Content is the best secret weapon a small business has when competing with the big guys. Contrary to what you may think, coming up with that content isn’t really a problem when you learn to think of it in a different way.
You may be shaking your head in disagreement as you read this, but it’s all a matter of perspective. You don’t just want content that’s going to get you leads and conversions, you want to cultivate a loyal audience with content of interest.
Changing your perspective on content could very well ease the burden of having to consistently create and share original content.
Welcome to the Possibilities of Content Curation
When you run a small business, you don’t always have time to seek out or produce your own high quality content while dealing with more pressing issues. Content curation refers to the act of gathering relevant content you think your customers will find useful.
In this case, the content doesn’t have to directly relate to products or services you actually offer. Instead, you want content that interests your customers. If, for example, you sell computer software, expand your field of topics beyond only the software you offer to include any interesting software.
Feeding a Hunger for Information
Regardless of how consumers connect to the Internet, the thing that drives most of them to go online is a hunger for information.
Before you hyperventilate, this content doesn’t have to come from you directly. Thanks to links and backlinks, you can easily place links to related content within your website, blog and social sites.
Throw in some keywords and phrases, and you’re satisfying a need for info while directing traffic to your site without the obligation of making a purchase.
Curation Tools
Gathering content for the purpose of providing information to your customers can be made a little bit easier with certain curation tools. Fortunately, many of these tools are either free or available for a reasonable price.
Curata
This awesome platform helps you easily find, organize, and share relevant content. The platform constantly scours the web to find the freshest and most relevant content. They say the platform even learns your preferences and starts suggesting the most relevant content for your business. Finally, it helps you share the content across your channels.
Check it out here.
Paper.li
This tool allows you to create a customizable newspaper that you can use as part of your email marketing efforts. You can opt to do this daily, weekly or monthly. Special features allow you to draw content from various relevant social platforms. An editor’s note feature allows you to leave personalized notes for your readers.
Check it out here.
Rebel Mouse
This curation tool allows you to organize and use content from your social media sources, with Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn being the main ones for business. Additional features include the ability to embed Rebel Mouse in your website. This comes in handy for SEO purposes. You can also use this tool to spread the word about events your business hosts or attends.
Check it out here.
Storify
This one allows you to collect relevant content from across the Web without the hassle of endless random searching. You then publish the content you find on the site’s platform, which is embedded within your site’s content. You can do all this with the free version. The paid version gives you privacy settings so you can use this tool internally without revealing confidential business information.
Check it out here.
With the right combination of curation tools, you can take advantage of existing content while adding some original content. As you become a valuable source of information, you increase your brand awareness and make yourself more appealing to potential customers.
