You have probably heard the term PLR mentioned frequently and are still a bit unsure what it means. To those not in the marketing field, “PLR” sounds like it should be a governmental agency. However, it is not just an abbreviation, it is a tool that can greatly shortcut your process of product creation. By using PLR correctly, you can increase your ability to build your business from the ground up in a much shorter period of time.
What is it exactly? PLR stands for Private Label Rights. In its simplest version, you can purchase articles, videos, reports, or other forms of content that have been written in advance. The PLR site owner sells these articles or reports (or videos, e-books, etc.) with special rights that allow you to edit them and use them as if you'd written them yourself (although there may be certain restrictions, so be SURE to always check your rights on anything you buy).
An example you might be more familiar with, is Private Label Rights in physical items. For example, you may buy a large quantity of a private label object such as t-shirts or mugs, or even wristbands, and then have your business information placed on them to sell or give away to your customers. You can also contract with a manufacturer to create a private label item that they make for other companies and put YOUR brand on it. This is basically the same concept as using PLR content to create your own products and brand your online business.
Unlike ghostwritten articles, you'll pay much less for PLR, because others are purchasing the same articles to use, too. It is not unusual for ghostwriters to charge at least 5 cents a word for unique content. Some charge less, some charge more. There are content mills where you can get articles written even cheaper, but they are often of lower quality and may be written by people who are not native speakers.
Even most of those sites still charge 1 to 2 cents a word. So one 500 word article is going to be 5 to 10 dollars. From a good ghostwriter you would be looking at at least 25 or 30 dollars for that same 500 word article. Compare that with around a dollar a page for most high quality PLR articles of the same length.
There are other rights out there as well, which some people confuse with PLR, but there are some major differences. Usually the ones that are most confused with PLR are known as MRR or RR, which stands for Master Resale Rights or just Resale Rights. Sometimes they will say Resell Rights instead of Resale, but they are basically content that you have the right to sell, and sometimes also allow you to give it away, but you cannot change the content. You can often change the author information, the links, and the buy button on the sales page, but the actual content has to remain the same. Sometimes you can't even change the author name and just change the sales information so the sale goes to your account and autoresponder.
PLR content is available in scores of topic areas, from health and fitness, to internet
marketing, to dating and relationships, to training your cat, and everything in between. Good PLR is written by professional, native-language speakers. You, as the marketer, can purchase single pieces of content or packs of articles at a relatively low price, and then use them for your website, blog, newsletter, podcast, etc.
A lot of people wonder with copyright laws, how PLR content can be legal. Obviously, you can't use copyrighted material as your own. However, PLR providers write their content with the specific purpose of selling it with the rights to use as you see fit, or the specific rights they list in the product. If the content is created and sold with the express intent of offering it as PLR, then you are legally permitted to adapt, use, and disseminate the information, according to the specific rights you've been granted. Always check the rights you are given, and if you are not sure about a particular use, contact the PLR provider to find out. With all the changes in technology, it is possible you may think of a use the PLR provider has not listed in the rights.
You may be wondering how at around a dollar a page that PLR providers can make money; they make it in volume of sales. They may charge only a dollar or so per article, but by selling multiples of the same article to many different business owners, they make their money in numbers. For example say they sell a pack of 5 articles of 500 words each for 5 dollars, and they sell 100 packs, they have made 500 dollars. Compare that with selling the same 5 articles of unique content to one buyer for 25 dollars each for a total of 125 dollars. Plus they have more buyers to sell more articles to over time as well. It becomes more passive income because they can sell the same work to multiple buyers, and spend more time creating more products.
Now you're probably wondering what happens if a bunch of people purchase the same set of articles and publish it via their websites or newsletters – won't their customers notice, or get mad that they're using someone else's material? Well, here's the real secret about PLR. You need to see it as a starting point for your content. You need to tweak it a bit and make it fit your audience and your particular brand. Adding your own voice changes the PLR enough that it is no longer a cookie cutter product, but is now unique to you.
You may think that PLR is great for those with large business or for the really huge niches like internet marketing, but it works for smaller niches too. While there is plenty of PLR content available in those markets, you can find PLR to fit virtually any business and any niche.
