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Sara Duggan

Social Media & Blog Management

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Curating Content for Social Media

TWO THINGS YOU NEED TO SIMPLIFY SOCIAL MEDIA

1. You Need Content

You need content AND lots of it for your blog and social media. It’s a big world and you’re a tiny business. This doesn’t mean that you need a bullhorn to shout at your prospects. No, rather it means that you need a strategy. Strategies are what successful businesses are built upon.

It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve tried in the past to make this ‘social media thing’ work, you’re going to find your groove.

2. You Need Time

Everyone, including President Obama and Drake, is given 24-hours to work with. It’s up to YOU to figure out a way to include this ‘social media thing’ in your business. It isn’t optional! You may not use it personally, but millions and millions of people around the world do.

Millennials are entering the workforce, earning their own money, and spending with companies they can identify with and believe in. Will you let TIME distance you from your future?

Backstory:
I want to share how I came up with this curation system. In 2015, I worked primarily on Fiverr.com. It is a freelancer site where bids start at $5 per job. I was selling my Virtual Assistant services for $5/hour (more like $4/hour with Fiverr’s cut).

Toward the end of 2015, I received a custom project for a 365-day Social Media Editorial Calendar. I was hired to create 3 social statuses, including samples, for 3 networks - Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Let’s just say, this was a larger job than I imagined. The first three months went pretty fast, but each successive month became harder and harder.

In order to find custom content for businesses like Plumbers, Lawyers, Doctors, Electricians, Child Care Centers, and Landscapers, I spent a lot of time sifting through sites to curate content from.

As a result of all that research, I created a collection of sites to draw content from AND I developed a system to curate content FAST.

What I’m about to share with you will save you time, fill up your editorial calendar, and (hopefully) increase your channels’ interaction. Let’s get started.

Before you Start:

It may help to download this Blog Traffic Checklist because the Social Media preparation is very similar.

You’re going to need to create a folder on your bookmarks bar with all your social networks (call this Social Media or Promo). This includes Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, Scoop.it, Google+, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

You will also need to add Hootsuite or Buffer to schedule content for later as you don’t want to bombard your followers with a whole bunch of content at one time.

You will also need another folder with the following sites (call this Curate): Vine.co, Pinterest.com, Youtube.com, Mashable.com, Buzzfeed.com, MemeCreator.com, Google.com/trends, Facebook.com, Twitter.com, BrainyQuotes.com, Dailyinfographic.com, MentalFloss.com, iTunes.com, and NationalDayCalendar.com.

You might also want to add QuoteGarden.com, TipHero.com, and Pablo.com to your curation folder.

Finally, you’ll need to know the type of content you are looking for. Here’s a Super Simple Social Media Plan for Twitter and Facebook.

Another simple to use plan is offered by Tailwind social editorial calendars for Pinterest and Instagram.

Refer to the graphic below while following along with the tutorial below:

Step 1:

  • Right Click on the ‘Social Media’ folder and select “open all bookmarks”. This will open every site in a new tab.
  • Sign into each of your accounts

Step 2:

  • Right Click on the ‘Curate’ folder and select “open all bookmarks in a new window”. This will open up a separate window and new tabs for each of your curation sites.



    • This Tip is Courtesy Ana Hoffman from her video Traffic Generation Cafe.

    Step 3:

    Starting with the first tab, browse the site for content to share. Once you find something quickly share it using the social share buttons included with the article, video, meme, image, or quote.

    #VATIP: Keep a small checklist nearby to track where you’ve shared

    PRINTABLE: Checklist

    Here’s what I do:

    Share one and schedule one.

    For example, you share an image quote from BrainyQuote.com on your Facebook Fan page. Your next tab is MemeGenerator.com. Once you find something appropriate, schedule it for later using Hootsuite or Buffer. Repeat this for all sites.

    I’m able to curate from all 15 sites within 15-minutes. It might take you a bit longer in the beginning, but the more you do it, the faster you’ll get. You’ll also get an ‘eye’ for the content you are after.

    ShoutOut

    For the shout out option, simply visit your Hootsuite dashboard (or your social site) and see who mentioned you, shared your post, and followed you.

    I like to do more than just list a whole bunch of names and say ‘Thanks’, so in this example, I chose a few Virtual Assistants I wanted to thank and made a graphic.

    You can create a short video or a simple a text shout out. It really depends on your preference and the allotted time you have available.

    Thanks to Donna Moritz of Socially Sorted for this tip.

    $$$ Social Templates - G+, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn

    Next week I’ll share a stellar curation tip from one of my business mentors. You’re going to like it.

    Want a reminder? Sign Up for updates plus get access to awesome tutorials, webinars, and content I reserve for my subscribers only.

    Watch the video replay of this webinar plus receive more subscriber-only content to help you annihilate your to-do list.

    P.S. Wait! There’s MORE! Below are live examples of content I’ve curated using this system.

    15 WAYS TO SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA WITHOUT MAKING THE CONTENT YOURSELF

    Coming up with ideas to write about is easy at first. As time goes on though you start to get a little flat. Here are a few ways to share content without having to write it yourself (almost).

    On a good day, it takes me 15-minutes to go through each site and post (or schedule) content to various social sites.

    1. Vine.co

    Find something funny, cute, or helpful and share it

    2. Pinterest.com

    Find a recipe, helpful tip, or quote from the Popular category and Embed onto your site

    3. Youtube.com

    Look up your topic and find a video under 3minutes to share (embed) ex. Music, tip, how to, funny, or fun fact

    4. Mashable.com

    Look for a popular (trending) story that fits your audience (doesn’t need to be niche specific)

    5. Buzzfeed.com

    Select something trending, funny, cute, or a fail to share

    6. MemeCreator.com or MemeGenerator.com

    Select browse, top views, and select one that fits your audience OR Make your own

    I’d write a pun, but the good ones argon. #pun #writing

    Posted by Sara Assists You on Saturday, February 6, 2016

    7. Google.com/Trends

    Select a trending topic or search for a topic using the search bar.
    I selected an entertainment story about the premiere of the Television movie based on a book by Nicholas Sparks and added it to Stumbleupon.

    8. Facebook Trends

    Select a story from Trending stories on the right side of your FB profile screen (trending, politics, science and technology, sports, and entertainment)

    On February 6 Zsa Zsa Gabor will turn 99 years old (OR so we think). “A lady never reveals her age darrrlllinnngggg”

    Posted by Sara Beth Duggan on Saturday, February 6, 2016

    9. Twitter Trends or Moments

    Select a topic from “trending topics” or click on “Moments” to see top stories

    10. Quotes from BrainyQuotes.com

    Select a “quote of the day” or sign up for a free account and save some quotes for future social sharing (you can share an image or text quote)

    11. DailyInfographic.com

    Share the daily infographic or select a category and browse. You can also search a specific topic from the search window (spyglass)

    12. Shout outs

    Still stuck? Select a few of your fans/followers to recommend OR do a shout out to some groups you belong to OR boards you curate for

    13. MentalFloss.com

    Share a quiz, an amazing fact, list, fun, or food.
    I selected a story about the Half-Time show for the 1989 SuperBowl and added it to my Hootsuite scheduler.

    14. iTunes.com

    Share a podcast or a popular song (top 100 downloads). Today Drake released a new single so I shared this on Twitter.

    15. NationalDayCalendar.com

    Select a celebration or observance and share it OR create your own National Day

     

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