WEBOLUTION!

Here is an excerpt from interesting article by Lee Odden on his Online Marketing Blog:

"Curation is the cornerstone of being useful on the social web by finding, filtering and adding insight to content online and sharing with social networks.

Qualitative curation over time helps associate the topics being curated with the company or person doing the curating.
In combination with original content and industry participation, curation can be very powerful for creating awareness and credibility.

Content Curation Facilitates Many Content Marketing Objectives:
- Efficient, topically focused collection of information that appeals to customers looking for a “single source” on a particular topic.
- Grows awareness of your brand as a topical authority based on adding insight to industry commentary.
- Facilitates networking into spheres of influence in your industry. Collecting and sharing content from influential members of your community can get you on their radar resulting in being mentioned, links or even referrals.

Blending a mix of new content with the filtering and management of other useful information streams is a productive and manageable solution for providing prospective customers a steady stream of high quality and relevant content.
Pure creation is demanding. Pure automation doesn’t engage. Curating content can provide the best of both. Here are several best practices to help you with curation sources, types of content and where to publish.

1. Sources of News to Curate:
- Industry specific newsletters sent to you via email;
- Links to content and media shared on Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, Reddit and other social sharing websites;
- Curation tools: Flipboard, Scoop.it, Storify.com;
- Real-time search engines: Topsy, socialmention.com;
- Niche topic blogs;
(...and others on original article)

2. Types of Content to Curate:
- Useful resources relevant to your target audience: blogs, news, training, tips, networking and industry events;
- Content created by influential people of importance to the target audience
- Statistics, research and reports;
- Compelling or provocative industry news;
- Tips, How To’s and best practices;
- Compile large collections of resources according to topical theme;
(...and more others on original article)

3. Where to Publish Curated Content:
- Company Blog;
- eBooks;
- Social Media Channels;
- Niche Microsite Dedicated to a Specific News Category.

The key is to do the homework of understanding what motivates your community and to assemble a compelling mix of curated, repurposed and original content to inspire them to engage and buy. Be thoughtful about the usefulness of the content you assemble, create and promote..."

Read full, original and interesting article here:
http://www.toprankblog.com/2013/02/content-curation-best-practices/

Via Giuseppe Mauriello, Beth Kanter