💡 Insights

Curation-as-a-Service

Curation-as-a-Service (CAAS) is an emerging industry centered around collecting, selecting, and organizing relevant and valuable information from various sources to provide to users.

As a response to the issue of information overload, CAAS presents a solution that optimizes time, money, and energy.

This quickly proliferating sector offers multiple startup paths and significant opportunities.

This prompts a compelling question: Are curators the new creators?

🚀 Curated > Created?

Once, information was a scarce gem. Now, a ceaseless torrent of content overwhelms us. The task of what to read, listen to, watch, or learn is becoming a chore ripe for outsourcing.

Enter CAAS. This rising industry focuses on collecting, selecting, and organizing the worthwhile from the worthless.

💡 Key Insight: At its core, curation aims to streamline the content consumption journey, conserving valuable resources for both businesses and consumers.

📈 The Future is Curated

The digital commerce landscape is evolving with curation at its core:

1. Curation as a New Business Model:

   • The internet’s abundance is a double-edged sword.

   • Outsourcing content choices is a fresh monetization avenue.

2. Curators Stepping into the Creators’ Shoes:

   • Curators are gaining recognition and revenue by spotlighting top-tier resources.

   • Their focus has pivoted to organizing data that resonates with niche audiences.

3. AI & NoCode: The Power Duo:

   • AI is the new ally in content discovery.

   • NoCode tools facilitate smart distribution, enabling modern directory websites to list and rank top resources intelligently.

🎭 The Many Faces of Digital Curation

• Content Curation: Aggregating articles, blogs, videos.

• Product Curation: Showcasing digital products like e-books, software.

• Event Curation: Highlighting virtual events, webinars.

• ... and many more, each catering to a unique audience and different interests.

📡 Channels of Digital Distribution

Various channels cater to diverse curation needs:

• Newsletters: Platforms like Beehiiv are your allies.

• Websites and Blogs: Tools like WordPress or Ghost are key.

• Directory Sites: Craft with Airtable and Softr.

• ... and others like Mobile Apps, Membership Sites, Online Communities, E-Libraries or Repositories, and Wikis provide varied avenues for digital distribution.

🔧 Toolkit for the Modern Curator

• Brilliant Directories is a prime choice for those looking to create online directories. Its platform is tailored for effortless directory creation, serving as a hub where curated data can be organized and shared efficiently.

• Walling is perfect for visually organizing and curating content. Its boards and cards feature enables curators to visually layout curated data, making it easy to organize, rearrange, and digest.

• MyMind serves as a personal space for collecting and organizing visuals and text. Curators can use it to build a curated directory that stores and organizes data in a manner that's easy to access and share.

• Fabric.so is a tool crafted for saving and searching personal notes, images, and links. It aids in the curation process, making it simpler to store and organize curated data for easy retrieval and sharing.

• Notion is an all-in-one workspace ideal for curating content for directories. It’s a reliable platform where curators can organize, store, and share curated data, making collaboration and access straightforward.

• Coda blends documents, spreadsheets, and apps into a curation canvas. It’s a robust platform for curators looking to organize and share curated data in a structured and interactive manner.

• Atlas is a platform that aids in organizing your digital life, making it easier to find, access, and share information. It's a solid choice for curators looking to simplify the organization and sharing of curated data across digital landscapes.

🌟 Opportunity

“Outside” Opportunity

This week, a unique find caught my eye on Duuce—a newsletter up for sale that curates a variety of weekend activities for people new to London.

Subscribers: 2,603
Asking Price: $7,800

Unfortunately, the owner doesn’t have the time to grow it anymore and isn’t experienced with monetization.

Immediately, this sparked a revenue-generating idea in my mind that I’ve seen previously.

Guess Where Trips designs and sells one-day surprise digital itineraries leading folks to lesser-known spots, charming small towns, and amusing roadside attractions based on their location and preferences.

Purchasers receive a digital "Before You Go" package filled with a personalized itinerary, tailored recommendations, maps, and handy tips.

Their model of crafting niche-specific itineraries like those for families or couples, and continually exploring new locales, presents a ripe opportunity for targeting various local niches and branching out to fresh territories.

It’s a blend of the digital and the physical, all under the broad umbrella of Curation As A Service, a model discussed in the section above.

Now, you don’t necessarily have to shell out $7,800 to get started.

Start by canvassing the unexplored or lesser-trodden paths in your city. Each weekend could unveil a new narrative, a new journey, curated meticulously for your subscribers.

Step 1: Know Your Turf

Get intimate with your city’s uncelebrated gems - the quaint coffee shops, historic alleys, or the serene parks. Make a list, visit them, understand their stories.

Step 2: Narrate the Unseen

Use Beehiiv to kickstart your newsletter. Your first few editions could be simple explorations, narrated enticingly to hook your early subscribers. Engage them with stories, not listings.

Step 3: Engage and Grow

Your subscribers are your best marketers. Engage them. Seek their stories, their discoveries. Grow your list through word of mouth, social shares, and local collaborations.

Step 4: Monetize with Exclusivity

Now, introduce a premium tier. Curate specialized itineraries, much like Guess Where Trips. Maybe a romantic evening for couples, or a thrilling day out for families. Sell these digital products right through your newsletter.

Step 5: Expand Horizons

Don’t just stop at your city. Partner with local enthusiasts from other cities, expand your curated experiences and grow your digital product suite.

🧰 Featured Tools

🎉 Unleash Stack AI's No-Code Powerhouse!

🚀 Turbocharged Deployments: From easing the AI adoption with no-code magic, they're now opening doors to AI-powered applications.

🛠️ Seamless Creation: Craft fully operational applications with a visual drag-and-drop. Morph manual processes into automated workflows.

🧠 AI in Command: Revel in AI-driven chatbots, document processing, and database querying. Connect the AI dots with your data sources effortlessly (Airtable, Notion, and more).

🎯 Endless Possibilities: Be it chatbots, content creation, document analytics, or database interactions—your innovation horizon just expanded manifold.

Check out Stack AI, and be sure to check out their docs.

Links Worth a Look

🔍 Subreddit Stats - Delve into Reddit analytics with this platform, offering subreddit rankings, user interactions, and network visualizations.

📋 SurveyMonkey Genius - A blend of AI and survey expertise providing step-by-step guidance, error detection, and personalized recommendations for survey creation.

🍎 Teachally - An AI-backed platform for educators to craft and customize lessons, automate communication, all while ensuring strict privacy standards adherence.

📊 Browserbear - A no-code web scraper using AI for effortless data extraction and browser automations, equipped with a REST API for developers.