One of the things I have always believed in is learning from people who are genuinely good at what they do. Back in 2009, I invited Nicole Dean to share her expertise on PLR content with my audience. Nicole had been running one of the most respected PLR businesses on the internet since 2006, and her insights on using PLR effectively remain relevant today.
Here are the key lessons from that conversation, updated with context for how PLR has evolved.
What PLR Is and Why It Matters
PLR stands for Private Label Rights. For internet marketers, it typically means content you can edit, put your name on, and use in your online business. That content can be articles, reports, ebooks, video scripts, email sequences, or even software. The appeal is obvious: instead of creating everything from scratch, you start with a professionally written foundation.
Two Simple Ways to Use PLR Articles
Nicole recommended two approaches that still hold up:
As blog content drafts. Copy your PLR articles into your blog's draft folder. When it is time to publish, you have a starting point rather than a blank page. Edit the content to include your voice, your examples, and links relevant to your audience. You can do this yourself or hire a virtual assistant to customize the drafts for you. The key is that PLR eliminates the blank-page problem.
As free lead magnets. Compile a set of related PLR articles into a short report or ebook. Add your branding, edit the content to reflect your perspective, and offer it as a free download to build your email list. A collection of PLR articles on a focused topic can become a valuable lead magnet with just a few hours of customization work.
Two PLR Mistakes to Avoid
Nicole was equally clear about what not to do:
Buying from the wrong sources. The PLR market has always been flooded with low-quality content. Poorly written articles, recycled material, and content sold to thousands of buyers are common problems. When you purchase PLR, you are trusting that the provider maintains quality standards and limits distribution. Do your research before buying.
Letting PLR sit unused. This is the most expensive PLR mistake of all. Content sitting on your hard drive earns nothing. The entire point of PLR is to save time getting content published. If you buy it and never use it, you have wasted your money. Set a rule: if you buy PLR, it gets scheduled for customization and publication within a specific timeframe.
PLR in 2026
The PLR landscape has shifted significantly since Nicole and I had this conversation. AI writing tools can now produce draft content on virtually any topic in seconds. This has changed the value proposition of PLR.
Where PLR still excels is in providing human-researched, professionally edited content on specific topics with a level of accuracy that AI tools sometimes struggle to match. The best PLR providers have adapted by offering more specialized, higher-quality content that genuinely adds value beyond what a quick AI prompt can generate.
Whether you use PLR, AI tools, ghostwriters, or some combination, the principle Nicole taught remains the same: the fastest path to a well-stocked content library is starting with quality raw material and making it your own.
Thanks for the great post and information! 100% right, I’m guilty of doing exactly what you guys are saying. Will take a leaf out of your book and take action. Thank you again.
Regards,
Gordon.
Hi Mark and Nicole,
I have used some PLR content as well as some Ezine on a few niche blogs on occasion. I do something that I have not seen other people discuss, but it works well for me.
I usually paste it in and then write a couple of paragraphs in front of the PLR content where I can make sure to stick my particular keywords, and then a short closing paragraph.
Normally the PLR will have enough similar keywords that it fits right in with the concept of LSI and these posts usually index most excellent.
All the best.
Rich
Thanks for sharing about PLR articles, I believe many of us have PLR articles sitting somewhere on our Hard drive, sounds like it time to get to work. LOLOL
Yay Nicole! 🙂 I use PLR all the time, and at first I admit to letting it sit on my hard drive. Now I dig into my PLR files almost daily to get ideas, grab snippets, resculpt articles into something else, and more. It really is a great tool to have at hand … and probably one of the most affordable content creating things you can buy online.
I’m looking forward to using PLR in the near future. It sounds do-able!
PLR is a big part of my online presence. I do admit to letting a lot of it sit on my hard drive, but a lot of that is because I have a hard time making up my mind exactly where to use it – mix it in with my regular content.
Thanks for the good article.
Thanks for the tips Nicole..
Nice tips, thanks … my favorite thing to do with PLR is to make a valuable report that I can give away
I looked over your site Nicole and immediately saw the distinction in your offerings and the “rest.” You offer a most impressive variety of topics. I really like the fact you stand by the limited numbers that are released, that is very important and the topics addressed supplies some very specific niche articles.
I can’t see where anyone could go wrong using your service – obviously your name and brand are important to you!
Thanks for the interview.
Great topic. I’ve just recently come in contact with PLR and do think I will check it out for feeding my blog posts. Thanks!
I have bunch of PLR and dont know what to do with it..so..thank you
This is great post and i am sure this will help us on the way to our success.keep posting thanks a lot.
Uk Internet Gurus
I agree that PLR is a big part of my online presence.
Great stuff. It has given me a lot of inspiration and information. I look forward to more like this in the future. Keep up the good work!