Audello Review – I’m NOT a Fan.
I mentioned before that there would be services that would come into being in 2014 deigned for podcasters. Audello (from Internet Marketer Josh Bratlin) is the latest. It ventured on to the scene with claims that were so outrageous (you can make X amount of money in very little time) that people like John Lee Dumas went “woah”. As a podcast consultant I try to base all my opinions on facts, so last night with hours to go before their early bird special ran out I bought the software.
Today here is what I discovered.
1. Their software for the desktop won't event run (I'll put that in another video, I forgot to show it here). I teach technology for a living, so I don't believe it is user error. I've installed software before.
2. The RSS that the system generates for you to give to iTunes is invalid (per feedvalidator.org). The feed will allow you to manually subscribe via iTunes, but I would not recommend submitting an invalid feed to itunes.
3. One of the “features” is the ability to schedule episodes in advance. This can easily be done in WordPress.
5. The sound bar is a unique feature that as bat that floats above your website. It also has the ability to have people click and leave audio replies. This is very similar to Speakpipe.com ($7 a month).
6. When I imported one of my old shows as a test, many of the details were not imported.
7. One feature is a smartphone app that allows you to record your show. To this I say, see auphonic (free) and boss jock studio. With Boss Jock studio you can record your episode, and upload it directly to Libsyn and have that episode make a post on your website. That's right, you record with your phone, and it ends up on your website. No computer needed (just the patience to type on your phone or tablet).
One feature that I saw that was different was the ability to put four audio files (basically commercials) and have it rotate the files and track which file worked the best (split-testing). This is for sales. The system really seemed designed with a heavy influence on selling items in your podcast. As the person who authored the book “More Podcast Money” I'm not against making money through your podcast. I just don't know too many people who would tune into a commercial.
When I bought this on Sunday night (I said Saturday in the video) it said I had less than one day to buy the software. Tonight (Monday) it says there are three days to get the discount. That's just a lie.
Ready To Start a Podcast People Will Listen To?
Would Your Podcast Pass This Test?
There will be more of these scams out there for sure. Beware!
I get a lot of these JV marketing pitches as well and saw this one a week or so back. As an experienced podcaster, after listening to their pitch, it looked like a program to avoid. There is so much good info on sites like SOP and a few others, a lot of it FREE or low cost, that there is no need to sink money into a black hole like this. Glad you did this video. Thanks for breaking it down with specific problem areas. Hopefully that will save some people $$$. Great job as always.
Actually, that is a valid feed. FeedValidator doesn’t know how to handle the itunes:order XML tag and throws an error. But that code is actually valid and according to the Apple podcasting spec.
I, too, saw the countdown switch. I thought maybe I had just remembered it incorrectly.
Dave, the link you gave to your Bossjock Studio review has the wrong URL. It is http://schoolofpodcasting.com/bossjock/ (no “studio” at the end).
Great job Dave – companies like this need to be exposed as they prey on people using every trick in the book to STEAL people hard earned money! We should all get the word out and tell people to UNSUBSCRIBE from any podcasts or blogs if the hosts are promoting this SIMPLY TO EARN A BUCK (or large bucks in this case).
As a person trying to get in the game I do appreciate honesty and sincerity. so I thank you for your investigations and for putting up your ‘hard earned’ to reveal this scam…Yes scam!