One of the best ways to advance your career, start an extra income stream, or become an entrepreneur is by creating content.
By “content” I mean tangible information that delivers value to others, delivered over the internet. It could take the form of a blog post or a long-form essay, an instructional guide or a how-to video, an ebook or online course. Content is anything you make out of knowledge and ideas, either your own or those of others, that exists on its own as a stand-alone thing. Content typically has the goal of entertaining people, helping them learn something new, or giving them solutions to their problems without you having to be there.
information products have a few key differences that make them perfectly suited to getting a business off the ground. First, they can be created out of nothing but thinking and effort. The cost of raw materials is zero. Second, once you’ve produced the first one, they cost nothing to duplicate. The cost of additional manufacturing is zero. Third, they can be stored for free on your computer, and delivered for free over the internet. Inventory and distribution cost zero. And fourth, you can easily edit a text, modify an image, or change a webpage after the fact, often even after they’ve been delivered. The costs of modification are zero.
One of the best ways to start creating content is to curate content. Curation is the process of sorting through the vast amount of content that already exists, and picking and choosing the best or most interesting items for others.
choosing the items is just the beginning of a curator’s job. They also organize and present the items they are curating in a way that makes sense.
In many cases, the curator’s job goes even beyond that, including annotating, explaining, or putting the items into a narrative.
Diagrams, infographics, other visuals: make a map or diagram showing the best tools, websites, events, or products for a particular hobby or activity, and how they relate to each other
Curated news feed: find the best sources of news on a particular topic, and filter only the best ones for others
Comparison tables: if you’ve done the research comparing the options in an industry or niche hobby, create a table showing how they compare
Guides: if you understand an industry or a field, create a “guide” that shows people who the major players are, or what the best sources of insights are
Expert directories: create a list of the top experts in a field for people to follow
Web page showcase
Learning curriculum: make a “curriculum” of the best sources of learning for your field, along with some commentary on how people should use them and in what order