Got PLR? You’ll want to edit it, change its format, change its looks, use it for something other than what it was originally made for – in other words, you want to make it vastly different from the original material.

The first thing to do is rewrite the content. Think of how you can make the content unique and valuable to your audience. How can you make it stand apart from others who have the same PLR content? How can you make it even more useful for your audience?

Here’s a step-by-step guide you can follow the next time you rewrite PLR.

1. Change the title.

Rewrite the title to reflect your particular target audience. PLRs tend to be generic. Make yours specific. If you will be publishing the content online, add your target keywords into the title.

2. Write an introduction.

Thinking about what will spark your audience’s interests, write an introduction for the material. If you’re targeting some keywords, make sure to include them in the introduction as well. Keep in mind that the introduction should entice the reader, listener or viewer of the content to consume the rest of the content. Stuck? Simply tell your audience what you’re about to tell them – and why they should listen.

3. Write or rewrite chapter titles, headings and sub-headings.

If the PLR content has existing chapter titles, headings and sub-headings, rewrite them to make them more appealing to your audience. Otherwise, write new ones. Chapter titles, headings and sub-headings make the content easier to consume, scan and navigate. Make it easy for your audience to find the information they want and need.

4. Add personality.

Inject a little of yourself into the material. Add your favorite phrases. Make the words sound the way they would if you had written them yourself, or if you were speaking. The best way to do this is to read the text aloud. Rewrite parts that don’t sound natural, to make them sound more like you. If your target audience uses jargons, then go ahead and insert these throughout the text. If you have personal knowledge about the topic, add what you can to the material.

5. Prune away the undesirables.

Look for parts of the content that are not useful for your reader. Some PLR might also contain some fluff, or content that your audience would regard as fluff. Simply delete those. Weed out anything that isn’t helpful or necessary.

6. Give more.

Put together a list of resources your audience can refer to if they want to learn more about the topic. This not only gives tremendous additional value to your audience, but it’s also a great place for links to affiliate products and, of course, your own products.

7. Write a conclusion.

Tell your audience what you have just told them. This is the place to summarize the key points in the material. The chapter titles and headings you wrote or rewrote earlier will come in handy now. Also conclude by giving the audience an idea of what next steps they need to take, or how they can use their newfound knowledge.

By now, the PLR content should vastly different from what you started with. You’ve added unique content, made it more targeted to your audience, put in your personality and knowledge, and removed the unnecessary. If you’re working with text, you’ll want the document to LOOK different as well. But that’s a topic for another blog post. Watch out for it.

I was surfing the Web the other day, aimlessly clicking from one site to another, when I had to do a double-take: two blog posts on two different blogs were identical. Aha! Busted! Those two bloggers had taken the exact same PLR content and used them – unchanged – for their blog posts.

Oh, how disappointing. I wasn’t familiar with one of them, but the other was an Internet marketer with some reputation and whom I had respected. Well, now I’m not so sure anymore.

Seeing those identical blog posts has gotten me thinking about all the different ways that people MIS-use PLR content. Now I am an authority on this subject because I have committed almost every single one of these PLR sins.

1. Not Using The PLR They Own.

You need to pay money to get Private Label Rights (PLR) content. Unfortunately, a lot of us pay for PLR content, save them on our hard drives… and then let them collect cyberdust. This happens when we buy PLR without a clear plan for how we’re going to use them. Or when we simply don’t know what to do with PLR – a common dilemma for beginners. What a waste of precious dollars! Some PLR memberships cost almost $50 a month. And if you consider the amount of money you could have made with the PLR, you’ll realize how much $$$$ you’ve been flushing down the toilet. If you have it, use it!

2. Using The PLR As Is.

The bloggers I mentioned above have committed one of the worst sins in using PLR content: they left the PLR intact in its original form. That’s a no-no. Instead, you’re supposed to treat the PLR content as raw material, out of which you will shape and fashion your finished product. Blogs are particularly sticky because they’re supposed to be personal. If you use PLR content, unchanged, then you’re not being honest to your blog readers, are you?

3. Letting PLR Address General Audiences.

This is related to sin #2. Most PLR are addressed to general audiences, so that they can easily be customized to specific target markets or niches. The problem is, some marketers, either because they are lazy or just don’t know any better, don’t adapt the PLR to better suit their target audience. This is another big mistake.

4. Keeping The PLR In Its Original Format.

This is similar to sins #2 and 3. Just because your PLR content is in print form doesn’t mean you have to keep it that way. You can use that PLR to create your own audio recording or podcast. Create a slideshow presentation from it then turn that into a movie for YouTube. Cut an E-book into articles or blog posts. Combine articles into an E-book. Combine related E-books into a home study course. The possibilities are endless.

5. Violating The Terms of The PLR.

Not all PLR are created equal. Each PLR provider has their own version of which rights they are granting to you. Usually, PLR includes the right to edit the material, claim authorship, and sell the content to keep all of the profits. Often, PLR does NOT include the right to sell the material with PLR as well. Some PLR providers allow you to give away the material as a bonus; others don’t! It can be confusing, especially if you get PLR from various providers. To be safe, ALWAYS read the terms of use and keep them for future reference. Review the terms before using the material.

So there you have it, the 5 ways that PLR owners are not profiting from the hidden gold nuggets in their hard drive.

Have I missed any?