Courtney Speaks

Have you noticed that a lot of mom bloggers are using Blogger as their blogging platform? I have and it irks me. There is just so much more you can do with Wordpress. I’m working on a couple of projects to help inform mom bloggers how Wordpress can enhance their blogging experience and why they need to be using it.

One of those projects is an e-book, A Mom Blogger’s Guide to WordPress, which is design to teach mom bloggers how to install and setup a WordPress site as well as how to successfully run a WordPress blog. It’s not quite finished yet, but it is in the works.

I’m pretty excited about it.

Today I have a guest post from Tami Kellerman. Enjoy!

Many times after a move I found myself in a community with little or no support system. There I would be, alone, thousands of miles away from family and not knowing a single sole.  So, I would get out there. I would become acclimated to my surroundings, get a job, join some groups and get involved….and that is what I did with my website.

Integrating my faith into my website really was never, not part of my plan.  It is who I am and what I write about. No matter what your website may be about….there are others in the cyber world with similar interests and experience that can help guide you. Reaching out to other bloggers like myself and taking a look at how they set up their blogs, was a huge part of my process. Finding similar interests groups can be as easy as goggling your subject matter or joining a social media group.  I recommend you do both.

I already had a Facebook account so I decided to try Twitter.  I created an account and started stumbling around.  Twitter, as with almost all social media can be an amazing networking experience.  I simply started searching under Christian Authors, Christian Writers, Christian bloggers etc. The numbers are amazing and the amount of useful information being shared is staggering. An additional benefit is the amount of people you can reach with links to your blog. Without even thinking about it I had started to market myself and my writing.  Eventually, I started posting links to my blog on my Facebook account and have only increased the numbers of people that I am exposing my writing to.

Here are some other great ways to integrate your faith or blog interest on your website. An Amazon Book Store on your site that sells books that would appeal to your readers or that you have referenced in past blogs.  Having a My Playlist MP3 devise on your site that plays your favorite music,(mine plays my favorite Christian Music), A Blog roll widget that has links to favorite blogs related to your specific blog genre and/or a recommended resources widget with links to sites that provide help and information regarding your subject matter.

Staying true to why you created your blog in the first place is crucial in being successful at marketing yourself and integrating your values and beliefs.  I can’t image having my blog set up any other way and look forward to how God will use me through my writing or any other way he has planned!  It is the thrill and fear of the Unknown again!! I pray you are energized as you launch into your unknown!

Tami makes her home outside of Chicago with her husband, Michael, and their three young children.  She was raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Journalism.  She received her Master’s in Public Administration from Valdosta State University.

Tami is working on her first book and enjoys blogging on her website, www.mudpiesformom.com, about how God is working in her life and the lives of those around her.  She is committed to becoming the woman God created her to be and providing inspiration to other woman on their own journeys.

Thanks for sticking with me this week while I explained what PLR is, if it is ethical to use, how to use PLR, and sharing with you how I rewrite PLR.  As promised today I have a some additional resources for use in learning more about PLR.

Where to find good quality plr:

• Christian Mom PLR is my site where I sell Christian based content.
• EasyPLR.com is a site where you can find PLR articles on almost any subject matter.  From Internet Marketing, mom topics, to video games, this site has a little bit of everything.  I am a happy customer of EasyPLR and will continue to use them in the future as well.
• MostlySanePLR.com is a site where you can find PLR e-courses to offer to your mailing list.
• YummyPLR.com is the answer to creating great food related content on your website.
• PLRFoodContent.com is another site to find food and recipe related PLR content.
• AllPrivateLabelContent.com is a site where you can find not only PLR articles, but PLR templates for press releases and research bundles.  They also have content specific memberships such as: All Green Content, All Mom Content, All Marketing Content, All Health Content, and All Finance Content.
• PLRforChristians.com is another site that focuses on Christian based PLR content.
• MomPLREbooks.com is a site that sells complete PLR ebook packages for the mom niche.
• PLR.me is a site that sells personal development PLR content.

Additional Resources:

• PLR for Podcasts – free e-course explaining how PLR can help you start a podcast internet radio show.
• Easy Private Label Articles eCourse at EasyPLR
• How To Create An Ecourse In Only One Day by Jimmy D. Brown
• How To Make A Fortune With PLR

Do you have questions or concerns about using PLR?  Do you think it is something you you would use in your blogging efforts or in your online business?  I’m really interested in hearing your opinions about PLR.

Rewriting PLR really isn’t as hard or time consuming as it sounds. It can actually be done pretty quickly. The main purpose of rewriting PLR is to make the article sound like your own.  You want to interject your personality and writing style into the article.  Your readers will never know that the article was a PLR article.

I use PLR content and this is how I rewrite any articles I want to use:

1. Change the title – Rewriting the title is the first step for me.  I read the PLR article, determine what I want the purpose of the article to be, and then create an appropriate title for that article.  I must admit, I often change the titles after I am done with the rewrite, because sometimes articles just come out differently than we planned.
2. Break the article up into sections – If the PLR article is not already broken into paragraphs I do this now.  Or if the paragraphs are long, I break them out.  You want to have a clear introduction, body, and closing.  The body can be multiple paragraphs if needed.  If the paragraph deals with two different thoughts, then it needs to be made into two paragraphs.
3. Rewrite the introduction – You can actually do this in two different ways.  You can rewrite each sentence or rewrite the entire paragraph at once.  I personally like to rewrite the paragraph at once.  I read the introduction and then summarize the introduction into my own words.  This is my new introduction paragraph.
4. Rewrite the body – Going paragraph by paragraph, I apply the same technique I used for the introduce for the body of the article.  I summarize the content into my own words.
5. Rewrite the closing -  While I do some summarization in the closing of a paragraph, I also try to add something to make it relate more to my readers, an affiliate recommendation, or a question for my readers to answer.
6. Add a photo – I love seeing photos in a blog post.  It helps to visual concepts and ideas and if the right photo is used can add value to your article.

Using PLR articles can save you time in creating content even if you have to rewrite the PLR articles.  It takes some of the stress off of you on having to continually brainstorm ideas for posts and articles.  I am not a natural writer.  It is not something that comes easy to me.  Using PLR makes it easier for me to consistently create new content for my sites.

Any questions so far?  Tomorrow is our last day on the PLR series and I will be explaining how to find quality PLR and sharing some additional great resources.

As discussed in the last two posts this week, you have learned what PLR is and if it is ethical to use PLR.  In continuing with my series this week about PLR (Private Label Rights) I am going to answer a popular question in dealing with PLR.  Why should you use PLR content if you are going to have to just rewrite it?

There are a number of ways you can use PLR without rewriting it but sometimes rewriting the content is good too.  Here are some suggestions:

• Create a vlog – Yes you can take your purchase PLR content and create a video with it, just use the PLR article you purchased as your outline and you are ready to go.
• Create a podcast – Same goes here as with creating a vlog.  PLR content make great scripts for recording audios.  If you want to learn more about using PLR in a podcast, check out my free e-course, PLR for Podcasts over at Christian Mom PLR.
• Brainstorm ideas – Use PLR content as an opportunity to brainstorm ideas for other posts or articles.
• Research – If you purchase quality PLR content then you can use the content for solely research purposes.  If you purchased an article on dog grooming, use the points in the article to craft your own article.
• Create a e-course – Take a pack of articles and use the main points as a e-course or put into an auto-responder to stay in touch with your mailing list

The list really could go on and on.  If fact you can download a list of 101 Ways To Use PLR Content written by Ronnie from PLR.me.  Tomorrow I am going to cover the basics of rewriting PLR.  And yes, it is really is worth it to rewrite PLR content.

Remember in yesterday’s post I mentioned that using PLR can be a bit tricky for Christians?  As a recap from yesterday’s post, PLR stands for Private Label Rights and is content that you can purchase and then use as is without giving the writer credit.  You can claim the content as your own.  You purchased the right to do so.  So basically you are taking credit for writing something you did not write.  The question of if PLR is ethical is a controversial one.

Nicole Dean from EasyPLR also created a video answering this question.

As a Christian blogger or business owner I think we have to be extra careful with the way we use PLR.  It is imperative to rewrite any PLR content you purchase.  If you use PLR as is and then your reader reads the exact same information, word for word, on another site, what does that say about your blog? Probably not good things.  Not only does it put your writing in question but also your morals.

Well then what good is PLR if you have to rewrite it?  That’s a good question and I will tell you answers tomorrow!

This week on the blog I am going to share with you what exactly PLR is and how it can help you as a Christian blogger or online business owner.  As a Christian business owner using PLR can be a little tricky at times, in my opinion.  Because my faith takes front stage in everything in my life, including my online business, I don’t want to take a chance by doing anything that might tarnish my testimony or have others believe I am not who I say I am.

First we are going to cover the basics, specially what is PLR?  PLR stands for Private Label Rights. Private Label Rights (PLR) articles are privately branded articles that you can use on your website or blog without having to add an author credit bio box. PLR  Articles can be posted to your blog or website as if you had written the articles yourself.  PLR content is not just limited to written articles though.  If you do a search on Google, you can find PLR content on software, video, graphics, and even blog themes.

Nicole Dean from Easy PLR has created a great video that answers the question, “What is PLR”.  I would highly recommend that you take a few minutes and watch it. Nicole explains it a lot better than I ever can.

Any questions so far?  If so, just leave a comment and I will answer them.  Tomorrow’s post will be about why using PLR can be a tricky especially for Christian bloggers and business owners.

As I promised last Saturday, I am going to start sharing my weekly goals with you all.  It will be nice at the end of the week to see what I have accomplished and if I haven’t accomplished them, it will give me a chance to reflect on why I did not.

So here are my goals for the week:

• Post everyday on this blog except for Sunday
• Write 2 articles for article marketing
• Complete 2 portions of work on a JV project (will be so excited to share more about this in the near future)
• Launch my new site all about Wordpress (I’m really excited about this too.  You all know how much I love Wordpress )

So what are your goals for week?  Can I help keep you accountable?

Do you have your family’s support for your online business and/or blog?  Are they an encouragement or hindrance to you and your business?  My husband is supportive when I’m making money and less so when I’m not.  I don’t really blame him though.  He doesn’t understand the way the Internet Marketing world works.  I’m still learning myself.

Running my online business and blog is something I enjoy doing, even when my income takes a dive some months.  I love being able to stay home with my kids but I need something that is my own and separate from the kids.  My online business fills this need.  It allows me to be creative and interact with other adults, even if it is just online.  As along as I’m happy my family is happy.

One thing I struggle with is not letting my love of blogging and such to take over my life.  My family and kids will always come first but it is easy to let blogging and Internet marketing to take up too much space in my day.  There is a balance that I struggle to achieve at times.  That is when the support of family comes into play the most for me.   While my online business is important to me, my family is more important, and they constantly remind me of that.

Another thing that has helped me is prayer and God’s guidance.  I believe I am following God’s will in my life through my online business and that makes balancing everything so much easier.  If I feel like the Internet is over taking my world, I turn to God in prayer and ask Him for strength.  After all, God is the reason I am even able to have an online business.

So, does your family support you?  Do they understand why you run an online business or blog?

Creating information products are a great way to make money online. It doesn’t matter if the subject has already been done, you are able to put your spin on a topic and make it new.  A lot of the information products out there lack good content or only promote some affiliate program.  By creating quality, content packed products you can set yourself up for success.

On area I feel that is lacking in information products is the Christian niche and when I say I say Christian, I don’t just mean devotions or Bible studies.  While Bible studies and devotions are needed, there is a need for other Christian based ebooks and such.  As a incentive for people to sign up for the Faithful Bloggers’ newsletter I created a report entitled, 101 Christian E-Book Ideas.  This report listed 101 Christian topics that you could use to create an information product. You could essentially take an e-book on any topic and add a Christian spin to it.  The possibilities are endless.

But why should you write a Christian based e-book?  Writing a Christian e-book gives us a chance to encourage other Christians.  It allows us to be a support to other Christians.  It allows us to be a light to a dark world.

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen.” Matthew 28:19-20

The Bible teaches us that we are to “teach all nations….to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you”.  So we should write Christian e-books and information products to teach others about Christ.  That is our primary goal – to show others about Christ.  And we are able to do this through information products.  We can teach others about the love of Christ.  We can teach others about Biblical principals and how to incorporate them in our lives.  We can teach others how to start and grow a Christian based business.  While teaching others about these things, we can also show people the love of Christ and the difference Christ can make in our lives and businesses.

If you have written a Christian based ebook or information product, please leave your link in the comments.  I would love to check it out!

P.S.  I have written a couple of Christian based special reports, How to Start a Christian Review Blog and Blending Christian Virtues Into Your Blog.  You can receive a free copy of Blending Christian Virtues Into Your Blog by signing up for my mailing list on the sidebar to the right.