How valuable can free PLR be if it doesn’t cost a cent to own it?  At first glance, free always sounds tempting.  Who hasn’t taken a free sample of snacks at the grocery store or Sam’s Club when they’re giving them out, right?  But admittedly, there are times when free is good and there are times when free takes more work than it’s worth.

First of all, you might ask yourself why it’s free.  Some sites give away free PLR just to get you to join their list – sort of like the grocery store analogy above.  These marketers want you to see the quality of their work, so you get a sample to try out.

That’s fair enough – but you can expect that they will ask for your name and email on an opt in form so they can continue to sell you on their main niche.  That’s just good business. Some people consider that a “cost” associated with free PLR, however.

Be wary of “free” anything: articles, eBooks or reports, audio, or even some simple software.  There is a cost somewhere – even if it is just giving your name and email address.

More often than not, while you don’t pay cash for it – you may end up spending your precious time rewriting a dull or poorly written article or eBook (and we all know your time isn’t free).

Still, if you do have more time than money, even a free article pack that is okay can be quickly fixed up and used.  Also, you can get some good ideas from the articles, which you can spin off into something original.

In that sense, it won’t hurt to take a look at some of it if nothing else but to see if you can makeover an article pack and redo it into an eBook or vice versa – turn an eBook into several articles.  All you expended was your time.

Just don’t let yourself get bogged down in it.  You may end up spending more time rewriting than it would take to have written it from scratch in the first place!  And as the saying goes: time is money.

A good rule of thumb is to limit your time – even go so far as to use an egg timer – when you attempt a rewrite.  That way you aren’t hacking away at something for an hour that might have originally taken 30 minutes for you to write in the first place.

So where do you find free PLR?  It’s as simple as Googling “your niche + free PLR” or just “free PLR” and see what’s out there.  You will likely have to do some weeding so you see what’s worth your investment of time.  But once in awhile you can find some very good stuff that will do the trick just fine.

Private label rights content can be nearly as good as hiring someone to write for you if you know how to use it right.  Getting good PLR in the first place is probably the best advice.  There is nothing more aggravating than having to spend more time rewriting bad PLR than writing it from scratch yourself.

But in any case, even when the PLR is good, always plan to rewrite it somewhat.  Changing the title around (keeping your keywords intact), modifying the section titles, and adding an introductory paragraph or page are the minimal changes.

It’s easy to get carried away rewriting, so try to limit yourself if you’re pressed for time.  If the article is good enough, then let it be.  The key to a good article is an attention getting title with the keyword in it, followed by an interesting introductory paragraph.  So spend more time here than you would in the rest of the article.

The same goes for an eBook – make an introduction that lays the ground work for the rest of the report.  Spend time on the reason why they need the information in the report and then touch up the headlines and sub-headlines as needed.  Unless you feel compelled to fill in the rest of the eBook, try to have a “good enough is good enough” attitude for the shortest path to success.

Don’t forget that just because the PLR is in eBook format, it doesn’t mean it can’t be sliced up into an e-course or smaller articles that you can add to your blog and submit to the ezine directories – or used fill up your autoresponder weeks ahead of time.

Never underestimate the power of articles that are sprinkled all over the Internet creating backlinks to your site.  PLR just makes it easier for you to come up with those articles.  The more articles you have out there, the more your name will get in front of the eyes of the people who you are trying to reach you become an authority in your field.

A newer way to use PLR articles is to convert them into a slideshow made with Microsoft PowerPoint that is recorded as you read it.  Done properly, you can have a really nice video to promote your site from YouTube or other video sharing sites.

Because video is a popular mode of communication, you should take any way you can to get it out in front of your target audience.  PLR articles converted to video as well as already made PLR videos that you buy are a quicker way to get that kind of media out there.

With PLR, you can put together an original package that pulls together different pieces from various sources and you can bundle up a premium information product in a fraction of the time you’d put into it if you made it from scratch since someone else did most of the writing, recording and research.  Learn to think outside the box with your PLR content.  It’s yours to do with as you please, so become skilled at ways you can use it effectively in your business.