Real-world examples showing how gathering, collecting, organising and adding value to existing available information can create useful and economically sustainable online services. Presented by Robin Good during the Art of Curation event in Amsterdam on January 14th 2015.

1. The Business of Content Curation
The Future is for Those Who Know How To Organize Information
Robin Good - Amsterdam - Jan. 14th 2015

2. Why curation is
such a revolutionary art?
Curiosity

3. Why curation is
such a revolutionary art?
Curiosity
Because, to curate anything,
you really need to slow down
and pay attention to it.
Actually more than that…
You need to get curious about your subject.
That’s how you can curate it.

4. Why curation is
such a revolutionary art?
Sense-making

5. Because to effectively curate something
you really need to first make sense of it
yourself
Why curation is
such a revolutionary art?
Sense-making

6. Why curation is
such a revolutionary art?
Context - Niche

7. Because it forces the curator not to focus
just on the subject of his work
as a standalone item,
but to look at it and frame it
within a larger, more specific context
(think DJ or gallery curator):
the interest of those following him
Why curation is
such a revolutionary art?
Context - Niche

8. Why curation is
such a revolutionary art?
Evaluate - Vet

9. Because it forces any author to go beyond
representing, reporting or expressing and
into questioning, analysing, sense-making of
what is already available and relevant out
there.
It demands that who takes on this
responsibility understands the opportunity
and risk offered by having to carefully
evaluate whether what has been selected,
summarized and distilled is really worth the
attention and time of others
Why curation is
such a revolutionary art?
Evaluate - Vet

10. Why curation is
such a revolutionary art?
Trust

11. Because the emerging new digital curator
is not like the classic journalist, art critic,
or newsbeat reporter or blogger.
He is not just a connoiseur.
He is not just an expert on the subject.
He is foremost a truly trusted person.
One we lend the ability to guide us,
to uncover for us selected specimen,
and to illustrate to us through his eyes,
their value, meaning, relationship and purpose.
Why curation is
such a revolutionary art?
Trust

12. Why curation is
such a revolutionary art?
Ethics - Values

13. Because to become a truly trusted person,
the “go-to” reference point for some,
the curator needs to have openly declared
values, ethics and preferences of his own.
Because it is through these values
(rather than just speed, freshness,
popularity, and others) that individuals
select their trusted guides and develop
deep, long-lasting bonds with them.
Why curation is
such a revolutionary art?
Ethics - Values

14. The curator is a trusted guide
who helps others to explore,
to discover and make sense of
information artifacts within
a specific subject-matter area

16. What follows is a short selection of real-world examples
of how curating a specific information subject
can give life to useful online public services
that can also be economically sustainable
(if not outright profitable).

17. Daring Fireball
1
John Gruber’s personal viewpoint
on everything Apple-related

22. Service offered: A curated analysis of key news and stories
relevant to an audience of Mac nerds, designers,
nitpickers, perfectionists, and connoisseurs of fine
sarcasm.
DaringFireball.net
Business model: Free for all to access
Weekly feed sponsorship + quality ad network (The Deck)

23. Really Good Emails
2
Best examples of email newsletters
organized by category

28. Service offered: Curated gallery of commercial email examples
from confirmations to newsletter subscription, to
offers, promotions and more.
Business model: Free for all to access
Leader of market sponsorship by MailChimp
ReallyGoodEmails.com

29. One Page Love
3
Best examples of one-page websites

35. Service offered: Curated gallery of one-page website designs and
examples organized by categories, commented
and tagged. Includes also resources, interviews,
articles and one-page specific themes for web
sites.
OnePageLove.com
Business model: Free for all to access
Quality ads and affiliate commissions on templates

36. Metti da parte e organizza
siti web e pagine interessanti
Startup Digest
4
A guide to all upcoming startup-related events
in a specific country

41. Service offered: Email newsletter listing all of the upcoming events
related to the world of startups for a specific
country.
StartupDigest.com
Business model: Free subscription
Paid sponsorship and priority display of events

42. OldVersion
5
Archive of older, dismissed versions
of most software programs

48. Service offered: Access to huge archive of older releases of free
downloadable software tools from Skype to
iTunes, including games and covering PC, Mac
and Linux editions. and social contacts of top tech
startup journalists
OldVersion.com
Free access to all users
Contextual advertising model: Google AdSense
Business model:

49. PressFarm
6
Collects, organizes and makes it easy
to find journalists covering new startups

53. Service offered:
Business model:
Access to updated and curated database of email
and social contacts of top tech startup journalists
PressFarm.com
Free view of all journalists in the database
$9 to access all of their emails

54. Techmeme
7
The most relevant Silicon-Valley news
for the tech-business-VC community

58. Service offered:
Business model:
Techmeme was founded in 2005 by Gabe Rivera
as an automated news curation service, like
Google News, but focused on the leading edge of
technology. Starting in 2008, we introduced human
editors to complete the editorial process, and have
now assembled the team presented on the right.
Our experience leads us to believe that a
thoughtful combination of both algorithmic and
human editing offers the best means for curating in
a space as broad as technology. Today,
Techmeme remains independent, bootstrapped,
and privately held
Free for readers
Sponsored stories - Who’s hiring - Events promotion
TechMeme.com

59. SmartBrief
8
The most relevant, must-read news
in your vertical industry sent to you by email

66. Service offered:
Business model:
A daily snapshot of social business insights with
news from AllFacebook, ClickZ and other leading
sources. Summaries of what matters to you,
written by expert editors to save you time and
keep you informed and prepared.
Free for subscribers
Paid sponsorships and contextually relevant promotions
for advertising partners
Smartbrief.com

67. Briefio
9
Quality book content read
and summarized for you

73. Briefio.com
Service offered:
Business model:
Free membership club providing
best-seller book summaries
Sales of individual summaries starting at $4.99

74. UserOnBoarding
10
Annotated visual analysis of onboarding
strategies utilized by succesfull startups

89. Service offered:
Business model:
Step by step visual analysis of onboarding process
adopted by popular online startups
Sales of training materials starting at $249
UserOnBoard.com

90. Criterion Collection
11
Curated boutique of quality films re-mastered
and bundled with unique additional media

99. Service offered:
Business model:
Blue-ray re-mastered author films in curated box
sets or collections with rare additional materials,
including photos, interview, unreleased cuts and
clips.
Direct sales of DVDs
Criterion.com

100. SlideRule
12
trusted guidance to find ideal learn / study
curriculum within open and free access offerings

110. Service offered:
Business model:
Guided access to the best free courses and
learning programs available online. Curated
learning paths for specific interests. Workshops on
specific topics where students are supported by
individual mentors.. Step by step visual analysis of
onboarding process adopted by popular online
startups
Free access to all basic info and to fully free
learning paths.
Paid workshops with mentors.
Affiliate commissions on promoted paid courses.
SlideRule.com

111. Business Model Gallery
13
Organized information archive of business models
utilized by successful companies online and off

119. Service offered:
Business model:
A structured, filterable and searchable database of
all of the available business models utilized by
successful companies from Facebook to
Foursquare. Each company / business model is
captured inside a business model canvas
template.
Free access to three business models.
Paid subscription to access all database.
Training packages that include options going from
workshops to keynotes and bootcamps.
BusinessModelGallery.com

120. The curator is NOT someone who collects
That person is a collector
The curator is NOT someone who makes lists
That person is a list-maker
The curator is NOT someone who picks
the best news to share
That person is a news editor
The curator is NOT someone who cuts and pastes
other people’s work without even crediting it
That person is a thief

121. The curator is NOT someone who collects
That person is a collector
The curator is NOT someone who makes lists
That person is a list-maker
The curator is NOT someone who picks
the best news to share
That person is a news editor
The curator is NOT someone who cuts and pastes
other people’s work without even crediting it
That person is a thief

122. The curator is NOT someone who collects
That person is a collector
The curator is NOT someone who makes lists
That person is a list-maker
The curator is NOT someone who picks
the best news to share
That person is a news editor
The curator is NOT someone who cuts and pastes
other people’s work without even crediting it
That person is a thief

123. The curator is NOT someone who collects
That person is a collector
The curator is NOT someone who makes lists
That person is a list-maker
The curator is NOT someone who picks
the best news to share
That person is a news editor
The curator is NOT someone who cuts and pastes
other people’s work without even crediting it
That person is a thief

124. The curator is NOT someone who collects
That person is a collector
The curator is NOT someone who makes lists
That person is a list-maker
The curator is NOT someone who picks
the best news to share
That person is a news editor
The curator is NOT someone who cuts and pastes
other people’s work without even crediting it
That person is a thief

125. The digital content curator
1. does not just collect, it organizes
labels, titles, tags, categorizes, classifies
2. verifies, vets, checks
does not buy at face value or on the basis of freshness,
popularity, bang
3. provides context
integrates his work in a larger framework that facilitates
understanding for novices
4. offers guidance
introduces to novices, does not take for granted, indicates
where to find more

126. The digital content curator
1. does not just collect, it organizes
labels, titles, tags, categorizes, classifies
2. verifies, vets, checks
does not buy at face value or on the basis of freshness,
popularity, bang
3. provides context
integrates his work in a larger framework that facilitates
understanding for novices
4. offers guidance
introduces to novices, does not take for granted, indicates
where to find more

127. The digital content curator
1. does not just collect, it organizes
labels, titles, tags, categorizes, classifies
2. verifies, vets, checks
does not buy at face value or on the basis of freshness,
popularity, bang
3. provides context
integrates his work in a larger framework that facilitates
understanding for novices
4. offers guidance
introduces to novices, does not take for granted, indicates
where to find more

128. The digital content curator
1. does not just collect, it organizes
labels, titles, tags, categorizes, classifies
2. verifies, vets, checks
does not buy at face value or on the basis of freshness,
popularity, bang
3. provides context
integrates his work in a larger framework that facilitates
understanding for novices
4. offers guidance
introduces to novices, does not take for granted, indicates
where to find more

129. The digital content curator
1. does not just collect, it organizes
labels, titles, tags, categorizes, classifies
2. verifies, vets, checks
does not buy at face value or on the basis of freshness,
popularity, bang
3. provides context
integrates his work in a larger framework that facilitates
understanding for novices
4. offers guidance
introduces to novices, does not take for granted, indicates
where to find more

130. 5. illustrates, showcases
utilizes photos, illustrations, graphs and other
visual means to convey meaning
6. shares opinion, evaluation
provides his personal viewpoint and assessment
7. archives, stores, preserves
saves a copy of the original for the future
8. updates and expands
revises, adds, and integrates new valuable
information as it becomes available
The digital content curator

131. 5. illustrates, showcases
utilizes photos, illustrations, graphs and other
visual means to convey meaning
6. shares opinion, evaluation
provides his personal viewpoint and assessment
7. archives, stores, preserves
saves a copy of the original for the future
8. updates and expands
revises, adds, and integrates new valuable
information as it becomes available
The digital content curator

132. 5. illustrates, showcases
utilizes photos, illustrations, graphs and other
visual means to convey meaning
6. shares opinion, evaluation
provides his personal viewpoint and assessment
7. archives, stores, preserves
saves a copy of the original for the future
8. updates and expands
revises, adds, and integrates new valuable
information as it becomes available
The digital content curator

133. 5. illustrates, showcases
utilizes photos, illustrations, graphs and other
visual means to convey meaning
6. shares opinion, evaluation
provides his personal viewpoint and assessment
7. archives, stores, preserves
saves a copy of the original for the future
8. updates and expands
revises, adds, and integrates new valuable
information as it becomes available
The digital content curator

134. 9. credits, attributes
provides visible and tangible credit to sources and contributors
to help further information discovery
10. discloses
reveals its business and commercial ties, partnerships and interests
11. takes position
declares openly what he stands for and why
12. invites collaboration, contribution
understand and favours the power of inclusiveness and participation
The digital content curator

135. 9. credits, attributes
provides visible and tangible credit to sources and contributors
to help further information discovery
10. discloses
reveals its business and commercial ties, partnerships and interests
11. takes position
declares openly what he stands for and why
12. invites collaboration, contribution
understand and favours the power of inclusiveness and participation
The digital content curator

136. 9. credits, attributes
provides visible and tangible credit to sources and contributors
to help further information discovery
10. discloses
reveals its business and commercial ties, partnerships and interests
11. takes position
declares openly what he stands for and why
12. invites collaboration, contribution
understand and favours the power of inclusiveness and participation
The digital content curator

137. 9. credits, attributes
provides visible and tangible credit to sources and contributors
to help further information discovery
10. discloses
reveals its business and commercial ties, partnerships and interests
11. takes position
declares openly what he stands for and why
12. invites collaboration, contribution
understand and favours the power of inclusiveness and participation
The digital content curator

138. curation is the future

139. Top Tools for Communication PROs
http://tools.robingood.com

141. Image credits: Shutterstock.com