Yesterday, I mentioned that some people buy articles from other writers, and then submit them to all the online article directories as a means of getting found on the Web. There are many articles available, some of them for free, others for a fee. Most of them are not particularly well written.

(Yes, I sell articles for other people’s use, but we’re talking about a different animal here.)

When it comes to Internet marketing topics, there are many private label articles which you can buy and put your own name on, and use as you wish for your own marketing purposes. Just to find out what these are like, Denise and I signed up for a whole bunch of marketing articles. I figured they might save some writing time by at least providing some structure, an outline, or at least inspiration.

Boy was I wrong. These articles were full of grammatical errors, and were an embarrassment. Most importantly, they provided little meat, or valuable, relevant information. They were fluffy and best, and full of hype at their worst.

Here’s what EzineArticles.com’s Chris Knight says about people who try to use other people’s content and submit articles as their own: (To register for a free teleseminar Conversation with article expert Chris tonight at 8:30 p.m. EST, visit here.)

Every single day, we reject private label rights articles by the dozens.

One of the authors we rejected his PLR content said:

"That article was part of an exclusive montly membership I belong to. I did change the article around some and added more content to it. The article is almost twice as large as the original one. I guess this comes down to how much does an exlcusive rights article have to be changed before it is alowed into your article directory."

Answer: Your article must be 100% original. Not 99%, not 95%, not 90%, not 60%, not 50%, not 35%, but rather 100% original including the fact that you own 100% of the exclusive rights to the content.

Recommendation: Stop joining these PLR clubs because you are throwing your money away if you intended to join them to send content to us. We don’t want PLR articles and will do everything in our power to reject them.

Just how common is the usage of other people’s content on the Web? I’m asking you, my readers. Have you ever tried to use private label articles for your own purposes? What are your experiences? If you don’t want to admit it here, send me a private email, I’m curious!

Tomorrow night, Wednesday March 15, at 8:30 p.m. EST, we are interviewing Christopher Knight of EzineArticles.com about how you can use articles to drive traffic to your website and get found more easily on the web. (Be sure to register here at no cost.)

One of the questions I’m going to ask Chris is about using article content that you buy for your own use.

Which got me to thinking, what about the articles I provide to my Customized Newsletter Services subscribers? They buy my articles with "full reprint rights." Here are some guidelines as to what that means, according to my own definitions.

Guidelines for “Full Reprint Rights”

In general, when you use CN newsletter services and buy the articles I write, they can be used to help you build your credibility and expertise through your own newsletters, blogs and website copy. This is why you buy the content with “full reprint rights.” You can modify them, add your own stories, or use them “as is,” and put your name on them.

If you wish to submit them to article directories for distribution on the web, however, you must rewrite them so that they are original and personal. Make them shorter by half. Add your own examples of the work you do with clients that are appropriate to the topic. Change the title. This way you will avoid being perceived as an author who uses some other writer’s materials.

I got an email from a CN subscriber who wanted his (my) article reprinted in a local newspaper. He asked if this was permissable. My answer: Yes, by all means. Make sure they spell your name right and include your website and email address. I want my subscribers to get maximum mileage out of the articles they purchase from me. That is the whole purpose: to provide quality content they can use in their newsletters, blogs and websites.

Tomorrow I will post about Chris’ blog post about these issues, and how he handles article submissions that have been modified from another author’s work. His response will surprise you…