Ever heard of the term “curation”? If so, do you wonder what it means?
Here is a definition from whatis.com:
Content curation is the gathering, organizing and online presentation of content related to a particular theme or topic. As a rule, a content curation site reproduces some of the original content and links to the full entry. Some content curation sites also provide original content, interpretation and commentary.
Critics of content curation argue that the practice is a poor substitute for content creation on the part of the site, and a poor substitute for individual research on the part of the user. Furthermore, some such sites are little more than marketing tools. However, content curation sites can be useful to people who want a quick snapshot of current content on a particular topic.
So why did I bring this up? I did so because it is a great way for real estate agents to help establish themselves as knowledgeable sources of information. You do this by finding an interesting article somewhere and then posting the link to that article on your blog, Facebook personal profile or business page, your LinkedIn page and so on.
The practice is widely regarded as a great way for non-content creators to provide good info to people. You can read what the detractors say above.
I also have an objection to the practice, and that is once you post the link, and people click on it, they are taken away from your post, perhaps to never return.
Wouldn’t it be cool if you could curate information AND give people a way to get to YOUR website or blog at the same time? And wouldn’t it be cool if this method also was FREE? And wouldn’t it be cool if you could track the number of times that people clicked?
As it turns out there is a way. It’s called snip.ly! It works by shortening the URL of the content that you want to share. When the content gets shared, the viewer see what you wanted them to see, but they also see a personalized call to action button at the bottom left of what you sent them to. This button can be linked back to YOUR website.
Voila! You share valuable content AND you get a link to your website!
If you use the Chrome browser you can install an Extension that really automates the whole process, but in practice you can use any browser, you just have to work a little harder.
Go check it out, but in the meantime, you can see an example right here: http://snip.ly/gm4pl
Be sure to look at the lower left of the page you get sent to to see the call to action button. If you click on it, you’ll be delivered to the Home page of this blog…pretty cool!
Please do tell me what you think…good idea or not?
