This blog post originally appeared on my PLR blog at http://www.directplr.com/blog but I thought it would be interesting to the wider internet marketing community so I’ve also decided to post it here as well.

I’m a huge fan of PLR articles and there are so many different things you can do with them.

As well as creating PLR, I also buy lots of PLR myself from other people and use them in various ways for different projects I’m working on.

If you’re anything like me you’ll probably buy a new PLR article pack for one of two reasons:

1. You have a particular project in mind and you go out looking for a PLR pack that fits the bill

2. You just happen to see a new PLR pack that looks like it’s a bargain and so you buy it now ‘to use later.’

Now I’m generally not too bad at taking action (although sometimes I can definitely improve for sure) but I often find that when I buy PLR to ‘use later’ I never end up actually doing anything with it!

Take a look on your hard drive right now and I almost guarantee that you have absolutely loads of perfectly good PLR articles sitting there that you have just never used.

PLR articles are great – but if you leave them to gather digital dust then there’s really no point in having them!

So in today’s post I’m going to share with you one of the ways I like to use PLR articles:

Turn them into mini reports!

Yep – one of the main things I do with PLR articles is gather them up and turn them into PDF reports.

Let’s say you have bought a PLR article pack on the subject of Twitter.

(I’m using the one HERE as an example)

You could quite easily turn this article pack into a new report – and then you could use that report to build your list by giving it away on your squeeze page – or give it away to your blog readers – or anything you like. It’s a great shortcut to creating your very own information product!

Here’s how:

First of all I would take the articles and have a good read through each of them.

Then I would open up a new blank document in my word processor and I would paste the articles in one after another in what I thought was a logical order.

The bit about pasting them in a logical order is crucial btw. Remember that any report should have a beginning, a middle and an end – so start off with an article that introduces the subject, then follow it with the articles that delve into certain aspects of the subject a little more deeply, and finally an article which sums it all up.

You might find that the articles don’t exactly fit this way of doing things, but if they don’t then you don’t need to worry because they will just need a little editing and jiggling around…

Going back to the example, a logical order for these articles might be:

• Twitter For Internet Marketers
• What Are The Benefits of Twitter For Businesses?
• How To Get Targeted Followers on Twitter
• Twitter – How Do You Engage With Your Followers?
• 5 Twitter Mistakes To Avoid
• Top Tips For Getting The Most Out of Twitter

Not perfect yet but that seems to follow a fairly logical order to me. Your article titles effectively become your chapter headings.

Next you should go through the articles and rewrite aspects of them so that they flow better.

Take out any information that is repeated (for example the same point might be made in two of the articles, but you’d only want to include that point once in your report).

Remove any references from the text that reveals the content originally started out as an article – for example if an article contains the phrase “in this article we’re going to talk about…..” then you would replace it with “in this section of the report we’re going to talk about….”

Add information to the report that you think would add to the content – and if you can write a short introduction at the beginning of the report and a conclusion at the end.

Now it’s time to give your report a name.

In this example I think I’m going to go with “Twitter Unleashed: How To Use Twitter to Explode Your Online Business”

(It’s not the best title in the world but it will probably do)

Now add the final touches. Stick your title on the first page of your report, format your text (double line spacing, size 20 for the headings, size 14 for the main text, and calibri font works well for me), and add in a header with your report title and a footer with the page numbers.

Finally save it as a PDF (done in the click of your mouse if you’re using the free Open Office) and….

Daadaaaaaaaaah! You instantly have your very own report that you can do whatever you want with.

I usually use the reports I have created in this way as freebies to give away to build my list…

Pay a graphics designer to design you a nice ecover to go with your report, create a simple squeeze page and you’re ready to go!

I love this technique and yet I don’t see many people using it.

Go and try it and let me know how you get on.

Comments are very welcome.

It seems like everyone wants to be a ‘guru’ in internet marketing, and most people’s idea of doing that is to find a guru and replicate them. Do what they do. Do it how they do it. And you’ll be a guru. That’s the idea anyway.

Which is fine and I agree with this, but only up to a point.

Take a look around at all the successful guys and you’ll find that they all have their own identity too – their own personality – their own brand. The one’s that stick in your mind all have their own unique story of how they became internet marketers. They have their own ideas about what they want out of life. They are very different people, not just ‘some guy or girl’ on the internet that runs an online business.

In short the people I buy from the most are those who I feel like I ‘know.’ Now obviously I’m using that term loosely because in the vast majority of cases I’ve never personally met the person in question, but I have this image inside my head of what they are like.

And if you can identify with that chosen lifestyle or personality then it’s very powerful.

The way I see things is that you need to become a person, not just another internet marketer. If you’re pretty sure that someone is making money then YES look at what they do and try to incorporate that into your own business, BUT do it in your own way. Put your own slant on things. Become someone to remember, not just another clone.

Basically create your own brand…

The most powerful brands stay in your mind, and create a message inside your brain that makes you purchase it time and time again.

It’s exactly the same in internet marketing as it is in the supermarket. So are you the leading brand, or just a clone of it? Are you Coca Cola, or are you Tesco Value Cola? If you’re in the states, substitute that for the equivelant WalMart own brand.

I know which one I want to be, but I’m also pretty sure that I could try harder.

Brands are funny things too because the reality is often very different to what you have inside your head. Going back to internet marketing, sometimes you’ve followed an internet ‘guru’ for quite a long time, and then maybe you meet them, or you speak to them, and they’re different to what you were expecting. They speak differently, they look different, or whatever it might be.

But the more you know about someone the more you feel like you KNOW them. The internet can make it difficult to let yourself shine through because we’re not all meeting face to face. But if you can successfully break through the barrier then it can only be a good thing. I want to feel like I know who I’m buying from, and in the vast majority of cases those are the people who I DO buy from.

Maybe it would be interesting to do some kind of test. Write down a list of the people you follow online, and sum them up in a few words. Try to work out WHY you buy from them. What is it about them that makes you tick?

Create a brand around yourself. I’m still working on mine – but I want it to be young, dynamic, and a simple common sense approach to internet marketing.

I’m excited to announce that my latest site is now live…

Introducing DirectPLR.com – Top quality PLR content, as and when you need it.

(Click on the screenshot on the right to check out the site)

I started writing and selling my own PLR because I’ve bought lots of PLR myself over the years and I’ve usually been left disappointed. Lots of the PLR you find online is very poor quality and often contains spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and even outdated or incorrect information. I knew I could do better and so Direct PLR was born!

Some of you are also members of my FirstPLR.com site and this sits along side it nicely.

All of my PLR content is:

• Unique PLR – You won’t find the same PLR for sale on other websites.
• Limited-release PLR – I usually limit each PLR pack to just 50 or 100 people, meaning you can be sure that only a strictly limited number of people have the same PLR content as you.
• Written to a high standard by a native English speaker qualified to Degree standard (ie. little old me!!)
• Interesting, informative and relevant today – No more PLR containing incorrect or outdated information!

Click here for more info.

Thanks – and I’ll be back with another blog post very soon.

Daniel

I’ve just returned from a short break to the Central/Welsh borders.

It was mainly a “chill out, away from it all” kind of holiday (vacation) with the family and involved a little walking, a couple of trips around local museums and some wine and good food in the evenings (the most important part of course

The picture on the right is at Ludlow Castle, and the other one is at a Victorian museum – which was VERY interesting.

We didn’t do anything especially exciting…

Yet AMAZING things happened whilst I was away.

I had several business ideas – and a couple of “lightbulb” moments – which I just know are going to make me a lot of money.

Before we went away I had been quite busy and wrapped up in lots of day to day tasks. Basically just ‘running my business.’

I was lacking in ideas and little direction, yet a few days away in the countryside and I could think freely again.

It’s not just holidays away that have this affect on me either. I often get business ideas when I’m lying in bed at night or when I’m taking a bath or a shower in the mornings.

Yet sit me in front of the computer all day and I find I start staring at the screen like a totally lost zombie with no ideas and no perspective.

It’s the same when you’re working full time in a day job. You spend so much of your life just ‘doing your job’ that it leaves little time for thinking of business ideas of your own. You get home at the end of the day and you’re basically just so knackered that the only thing you want to do is curl up in front of the TV and have a beer.

So next time you’re feeling lost or stuck for ideas with your online business – take a break. It’ll do wonders for your business and your bank balance.

By the way I know that this is nothing new. It just one of those things that it does you good to be reminded of every once in a while.

Next weekend I’m off for break with some mates and it’ll be a very different kind of holiday (most likely involving lots of alcohol hehe)

That probably won’t have much of a positive impact on my online business and it will affect my bank balance in a negative way, but there you go

Comments are of course welcome…

———–
Looking for PLR?

I’ve just spotted what looks like a fantastic new PLR report. It comes with graphics and some pretty cool extras like a 10-part autoresponder series and a ready-made mini site and sales letter.

Click here NOW to check it out

It’s a mistake to try and design your product or service so that it tries to appeal to everyone in your market. You just can’t do it – yet it’s a mistake I see people making all the time…

A training course which contains information suitable for newbie internet marketers just isn’t going to appeal to a marketer who has 5 years experience.

It’s absolute vital when you market a product (whether it’s your own or one you’re promoting as an affiliate) that you know exactly WHO you target market is.

I was watching a sales video the other day for an internet marketing training course and within the video were statements such as:

This is NOT for people who want a push button solution.
This is NOT for people without a list.
This is NOT for people who aren’t making money online.
This IS for people who are already making a full-time income online and want to learn how grow their business dramatically in the quickest possible time

The sales video was basically actively excluding perhaps 95% of people in the ‘make money online’ niche.

An unwise move to exclude such a large proportion of the market?

Definitely NOT! It was a fantastic sales video because what it in effect did was shout out to the remaining 5% of people “this is the product for YOU! This is the solution that you need!”

Your product or offer needs to be targeted at a very specific group of people.

You need to know who they are in order to be able to market to them effectively – and this is where I find writing a ‘pen portrait’ extremely useful.

A pen portrait is basically a description of the person who will buy your product; the person you are aiming it at.

It might be:

“David Smith. Aged 32. Has been involved with internet marketing for a couple of years. Last year however David quit his job to run his own online business selling ebooks and video information products. His business is currently earning $2,500 a month profit and he is keen to grow his business and increase his profits to $5,000 a month.”

I reckon that was roughly the pen portrait of the person the product I was looking at the other day was aimed at.

Of course your pen portrait might be completely different. Let’s say you’re trying to sell a product about “how to date more women.”

My pen portrait might be:

“Thomas Jefferson. Aged in his early 20s. Thomas has always struggled with his self confidence. He finds it difficult to talk to women in clubs or know how to strike up a conversation with strangers. He is an intelligent person but lacks self confidence. He wants to know how he can approach women and how to make them like him.”

Of course not everyone who wants to buy your product is going to fit your pen portrait exactly, but I find that writing it down really helps you to define who you are aiming this product at.

Who is going to buy your product? What are they like? What’s their background and where are they now? Where do they want to be? What are their interests? What are they good at? What are they bad at? What are their hopes and fears?

When you’re creating your sales page, you can then talk about the hopes and fears of your target audience. Carrying on the same example, your sales page might say “I used to walk up to women in clubs and practically freeze. I didn’t know what to say and I used to feel like an idiot. Then I discovered the secrets to boosting my self confidence. Now I find it easy to date women, thanks to the techniques I’m going to share with you inside my new product ‘Date More Women.’

That isn’t me btw – and I’m not suggesting your sales page would use those exact words – but hopefully you understand what I’m getting at

By being clear about your target audience and making it very specific you’ll make more sales. The 5% of the wider market whom you ARE aiming your product at will see your sales page and think “Wow – this product is for ME! It’s the one I’ve been waiting for and fits my situation perfectly. They are talking to ME!” Then of course they’ll buy it.

Define your target audience. Know who they are. It’ll help you be a more effective marketer and sell more products.

Comments welcome, as always (in fact your comments and emails are what really make my days

I’ve just returned from a trip to Wimbledon and all in all I had an absolutely wonderful time

Getting tickets for tennis’s most famous tournament is not easy and we had to camp out overnight to secure our seats on Centre Court.

It’s well worth it though because whilst it’s great to watch it on TV there’s definitely nothing quite like being there.

The only not so enjoyable moment was waking up at 3am to a rather soggy pillow and water dripping on my head.

It was bucketing it down outside and the tent was leaking. Great!

My niece, who was in a separate tent next to us, had no such problems of course.

It’s all good fun though because once we were into the grounds and sat in our seats we could really sit back and enjoy the electric atmosphere generated by the thousands of fans.

It’s not just about the tennis though. Wimbledon is as famous for it’s strawberries and cream, jugs of Pimms and the rather unpredictable British weather, as it is for fluffy yellow balls being walloped over a net at circa 100mph.

If you ever get the chance to go, I would highly recommend it. We normally camp each year for tickets and it’s great fun.

So you might be wondering what this has got to do with internet marketing?

Well when you think about it we can learn a lot from the world’s top tennis players.

Anyone who steps onto that Centre Court hasn’t got there by chance. They have worked hard for years, training day in and day out in the gym and on the practice court. They have had to spend years playing tiny tournaments with no facilities (and being watched by the proverbial one man and his dog) before they step anywhere near the big tournaments like Wimbledon or the French Open.

It’s the same in internet marketing. Despite what some of the more ‘hypey’ sales pages out there might have you believe, making lots of money online doesn’t just happen overnight. There’s no push button solution or instant cash machine where you press a button and money falls out. You’ve got to work hard at it and put in the work to consistently make money online.

But that’s not the only thing we can learn from tennis.

You’ve probably heard the expression ‘the ball’s in your court’ and that definitely applies when you work online. As internet marketers we must make decisions each and every day. We must try things out. Experiment with different style squeeze pages, products and autoresponder sequences.

It’s what I love about internet marketing and it’s why I feel motivated every day when I get up in the morning.

It’s also a little scary, especially when you’re not used to it.

Just as tennis is an individual sport, internet marketing is pretty much all down to you. Nobody’s going to do it for you. You must decide what shot you’re next going to play and where within the court you’re going to aim.

Making decisions is hard but if you want to succeed online you must get used to doing it each and every day.

There’s also a fine line between success and failure online. Even professional tennis players make mistakes and have days when it seems like they can hardly hit the ball into the court. The best players however seem to have the knack of ‘finding a way to win’, even when they aren’t playing especially well or their back is to the wall. It’s the ability to be two sets to Love down, face a match point and somehow come back to win in five sets which separates the great from merely the very good.

As marketers we make mistakes all the time. Things don’t always go as well as you expect them to and some days you sit there and think ‘I’m never going to succeed online.’ You need to learn from your mistakes, fight back and have the drive to carry on. If you send out a promo to your list one day and it absolutely bombs – don’t get too downhearted. Just put it down to experience, learn from it and carry on.

I’ve also always believed that as an internet marketer you’ve got to aim for above the net. The best marketers do things just that little bit better and aim that bit higher than marketers who fail online. If you provide fantastic value to your customers and market in such a way that you are always providing great content to people – content which is better than other marketers offerings – then you will succeed.

Finally, in order to succeed online you need to have the right equipment. It took me quite a while to realise this myself but you need to have the correct tools in order to build a solid business. You need to have a quality autoresponder account from a company such as Aweber and you need to have graphics on your websites which make you look like a professional and not just a dodgy amateur. You need to have decent web hosting and not some freebie account which will make your website crash on the day of your product launch. Tennis rackets used by the top players are pretty expensive and are customized to the needs of the player. You wouldn’t see Federer, Nadal or Murray walking out onto court with a $20 racket and strings which break every few games – so don’t make the same mistake yourself in your online business.

So there you go. Quiet please – ready – play. Go and build your online business!

Comments welcome, as always…