Mike Paul's Blog » Affiliate Program

PLR vs. Free Reprint Articles: Which is Best?

Mike — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 22:32:08 +0000

I’m always on the lookout for ways to generate more content for my websites, and the websites of my clients. It’s not always easy for me, or anyone else for that matter, to just sit down and come up with some earth-shattering new article, blog post, podcast, or video.

Sometimes it takes a little guidance. Sometimes it’s just plain easier to let someone else do your content creation for you. There are a number of sites that will allow you to republish their content, so long as you credit them, but then there’s the wonder of PLR, or Private Label Rights. But what kind of content should you use? Which is best? Here’s an article by Nicole Dean of EasyPLR that breaks down the differences between the two and recommends which one you should use.

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Content is always in high demand. Right now the focus seems to be on Private Label Rights (or PLR) articles. PLR articles are pre-written and sold in packages to online businesses looking for content. The big selling points of PLR articles are that you may edit the articles and that there is no author bio required (so they don’t have any outbound links).

Compare PLR articles to free reprint articles. Free reprint articles from places like ezinearticles.com or freeaffiliatearticles.com are written by people who have something they’d like to share. (Or, they are sometimes written by people just publishing junk, in the hopes that they’ll get some incoming links. But, good article directories will delete those, so we’ll focus on the good ones here.)

So, which is better? Honestly, each has its place. Sometimes you’ll find an excellent free reprint article that you’ll want to share with your readers and you won’t mind a bit having an outbound link, especially if there is an affiliate program associated with it. The free reprint article added value to your readers, and you didn’t have to write the article. That’s what free reprint articles are all about.

Other times you’ll already have an idea in mind for a topic and you’ll just want a boost getting that section of your website done. If you run across a high quality PLR package on that niche, you’re set to go.

So, how do you know which PLR service or membership to choose? Here are some guidelines to follow:

1. Some PLR sites offer a monthly membership where you receive a grab-bag of articles – on any topic. If you already know what you need, this may be a waste of money. Other PLR sites will list topics and you can buy the articles in a shopping cart. That ensures you receive the articles you need when you need them.

2. Are the articles written by professional writers with experience? Or are they outsourced to the cheapest overseas help they can find – no matter the quality? If the articles are going to be a reflection of your business, you’ll want to ensure that the articles are well-written.

3. Who’s running this thing? Is the PLR site run by someone who knows about content or someone who thinks they can ride the content wave and make a quick buck? Make sure you’re hitching your wagon to someone who knows what they’re doing.

Those are just a few tips to keep you from wasting money on a PLR site that you can’t use. Continue to use free reprint articles, but look into PLR articles as well. They can both benefit your website and your business.

Article written by:

Nicole Dean is the owner of EasyPLR – where you’ll find high-quality PLR articles sold in very limited quantities. The PLR articles at EasyPLR are professionally written and professionally edited — top quality at an affordable price.

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Hopefully, this article makes you think seriously about using PLR content in your websites, email campaigns, and even in creating audio and video products. I use PLR from EasyPLR myself and can speak to the quality of the content that Nicole and her team put out.

If you’re looking for a great way to add some great content to your site, I can’t recommend EasyPLR highly enough. Try it out for yourself!

*Disclaimer: Yes, I’m an affiliate for EasyPLR and receive compensation if you buy from them. Their stuff is AWESOME and I really do recommend you try it out!

5 Tips for Choosing the Best Online Affiliate Programs

Mike — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 05:29:53 +0000

I see and hear people every day make the decision to give the whole “make money online” thing a try and they generally start with affiliate marketing. But, in most cases, they go about affiliate marketing the completely wrong way. Choosing the best online affiliate programs can be tough, especially when you’re first starting out. But if you don’t choose the right one to start with, you can be setting yourself up for disaster in the long run.

So, to help all the newbies (and some of the folks that have been around for a while), I’ve put together a short list of 5 things to look for when choosing the best online affiliate programs that will get you the best return on your time and investment, and hopefully get you one step closer to taking control of your own destiny with your online business.

Tip #1 – Choose an affiliate program that pays you recurring commissions. I see way to many people struggle and fight with one affiliate program after another that only pays them one time. Yes, you may make 500 sales today but next month you have to go out and generate those same 500 sales to keep your cash flowing. The best online affiliate programs offer recurring commissions which allow you to build upon your past successes and keep growing your business, month after month.

Tip #2 – Choose an affiliate program that offers great training for their products. It’s all well and good that someone wants to pay you 75% commission on their product, but what if they don’t support you with any training? The best online affiliate programs will offer you tips and strategies to help you sell more of their product. Wouldn’t you want to give your salespeople all the tools and training possible to sell as much as they could possibly imagine? Of course you would!

Tip #3 – Choose an affiliate program that gives you the tools to sell. It’s bad enough that most newbie marketers are having to learn every little detail about marketing online, from setting up an autoresponder to installing a website on a remote server. The best online affiliate programs will offer email copy, articles, keyword lists, banners, and more to help their affiliates get more sales with less effort.

Tip #4 – Choose an affiliate program that provides great value at a great price to buyers. Look, let’s just call it like it is. Do you really want to promote something just to make a quick buck? Or would you rather promote something that you’ll be proud to have your name associated with? The best online affiliate programs don’t just sell well, they create hordes of crazy fans of their products! Think about how much easier it will be to sell something that has a great reputation!

Tip #5 – Choose and affiliate program with a proven track record. After you’ve been involved in affiliate marketing for a while, you can afford to check out the “new guys” and their new product. When you’re starting out, stick with the best online affiliate programs. They will have been around for a long time, possibly having released several updated versions of their product.

Affiliate marketing is by far the fastest way for anyone to start making money online, but you can’t just start promoting anything. Stick with promoting the best online affiliate programs and, with some effort and hard work, you’ll start to see yourself achieving your dreams and taking control of your destiny.

I’ve given you this list of tips to help you choose the best online affiliate programs, but I’ve got a great suggestion for you that will help you get started on the right path. Wealthy Affiliate University not only offers what I believe to be the best online affiliate program, but they actually teach you how to become a better affiliate with any affiliate program!

With step-by-step tutorials, a members only forum, and a couple of guys that are in charge that actually care about your success (Kyle & Carson), the only way you can fail with Wealthy Affiliate is if you don’t do exactly what they tell you to do! If you’re ready to learn and take the right steps, you’ll be achieving success quickly!

–> Click Here to see more of what Wealthy Affiliate University has to offer you!