In my last article I shared the idea that you can make money online by “curating” content.
Curation is the simple idea that you can gather together high-quality information and become a clearinghouse of sorts in your chosen area of focus.
And you can make money online using this method.
If you’d like to read that article click here. It will open in a new window so you can return here and finish this article.
Today I’d like to cover two very logical questions.
- Will this work for you?
- How exactly can you get started?
I’ll share my answers and show you how to make that first step today.
Will it work for you?
If you are excited about curation, or even just curious, you will be wondering if it will work for you.
I believe the answer is a big fat YES!
In fact, I believe curation, done well, can remove the #1 obstacle on the path to success online.
The #1 Reason For Failure Online
You see, most people who struggle to make money online, or have some success but can’t seem to repeat that success, struggle with creating content.
In fact, based on over a decade of working online, I believe this …
The need to CREATE CONTENT is the #1 obstacle for most people trying to make money online.
I know that most people like to say that getting traffic is the #1 obstacle. Or that not using this type of marketing or that type of advertising is the #1 obstacle to success.
But what most people struggle with is creating content.
In over 3000 phone calls I’ve asked almost every person I consulted with about creating content. They almost all struggle with one of these areas …
- Writing sales letters
- Writing solo ads
- Creating banners
- Making a video
- Writing articles
- Conducting (or recording) a webinar
- Publishing a Kindle book
Do any of these challenges sound familiar?
It’s true – most people fail online because they can’t create ENOUGH content.
- Enough content to be a powerful article marketer.
- Enough content to have their own membership site to sell.
- Enough content to publish a book on Kindle.
Now consider those who have succeeded online. Pick any name from top performers in your niche.
In the Internet marketing world you might think of Frank Kern or Ryan Deiss or Jeff Walker.
What do they have in common?
Content and lots of it!
This is why I say that …
Curation can solve the #1 problem most people have and curation can LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD for you!
By using curation you can produce as much content as any other person in your market, including the very top performers!
And if you do it right no one will mind or even notice that you did not “create” the content yourself.
I’ll have more about this in my entry in my upcoming “curation examples” post.
But what if you love to create content?
Whether you love to create content or hate to create content curation can turn you into a content marketing AND money making machine.
Now that you know it can work for you it’s time to get to work!
I’m going to give you an assignment in a moment. But first, let me say this.
You do not need special skills to do this.
But you do need this one thing …
A burning desire to succeed online and a willingness to put in some work
Not 100 hours a week or anything crazy. Just normal work. Since you will be focusing on a topic you love it won’t really feel like work.
But to be clear, this is not some “add water and stir” get rich in 90 days approach.
I think you know by now those don’t work.
So let’s put time on your side and do something that does work!
Action step
The good news here – great news really – is that you can now begin making money using the Internet by following your passion.
It has long been said “do what you love and the money will follow”.
Now curation makes it even easier to do that.
You see, there is a market for information. No question there. That’s why information marketing is the most powerful form of marketing.
Information is the lifeblood of the Internet. That’s why Google is currently the most often-used site online. And they will likely hold that position for a long time.
Google alone processes literally billions of search requests every day. Billions.
Make no mistake, people are searching.
And some of those people are searching for the things you care about.
Here is one secret that no one seems to share.
People don’t care from whom they get the information they need – just that they get what they want.
Why is that important?
Because it means that you have just as good a chance at getting highly qualified searchers as anyone else.
If the information you provide is good and helpful.
I believe the best place to start for most people is with their passion.
The main reason I believe this is because it makes work fun.
I’ll use me as an example. I am writing this in my PJs on a Monday morning sitting in my family room. Everyone else is asleep.
And there is nothing I would rather be doing more than writing this article.
I feel so incredibly blessed every time I “go to work” that I can’t believe I get paid to do what I love. But I do get paid and that makes it even sweeter.
If you begin curating content about the topic you are most passionate about these things will happen.
- You will never run out of motivation because you are working with a topic you love.
- Your energy and enthusiasm for your work will remain high.
- You will meet like-minded people and very likely make friends.
- You will make money from your passion as you let time become your ally and you create a high-quality information site
So here’s what I want you to do right now.
For now, answer a few questions for yourself.
Don’t worry – these questions are fun!
VERY IMPORTANT: Don’t multitask while answering these questions. This exercise requires focus and your results will be SO much better if you take a bit of time here.
You can either write your answers out or just answer in your mind.
I like to open Evernote when I do these sorts of things and write my answers down. That way I have them to refer to later.
1. If money was not an object (you had all the money you needed or wanted) what would you DO WITH YOUR TIME every day?
TIP: If you are like me you will be tempted to say “sleep all day!”
When I first did this exercise I was working about 70 hours a week and was exhausted.
But when I really thought about it I would do much more than sleep.
I would play golf, study my Bible, help young people in business, go bird watching, write books, travel with Sonia and much more.
Take the time to think this question through and get to that thing that really floats your boat. The thing that excites you most.
2. What are you MOST PASSIONATE about in life?
TIP: Just write down the first thing you think about – NOT the thing you think is commercially viable. Don’t filter this answer – just answer from your heart. Think about what makes you smile! 🙂
This exercise is about identifying your passions, not about analyzing what might work in business.
We will analyze how “viable” your passions are in the next segment.
3. What TOPIC interests you most?
Is there a topic that you are naturally drawn to?
Not sure? Here are two examples to help you think this through.
As you are flipping through the TV channel guide is there something that always catches your eye?
For me it’s the nature shows – I love all sorts of Discovery Channel type shows.
For some it’s sports. For others cooking. Or painting, or writing a product reviews for food vacuum sealers or one of a thousand other things.
What catches your eye?
4. Is there a topic that you have DEEP KNOWLEDGE about, even if it’s not your passion?
Grandmothers are a perfect example for this question.
They have cooked and cleaned and doctored and guided and prayed for decades.
But grandmothers often think they don’t have much to share when, in fact, they have deep knowledge about how to actually live life.
Other groups who have deep knowledge but don’t know it are hobbyists.
People who build furniture or tend a garden or play doubles tennis often think “it’s just a hobby”.
They totally discount that they were beginners once and just how much the information that is already in their head could be helpful to others.
And that’s what curation, or any other form of business is about … helping others. If that’s not your motivation this is not going to work very well for you in my view.
Once you have answered these questions begin to think about two things.
- If your best friend asked you to share what you know about the topic you chose how much information could you share without doing any homework or research?
If you are like most people who do this exercise, and if you take time to really think it through, you will begin to realize just how much you really do know about the topics you care about.
- If your child or grandchild were going to do what you already know how to do what ideas would you share to help them get started or avoid making the mistakes you made yourself?
EXAMPLE: Let’s say you like to garden and your grandson or son wants to start a garden of his own.
- What could you tell him that would make things easier?
- What mistakes could you help him avoid?
- What tools would you tell him to use?
- Could you suggest where to buy such tools at a discount?
Being able to identify what you really care about and beginning to think about organizing that information in these ways are the first steps to making your passion your profession. These are the steps I took and countless others have taken as well.
Here’s the thing – you are going to spend time trying to make money online anyway. Wouldn’t it be better to build something real than to keep buying the shiny objects that never work out?
If you want to make money from your knowledge, if you want to make money from what you already like, then this series will help you get going.
Next we will look at ways to decide if what you are passionate about can be monetized.
It’s worth the effort, because making a living from what you are passionate about already really does turn work into play.
And your work being play is a beautiful thing indeed!
