Curated Content: A 5-Step Strategy for Entrepreneurs

Curated Content: A 5-Step Strategy for Entrepreneurs

The average entrepreneur is told they need to be a “content machine.”

You're supposed to blog, post, film, record, and tweet 24/7. This relentless pressure to “feed the beast” is the fastest path to burnout. It’s also a lie.

This pressure leads to the “lazy retweet.” The mindless share. The “great read!” comment on a link. This doesn't make you look like an expert. It makes you look like a robot, a simple aggregator bot that adds no value to the conversation.

This is where everyone gets it wrong.

The solution isn't to create more content. It's to be a smarter filter.

“Curated content” isn't aggregation; it's commentary. It's the single highest-leverage way to prove your expertise, build authority, and stay top-of-mind with your audience. It's a core part of modern content marketing strategies, but it's the most misunderstood.

We're going to dismantle the myth of lazy curation. I'm going to show you how to use it as a sharp, strategic tool for building a brand that people actually trust.

Part 1: The Big Misunderstanding – Curation vs. Aggregation vs. Creation

This is the foundational mistake.

Most businesses blur these three lines, and in doing so, they completely destroy their credibility. You have to know which game you're playing.

Content Creation: The Architect (High Effort, High Authority)

This is what you traditionally think of as “content.”

It’s the act of building something from nothing. It’s your original blog post, your deep-dive video, your proprietary case study, your new design.

Pros: You have total control. It builds primary authority. You own the asset. 

Cons: It is immensely time-consuming, expensive, and the risk of a “flop” is high.

You must do this. But you cannot do it every day.

Content Aggregation: The Robot (Low Effort, Zero Authority)

This is simply collecting links and republishing them. Think of an automated RSS feed or a Twitter bot that just scrapes headlines.

This is my biggest pet peeve. This is not curation. It's a digital dumping ground.

It adds zero value. It's just noise. When you simply share a link with no comment, you're an aggregator. You're a robot. You've given your audience a task—”here, go read this”—instead of giving them an insight.

Stop doing this. Immediately.

Content Curation: The Museum Guide (Medium Effort, High Authority)

This is the sweet spot.

Content curation is the act of finding, filtering, and framing content for a specific audience.

The most important word in that sentence is framing.

A museum curator doesn't just throw 500 paintings in a warehouse. They select 10. They hang them in a specific order. They write the little placard next to each one that tells you why it matters, what to look for, and how it connects to the piece next to it.

Your insight is the product.

Curation isn't “Here's an article.”

Curation is: “Here's an article, and here's why it matters to you, here's the one part I strongly disagree with, and here's the action you should take based on it.”

Part 2: The “Why” – The Benefits for Small Businesses

This isn't just about “saving time.” That's a lazy side effect. This is about strategic positioning.

Benefit 1: It Builds Authority Through “Taste”

You are the company you keep. The same is true for the content you share.

When you consistently share smart content, you look smart. It's a transfer of authority. It proves you're actively reading, processing, and thinking about your field.

Who would you trust more?

1. A design agency that only posts its own logos.
2. A design agency that posts its logos, but also curates fascinating articles on sustainable packaging, consumer psychology, and typographic history.

The second one is demonstrating expertise beyond their own portfolio. They're proving they're a student of the game. That's who you hire.

Benefit 2: It Fills Your Content Calendar Without Burning You Out

Let's be practical. You cannot write a 3,000-word masterpiece every day. You're running a business.

A practical content mix often looks something like the 50/30/20 Rule:

• 50% Original Content: Your big ideas, your case studies, your cornerstone blog posts.
• 30% Curated Content: Your commentary on other people's articles, news, and ideas.
• 20% Engagement: Just talking to people, answering questions, and being human.

This ratio keeps you visible and valuable. It gives your audience a reason to follow you daily (for the curated insights) while you build your next big piece of original content in the background.

Benefit 3: It Builds Your Network (Without Being a Sycophant)

When you curate content properly, you're not just tagging the author for a cheap notification. You're starting a public conversation with them.

Weak: “Great read @Expert!”

Strong: “Just read this piece by @Expert. I love point #3 on [topic], but I think they missed a key risk for small businesses: [your 2-sentence insight].”

The first one is noise. It will be ignored.

The second one is a professional overture. It shows you read the piece, thought about it, and respected it enough to add your own perspective. This is how you get on the radar of industry leaders—not by kissing up, but by adding value.

Benefit 4: It Provides Real Value (Faster Than You Can)

Your audience has a problem today. They need an answer now.

It might take you three weeks to write the ultimate guide to that problem. But an expert across the globe published a brilliant article about it this morning.

Your job as an authority is to find the best solution for your audience, regardless of who created it.

Being the most reliable, fastest source of good information (not just your information) makes you an indispensable, trusted resource.

Part 3: Curation in the Wild – Real-World Formats That Actually Work

Stop thinking “blog post.” Curation is a discipline, not a single format.

Format 1: The “Curator as Commentator” Email Newsletter

This is the gold standard of curation.

Examples like Ann Handley's Total Annarchy or newsletters like Morning Brew and The Hustle are built on this. They aren't just links. They are personal letters about the links. The curator's voice, wit, and perspective are the primary product. The links are just the evidence.

For Your Business: Start a weekly “5 Smartest Things I Read This Week for [Your Audience].” Don't just list the links. Write one or two sentences of your commentary for each. Why this? Why now? Why for them?

Format 2: The “Authoritative Roundup” Blog Post

This is the classic… and it's where my second pet peeve lives. Most people get this horribly wrong.

Wrong Way (The “Content Blender”): “Top 10 Articles on Marketing.” This is just a lazy list of links. It's a weak summary that provides no new narrative and just leeches off the original work.

Right Way (The “Thematic” Roundup): “A 10-Point Framework for a 2024 Marketing Plan: Insights from 10 Experts.

See the difference? The “Right Way” has a new idea. You find 10 great pieces, extract one key quote or idea from each, and then add your own commentary to stitch them together into a new, cohesive narrative. The old Moz Top 10 was a classic example of this, adding context to each link.

You are the host of the party, introducing all the smart guests to each other and guiding the conversation.

Format 3: The “Insightful” Social Media Thread

This is where the “lazy retweet” lives and dies. You can transform this lowest-effort action into a high-impact move.

Wrong Way: [Link] – “Great read.”

Right Way (The Commentary Thread):

• Post 1: “Just read this article on [topic]. It's 90% right, but it completely misses the most critical part for entrepreneurs.”
• Post 2: “The article says to [do X]. This is fine for a £5M company, but it's a disaster for a new business because [your reason].”
• Post 3: “A much smarter, faster approach is to [your 3-step advice]. Focus on this first.”
• Post 4: “Full original article is here for context. It's a strong read, just keep that caveat in mind: [Link]”

You just used their content as a springboard for your expertise. You added massive value, proved you're a critical thinker, and still gave the original author credit.

Format 4: The “Living” Resource Hub

This is a permanent asset on your website. It's not a blog post that disappears in a week.

Create a page called “The Ultimate Toolkit for [Your Niche]” or “Our Favourite [Industry] Resources.

This page becomes your curated library. You list the tools, blogs, books, and podcasts you actually use and respect. For each one, you write a 2-3 sentence review explaining why you recommend it.

This becomes a key asset that attracts backlinks from other sites and repeat visitors from your audience.

Format 5: Curating User-Generated Content (UGC)

This is curating social proof.

When a customer posts a great photo of your product, that's content. When you re-post it to your main account (with credit!), that's curation.

A restaurant re-posting the best customer photos, a software company creating a “Wall of Love” from positive Tweets, or a consultant sharing a client's testimonial are all acts of curation. You're filtering the world of customer feedback to frame a narrative of success.

Part 4: A 5-Step Workflow for Curation That Doesn't Suck

This is the “how-to.” A practical, step-by-step process.

Step 1: Find (Build Your “Listen” Engine)

You can't curate what you don't see. Stop aimlessly scrolling social media and call it “research.” Get systematic.

• RSS Readers (Feedly, Inoreader): This is your command centre. Subscribe to the top 50 blogs, news sites, and thinkers in your niche.
• Save-for-Later Apps (Pocket): This is your digital “swipe file.” As you browse, send anything even remotely interesting to Pocket.
• Twitter Lists: Create private Twitter lists of the 100 smartest people in your industry. This cuts through 99% of the noise.
• Niche Communities: Find the specific Reddit, Slack, or Discord communities where your audience hangs out. Listen to their questions.

Step 2: Filter (Be a Merciless Editor)

This is where your “taste” comes in. 99% of the content you find is not good enough to share.

Your one and only rule: “Is this exceptionally useful for my specific audience?”

My third pet peeve is businesses that curate content just because it's “trending.” Who cares? If a trending topic isn't relevant to your audience's problems, sharing it just confuses your brand and dilutes your authority.

Be the bouncer. Be ruthless.

Step 3: Frame (The “Value-Add” Is Non-Negotiable)

This is the entire point of the article. Never share without commentary.

Your commentary is the value. Here is your toolkit:

• The Summary: “This is a 4,000-word article. Here are the 3 key takeaways for a small business owner…” (You save them time).
• The Counter-Argument: “I disagree with this point. The author says [X], but they're forgetting [Y]. Here's why…” (You show critical thinking).
• The “Here's How”: “This article gives a great ‘why,' but a terrible ‘how.' Here's the 3-step process I use with clients…” (You make it practical).
• The “And…”: “This is a fantastic point. And you can apply this same logic to your branding by…” (You connect the dots).
• The “Why This”: “This article from 2019 is more relevant today than ever because of [current event]…” (You provide timeliness).

Step 4: Share (Attribution & Scheduling)

This is about ethics and efficiency.

Ethical Curation 101: This is not optional.

• Always tag the original creator.
• Always link directly to the original source.
• Use blockquotes (>) for any direct quotes.
• Never, ever pass their work off as your own. Ever.

Scheduling Tools (Buffer, Hootsuite, etc.): Use these to batch your work. Don't find and share in real-time. Spend one hour on Monday morning. Go through your Feedly and Pocket, find your 5-7 links for the week, write your commentary for each one, and schedule them.

Systemise your insight.

Step 5: Measure (What Actually Matters?)

Stop obsessing over “likes” on a curated post. It's a vanity metric.

Look for these metrics instead:

• Engagement Quality: Are people replying to your commentary? Are they asking follow-up questions? That's a conversation.
• Follower Growth: Are you becoming known as the “go-to” source for this topic?
• Referral Traffic (from newsletters/roundups): Are people trusting your filter and clicking the links you provide?
• Time & Sanity: How many hours of “content creation” burnout did you save this week by being a smart curator?

Part 5: The Legal & Ethical Minefield (How Not to Be a Thief)

This is what scares most people away. It's actually very simple.

(Standard disclaimer: I'm a marketer, not a lawyer. This is observational advice for ethical business, not a legal opinion.)

Curation vs. Plagiarism: A Simple Line

Plagiarism is copy/pasting. It's theft. It's re-posting someone's entire article on your blog to steal their traffic.

Curation is quoting, linking, and commenting. It's journalism.

The rule of thumb: Your original commentary should be a substantial part of the post. If your post is 90% their words and 10% yours, you're in a grey area. If it's 30% their quote and 70% your analysis, you are providing transformative value.

The “Fair Use” / “Fair Dealing” (UK) Sanity Check

These legal concepts generally protect you. You are usually fine if you are:

• Commenting on or criticising the work.
• Transforming it into something new (like your thematic roundup).
• Reporting on it (like in a news-focused newsletter).

You are in trouble if you:

• Re-post the entire work.
• Do it in a way that harms the original creator's ability to make money from their work (e.g., you copy a paid newsletter and give it away for free).

Don't be a thief. It's that simple. Link, quote, and add your own thoughts.

SEO & Curation: The Canonical Question

If you are re-publishing a large chunk of an article (perhaps an infographic, with permission), you need to tell Google.

For blog posts, just stick to blockquotes and summaries and link to the original. Google understands this.

If you must re-post a full article (which I almost never recommend), you should use a canonical tag (rel=”canonical”). This bit of code tells search engines: “Hey, this content is a copy. The real, original version is over at this other URL. Send all the SEO credit to them.”

This protects the original creator and prevents you from being penalised for duplicate content.

Your Next Step: Stop Aggregating, Start Curating

Curation isn't a lazy shortcut. It's a strategic act of filtering, framing, and adding value. It's the most powerful way to prove you're not just another voice in the noise, but a trusted guide.

Your audience isn't looking for more information. They're looking for insight.

Your challenge: Find one piece of content today. Don't just share it. Write three sentences of your opinion on it first. See what happens.

This level of strategic thinking is what separates effective digital marketing from just “posting.”

Explore more of our thoughts on content marketing and branding, or if you're ready to get serious about building a brand that stands out, request a quote, and we can see if we're a good fit.

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