One of the hardest things about creating content, online or
in print, is getting people to come back for more. Whether you do blogging,
vlogging, podcasting, social media influencing, or some combination of any of
these, there are many benefits of becoming an authority in your given field,
favorite topics, or areas of expertise. You can build up a huge initial
audience with a single piece of content that happens to trend. But, over time,
even if you create content constantly, that doesn’t mean that people will come
back and interact just because of what worked in the first place.
You can provide the greatest information in the world. It
could even be exclusive. But, relying on strong content alone, alas, most of
the time, isn’t the best strategy. Even if you do get lots of traffic, you’ll
get an overwhelming majority of “hit-and-run” visitors. Yes, they may click on
an ad or affiliate link, or may check out a product or service you’re promoting
or selling. But, very rarely do you convert your traffic into actual revenue
unless you have a strategy behind the content you are creating.
Curiosity is great, but it doesn’t make you a living as a
content creator. In fact, big page view numbers can lead to little more than
frustration when you’re not seeing any other real life returns from these raw
numbers. There is hope, however, and it turns out, you don’t have to create all
your content by yourself. One of the best ways to bring in a more relevant and
engaged audience is to do something many successful content creators have been
using for decades – if not centuries – content curation.
What content should you curate? To do so, just ask yourself
a deceptively simple question…
What Do My Viewers Expect From My Content?
No matter what topics you know and love, you need to have a
strategy of what your potential audience wants out of your content. Then, you
need to have a plan of how to monetize that content in a way your audience will
react to positively. Sure, you don’t need
to monetize your content, but even then, if passive revenue isn’t your goal,
there’s still plenty to be learned here. Plus, just because you’re not into
content creation for the money, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t set yourself up
for the possibility.
Yes, it is possible to start a blog or channel and go
from zero to millions of dollars in just a year. However, don’t put all the
pressure on yourself to create the required content, because there’s always
content curation to the rescue. In fact, building around curated content is a
proven way to build your content’s audience rather quickly. If you don’t
believe me, check out this story:
Ryan Deiss of Digital Marketing once published an article
about how he and his team built up a blog from zero to $6 million in sales in only a
year. The website is called SurvivalLife.com, still going strong in 2023, and it’s all about survival and
preparedness. It does promote products, but passively. Survival Life has become
a huge resource in the survival and preparedness market. They continue to enjoy
a network of blog contributors and experts. Survival Life did host at least two
podcasts, but those apparently ended around 2021, with all of the energy now
devoted to articles, many of them concerning end-of-the-world or
highly-dangerous situations.
Ryan says that becoming an authority
is so much better than being an “ordinary” blogger (or content creator) for a
number of reasons. One of the reasons, he says, is this:
“You don’t need a product, sales copy
or even an idea… you just need to have a passion in a market where great
content and fascinating experts already exist.” – Ryan
Deiss
Content creation is all about sharing your passion
with others. There’s more to it than that,
obviously, when it comes to turning your passion into disgusting amounts of
money. You have to dedicate the time and energy to become the sort of “insider”
that Deiss talks about. But, in fact, he says you don’t even have to be a writer,
podcaster, or video creator to become an authority. How’s that possible?
Most online niche website experts will tell you that having
ad networks and affiliate programs like Amazon Associates is the key to
monetizing your content; but, they don’t work for everyone, and certainly not
for every topic. Generally, having a mix of affiliate and in-house offers is a
sound money-making strategy, but only if they’re well-targeted; most
pay-per-click ads aren’t. So, can you be successful without these things, which
are now trickier than ever to effectively benefit from on a regular basis?
Fortunately, the answer is yes. Earlier
on in that same article I linked to, Deiss mentions Oprah Winfrey. Everyone
should know who Oprah is, but few really think about why she’s so successful.
The key to her incredible success is quite simple: she built a media empire by
simply associating with experts in multiple fields that she’s passionate about.
Oprah makes unbelievable
revenues from those affiliations. She benefits from real sales that she’s
generating by the interest in the experts she curates, all due to the trust
that she has built over the years.
How do you learn from Oprah’s
example? You must ask yourself one more question…
What Can You Offer Your Audience Better Than Anyone Else?
Sharing other content is great,
especially when it’s by other experts that we trust. However, I don’t subscribe to Ryan’s idea of “The World Doesn’t Need
More Information.” My strong opinion is that you can’t ever have enough
information as long as it’s useful and actionable.
Then again, I do agree that if the
information already exists, and is already well-written and presented, then you
should share it with the world rather than simply parroting it yourself. You
don’t even have to put it
“in your own words” because “spinning” isn’t really necessary if the existing
information is already worth promoting.
Of course, you should still include
your own ideas as part of this content curation
strategy. You must still share personal
experience in your topics, even if it’s as simple as recognizing what resources
are worth others’ time. There’s nothing more valuable than saving other people
time, as none of us ever seem to have enough of it to go around.
Whether you decide to curate more
than create your own content, you have to always bring it back to making it
about what your audience is looking for when they come to you. Perhaps the best
thing to fall back on is to offer up other authoritative content that you love,
no matter where it comes from. This sounds counter-intuitive, but people will
remember where they heard something from if it’s valuable enough.
Why do people go back to major media
outlets or remain loyal to brands? It’s because people create emotional
attachments to things that provide them with what they’re looking for if it
delivers on a consistent basis. It doesn’t all have to come from your own mind
or mouth. You just have to keep the good content coming, no matter what the
source.
Sometimes, it turns out that the best
approach really is to become an expert by showing how you learned to become an
expert in that field. By doing so and showing the process, you teach others how
to become an expert in their own field, niche, or area of expertise. The idea
is to lead by example, even if you’re not the greatest writer in the world. Succeeding in the content world is
about sharing and caring, as silly and cliché as that sounds.
As has so often been said, it doesn’t
matter so much what you give someone. Rather, it's how you made them feel in
doing so. Once you have the emotional connection and you continue to deliver on
that connection, you’ve made a fan for life. It doesn’t matter how many of
those you get as long as they’re genuine. They will be the ones that not only
will grow your content empire, but also be friends for life.
Now, do I believe that focusing on
curation over creation is the best way to go? In my personal experience, it all
comes down to what works for you. Content curation is something I’ve personally
shied away from, and I realize that was a mistake. Working with what already
exists, giving others their deserved props, is usually a positive experience
for all involved.
Deiss’s advice clearly still stands
in 2023. With the launching of Obscure Curiosities, I finally will realize my
content curation aspirations. So, if you’re ever stuck for your own content
creation ideas, never feel wrong turning to those you admire and respect as
your content curation go-to’s. Not every niche is going to go from zero to
millions in a year, but just knowing that possibility exists should be enough
to keep you excited about sharing your passion with others for years to come.
…
This article emerged from my archives
with new life, after I scrapped it for getting about a dozen views over the
course of a year. At that time, it was only ranking (not even well) for “how to
monetize content curation” which wasn’t really the main idea of the essay. That
would be an entirely different article, and one that I’ve not yet realized
myself; although Obscure Curiosities could well be the story I could eventually
tell in such an article.
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