As a copywriter and content producer for many businesses that vary in size from one to hundreds of employees, I’ve run across those who’ve been convinced purchasing their web, e-book, or blog copy through public label rights (PLR) is a harmless, affordable endeavor. After perusing my comment dashboard this morning, I thought it might be time to address that.
Public label rights give unknown and usually foreign writers an opportunity to craft posts and articles based on trending topics and get paid a meager fee to do so. Once you purchase individual pieces of work or even packages of similar content, often written by the same person, the work becomes yours to put your name on and do with as you please. I’ve never seen any professional grade work come out of this, but many feel like editing this stuff is still cheaper than having it professionally written.
If you know anyone who talks about how easily you can throw together a website and populate it instantly with PLR content, you’ve seen the type of work I’m referring to. Can it be done?
Yes.
One of the reasons this type of work is so prevalent is the low-cost involved. One of the first jobs I had as an entry-level copywriter was helping a company put together an affiliate site using PLR, and my job was to make it presentable. The affiliate sale was an e-book about baby-boomers and tips that addressed their foray into the dating world considering their situation. I needed to produce web copy, landing page copy, and the e-book itself using PLR that I would edit and re-use. I hated the job with a passion, but knew I could learn a lot. And I did learn a lot.
I learned that it was NOT worth my time to pursue. Language barriers and misconceptions between cultures made using this type of material not only a gross waste of time, in my opinion, but easily recognizable to anyone familiar with PLR. I would have used less time to research and review that data, and write that content originally myself.
While there may be higher-quality PLR content available today, the majority of those using it are not paying the higher cost associated with it, opting instead for the lower fees per piece.
Use it at your own risk, knowing you may end up with:
- Poor grammar
- Incorrect word usage
- Vague, superficial subject matter discussion
- Ridiculous conclusions
All these are marks of sub-level work that don’t support a quality effort. Add the current comment spamming initiatives these people use to promote their websites and landing pages, and you have a real mess of garbage hitting your comment dashboard. (My inspiration for this post.)
In my opinion, short cuts don’t help you. If you have the talent to write, write it yourself and use the tips I share in The Richardson Copywriter. When you sign up for my newsletter, you’ll get those tips directly in your inbox to refer to as needed.
If writing is irksome to you and you’d rather pay for your content, remember that when you don’t have a relationship with your writer, you may have a very difficult time getting your tone and message across to your audience.
Instead, hire a writer who will communicate with you and has an understanding about effective online marketing strategies. Don’t be satisfied with a ‘that’ll do’ attitude about marketing your business, it will cost you in the long run.
Contact my office when you have questions about your content needs. I’ll help you pull your story together, incorporate new vision into your current online strategies, write and manage your content or even edit your work.
Do you have any PLR experiences you’d like to share with us?
*For access to hungry writers that could use some work to develop their portfolios, contact freelance job boards and community colleges. For additional resources, check out Freelance Writing Jobs. Decent work requires a fair price. Don’t low-ball, just be clear with your expectations. With content and copywriting, you do get what you pay for.
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