The Boring Part: Fortunately, it's only three paragraphs long.

Resale rights deals are becoming more and more popular among Internet marketers. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. I'll cover both sides throughout this series.

I want to stress that this series is not only about their use in Internet marketing. There are a lot of ways that you can use these same approaches in the offline world, even for small retail outlets.

Either way, this is something you'll want to read and think about. It's liable to be longish even for me, so I'll break it up into sections. That will make it easier for you to fit into your schedule, and give you time to absorb and think about this strategy and how you can fit it into your own situation.

Let's start with...

That really is the big question with anything like this, innit?

Basically, resale or reprint rights deals are an agreement between you and the creator of a product that allows you to redistribute that product.

Nothing complicated there.

This agreement can take a lot of forms. Before we get into that, consider - why might you want to deal in reprint rights?

Well, for one thing, they can provide quick and useful additions to your product line. If the rights are to resell a product, you get to keep 100% of the profits.

100% is the best deal since the dot-com bubble burst.

You usually only need to sell between 6 and 20 copies to make back the cost of the license, so they *can be* a low risk, high return investment.

Depending on the license, they can also be used as bonuses, to add punch and value to your existing products. And they take no development time.

If the license allows, you'll also find that some of them work very well as free incentives to get people to sign up for a list or ask for additional information on your product.

Some of these packages actually provide you with complete books that you can edit, add to, and change any way you like. A little time making it fit your business, and you're an instant author.

This is all cool, but it misses the most important point for a lot of people:

It's a great way to get started learning the process of marketing online quickly.

Making money while you learn. Doesn't suck.

The key is choosing something worth buying.

It is entirely possible for a good marketer to make a very nice living selling well chosen reprint rights products.

Think about it... How many people make good money promoting affiliate programs? Could you do as well with half the sales if you get to keep all the profits?

Of course.

But then, why would someone sell the rights to their products and create competition for themselves?

Again, lots of reasons. Not all of them good for the person buying the rights.

It's possible that the product is no longer selling. It could be outdated or no longer useful for technical reasons. It could be that the product was no good in the first place, and just slapped together to make a few bucks. These all happen.

Caveat that old emptor, bay-bee.

Not all reprint rights deals are bad, mind you. Not by a long shot.

Some reprint products are promotional vehicles for the creators. They contain links or notices that benefit the seller.

One of the first such products I ever saw was a little 28-page book called "Internet Cash Machines," by Allen Says. It sells for $14.95, and you automatically get resale rights when you buy it. It has links in it to a number of programs that make Allen money.

The sellers don't mind that, because they make their money by selling it. And something over 100,000 copies of that book have been sold by resellers. Not a bad deal for them.

The buyers don't care about whose links are in it. They care that the information in the book is worth the price. It is.

Everyone wins.

It could also be that the seller just wants to move on to something bigger. It's not unusual for an experienced marketer to find that their time will be more profitably spent on a higher priced item. So, they sell off the lower cost product to get one last boost from it before they move on.

Some people would just rather create products than do long-term marketing. Those people can make a killing at this, and make a lot of marketers happy in the process.

(When the folks at eLance and the like figure this out, the good ones are going to be even harder to find. ;)

There are lots of other reasons. You just need to be aware that not all resale rights products - or licenses - are equally worthwhile.

And the cheapest, especially with reprint rights, is not always the best.

I'll start with a simple strategy to show how you can use this for any offline business: A directory.

Let's say you own a small, family-owned diner. That's common enough and far enough from what people usually consider when they think of this kind of strategy that it should make the point.

You start doing searches in Google or Yahoo for other local businesses. Then you check the phone book for companies that include a website in their ads.

Break the list down by category. Include a few hundred local businesses, plus all the local city, county, entertainment and and charitable organizations that have web sites.

It doesn't have to be fancy. Just neat, easy to use and fast. Make sure there's a credit in the beginning and end with your address, a brief plug, and if you have one, a link to your own site.

Create two versions. One with an ad, a menu at the end if you deliver, and a special coupon. The other with just a tasteful note at the front, along the lines of:

Depending on how big the directory is, you may want to print the more promotional one out and give it to your customers. You could also upload it to a web site and give them a business card with the URL on it.

Or print it out on place mats or menus. Have extras for people to take home.

What you're really looking to do, though, is get other people to pass it around. Your best candidates are the other businesses that are listed.

Send them an email or a printed note letting them know that you created the directory as a service to your customers. Tell them where they can download a copy and suggest that, since it's already done, they can offer it to their customers if they like. Free of charge.

Let them know they can link directly to it or, if they prefer, print it out and give their customers hard copies or post it on their own web sites.

Then ask if they know any other businesses that they would recommend you to include. Give them a phone number along with your email address so they can respond in whatever way they're most comfortable.

That's your first approach.

The second is to set up the less promotional copy with a different page and download link, and send a letter to the various local organizations that you included, along with the local TV and radio stations. (You did include those, right?)

Tell them what it is and give them the same options you outlined for the businesses. Ask if they know of other worthy organizations that would benefit from additional exposure.

Ask it just like that. Don't tell them you're going to get them floods of traffic or anything ridiculous. You're doing a public service, not looking for a marketing contract, right?

By the way... this really is a useful public service. Don't be shy about that aspect of it.

Keep in mind it will grow over time. Don't feel like you have to work hard at it, but spend a little time each week, maybe an hour or two, to add the new links that people send you.

If you really want to get some good exposure and distribution, include a section for local hobbyists and personal sites.

Make sure those people know to link to your ad-branded version.

This shouldn't take more than a day's work to create initially. You want to see if it will fly before you spend a lot of time on it.

Upload it as a PDF file, not a Word doc, so people get it with your ad in it.

This could be a significant business booster, as well as a door opener for contacting other local businesspeople and building your network of contacts.

How does this relate? By letting people distribute your work, you're giving them reprint rights.

It can be that simple.

So, what are the various types of reprint rights licenses?

Here are some basic definitions. You'll find that various people use them differently. What's important is not getting everyone to use the same terms. That's not going to happen, especially with the massive egos we marketers tend to collect.

The important thing is that you know what options are most common and understand what they mean.

With that, here's the Glossary of Reprint Rights:

Giveaway Rights:

This is nothing more than the right to give a product away or post it on your web site. If you get the right kind of information for your market and have the right kind of call to action in it, this can be a very good way to generate targeted traffic and highly qualified leads.

These can be sold (you pay for the right to give the product away for free) or they can be free for everyone who wants them. The most common of the latter is marked by including a note with or in the product that tells you that you can give it away.

Giveaway Rights - Brandable

Same as above, but with links or distributor information in the product that can be changed. These can be affiliate links for another product, a title page that allows you to be seen as the primary distributor, etc.

This does not give you permission to claim to be the author. That's a different thing, and is covered later.

Note that some products that must be sold can also have brandable links in them.

Automatic - "Sell 'em if you got 'em"

If you got the file legitimately (ie, paid for it if it's for sale) you have the right to sell it. Or give it away, if that's allowed within the license.

Resale Rights

The simplest and most common form of commercial reprint rights. You pay for the right to sell the product, as it exists when you get it.

Master Resale Rights

You can both sell the product and sell others the right to sell the product.

Some packages allow anyone who buys resale rights to also have master resale rights. Some sell standard resale rights at one price and master rights at another. Some sell only the master rights and let the buyers of those sell the resale rights.

That's normally done to limit the number of people who compete for sales of the product. Some licenses also limit the amount of master rights packages that will be sold, or limit the number of resale rights licenses that can be sold by those who buy master rights.

Confused yet?

You're not alone. The idea of master rights is confusing to a lot of people. The way to keep it simple is to look at the terms. Don't make any assumptions at all when you see the phrase "master rights," because it has been badly corrupted by people who don't take the time to understand.

If it says "master rights," you should have at least the ability to sell the product to end users and to sell resale rights. That is the only thing that is universal to licenses covered under that name.

You may or may not have permission to let those buyers also sell resale rights.

You may or may not have permission to alter the product.

You may or may not have permission to give the product away or offer it as part of a bundle.

The only thing that is standard for "master rights" is that you get to sell the product and sell others the right to sell the product.

Master rights packages can be very good or very bad, depending on your perspective. You'll want to consider the pricing and the market and a lot of other things. Mostly, it depends on your intent for the product and your marketing skill.

Read the terms of any reprint rights license carefully. If it says master rights, read it twice. If you're not sure what it means, ask the seller.

Private Label Rights

These allow you to change the product to make it identifiably yours. This can range from just changing an included graphic to renaming the product or even modifying it any way you like and putting your own name on as the creator.

This can be especially useful if you're going to improve the product, match it to an existing product line, or adapt it to a niche market.

Unlimited - As-Is

Do whatever you want with it as long as you don't change the product. Give it away, sell it, use it in a bundle.

Unlimited - Private Label

Once you get it, it's yours. Do whatever you want with it, including changing it in any way you like.

Those are the main types of reprint rights licenses available. We'll get into some of the terms you can use or should look for in a later issue. First, let's look at some other things that can be part of a reprint rights package.

The most important...

Sales material

Occasionally you'll find a deal that offers a tested sales letter that's professionally written. If it really is well done, this can be a very big bonus. It cuts your work down to promotion and fulfillment.

If it's not quite what you'd like, but it sells, it may be even better as a test example for learning to write effective copy.

Bonuses

Sometimes you'll run into a package that includes a complete offer, with bonuses. If these are related to a central theme, rather than just a random assortment of stuff, this also adds a lot of value. Just make sure the bonuses have some value to you as a product before taking them seriously as part of the decision.

You may also want to consider whether you are permitted to use the bonuses separately from the main product. It's not unusual for a single component, often a bonus, to be worth the cost of the license by itself.

Product Updates

If the producer of the product plans to add updates and include them as part of your package, that can be valuable. Just don't count on them happening. Some do. Most don't.

This might seem a bit dry, and that's okay. Because it is. Next time around, I'll get into more of the strategies, things to look out for, and a way to come up with ideas for using this in any sort of business.

That's where the fun starts.

See you then. Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!

Paul
paul@talkbiz.com