I’m constantly creating lists. Mostly, I follow the to-do list format to reassure myself that I am having a productive day. Other times, I use the classic Pro/Con grid, but somehow this always makes the decision more complicated.

Consider this my personal attempt to cut through the always changing, often confusing online content economy with a Top 10 List.

#10 Your content is being copied all over the place. Whether you are publishing a book or writing song lyrics, your work is appearing in social networks, blogs and web sites. Don’t you want to know where else your content is going and how it’s being used? With this knowledge, you’ll make better decisions about what kind of content you produce in the first place.

#9 It’s time to level the playing field. The big search engines and ad networks (like Google) thrive on indexing and monetizing other people’s content, and as a result, they have a lot of information — like how readers discover your content and what marketers are willing to pay to advertise on it. Maybe it’s time for a level playing field where you have your own source of information on where your content is being used, where it is being indexed and when the ad networks are making money on it?

#8 You can focus on the matches that matter. You don’t have time to sift through thousands of matches per day to find 10 truly actionable ones. You need to be able to focus on the most interesting matches –as defined by you. Maybe you only want to see matches that have ads on the sites or matches on sites above a monthly traffic threshold. Perhaps you are interested in those that aren’t linking back to you or those who have posted an exact duplicate of your most valuable content.

#7 It’s yours, dammit. You invested time and probably money creating your content. Why should someone else get the credit and the traffic?

#6 DMCA takedown notices aren’t the only option. As a content publisher, the law is on your side, and sometimes there’s no alternative to a DMCA takedown notice. But maybe those should be the exception instead of the rule. There is a middle ground where both parties can share in the benefits – either through a link back to the original source or revenue share.

#5 The Internet isn’t slowing down. It’s no surprise that more consumers are choosing to consume more and more of their content online. The online channel is too important to not have visibility.

#4 Fewer lawsuits. By taking the subjectivity out of the Fair Use debate, it’s easier to reach a negotiated outcome, share revenue and avoid costly litigation.

#3 No more holding back. With web-wide visibility, you no longer need to erect barriers to view your content online or hold back your highest quality work. You know your readers probably prefer full-text RSS feeds to partial-text, and now you can give them what they want.

#2 You’ll be smarter. Now you can answer questions like ‘How much commercial value does my content have off my site’, ‘Which of my content is spreading the furthest within social networks’ or ‘What licensed content clicks back the most’.

#1 You want more traffic. You will be amazed by how many sites use your content without providing a link back to your site. If you can find the sites that are copying and streamline the process of requesting links, you can drive direct traffic and secure better rankings in Google results.

Got another reason ? Please share them in the comments .