Mistakes Made When Using PLR

PLR reports and ebooks can be just the thing when you want to have your own product but don’t have the time, ability, or inclination to create your own.  Having an ebook ghostwritten is another option, but it might not be the right one for you when you’re just starting out, don’t have much traffic, and don’t have the money to pay a ghostwriter.

PLR reports and ebooks come ready made, but sticking your name on them and putting them out there for sale is not all there is to it.  No, you’ve got to make some changes in order to make people happy and put out a valuable product you will be proud to call your own.

Here are the mistakes I see people making with their newly purchased PLR:

Mistake #1 – PLR used “as is”.
Don’t grab the PLR and turn around and slap it up on your site and send out a promo email to your list.  Think of the PLR product you just purchased as the start of something big.  You need to make some changes not only to benefit your customer but to benefit yourself.

Mistake #2 – Not fixing the sales page.
Look for instructions, usually in red or highlighted and [in brackets] that tell you to add something, like your link or your picture.  Nothing screams PLR more than seeing a sales page where the person hasn’t even bothered to take out the [instructions] and add the necessary links or graphics.

You’ll also want to tamper with the copy. Change it up.  Add your story and take out the writer’s story.  Make the benefits even more compelling.  And for pet sake, change the other guy’s name at the bottom of the copy to your own!

Mistake #3 – Graphics not changed.
If you use the same graphics (and title), some people are going to recognize the product.  They might even realize they’ve seen it quite a few times and begin to think the product is probably really lame PLR.  They certainly won’t think too highly of you and will question the value of all your products.

Mistake #4 – Links on the sales page don’t work.
How many times have you clicked on the links in a sales page and find they didn’t work? It seems this happens more with PLR products, maybe because people didn’t start the whole product process from scratch or maybe because they’re in a hurry to get the PLR “live” and start making money from it.  So test your links.

Mistake #5 – No links were added inside the product.
Think about why you bought the PLR report or ebook in the first place and what you want to have it accomplish for you.  Don’t consider it as just something to give your list.  Steer it in a particular direction.  Add links in the body for products you’re promoting, either yours or affiliate products that can help the reader out.  End it not so much with a conclusion as a beginning of something bigger and better – like your big ticket product, your membership site, or your coaching offer.  If you don’t have those then become an affiliate for someone else’s big launch, membership site, or coaching program.  Your purchased PLR should do at least double duty for you.

If it’s a PLR article that you’re going to post on your blog, add your links to it.  Change the conclusion of the article to point to a product you sell that will solve the reader’s problems.

Mistake #6 – Value not added.
You can’t change just the graphics and title. Someone might buy it and feel tricked when they realize they’ve bought it before and it’s exactly the same except for the pretty new cover. There goes your reputation.  The best thing to do?  Always add value; it’s not that hard.

•    Explain some of the bullet points in more detail.
•    Add more bullet points.
•    Include some real life examples or stories.
•    Throw in a case study or two.
•    Add screen shots.
•    Add Camtasia videos showing how to do things mentioned in the product.

There is always something you can do to not only change it but to add value.  It might take you some time, but not near as much as creating a product from scratch.

Mistake #7 – Not using keywords.
Don’t forget your keywords!  Take the time to find the best longtail keyword phrases and use them in the title, the sales copy, the articles if you’re using PLR articles, and anywhere else you find that’s appropriate. Using your keywords brings another element to your marketing by capturing organic traffic.

Mistake #8 – Throwing it on a website and expecting it to sell.
Even if you did make changes to the product and you’re quite proud of it, you still have to market it, just like with any product.  There are many ways to do this – article marketing, emailing your list, PPC, WSO on the Warrior Forum, cross promoting with other marketers, eBay, email swaps, affiliates, etc.  Get busy!

PLR reports and ebooks are the perfect place to start when you want to have a product to call your own. But using PLR is not just for the beginner; many marketers successfully use PLR to crank out product after product – just ask John about that.

This is a guest post written by Peggy Baron

If you want to be considered for a guest blog post please contact me

12 Comments

  • Alan Petersen

    Reply Reply June 30, 2009

    Great post! Anyone wondering how to use PLR effectively should print this post and use it as a checklist. Making PLR your own and then repurposing it is a sure way of getting a lot of valuable mileage out of your PLR materials. Thanks for the great info Peggy and John!

  • Mark McWilliams

    Reply Reply June 30, 2009

    A superb post Peggy, and I’m glad John decided to publish it here on his blog. Not just someone who has been trying to sell PLR before, but a newbie too, this information is gold to them! – I’m sure you know what I mean by that?

    If ANYTHING, Tip #3 along with #1 are the most important I’d say, or at least the things you should be thinking about first! Graphics can do the world of good, and also rewriting the report/whatever out in your own style, that could be enough?

    While you can talk about it, at the end of the day if you don’t take action and follow through, then you’ll not get anywhere! (That’ll be why I’m not getting anywhere, but I’m going off-topic now!)

    I look forward to more interesting, and informative posts from either yourself John, or a guest poster! Now where’s the print button gone? 😉

    Thanks
    Mark

  • Pat Graham

    Reply Reply June 30, 2009

    Great post, Peggy. I particularly liked #4 and #6.

    I get really disgusted when links go nowhere. It is beyond sloppy when someone puts in the effort to create something from PLR and publishes it without checking the links. It does nothing positive for the author’s credibility.

    Your comments on #6 were also right on. A simple bulleted list of benefits does not prove anything to a skeptical or even a jaded new customer. Simple one or two sentences to back up each bulleted point are always more believable.

    Keep up the good work. I learned a thing or two by your post.

    Pat Graham

  • Ron Barrett

    Reply Reply June 30, 2009

    Wonderful information Peggy. These are great points and I have a difficult time determining my favorite, but I would have to say NOT changing anything within the material or not changing the sales page would have to be two of the biggies.

    Keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing more of you out there.

    Ron

  • Keith Purkiss

    Reply Reply June 30, 2009

    Thanks Peggy for some great tips on what to avoid.

    I’m guilty of a few of these mistakes, but I’m using a duplicate content checker when I change my important articles.

  • Mandy Allen

    Reply Reply July 1, 2009

    Great post, Peggy, thanks for that.

    Enjoy the journey.

    Mandy

  • Gary David

    Reply Reply July 5, 2009

    Thanks for the great post Peggy. Those tips really work especially if we sell ebooks, because I’ve seen lots of ebooks selling by several marketers, and no changes has been made at all. One thing I like about PLR ebooks is that you can sell it at a low cost, and then going big on back-end by showing your OTO after the sale, and put your links inside the ebook for affiliate commissions for you.

    Regards,

    Gary
    http://www.privatelabelunlimited.com

  • Kathy Dobson

    Reply Reply July 9, 2009

    Thanks for your great informative post Peggy. I am still learning the ins and outs of PLR and this summed it up quite nicely for me.

    One thing I know for sure…if you are going to use PLR…you need to take the time to make it your own.

    Thanks again,
    Kathy

  • Jay Mueller

    Reply Reply July 10, 2009

    Great post Peggy! Man how great is it to post for John?

    This is the perfect timing for me as I start to use PLR. Thanks for taking the time and effort on this post. It has very pertinent information and easy to follow.

    Obviously, John has the right person guest posting for him and I know it was not by accident.

    Jay

  • Peggy Baron

    Reply Reply July 13, 2009

    I just wanted to say thanks to John for allowing me to do a guest post on his blog.

    I also wanted to thank all of you who have commented and let you know if you have any questions, feel free to ask me. :)

    Peggy

  • Kin Lau

    Reply Reply August 5, 2009

    Great Post! But the main and the only quesiton is how to successful drive traffic to the new product? If you could do a post and give us some idea, that would be great!

  • Jim Parsons

    Reply Reply August 7, 2009

    Hi Peggy:

    Excellent post and superior advice. A little addendum to suggestion #1.
    Proofread for accuracy. Even the best of these EBooks come with spelling errors. Many are created by persons who do not understand some of the nuances of the English language and use words in some funny ways. Every now and then,they are just plain wrong.

    I have two different PLR books from one highly respected source that illustrate this. In one, a pound of fat was said to equal 3500 calories. In another, Some North American history was quoted and it was way out in left field.

    The point here is simply that when these tomes are released over your name, then you own the results – good, bad, or just plain silly. Your credibility as an authoritative source is on the line.

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