Archive for the ‘Career’ Category

Hi everyone! I had to laugh just now. But not really. I’m actually kind of pissed off about something. Okay let’s just spill it out right here:

1. In today’s post here, I talked about an article written by “someone” who is bashing people who sell PLR and basically saying PLR is dangerous and worthless, right?

2. That article I was referring to in my blog post is right here.

3. The author of that article is “Kyle” = whose websites include Wealthy Affiliate, right? See screen shot below.

4. This site right here tells you a perk you get when you join his “Wealthy Affiliate” program.

5. Guess what several of those big ass perks are?

You guess it…

PL FREAKING R!

Lookie here:

But wait! I thought, according to the author of that PLR bashing article and ironically, the owner of this site shown in the print screen above, that using someone else’s emails were a BAD idea?

I thought PLR was worthless?

I thought anyone selling or promoting PLR should be ASHAMED of themselves?

Giggle. Or is that Grr? It’s irresponsible to be talking out of both sides of your mouth like that. It’s either a hoax or a perk, Kyle – which is it? Ridiculous. That’s what that article is.

I think “someone” ought to be ashamed…but not for selling or using PLR.

Oopsie.

Tiff

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Hi everyone! A couple of you have emailed me some article written by someone I won’t name who bashes PLR for a variety of reasons on some article site, asking my opinion about it.

Well here ya go…

I think the article is a blatant attempt to rank for the keyword “Quality PLR Articles” and drive traffic to their product. Yawn.

But let me address the issues this person brought up. The reason people are sending me this article, by the way, is because this “marketer” is saying PLR is a hoax and shame on you if you sell them – so obviously that’s supposed to offend me, right?

It doesn’t. I know PLR isn’t a hoax and I have a gut feeling about this person’s intentions.

This person has a different opinion than Google about “dupe content.”

Now granted, I agree it’s a great idea to alter your PLR. I do it myself when I buy and use it! But this person says if you use PLR, your site will be “red flagged” and punished. Well, not according to Google, old chap!

Google says here, “There’s no such thing as a “duplicate content penalty.” At least, not in the way most people mean when they say that.

So let’s look at how they DO mean it.

“Duplicate content on a site is not grounds for action on that site unless it appears that the intent of the duplicate content is to be deceptive and manipulate search engine results. If your site suffers from duplicate content issues, and you don’t follow the advice listed above, we do a good job of choosing a version of the content to show in our search results.”

Google goes on to say, “So when people say that having this type of duplicate content can affect your site, it’s not because you’re likely to be penalized; it’s simply due to the way that web sites and search engines work. Most search engines strive for a certain level of variety; they want to show you ten different results on a search results page, not ten different URLs that all have the same content. To this end, Google tries to filter out duplicate documents so that users experience less redundancy.”

Okay so let’s review. You’re not getting “red flagged and penalized.” Google will look for the better websites to show when content is the same, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use PLR. What it means is that you need to create the best website possible – by providing great information, by engaging your audience and building a rapport with them, so that Google says, “Hot damn! This site has it all, let’s pick this one!”

So should your site be 100% PLR, unedited 100% of the time? Well not much value in that. The content is meant to help you, not stand IN for you. You have to add some personality and opinion and spirit to your site. Even if you can’t edit, you CAN offer commentary on the PLR as you use it, as if it’s coming from another source, which it is. I’ve taught y’all that before.

This person worries about outsourced PLR.

Outsourced or not, you always want to look for quality, period. PLR is cheap enough – look for quality or ask for a recommendation and then you won’t have to be angry that the packs you buy aren’t usable because of poor English skills.

As for Subject Matter Experts, really? LOL! (He says it’s not a good idea to use PLR because the writers aren’t subject matter experts, yet he’s fine with outsourcing to a ghostwriter – who probably isn’t, either).

I have to laugh my ass off at this because most gurus aren’t “SMEs.” Most have ghostwriters who don’t know a thing about a topic, but who research it and write about it. But hey, if you’re worried about subject matter expertise, add your own to the framework of the PLR article.

This person says there’s no way to use them that’s a good idea.

Really? Well let me ‘splain. He says it’s a BAD idea to use them on your site. Not really. They can be great fillers for when you need a blog post or to curate some content to share your opinion.

He says not to give them away as a bonus. Doesn’t say why, but I’ll tell you why you SHOULD. Let’s say you have an exercise site, for instance – and you are teaching people how to lose weight. You created a great course on exercising to flatten your belly.

You would like to give a bonus. How about my PLR eBook “Stick to Your Diet?” It’s relevant and related and would pair nicely. And the work’s done for you. I know if I bought a course on exercise and a free bonus that was informative and well written came with it, I’d be one grateful customer.

He says not to use them in your newsletter. Bad for relationship building and all. Hmm. Maybe the problem here is his concern for just cut and paste usage. Is he ignorant to the fact that you can actually add to PLR?

I could easily plop a PLR article that’s informative and relevant to my readers into my Aweber queue and add a little introduction and conclusion and I know many people who would be grateful to get that nugget of information for the day.

Now on one thing, we do agree. You can’t use PLR on many article directories. They (like EZA) scan for it. But then, I’m no fan of article directories anyway.

This person says PLR is no different from free online content.

I say, define, “Free.” You mean content people put out there that specifically says, “Come and get and use me?” Because aside from article directories, there’s not a lot of that.

Many unethical marketers unethically and illegally scrape content or go to someone’s site and rewrite their content. PLAGIARISM, people! That’s what it is. Don’t believe me? Go to your local college and sign up for a Journalism class.

He asks, “Why are you paying for it?” Well PLR gives you the legal and ethical RIGHT to use the content, to alter it, to put your name on it. If you’ve ever written an original article yourself and had someone scrape and use it, then you’ll know how infuriating that is.

Also, a free article directory allows access to anyone, anytime. PLR won’t be as diluted with competition vying for it.

This person says too many people have the same content.

So if that’s a concern of yours, edit! If you’re putting up additional content on your site, it’s okay to use PLR in conjunction with it.

And many PLR packs aren’t even “online” visibly, anyway. Email autoresponders, viral reports or opt in reports, eBooks for sale or as bonus items, membership sites, etc.

Also, I think someone tends to exaggerate the numbers of people buying individual packs. I don’t know about those 8,000 plr articles for $0.01 deals, but with $1 per page packs, you’re not competing with 1,000s of people per pack. LOL!

I do agree about creating a brand for yourself, but PLR can ethically and helpfully play a role in that if you need the content assistance.

This person says PLR sellers should be ashamed.

Now this is where I eye roll. An obvious attempt to stir controversy for comments and traffic so his links will get some traffic to his product.

He says you shouldn’t feel good selling PLR because of what little value they provide. So in other words, all you PLR sellers are scam artists and all you buyers are idiots – that’s the gist of this article, really.

He says you should be ashamed for selling something of so little value. The problem is not that PLR is of little value. The problem is that this person seems to be using his ignorance about the best way to use PLR in a pathetic attempt to parlay it into traffic to his site.

Even has the obligatory keyword phrase in the conclusion, not just the title. LOL! Please, have an opinion about whether or not you want to use PLR all day long – I don’t care. But calling it a hoax?

P.A.T.H.E.T.I.C.

Tiff

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Hi everyone. I had all sorts of thoughts in my head this morning…after a few different incidents where people emailed me repeatedly trying to strong-arm me or kiss my butt to get me to promote their “shortcut” software or services.

Even after you say no, they keep after you – and I HATE pushy people like that. I really do. It flooded in within the past 24 hours. Some were PMs on Facebook and some were emails. One was a DM on Twitter. Did I put out a bat signal that I needed some spammy JV partners or something?

The thing that sticks out with me with these people is they obviously don’t know me – or they’d know NOT to promote “fast shortcuts” as a primary perk. One even told me how I could rip off my PLR customers with his spinning software and you’d be none the wiser.  Sorry, I won’t be sharing that tidbit.

Yawn.

If I were not a patient woman, I would do anything to make money fast. I’ve said no to so many big “opportunities” – promotion swaps, list swaps, free trips to Singapore and London for seminars I was asked to speak at.

No thanks.

I think so many people lack patience in every part of their lives. I see parents grabbing their kids by the arm in the store and being impatient instead of kindly talking to that little person who loves them so much. It breaks my heart.

I see drivers swerving in and out of traffic, almost causing wrecks and ruining someone’s life. That was almost me this morning, too. A slightly different version. In four lane traffic, I was in the 2nd to the left lane. The highway was wide open, drivers going between 65-70 mph.

A car to the right of me swerves in front of me into my lane. I hate being on people’s bumpers, so I started to move my car into the lane he’d been in, to the right. But he sped up, so I stayed put.

If I’d been impatient or annoyed that he got right in front of me, then that impatience would have cost me and my kids our lives. If I’d just had to move to the right and pass him up, we would have slammed into a dump truck that was at a full stop in the middle of the highway. His drive shaft and tires had locked and he couldn’t move off to the shoulder.

Right after I passed, shivers up and down my body, another car did slam into the truck, killing a baby 3 year old girl and critically injuring her Mom.  I cried all morning. The truck driver is devastated, too.  Who knows – someone might have swerved to miss the truck and this Mom didn’t have time to move over. I saw the car – I knew by looking at it that the driver couldn’t have survived.

I started thinking about how many times a little bit of patience has changed my life for the better. I’m so grateful that I’ve kept a level head in my life – in driving (I let people in, I never act reckless), with my kids (I have such a close bond with them), and in my business (I feel proud of my accomplishment and slow growth).

Be patient with yourself, too, please. Whether it’s about dieting or learning something new. Be kind to yourself. Nothing’s going to be better if you beat yourself up or rush something.

I saw a lady being very impatient in the grocery store yesterday. She got angry with the young cashier and picked up her food divider and slammed it into the gum rack, muttering about how he’d done something she didn’t like. The man in front of me turned to look at me and I said loudly, “MAN I hate bitchy people!” (hoping she’d hear it and maybe contemplate it later). He smiled and nodded. Turns out he was her husband.

I just hate seeing impatient people take out their bad moods and reckless behavior on others. That’s what these spammers and scumbags do. They’re impatient for fast money, so you become the victim.

Sigh.

My heart is heavy for that family today…

Tiff

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Hi everyone! So today’s exercise in bettering myself is one where I was asked 3 questions. I’ll share them with you (along with my answers) and maybe you can do the exercise yourself.

1. Am I stuck in a rut? If so, which ones?

Hmm…stuck in a rut. Well, I think I definitely WAS about a week ago when I posted that really blah post. But now? Not really. I think I got out of it. The only ruts I’m in are in my personal life. I’m in a health rut.  Not that I’m unhealthy. My medical stats are better than ever. Low cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, etc.

I feel healthy. I eat healthy for the most part – tons of fruits and vegetables (but yes I do have some Cokes and sweets too). No meat (I’m a vegetarian).

Yet I have energy enough to be productive but actual movement is my rut. Just walking from the parking lot to the school makes me out of breath. THAT can’t be good!

So I’m in a movement rut. I am productive around the house (not much movement there doing dishes or laundry). I’m productive in work (sitting on the couch). So I need to make a plan to move more.

It’s not about weight loss or beauty. It’s about being able to walk from my car to the first grade room and not be so out of breath I can’t talk. That’s humiliating.

2. Do I fear change? Fear success? Fear becoming someone different, even though I long to BE different? Why?

Hmm. I usually do fear change. I’m conflicted because I do want to grow into a big name/leader, but that means more scrutiny and pressure to do things out of my comfort zone. I’m a hermit. That doesn’t do over well with me. I do push myself, but not at a pace that’s uncomfortable for me.

3. What self-improvement techniques have I tried before? Why did they work or not work?

I’ve seen counselors in the past for self esteem. They all sucked. My nutritionist is the person who actually boosted my self confidence, oddly enough. Her nutritional advice branched out and affected every part of my life. I feel like she saved me from depression just giving me permission to be fine being me.

I’ve read self help books. Snore. Even the one I’m reading now is all about the author. I like the callouts in the sidebars that have exercises. (Like this one).

I tend to learn from experiences. Sometimes someone influences me in a way that makes me think about things and change or fine tune my opinions.

I do love the mind maps I’ve been doing now.  I’m a mind map machine. I log in and have the tab open all day, toggling back and forth.

Overall, I think  I have guts enough to kick my own ass and better myself in some ways. Some things I just haven’t found a solution for yet.

I know I used to be lazy with housework. Now I’m doing laundry, the whole kitchen, vacuuming, picking up, etc. AND working. AND working on my relationships.

Some day I will find my perfect solution for adding movement into my day. I’ve tried doing video games (on Kinect). I’ve tried joining gyms (got there at 3 AM every morning for awhile to work out with a personal trainer). I’ve tried getting a zoo membership so I could walk the Ft. Worth zoo, but it’s out of my way and I hated driving over there. I hate workout videos with a passion. I did the walking with the hubby thing, but I prefer solo workouts.

I don’t know my solution yet. I do know when it comes to business, I’m gutsy in being vocal. I’m gutsy in standing up against wrong. I’m NOT gutsy with technical change. Shiver! I am gutsy with trying new things (just takes me 2 years to get used to the ideas).

What about you? Got guts? No guts?

Tiff

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