If you write, design or manage content for clients, PLR can look like a shortcut. A client needs ten blog posts, you own a pack of fifty, and the deadline is Friday.
Before you hand anything over, though, check whether your license actually lets you do that. Client work is one of the areas where PLR licenses vary the most.
Why client work is different
When you use PLR on your own site, you are the licensee using it yourself. When you deliver it to a client, someone else ends up publishing it, often under their name. Depending on the wording, that can count as transferring or sharing the content, which some licenses restrict.
What to look for in the license
Read the terms for anything that mentions:
- Use for clients, client projects or “done-for-you” services
- Transferring, sharing or giving away the content or the rights
- Whether the client may claim authorship
- Whether you may charge for the content itself, or only for your service
- Limits on how much of the pack may be used in one place
If client use isn’t mentioned, don’t assume it’s allowed. Ask the seller, and keep their answer in writing. If you need a refresher on license types, see our guide to PLR vs MRR vs RR.
Tell the client what they’re getting
Even when the license allows it, be upfront. A client who believes they paid for one-of-a-kind writing may be unhappy to find the same text on other sites. A short note in your proposal or invoice avoids that: say the work is based on licensed content that you have edited for them.
This matters more if your contract promises “original” work or assigns copyright to the client. You can’t assign rights you don’t own, and PLR buyers usually get a license to use the content, not ownership of it. Check your contract wording, and talk to a lawyer if you’re unsure.
Edit it like it’s your own work
If you do use PLR for a client, treat it as a starting draft:
- Rewrite the introduction and conclusion for the client’s audience.
- Swap generic examples for ones from the client’s industry.
- Add the client’s offers, links and calls to action.
- Check images and fonts in the pack have licenses that cover client use.
- Search a few key sentences online to see how widely the original has been published.
Keep a record
Save the license, your receipt and the client name together. If a question comes up a year later, you will be able to show what you used and under which terms.
Used this way, PLR can save time on client projects without putting you, or your client, in an awkward spot.
Featured image: Photo: StockSnap (CC0)