Amazon and Apple Book Publishing: Should You Use PLR?
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.
And that includes using PLR for publishing across ANY platform.
HOWEVER . . .
and it is a BIG however –
it must be done well, with character, integrity and the intent of sharing information that will improve someone’s life and circumstances.
Too many times people who ‘throw up’ PLR to sites have every intention of doing things the easy and simple way. The desire to make money is so strong that they are willing to compromise their integrity.
Does the imagery ‘throw up’ cause you to cringe? It is definitely NOT an image of quality and distinction.
And, while writers who use poor quality work may make immediate money, they do not build businesses that withstand the Google algorithm changes. This means with each change they can lose traffic and money. What is the point in pouring time and energy into building a site and sending traffic – only to lose it all. Time and energy is something you’ll never get back.
So how should you use private label rights?
PLR should be used for the research involved in the writing.
For instance, when you start writing an article on a topic you know nothing about, the first thing you USUALLY do is to do some research. Think of a private label article, ebook or special report as having all the research done for you and now all you have to do is add your voice.
This, of course, implies that the content in the PLR is based on research and is more than a fluff piece.
When using PLR to write content for Apple or Amazon it is still necessary to write. You can use it for the research, but you MUST rewrite at least 75% of the content AND add more of your own research, your own voice and your own twist on the conclusions of the book.
One way of including your own information (and definitely NOT the only way you should add content) is to add your own story to the content. Storytelling is an art form that increases your reader’s retention and ability to remember the information. It helps your reader to tell your story to others and makes the content more likely to be told and sold again and again.
My favorite way of rewriting content is to have two screens open in Word (or your rich text editor of choice) and, while reading one, type on the other. I have to admit that I use Dragon Naturally Speaking to get this done much more quickly than straight typing.
Here is an example taken from a report I wrote in early 2009. The post is originally from Google [Sven Naumann (June 2008)] about duplicate content . . . pre – Farmer, Panda, Penguin, Mercedes or Giraffe. [OK, you haven’t missed anything - Mercedes and Giraffe have not happened . . . yet 
“To conclude, I’d like to point out that in the majority of cases, having duplicate content does not have negative effects on your site’s presence in the Google index. It simply gets filtered out. If you check out some of the tips mentioned in the resources above, you’ll basically learn how to have greater control about what exactly we’re crawling and indexing and which versions are more likely to appear in the index. Only when there are signals pointing to deliberate and malicious intent, occurrences of duplicate content might be considered a violation of the webmaster guidelines.”
(http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2008/06/duplicate-content-due-to-scrapers.html )
As an example, let’s consider the sentence: “If you check out some of the tips mentioned in the resources above, you’ll basically learn how to have greater control about what exactly we’re crawling and indexing and which versions are more likely to appear in the index.”
By changing the words around in this sentence you can rewrite it so it is not duplicate content: “Using the information in the resources mentioned, webmasters can have greater control over what Google is crawling and indexing. This also helps the webmaster to showcase which version of the article will appear in the index.”
You have rewritten the sentence – and using a voice recognition program – can do it much more quickly and easily.
NEVER use PLR that has NOT been rewritten to post content on book publishing sites, article directories, as blog posts or outside the TOS for the place you purchased it.
In conclusion, while it is cost and time efficient, using PLR for content at Amazon or Apple should ALWAYS involve some work on your end. That work can be done by a virtual assistant – but it MUST be done.
Hope that helps you become more productive AND start your own quality Kindle publishing empire!
~Gail
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9 Great StoryTelling Techniques
What is the difference between the blog post you remember 10 days later and the post you don’t remember 10 seconds later? What makes you flip from a page, hurriedly in search of more information, or stay glued to the glowing screen, absorbing every last little byte?
The difference is the story!
Great copywriters teach us to weave a story through our sales copy that helps a potential customer grow to know, like and trust us, as well as help them understand that we understand them.
Good and great blog posts are nothing more than good and great copy in article format. The writer wants you to remember them, link your friends to them or buy from them.
And it all happens with storytelling.
After an extensive literature search of previous research, scientists from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory found that storytelling is an incredibly powerful technique used during instruction. Any of the four different storytelling methods will embed information in a contextual manner, making it easier for the recipient to remember details. (1)
Storytelling is important to learning, vital to viral content and makes you memorable. Here are 9 tips to improve your storytelling techniques – in NO specific order.
1. Know the 6 parts of any story you want to tell: who, what, where, conflict, resolution and the tag. The tag is the aftermath of the story – usually a big finish or joke.
2. Practice integrating these six parts, using graphic details and told as succinctly as possible.
3. Use vivid and imaginative words that paint a visual picture for the listener/reader. These descriptive terms draw the reader along through the story, making it more likely they will actually finish what you wrote!
4. Good speakers will exaggerate their movements to imply enthusiasm – good writers can accomplish this through vivid imagery and a few well placed illustrations.
5. Keep one voice through the telling of your tale. It should be from the voice of your main character –whether that is you or a fictional person. This congruity helps maintain the integrity of the story.
6. Your story is all about the people to whom you are telling it or who are reading it. This is not an opportunity to tell your story because YOU are reading it – but rather because OTHERS are reading it. Remember to keep the focus on your reader as you pen your next great anecdote.
7. Describe the setting with enough detail so your audience ‘feels’ like they are there. This is the first step to engaging your reader. Without the background knowledge of where the story is taking place, they can quickly lose interest.
8. Like any great copy, sales letter or blog post – all stories start out with a great beginning. You have a short, short, short time period to engage your reader. You are competing with THOUSANDS of different options each day – television, radio, mp3, computer, books, magazines, Kindles, Nooks, iPads, iPods, iTouch, iPhone (lots and lots of “i”’s ), smart phones, Androids, newspapers (anyone read those anymore?) or Sanskrit.
9. Finish strong! A strong finish is just as important as a great beginning – these are the two parts of the story that will be the most memorable. It should reverberate in your readers mind to evoke pictures of an imagined future . . . their future with your product.
When I was a young girl I dreamed of being able to write – and make money with my writing. I’ve practiced this skill for years – without realizing that I was PRACTICING. Today I am doing what I dreamed and loving every minute of it!
Let me know what you dream about, and how you can tell a story that will touch others!
~ Gail
(1) Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning: Storytelling as an Instructional Method: Definitions and Research Questions; D. Andrews, T Hull and J. Donahue; Oct 2009
http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1063&context=ijpbl
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Baseball Metaphors and the Like
I know that baseball is an All American Sport but I am NOT a fan. And yet, I do use some of the metaphors from the game – they just seem to fit.
Life and curve balls is one of them.
Life has thrown me several curve balls – and usually when I wasn’t looking. But, that is one of the challenges of the life curve ball – you really don’t know when it’s coming.
When life throws you a curve ball, what do you do?
Over the past several years I’ve learned a couple of strategies that have helped. I’d like to share those with you. The economy is ever changing and always a surprise. Relationships ebb and flow. Children and spouses can cause more pain and suffering than they should.
But through all of these changes and challenges you are expected to remain steadfast, strong and level-headed.
Sometimes that just isn’t possible.
But, sometimes it is.
It all depends upon the decisions and the choices we make. And those depend upon our reaction to the situation.
When the curve ball comes screaming at me, traveling at 95 miles an hour, destined to smack me right between the eyes, I try to practice these few things.
1. STOP IT! OK – I can’t stop the curve ball but I can stop my reaction to the curve ball. I love the video clip of Bob Newhart as a psychiatrist who is counseling a woman who can’t seem to deal with some of her own curve balls. His answer is to STOP IT! It’s a five minute video and worth seeing.
2. Consider it. Even if I can only stop the reaction for several minutes, I try hard to consider the situation in an objective fashion. How will this curve ball affect me today, tomorrow and next week. Is this really something I should panic over now? What will panic really accomplish?
3. What are the solutions to the problem? In the time I do not panic and think clearly, I can develop a plan of action and recognize what must be done to overcome the obstacle. Having a plan instills power and strength into a situation that may otherwise leave you helpless and feeling hopeless.
When my family and I first moved to Cincinnati in 2001 the city had what was termed a “100 year flood” – or a torrential downpour and power outage that they anticipated would happen only every 100 years. (Interestingly we had another 100 year flood 3 years later ). Power went out for 14 hours and we got 18 inches of sewer water in the basement.
We lost all of our photos – the children growing up, my parents who had passed away, my growing up years, my college friends. We lost furniture, carpeting, furnace, water heater, all the children’s toys (they were 9 and 4 – LOTS of toys), and much, much more.
The biggest thing I lost was trust that my home was a safe haven. It took 5 grown men 8 full hours just to get the basement cleared and cleaned. It took 5 years before I stopped opening the basement door to check for water every time it rained.
During those first few hours I stopped to think of what was really involved.
I lost so many ‘things’ that could never be replaced. But I had my health. My children were fine. And I could pick up the pieces and move forward.
The same is true in most situations. There are some devastating times in life when we just can’t pick up the pieces and when we do nothing is ever the same again.
But in any case, time continues to march forward whether we like it or not.
The question isn’t IF you’ll get a curve ball – but WHAT will you do with it when it DOES come? Have a plan before it comes – you’ll be empowered, confident and better able to cope with whatever comes your way!
~ Gail
P.S. Do you have strategies that work for you? Share them with us!
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