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My Confession... (A Lesson Learned in Private Label Rights Content)
by Michael Hopkins

A little while back (July 20th) I sent an email with the subject link "Are you guilty of this?" which talked about the fact that many of us are "guilty" of buying ebook after ebook without ever taking the time to read them and/or use the information they contain.

If you missed that email (or want to check back), you can read a copy of it here.

The day after it went out, I asked my wife Nathalie if she'd read it so I could get her comments and feedback.

Well, she HAD read it, and what she said about it took me by surprise...

Basically, she said something along the lines of "You sound kind of different than usual in that email. Your tone of 'voice' is different than usual and, if I didn't know better, I'd say it was written by someone else".

This surprised me because Nathalie was right -- I didn't write that email!

It was written by a well-known Internet marketer and it was the first time in all my years of writing Ebook Times messages that I sent out something I hadn't written myself. And she noticed!

You see, about two months ago I paid $97 to buy private label rights to the entire content (past, present and future) of a (relatively) well-known membership site. The deal included ebooks, videos, blog entries, everything.  (By the way, if you're not sure, private label content is the global term to define content in the form of ebooks, articles, software or whatever that you're free to claim as your own. You can change them, put your name to them, compile them into a new product, etc.)

It seemed at the time (and still does, in fact) like great value for money. Of course, like so many things I hardly found the time to put any of it to use. (The irony, huh :-)

Anyway, I was looking through the site to see if there was something there I could use on one of my websites as a bit of search-engine-friendly content.

I came across that entry and thought 'Hey, there's a topic that's close to my heart and it's something I've touched on in Ebook Times before. Why not turn it into an email?"

So that's what I did. I took that content, tweaked it a little and turned it into an Ebook Times message.

And that would have been the end of it, if it wasn't for Nathalie's comment.

Now, you're probably wondering why I'm bothering to tell you all this. I mean, like, who cares..?

Well, I think there's an important lesson or two in there when it comes to using private label content...

[CONTINUED BELOW...]

Firstly, it's best not to claim authorship of any private label rights (PLR) content. It was written by someone else, so it doesn't 'sound' like you. Also, if that same content is appearing elsewhere with someone else's name attached, it reflects badly on both 'authors'.

If you're using PLR content to create, for example an ebook to give away then, rather than adding your name, use a more generic approach that doesn't attach you directly to the content.

Personally, I find that the best approach is to use URL(s) that tie in with the content. For example, at the end of an article you could put something like... "For more info about [article subject] visit [website URL]". (Okay, you could make it a bit more enticing than that, but you get the idea). The URL could be your own website or it could be for a related affiliate product you're promoting.

If you're using PLR content purely as content for your website, then you don't need to add anything at all. Just put it up on a page and let the search engines come and get it.

If you're compiling PLR articles into an ebook, again, put something like "Brought to You by [website URL]" rather than "Written by [your name]".

--- SIDENOTE ---
You've probably got heaps of PLR articles on your PC right now that you've never used.

Go take a look through them. Find some with a common theme. Check them for decent quality. Copy and paste them in your text editing software. Place a few ads/links for your own website and/or affiliate websites that tie in with the theme of the content. Put a big bold message at the top encouraging people to give the ebook away to others.

Using an ebook compiler (like the one for free at www.pdf995.com), compile it into an ebook. Make the ebook available for download across the ebook directories, on your own website and anywhere else you can.

If you're into growing your mailing list, put a page online offering the ebook for free in exchange for subscribing.

It's your ebook now, so use it to grow your business. It'll probably start off slowly, but over time these things all add up and pay dividends.
If you start right now, you'll probably have an ebook ready within two hours.

If you don't have any PLR content, you'll find some for free here and here and you'll probably find more if you run a few searches on Google. By the way, I haven't had time yet to study the quality of the articles on either of those sites, so make sure you do so before using them.
--- END SIDENOTE ---

Anyway, getting back to the lessons learned...

The second lesson I've learned, of course, is not to use PLR content in your newsletter. You spend too long building a relationship with your subscribers. Don't mess it up by throwing in stuff that just isn't you.

It might save you a bit of time/effort in the short term, but it risks diluting the 'personality' of your newsletter and leaving your subscribers decidedly unimpressed with your lack of a distinct voice of your own.

Is there a third lesson? None I can think of for now... but I guess two isn't bad for a start!

Okay, I'll sign off here. My typing finger is getting sore and I'm sure you've had enough of my rambling at this stage :-)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Michael Hopkins is a Successful Web Marketer and Owner of BizzyDays Ebook Publications. Visit Now to Download Original Ebooks for Free at: http://www.bizzydays.com
This Article First Appeared in Michael's Newsletter, Ebook Times. To subscribe visit: http://www.ebooktimes.com

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provided that you include the 'About the author' information (above).

 

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