review some key basic points.
Where do you source content from?
How should you present it?
What media do you choose?
Which platform to showcase it on?
It’s a vast art form this content and its curation process.
There are many ways to produce content and fairly well, but what happens when you switch it up?
Is consistency best?
How will I know what my audience is thinking about my content?
As I learn about the importance of skillfully managed content and how it reflects your business, purpose or service, I have come to realize a few important features when creating and publishing my own intellectual property to the world.
Keep it entertaining and engaging! Although its up to you ultimately what you want to publish online for all to read, it is key to making it easy to follow and invigorating to read.
Pay it Forward! - Individuals retain more information when they are asked to act on something! - Include a call to action in your content.
Stand out! - Take a very average topic and include an off the wall reference or statement.
Consistency is key! - Stay true to your craft or specialty, try not to be to varied. People seek you for your area of expertise.
Demonstrate authority! -Tried, Tested and true. You can guarantee what’s been proven.
On the subject of supporting material, its always easier to pull inspiration from your own sources to avoid legal and copyright references, such as pictures and videos.
There are many free stock images available, (I like Pixabay) but if you can leverage photos from your last vacation, walk in your city or office meeting, why not use them?
Just be sure to understand the basics of framing and editing a photo properly so that it’s a seamless integration into your publication. The last thing you want is your audience fixated on the image quality rather than on your messages intent.
You will notice that raw images, art and videos are starting to become more acceptable, e.g. a 60-second video on the streetcar that talks about improving your work commute habits.
It’s important to try a few methods for example:
blogging on a website or on a specific forum,
creating a group on Facebook or LinkedIn to gain engagement with like-minded people,
displaying quotes and inspirational art on Instagram,
Speaking about your articles or performing interviews on podcasts,
Posting videos on LinkedIn or YouTube
These are all viable channels for you to use to increase your influence on a global stage. Many include data analytics reporting to allow you to see your viewer conversion rate and overall engagement statistics.
No matter how you start, just start - try them all, have fun exploring.
Call it your curating laboratory.
Once you find something that works for you, run with it, starting by one foot in front of the other.