Which are the key traits, the skills and the know-how required to be a professional content curator?

I have identified three groups of elements that characterize the profile of professional digital content curators:

- General Traits

- Communication Skills

- Technical Know-How

For each one of these, I have highlighted key elements by defining what each one means (DEF), why it is important for a curator to have (WHY) and how it can be cultivated (HOW)....

In these sections I analyze each one of these three groups, by highlighting key elements in each group by defining what they mean (DEF), why they are important for a curator to have (WHY) and how they can be cultivated (HOW).

Here I analyze the key General Traits that make up the profile of a professional content curator.

- Curiosity

- Subject-Matter Expertise

- Strong Ethics

- Transparency

 - Disclosure

- Empathy

- Personal Voice

- Pattern Recognition

- Organization

-Attention to Details

- Being Systematic

- Patience...

Imagine, if you will, a world in which Richard Seaver or Robert Gottlieb had stomped their feet and huffed and puffed every time John Leonard forgot to give them their proper "hat tip." Or rather, as I joked on Twitter over the weekend about the new "Curator's Code," if Goethe had lived long enough to chide Mann for writing about Faust and giving a "ᔥ" to Marlowe but forgetting to give a "↬" to Goethe.

It's funny to think about! But only for a minute, since after that it all just becomes too depressing for words, because what we talk about when we talk about curation first of all sure ain't curation and secondly isn't even all that special. But mostly it's depressing because it's a conversation that happens at the expense of original content itself.

First, let's just get clear on the terminology here: "Curation" is an act performed by people with PhDs in art history; the business in which we're all engaged when we're tossing links around on the Internet is simple "sharing." And some of us are very good at that! (At least if we accept "very good" to mean "has a large audience.")

But we should not delude ourselves for a moment into bestowing any special significance on this, because when we do this thing that so many of us like to call "curation" we're not providing any sort of ontology or semantic continuity beyond that of our own whimsy or taste or desire. "Interesting things" or "smart things" are not rubrics that make the collection and dissemination of data that happens on the Internet anything closer to a curatorial act; these categories are ultimately still reducible to "things I find appealing," and regardless of how special one might feel about the highly cultivated state of his or her tastes there is no threshold of how many other people are eager to be on the receiving end of whatever it is we're sharing that somehow magically transforms this act into curation—that is, at least, unless we're also comfortable with arguing that "curation" is the act in which Buzzfeed is engaged. Or The Huffington Post. Or the top contributor on those weightlifting comment boards....

Content curation is a great idea, but it’s really quite tedious to have to do it manually. You have to go out and find content you’d be interested in curating. Then you have to copy the link and paste it into each of your social networks. You have to schedule the post for an appropriate time, and you have to add your own spin to it, and you have to make sure it generates the right kind of preview or website card. Repeat for every link you want to share, ad nauseum, and you’re getting the idea.

Thankfully, content curation is not a new idea, or a new industry. That means there are many businesses out there who have created products to help you. These content curation tools are designed specifically to curate content as smoothly as possible across your entire social media presence. Here are the best ones I recommend....

Think of curated content the way you do a Works Cited section of a term paper. You use it to add relevance and to reinforce your argument. In marketing terms, that argument is that you are aware of the types of content that appeal to your audience.

Responsible selection of curated content shows that you understand your audience. And when people believe that you understand them, it goes a long way toward building trust.

A key difference, however, between content curation and a Works Cited section is that, quite often, the curated content comprises a significant slice of the content presented. In many cases, the content is presented with a short, original commentary.

How well does that work?

Well, look at the Huffington Post. They have practically elevated the concept of content curation to an art form. And they have discovered the fine balance between curation and branding. You’d barely know that they get a vast amount of their content from outside sources. It’s because they go to a tremendous effort to present the content in a way in which it practically becomes their own....

Content creation and content curation both serve very different purposes. The former is self-promoting, while the latter is cross-promoting. Don’t limit yourself to just one, or you’ll miss out on valuable opportunities from the other.

To clarify, ‘created’ content is original – solely produced and owned by you. Every piece of content you create represents your company’s unique expertise, products, services, insights, and opinions. ‘Curated’ content is generated from external sources outside of your company that you share with your audience. It should be relevant and useful to your target audience and demonstrate that you recognise the value that other companies bring to your industry, or areas of relevant interest.

Attainting the optimum balance between generating both created and curated content campaigns will depend on what you’re hoping to achieve – be it greater brand awareness, higher search rankings, optimal social engagement, or more conversions. Knowing the differences and usefulness of each type of content will help you make the right decision when developing your next content strategy – so here’s what you can achieve with each approach....

The challenge for companies that do not have the creative freedom to begin at square one is how do we create that same culture of innovation? How do we build an environment where we are comfortable at chipping away the things that no longer add value?

How many systems would we switch off as opposed to trying to integrate them with the new? How much complexity in our processes could we design out to create something that is elegant and simple?

For me, this feels very different from how most large organizations function. But if we are going to create magnificent works of art within our day-to-day working lives, we need to embrace the concept of curation – of removing the superfluous and keeping only that which is beautiful in its simplicity....

Content curation is all about mining the internet for material that can be shared on your social networks. It’s about finding great content and presenting it to your social media followers in a way that’s organized and meaningful.

The thing is, you’re probably not thinking strategically when you’re scrolling through your phone and posting from bed in the morning.
Content curation strategy is what makes the difference between mediocre and exceptional content curation in business.

Strategy is a must when it comes to content marketing, which includes content curation....