Why Museums and Business Blogs Need Curators

”Too often, when people walk into a museum, they secretly think, I can’t see the point of this,” says Alain de Botton in Art as Therapy. The curator’s job, he explains, is to take the “snob factor” out of art, offering perspective on each painting, so as to help viewers connect with the artist’s vision..

That’s actually a very good description of the way business bloggers can help online readers connect with information presented in a blog post. That information might have been “curated” from various sources, represent a review of trending news topics, or consist of facts and statistics that need to be put into perspective so that readers realize there’s something important here for them.

"Reading around" and "learning around" are two of my favorite prescriptions for keeping blog post content fresh and engaging. When you learn snippets of O.P.W. (Other People's Wisdom), you not only enrich your own knowledge, but are able to share that wisdom with your readers, I tell freelance blog content writers.

Curating Verneer;s famous painting “Woman in Blue Reading a Letter”, the guide (author de Botton) clarifies the artist’s message. “We’re so surrounded by images of glamour that we’re constantly made to feel that our own lives are not as important.  Vermeer shows that ordinary people are beautiful and interesting.”

Obviously, de Botton is taking liberties with his interpretation, since Vermeer left no notes making his intentions clear for future generations. But even when business bloggers are able to precisely quote others in their SEO marketing blogs, that’s hardly enough. Content writers need to add the providers’ “spin” to the curated material, basing the comments on the  business owner’s or practitioner’s) own business wisdom and expertise.