Why I Steal Content (And Why You Should, Too)

This guest post is by Adam Costa of Trekity.com.

I have a confession to make: for the past few years I’ve stolen content. Lots of it.

It’s not something I’m proud of. Hell, I’ve never admitted it to anyone besides my wife (and she’s an even bigger thief than me).

But this painful truth must come out, and—rather than see my dirty laundry exposed by someone else—I’d like to be the one to declare it publicly.

I am a thief. Worse… I’m a plagiarizer!

I have stolen content and used it for my own evil purposes. And if you’ve been around here long enough (or read my content elsewhere) chances are you’ve read been exposed to my crimes of passion.

“Passion?” you say. “How could this possibly be considered passion… when all you’re doing is stealing from other writers? Stealing from writers who shed blood, sweat and caffeine to put out the best content possible? What’s wrong with you, man?”

In my defense…

I would argue that stealing content is not only commonplace, it’s a smart business strategy. But please don’t misunderstand me.

I’m not saying you should hijack other people’s content and pass it off as your own. Nor should you mindlessly repeat whatever the “hot tip” of the day is.

No. You do need to create new, interesting and—above all—unique content.

Sometimes, at least. But if you’re reinventing the wheel with every post, you’re overlooking an absolute goldmine of content. One which you can ethically steal, and use for your own nefarious purposes.

But before I tell you where this goldmine is, I must make another confession.

It’s not as bad as the first. In fact, it may help you understand why I’m doing this. You see…

I’ve only stolen from one person

Myself. And you know what? I don’t mind at all.

Remember the goldmine? The one I promised to reveal? Well, that goldmine is every piece of content you’ve already produced. It’s all sitting there—buried deep in your archives—waiting to be brought to light again.

Why you should steal, too

The truth is, if you’re using your content once, you’re wasting your time. Remember that post you wrote about Thailand? Why not turn it into a video? Why not create a slideshow? Why not drip feed content through Twitter?

Seriously, what’s stopping you? Maybe you think you don’t have time. Or don’t know where to start.

Well listen up, buckaroo. Reusing old content takes less time than creating new content. And it reaches a different audience (some people love video, others prefer to read … why not engage them all?). Recycling content actually saves you time.

Here’s how to start

Below are 19 popular forms of content:

1. articles
2. social media updates
3. blog posts
4. enewsletters
5. case studies
6. in-person events
7. videos
8. white papers
9. webinars
10. microsites
11. print magazines
12. traditional media
13. research reports (white papers)
14. branded content tools
15. ebooks
16. tweets
17. Pinterest updates
18. podcasts
19. mobile-specific content

Chances are, you’re only using one of these forms for each piece of content you product. Shame on you. Look at the above list—you could easily recycle a single piece of content into five or more different forms.

Examples of recycled content

Here are just a few examples to get you started:

• blog post >> video >> podcast >> enewsletter >> series of tweets >> print magazine
• ten blog posts >> ebook >> podcast >> microsite
• images in blog post >> Pinterest >> ebook >> slideshow >> photography site (e.g. Flickr)
• interview >> slideshow >> video >> transcription in blog post with images >> images added to Pinterest
• live presentation >> video >> podcast >> blog post.

3 Unique ways to recycle content

1. Umapper

Umapper lets you easily customize maps. You can add images, annotations and video within your maps.

For example, let’s say you write a post on BBQ joints in Austin, Texas. With Umapper, you could create a map with each restaurant pinpointed with annotations and add video of each restaurant showing shots of the food.

2. Dipity

Dipity helps you create cool looking timelines (check out this one on Russian history) with zero programming or design skills. Have you written a post that flows in chronological order? Add it—along with images—to Dipity. Then embed the timeline on your own site underneath your existing post (or create a new page altogether).

3. Many Eyes

Many Eyes, which was created by IBM, helps you visualize data in new and exciting ways. It’s also a great way to “steal” public data and create something valuable.

How? For example, you use the average travel expenditure by country and create a chart like this one.

So if you’re already sitting on old content, break open these tools and start creating more valuable content in less time. After all, the future depends on what we do in the present.

Okay, I stole that line. From Gandhi. Sorry about that.

Adam Costa is Editor in Chief of Trekity.com, a new kind of travel website. †You can also follow him on Twitter.