Disclaimer: This blog makes money through affiliate links. It costs you nothing but means we get a small amount to help keep the blog going. All affiliate links are denoted clearly with the asterisk.

There are many ways to make money writing online. One of those could be PLR material.

PLR stands for Private Label Rights. You can either sell your content with a PLR license or you can buy other content with that license and use it yourself.

It could be blog posts, printables, listicles, and much more. In some cases, you can also get social media graphics through PLR rights.

Can you make money writing online with others’ content?

Let’s start with what sounds like the easiest way to make money writing online with PLR material. You could buy content from others and use it yourself.

You already have the content. Now all you need to do is add in the affiliate links and the graphics. You just need to get it in front of your audience.

Easy, right?

Well, while it sounds easy, it’s not necessarily the best way to make money writing online. Nor does it come with no work.

Other people are buying the same content. It’s up to you to make it look different to the content everyone else is sharing.

That does take time to do. You’re basically rewriting the content.

Then you need to find the relevant affiliate links that you promote. You’ll need to create the graphics. You need to do something that makes it stand out.

Make money selling PLR eBooks: How to start a business with PLR products ($)

What about using printables?

Surely you could sell printables that others have created as PLR materials, right? These you wouldn’t need to redo.

You still need to create some sort of content around them. You’ll need to market the printables, and then you need to consider whether your audience is even going to be interested.

It’s not as simple as putting the printables up on an Etsy store and waiting for people to come.

Plus, they still look exactly the same as a load of other printables on the market. You’re not the only one who has bought that content.

Could you sell your own PLR content?

One option to make money writing online is to create and sell your own PLR content.

This could be a way to make residual income, but it’s not guaranteed income.

Let’s just start with the fact you have to put the initial effort in to create the content in the first place. It can’t be half-arsed work. You need to offer good quality content, whether you’ve decided to do blog posts or you want to offer printables or something completely different.

It takes time to see the earnings build up, and I can tell you that from experience. I used to offer PLR materials. I’d charge a relatively low amount for a pack of 10 articles, say about $10. I did end up making about $400 in the end, but it took two years to get to that point.

Sure, in the end it was worth it. If I still offered it, it would be even better. But it was a lot of work to play the long game. Are you willing to wait that long?

That content also needs to remain relevant. You need to update it with current tips and practices, depending on your niche. So, that can certainly affect the profitability.

MORE: How often should you blog?

PLR content can be good to make money writing online. It can also be a complete waste of time.

When it comes to creating your own, I have found success if you’re willing to play the long game. If you want money now, PLR content isn’t the way to go.