Think PLR is useless? READ THIS

[Corwinnx]

Good evening fellow warriors. I've been away for a while and I sure did miss everyone, but now that I'm back I want to share something with all of you.

A while back, I decided to start testing out 'testing niches for free.' I have several of the test 'tests' running right now, but I'm going to tell you about the two I'm getting results from.

Here's what I did and the results I got.

I took a PLR product I had and put up a blogspot blog
I copied and pasted PLR into the blog
Put up an opt-in
Put adsense on the blog
WENT TO YOUTUBE AND MADE A VIDEO ADSENSE PLAYER! And installed the code on a blog post.
I SPUN, that's right SPUN, 3 articles into ONE BRAND NEW ONE using Word and a tool I just LOVE, (ContentBoss), and submitted to eza.
The eza article is still on p.1 of the SERPS today
I went to Clickbank and grabbed some related product affiliate links and hyperlinked some keywords in the article.
I made a cheesy video and uploaded to Youtube.
That's it.
I submitted the RSS feed to the aggregators
I submittd the video to a free online podcast directory submission site.

Time Invested: 3-4 hours
Adsense Revenue: $0.00
Video Adsense Revenue: $.93
No optins
No Clickbank Sales

__________________________________________________ __________

Case Number 2:

Yesterday, I was stuck somewhere *waiting* for several hours, so I decided to build another blog.

I grabbed a CPA offer off a network and built a blog around it.
I used a blogger blog
Again, I used PLR material from my collection to populate the blog
I grabbed links to some affiliate products from clickbank and hyperlinked the keywords to them
I installed Adsense
I made a Youtube video Adsense player
Grabbed pics some royalty free pics and hyperlinked them to the CPA offer
Plus, I hyperlinked some keywords in the blog posts to some additional CPA offers.
Used them to make a video, uploaded to Youtube
Once again, spun the articles to make 1 article, submitted to eza
THEN, spun THAT article and submitted to about 15 other article directories.

By this morning, I made one $32.00 CPA sale and it wasn't even from the primary product.

So, today, I submitted another article, social bookmarked the site at about 15-20 social bookmarking sites. I'm anxious to see what happens tomorrow when I submit the RSS feed to the aggregators and the video to the podcast directories.

Gotta love those blogger blogs and PLR.


-Marcus

[Yskho]

Lots say PLR and ebooks giveaway dont work anymore. One just need to "think outside the box" and slight changes of your strategy may increase your op-in or conversion rates. Instead of giving away ebooks, i make it to monthly supply of fresh content ebooks, this simpple change of my startegy has increase my op-in rate by more than 1000% ....

[Corwinnx]

YSKHO,

There are a great deal of uses for PLR that are usually overlooked. I think it's because everyone's favorite method of getting traffic is from eza. People seem to just hate writing articles and feel as though if they can't use PLR to post to eza, than articles are useless, but there is soo much more to IM than just eza.

I actually have submitted straight PLR articles to other directories
And I have submitted spun PLR to other directories
I use spun PLR on squidoo, and hubpages, as video descriptions, so much I dont' even know where to begin.
I've compiled PLR articles to make reports and ebooks.

In fact, about the ONLY thing I DON'T use PLR for IS, eza.

-Marcus

[Takuya Hikichi]

Utilizing PLR is almost like an art you know. It takes innovative thinking. I'll send you PM Marcus with few I can give away. Maybe you can improve them for good use.

[Ron Killian]

Nice post Marcus, thanks for sharing your data.

Using places like blogspot sure puts you ahead rather than trying to get a new domain up there.

Have to check out contentboss.

[Teo]

NIce work there. There's always The need for plr material. whether its Articles, ebooks, blog post. All can save alot of time from PLR

[Ross Dalangin]

Nice example you have. There's a lot of use for PLR, we'll just need to maximize our resources. Just squeeze the juice of those high ranking - well traffic sites. ;-)

[Ldimilo]

Good job on the PLR case study...personally, I don't use PLR though....I think they are trash for the most part (and I am not talking about the articles that people outsource from a writer...I am talking about the junk that reads like a 3rd grader wrote it.) It is like internet pollution. Just my opinion though.

[millionareteam]

thanks for information.

[Corwinnx]

Youngmarketer,

Yes, eza can take some time to approve articles. That's why I spin them and submit to other directories the same day I submit to eza. I can start getting traffic from them right away.

d0rhk,

I think what I have as far as PLR is concerned would need an entire bank vault if it were all actual 'printed' material.

Ron,
The whole thing started out as an experiment for a 'system' of 'testing niches for free', and I'm really starting to see an interesting little model here. I'm against starting a 'business' with no money, but with blogger blogs, everything is so simple to do, that it's actually more like a fun school research project and not really 'starting a business.' Or maybe I'm just too Geek and need to get a life. LOL.

Ross,
I couldn't agree more. Most people just can't see the value of PLR simply because they cannot get past the fact that eza doesn't accept it. If Google is God, the sometimes I think that eza is St.Peter.

Ldimilio,
I must be damn lucky, cause I can honestly say that none of my PLR is junk at all. There might be misspellings and grammatical errors here and there, but they are few and far between and nothing a quick run through spellcheck can't correct.

Takuya,
Got Your PM. Thanks, man. I'll have a look. I have over 100,000 PLR articles, and I have loads of ebooks and reports too. If you need anything specific, just give me a shout.

-Marcus

[jhongren]

Hi Marcus,

Thanks for sharing! =)

Indeed it is about your creativity which have
always impressed me!

I have a question:

How did you do the keyword research? =)

Cheers,
John

[wmakara]

I've actually managed to use a section of a PLR ebook and submit it to EZA without changing a word of it apart from the heading and it was approved. It didn't work on another section of the ebook though, so I don't know what gave there

I've been told it's better to re-write PLR material. If I can get away without re-writing then I will do.

What do most people do, use PLR as is or re-write it?

Cheers
Wendy

[jhongren]

Originally Posted by wmakara

I've actually managed to use a section of a PLR ebook and submit it to EZA without changing a word of it apart from the heading and it was approved. It didn't work on another section of the ebook though, so I don't know what gave there

I've been told it's better to re-write PLR material. If I can get away without re-writing then I will do.

What do most people do, use PLR as is or re-write it?

Cheers
Wendy

Hi Wendy,

I notice that there has been a lot of inconsistencies
in the way EZA approve the articles.

Case 1:
I took my self-written blog post and submit to EZA. It gets approved.

Case 2:
I did it again and they sent me an email that they have found a similar
article elsewhere....

I replied them an email telling them that it is my blog..."

* * *

I think different EZA staff (part time possibly...freelancers maybe) have different criteria in approving an article...

I have this misconception that EZA is really strict in getting articles approved...now I doubt it. =)

Cheers,
John

[Jon Alexander]

interesting you mention contentboss. Are you part of the beta prog for the PLR warehouse?

Here's what I'm finding - I'm creating a financial blog ONLY using ready-wrangled PLR articles from the PLR warehouse - 80% paraphrase is giving me an average of 50% + difference. Its not as big as I'd like, but the consistency of the entire plr article seems to make up for that.

[SpudDS]

This is a good post, it shows all the people that say you have to rewrite PLR all the time that you dont have to.

[madison_avenue]

Thank you Marcus another brilliant and systematic plan. I was wondering do the other article directories, apart from EZA that is, have a different policy on duplicate or PLR content. For EZA all articles have to be unique but will the other directories accept PLR content as is or does it have to be spun first?

[Ron Killian]

Originally Posted by Corwinnx

Youngmarketer,

Ron,
The whole thing started out as an experiment for a 'system' of 'testing niches for free', and I'm really starting to see an interesting little model here. I'm against starting a 'business' with no money, but with blogger blogs, everything is so simple to do, that it's actually more like a fun school research project and not really 'starting a business.' Or maybe I'm just too Geek and need to get a life. LOL.

-Marcus

I think it's a great idea, not just the fact that it's free, but you don't have much invested or much to lose if something doesn't work. No Geek, some one taking action

[Ivancho]

you have done outstanding job here and showed all this people who does't belive that PLR is good...

Congratz...

[Simon74]

I do use PLR and they are fantastic, I do agree that you need to have creativity and know how to use them. I also agree about the eza subject, there are some many good articles directory just use them.

Thanks again for this good post.

Simon

[Corwinnx]

johngren,
Hi John, thank you for the compliment. As for the keyword research, I use Wordtracker and the Google Adwords tool for my research. If I find a lot of Web 2.0 sites on p 1 of the serps when checking the competition by searching in quotes, I'll use SEO elite and SEO Quake to see how many back links those sites have to see if I have the time to outdo them.

wmakara,
Many books are compiled using PLR, so it's possible that the one part of the book you used was original, while the other part was part of the PLR compilation. OR, the eza filters and editors are off, lol.

Jon Alexander,
No, I'm not part of the PLR Warehouse. I have sooo much PLR already on the computer and I belong to a different PLR/MRR membership as well, that I just didn't see the need for anymore material.

SpuDS,
The only time I rewrite is to submit to eza. I use the rest of it to populate books, create books and reports, use as giveaways, and to populate all my Web 2.0 content.

madison_avenue,
I've done both. Some article directories accept the PLR, some want original. It depends on the directory.

Ron,
Exactly. Test the niche out for free, if it's working, then I'll invest in a domain name and a few dollars for an adwords campaign.

Ivancho,
Thanks.

Simon74,
Seeing as how my eza article wasn't even published yet, it had to be one of the other directories that drove the traffic to the sites, so I suggest using 10-15 directories in addition to eza. And the extra backlinks don't hurt either. Plus, some of the directories I use actually DO allow you to 'link' words in your article to your site.


-Marcus

[Sandi Valentine]

Another great way to use PLR is to spin it into audio and video. Free trial of Camtasia + PLR articles = nice looking video articles that you can market with. Just reword the article and walk through some powerpoint slides for a nice effect.

[Shakul]

Are you automating the work of submitting the articles or social bookmarking?

[Corwinnx]

Shakul,

To answer your question, let me first say, I outsource A LOT, however, because this was in 'experiment' in 'testing a niche for FREE', I did all of the article submissions and social bookmarking myself. I did already have accounts at the social bookmarking and article directories I used, but each of those only initially took two hours a piece anyway. The actual article submitting took about 90 minutes, and the social bookmarking took maybe an hour, if that.


UPDATE:
As of this morning, I made a second sale of the same CPA offer.
Funny thing, the CPA offer was not the one I actually wrote about, but was a from a 'link' within the article to a 'related' product.

-Marcus

[azizkasam]

Thank You for sharing..

[Brandon Tanner]

Originally Posted by Corwinnx

There are a great deal of uses for PLR that are usually overlooked.

How true. It's seems that most people that acquire PLR articles just rewrite and submit them, but why leave it at just that? With a little creativity you can easily turn an article into an audio, a video, newsletter content, or even the basis for a short report.

IMO The hard part of product creation is the research. Once the research has been done and the "theme" has been fleshed out (as is the case with PLR articles), it's an easy job to re-purpose that content into different mediums.

[jhongren]

johngren,
Hi John, thank you for the compliment. As for the keyword research, I use Wordtracker and the Google Adwords tool for my research. If I find a lot of Web 2.0 sites on p 1 of the serps when checking the competition by searching in quotes, I'll use SEO elite and SEO Quake to see how many back links those sites have to see if I have the time to outdo them.

Thanks for your response. =)

What is the criteria in the number of backlinks to show that it is easy to out do them?

And also for those in quotes, what is the criteria to show that it is easy to dominate that keyword? =)

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
John

[cashcow]

Thanks for posting this great case study.

A lot of times people throw around theories about what will happen if you use PLR etc... but it's quite valuable to have the results from a real test that proves what actually does happen.

Lee

[Corwinnx]

John,
It's not really the 'amount' of back links that I look at, but what KIND of back links they are.

Like if they are eza articles, I'll look to see how many other sites have linked back to the article, what kind of sites they are, and what PR they have.

As for criteria, if it's all Web 2.0, like squidoo lenses, eza articles, YT videos, etc, it may be harder to rank. It will depend on how many back links THOSE Web 2.0 properties have from high PR sites and if you can make more in an amount of time that makes it worthwhile to pursue.

If the first two results on p1 are for two eza articles, then go look at the article and check to see how many sites link to it. If you can't outdo them in the time frame you want to invest, you won't knock them off the #1 & #2 spots.


Cashcow,
I'm glad you found something useful from my post. I'd love to hear other 'PLR experiment' stories too. If anyone has any.

-Marcus

[TimG]

Originally Posted by SpudDS

This is a good post, it shows all the people that say you have to rewrite PLR all the time that you dont have to.

That is so true, I have a bed bug site that is comprised of nothign but unchanged PLR and it easily makes $5 or more a day from adsense and does 1 to 2 sales a day for bed bug products I promote from an affiliate I found on Commission Junction.

It's all in the traffic generation techniques you use to drive targeted traffic to your site (PLR or not) and the pre-selling that takes place prior to your visitors arrival that generates the income.

Respectfully,
Tim

[Corwinnx]

Sandy,

Sorry I didn't reply earlier, but one of my favorite things to do with that PLR is give it to... Sign in to your SpokenText Account and get an audio recording.. it takes less than two minutes usually to get it back...

Then, I go to, Podcast submission service. Fast tagging and posting of podcasts to all major podcast directories - PodPusher.com and submit.

[I'M PRETTY SURE I SUBMITTED VIDEOS HERE TOO, BUT DON'T QUOTE ME ON THAT]

Whole process takes less than 5 minutes.

-Marcus

[nhowie333]

Does anyone know where I can get unique, well written/professional PLR content in the business or personal development niche?

I did find one here on the warrior forum called the 5 Steps To Success System, and it was absolutely brilliant. I am definitely up for finding more!

[Corwinnx]

Natasha, A couple of PLR sites I would recommend are:

Our own SpuDS'- Create Your Own VRE Empire - 12 Sites, 300 Articles & 3 PLR Reports Each Month only $10

Another of our own, Sirius' Lin's Internet Marketing Weekly Vault | Resale Rights | Private Label Rights | Master Resale Rights | PLR Articles | Experienced Marketing

If I think of any more, I'll post or PM you.

-Marcus

[MikeAmbrosio]

Marcus,

I wish you wouldn't give away all these secrets...

I am kidding, of course. I have been using PLR for roughly 3 years now. Mostly in the IM niche, but also in a couple of others.

It is easy. It is profitable. As long as you're not "lazy" with them.

Nice post.

Mike

[RevenueGal]

I really love using PLR. I became a real believe after using them for the first time and creating a new blog. Even though I rewrite a lot of the content, PLR articles give me ideas on what to write.

[Corwinnx]

Mike,
LOL... I didn't give away the secret article directory that actually gave me the immediate traffic. I forgot to install Analytics when I started the blog, ooops, so I had to do some backtracking to figure out how I managed to make two sales so quickly.


Rhonda,
PLR gets a bad rap because of the Adsense fiascos of a few years back, but as long as you're not using made for adsense sites, PLR really is a treasure chest.

-Marcus

[summer07]

Originally Posted by Corwinnx

...PLR gets a bad rap because of the Adsense fiascos of a few years back, but as long as you're not using made for adsense sites, PLR really is a treasure chest.

Thanks for this post, Marcus. It's dispelling a lot of the erroneous "urban myths" about PLR. Sometimes we get so narrowly focused in IM that it's easy to get into ruts and stereotypes.

Your post is showing that people who use PLR successfully use it a part of an overall mix and don't try to make it do all the work alone: PLR + video + images + a mixture of backlinks (eza & other article directories), etc.

Good quality content is good quality content. Mix it up a bit with more good quality content, and you've got a site that Google (and humans) will like.

Audre

[Christie Love]

Originally Posted by Ldimilo

Good job on the PLR case study...personally, I don't use PLR though....I think they are trash for the most part (and I am not talking about the articles that people outsource from a writer...I am talking about the junk that reads like a 3rd grader wrote it.) It is like internet pollution. Just my opinion though.

PLR... trash? Where are you getting your PLR? It's all about quality and it's good not know that every PLR site is not created equal. If you know how to use PLR in the right way, I'm sure you wouldn't think they are trash.

[Jon Alexander]

Good point Christie. The typical PLR article also doesn't have the 'vested interest' the average ezine article does. It's generally an informative or even educational pice with no axe to grind.

[lienadla]

Thanks for sharing your experiment on PLR. I have loads of them sitting on my hard drive, maybe I'll make my own experiment when I have more time

[shinmenx]

sorry to be a noob...

what is PLR?

[Ron Killian]

Originally Posted by shinmenx

sorry to be a noob...

what is PLR?

PLR = Private Label Rights

[Michelle Strait]

Thanks for giving me some ideas on how to use PLR. My computer is full of PLR I've gotten from various giveaway events. Maybe I can do something with it.

[Alminc]

Marcus,

How good are spinned articles from Content Boss ?

Is it worth the money?

Almin

[Alan Petersen]

Great thread to give PLR the props it deserves. I put eBay niche stores using PLR to easily create 20+ page sites in niches I know little of in a day. There is no way I could do it so quickly without PLR. Although I would advise doing at least a little re-write. Change the title at least.

Even the cheap PLR that is all over the place--so called "trash" can be used for audio, video, & podcasts. Since that won't be in the written form I do not re-write. And to call all PLR trash is insulting to the folks out there including many warriors who put out great PLR.

Outsourcing is great but if you're just starting out it can get expensive to hire a writer so PLR is great solution.

Think outside the traditional uses of PLR and you'll see it's great marketing tool.

[Corwinnx]

Alminc,
The spinning I get from Content Boss is fine for me, but I use 3-5 PLR articles, broken down paragraph by paragraph, autosummarized in Word, then spun through content boss. I have found that the 'character' limitation on CB doesn't give back enough when trying to spin from just one PLR article.

-Marcus

[Alminc]

Thanks Marcus,

When you autosummarize in Word, how do you choose 2-3 PLR articles
for that? Do you use 3 'tween' articles ? How similar must they be for summary to make sense?

I tried autosummarizing but I was not happy with it. Maybe I should try
it as you suggest in combination with Content Boss.

Regarding CB, they say that one can get a discount if invited by existing member. Can you invite me so that I get that discount?

Almin

[Chucky]

Hi Marcus,

First, thanks for sharing the great case study.

Second, about Content Boss. Apart from spinning, how good is it as a 'rewriter' or 'synonym replacer'? As somebody else mentioned, 95% of the reviews say it's not good, just like any other synonym replacer software I've come across. Please let me know your experience on this.

Thirdly, what on earth is Auto Summarize of MS word? I thought I was a MS Office expert, but apparently not :-(

Thanks in advance!
Chucky

[Corwinnx]

Alminc and Chucky,

You can see a 'spun' Content Boss article by Jon Alexander on this thread.

I Hate to say it, But I'm Looking for $3 Dollar Article Writers

Alminc- If you check his sig file, there's a link that gives you a discount coupon to get it cheaper than the actual website price.

As for how I 'choose' my articles, they are generally closely related to the 'theme' of the 'genre'.

i.e.
How To Repair Credit
Repair Bad Credit
Fix Bad Credit


As for autosummarize-

Word>doc>tools>autosummarize.
Choose "Create a new document" indicate the % you want to change.

It's got other uses aside from spinning as well,

blog posting
twitter tweets?
classified ads


-Marcus

[Chucky]

Thank you Marcus,

For those who are struggling to find 'auto summarize' feature on office 2007, please take a look at Autosummarize in Word 2007

Chucky

[aboutalhah]

Awesome strategy. thanks for sharing it.