The Scoop.it Content Curation Blog

Books are the vessels for some of our earliest learning and repositories of our earliest information. Consider epic poetry (Dante’s Inferno), folklore (Grimm’s Fairytales), tales (Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales), and religious texts (the Bible, Tanakh, To Te Ching). We turn to books for wisdom, knowledge, and contextual information for an incredible multitude of things, from basic definitions of words to esoteric compilations of opinion about the proliferation of algae.

What marketers and Internet professionals can take away from these two examples is that the best idea always wins, not the biggest budget or the most over-the-top content.  The “best idea” is the concept that most effectively identifies the best strategic things to communicate to a target audience through the most appropriate, natural channels, and then executing the idea in a meaningful, authentic, and value-adding way. If you do this correctly, a simple 520 word editorial could have more positive impact for your brand than a $500k major conference keynote.

Some say that President Obama’s inaugural address this year trumped the one he delivered four years ago, and perhaps any he has ever given as Commander-in-chief. I am a strong advocate of women’s and gay rights, and I teared up when the president boldly said:

It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.

Regardless of what you think of him, Obama is a powerful speaker. His skills were only amplified by the inauguration ceremony, which was held on the day when we celebrate the great civil rights leader and orator Martin Luther King, Jr. In this digital age, we talk about what makes a good blog post, viral video or paid advertisement, but we often disregard the importance of impactful verbal communication. Like memes, there is an intangible essence to what makes a powerful speech stick out and intrigue you to the point where you can’t help but share it. From presidential addresses to stories told generation after generation to live theater, the tradition of oral history harnesses the power to move the masses. It is a testament to the abilities of the human mind that through the spoken word you can form a movement, change the public’s perception and cement a legacy. It is the stuff that wise men, do gooders and evil doers are made of.

The New Year’s resolution is such an interesting, inspirational concept. The fact that we’ve institutionalized a specific time of year to be introspective and reflect on how we lived our last 12 months of life is a pretty incredible thing — definitely an institution to respect and make a priority as we ring in 2013. Identifying which things in our lives were good and which things could have been improved should be top-of-mind when the clock strikes its respective 12:00 AM across the globe on January 1st, 2013 and signifies the start of a brand new year. I’ve always felt that a “resolution” may not be the most effective use of the insights we glean from reflecting on our last year. I’ve always felt pressure to do more things, or different things, or change my life trajectory in a significant way with each list of resolutions I’ve written. In 2012, it was “learn a new language,” in 2011 was “read at least 30 books,” and 2010 was “get a job that doesn’t suck.” I’ve always felt compelled to make a firm decision to either do a new thing or break some terrible old habit.

My name is Ally Greer. I’m a marketer with expertise in content marketing and curation. You’ve probably never heard of me.

With over 500 million users on Twitter, 175 million on LinkedIn, and over a billion on Facebook, you probably haven’t heard of most people on the Internet. The bad news is that this also means most of those people probably haven’t heard of you either.

That said, I’m certainly not here to tell you how flooded the Internet is and discourage you from jumping into the information pool. In fact, I’m telling you to do the exact opposite. Although it isn’t likely that all 500 million people on Twitter will be following you by the time you’re finished reading this (or ever), there are a few ways to look what we call “information overload” right in the face and use it to your advantage.

In a digital world characterized by an overwhelming amount of noise, everyone is struggling to find relevant content from people and brands with an expertise on a specific subject. Content curators are the ones who step up to the plate.

According to Michael Brenner, cofounder of Business 2 Community, content curation is the process of identifying relevant content for your audience from multiple sources, modifying or editing that content to reflect the needs of your audience and delivering the content to the appropriate channels of distribution.

The truth is, you’re probably already curating content. Do you share links on Twitter? Do you Retweet content that you find interesting? Do you write blogposts referencing content that’s been created by others? If so, you’re a curator. You know what you’re talking about, you know where the best content on your topic of expertise is, and you put it together for the world to see. But, the question still looms: if no one knows who you are, how will they find it?