Social Lead Chief 2.0
POS:
Good conceptNEG:
Posts are branded to the software, every post you make is also an ad for them. Huge security issues.Today at repeat request Im doing a review of the new Social Lead Chief 2.0 software. So what exactly is Social Lead Chief? Its a web based software that lets you run posts, surveys, and quizzes inside of the Facebook news feed. After people complete either of these you can then show them a promotional […]
Today at repeat request Im doing a review of the new Social Lead Chief 2.0 software.
So what exactly is Social Lead Chief? Its a web based software that lets you run posts, surveys, and quizzes inside of the Facebook news feed. After people complete either of these you can then show them a promotional video or graphic and a link to any URL you want (such as an affiliate or CPA link). The idea is that people are making a ‘micro commitment’ by completing the survey and thus are a lot more likely to click your call to action link.
Personally I really like the concept of this software. Anyone who has followed me for some time now knows that I firmly believe that the future of Facebook marketing is in the timeline. Also the idea of ‘micro commitments’ is a solid one based on the human psyche. However even though I like the concept when I reviewed the first version of this software I rejected it for 4 main reasons. Lets go over each of the reasons I initially rejected Social Lead Chief and see how this has changed in version 2.
1) The log in with Facebook was buggy, often logging you out and requiring you to relog in while you where in the middle of working:
In 2.0 they corrected this. The new log in is smooth, I was not logged out except when I wanted to log out and it seemed to work well at first. However when doing my final look over the software before writing this review I noticed something huge. A massive security flaw that well let anyone who knows about it actually access the account of any user on this system. (see the video below for a demo)
Whats important to note is that this flaw is very basic. In fact anyone can exploit it. You dont need any technical knowledge. You dont need to hack the site or anything. Basically all you need to do is ask the system to let you log into other peoples accounts and it just says .. sure here you go, no problem.
It litterly took me 15 seconds to get full access to another users account. I could have deleted or edit their posts or their ‘users’. Or I could have done some more subtle things. I could have changed their auto responder settings so the leads from their posts go to my autoresponder. I could have downloaded their leads if I wanted. I could have changed their call to action links to my CPA link or affiliate link. I could have done anything I wanted because as far as the system was concerned I was them.
So while they fixed the buggy log in, they fixed it with a log in that is very flawed as far as security. In fact its so flawed that anyone can very easily log into any other account on the system. Whats worse is this is a very basic flaw, a mistake that a professional developer of any competence should not have made.
2) Poor autoresponder integration, no download option and the optin form was not very customizable:
This Im happy to say has been corrected. While it still only directly integrates with the API of the ‘big 4’ autoresponders, it also lets you put your own autoresponder form code into the system. This means it will basically work with just about any autoresponder out there. Also they now let you customize the look and text of the form.
3) Posts where not very flexible:
In my initial testing some of the posting types where not very flexible. For example a survey needed to have exactly 3 questions and each question needed to have exactly 4 answers. Unfortunately this is still an issue.
While this lack of flexibility might not bother some people. Personally I dont see any reason for it. What if I want a survey that has 20 questions, or 10, or 5? What if one of my questions only has 2 reasonable answers, or if I want 4 answers? Well to bad. You cant have it with this. You must have exactly 3 questions and each question must have exactly 4 answers. It was generic when I first tested and it still is.
This is not restricted to just the surveys though. For example a “poll” can only have 1 poll question and it must have 4 answers. Though to be fair the “quiz’ post type is much more flexible letting you add questions and answer options as you see fit. Why they chose to do the “quiz” type well but do the others so poorly is something I dont understand.
Because there are several other post types, some of which are more flexible, this is just a minor issue and not something that would totally turn me off to this product on its own.
4) When you post to Facebook your posts are branded with the Social Lead Chief site URL:
This also is something that has not been corrected.
Now I know for a fact that this is ‘flash’ software and I know that Facebook is going to add the URL like that to where ever the flash is hosted. There is no way around that. Its like that for software of this type that I write. However I always use an unbranded URL that does not advertise the software (for example I use vsrv.us for my Video Auto Click software) however they did not use an unbranded URL. What this in effect means is that every time you make a post you are also advertising their service for them. Nice for them. Not so nice for you.
Ok so what do I think of Social Lead Chief over all?
Well first I want to give credit where credit is due. Its obvious that Stefan wants to build a good system. He is making updates to it. Also he upgraded all of the 1.0 users to Social Lead Chief 2.0 for free, something that really impressed me.
However his desire to create a quality platform seems hindered by a real lack of technical execution from the development team. Several of the post types are still not very flexible, the posts are still branded to the software’s website and there is a massive security hole (at the time of this writing, I will be reporting this issue to them with suggestions on how to fix it if they need).
While I will say this platform is for sure improving its still not quite at the point where I can give it my stamp of approval. Close but not quite there. It still needs some more refining.
UPDATE: I have reported the log in security issue to the developers of SLC and also gave them advice on how to fix it. I will check back in several hours and see if they have implemented a fix. Either way though, because of the still limited flexibility and (primarily) the branding to their website, even if they do correct the security issue as per my suggestion, I can’t recommend this software at this point.
UPDATE 2: Stephan send me a FB message and let me know that this has an OTO to remove their branding site from your posts. So if you buy the OTO your not advertising for them with every post. Personally this does not make me feel any better though. You should not have to pay extra for this.
UPDATE 3: After chatting with Stephan and his developers I explained the security issue to them, how they can duplicate it and how they can fix it. They have indicated that this is corrected now. Now if only they would get rid of the company branding on the posts and not have the be an OTO, this would be a good product. If the branding does not bother you then you might consider it, but it does bother me. I would not want to advertise for them with every post I make.
A quick note about the reviews I do on this site. The product vendors give me access to their products for free in order for me to do my review. However I make no promises to them regarding the results of my tests or what I will write in my review. Should you click a link that takes you to a sales page for a paid product for sale this link will be an affiliate link and I will be paid a percentage of the sales price should you decide to invest in it.
About the Author
Hi Brett,
Nice, honest review, as usual. I wonder if you could add something about how this compares with Soci Mobi Surveys, which you gave a good review last fall.
Does this one do anything that one doesn’t? if not, we shouldn’t need both, correct?
Thanks again.
Social Mobi Surveys does not work in the timeline. This does.
Wp Dollar 3.0 Would you mind Looking at it and telling me what you think.
Just a FYI: There is a launch list link up top where you can see upcoming launches and request I review them. I have not gotten a copy of WP Dollar .. however I will say, I know Martin, he is actually one of the marketers I use to code for when I was a freelancer, and he has never failed to impress me with the quality of his products.
Thanks Brett for updating us! Hopefully they will take your suggestions seriously and resolve some of these issues,
More junk.
Thanks for the review, Brett.
Great review. I doubted after seeing the sales video myself and now I know for sure not to buy 😉
Hey Brett, as always, your review is just flat out the most detailed and well done…period! Thanks again for all you do and give back to our community 🙂
Great and honest review Brett like always. I personally use pagemodo and been very happy ever since.
I dont think PageModo really does the same thing as this software.
I’m guessing this will also not work on mobile, specially iPhones since its flash. Another huge drawback.
Honestly I was unable to test on a mobile, I ran out of time. It is possible that they made a mobile version though. But as I said Im not sure.
Always deliver brett, honesty is the best policy. I save money and time again, Priceless. Thank you again, brett.
Hi Brett.
I was just about to buy until I saw your email and read your review. I will hold off until the security issue is addressed and fixed. Thanks again
I was just doing a Facebook chat with Stephan explaining the security hole in detail. I did this last night with his developer. I though they would have had it fixed very fast.
I just found your review blog when searching for a review of Social Post Suite which I had got as a bonus for recently purchasing CTA Bar. I had support issues which were well documented about the developers of that product which now that I’m on that list, I’ve started following your posts and glad I did as this post about Social Lead Chief as given me an actual honest review to make an educated decision about purchasing or not.
I really appreciate when a blogger and/or developer provides useful information and would like to give back whenever I can. Do you except PayPal donations?
No I dont accept donations Kayol, though I will be upfront, when I did like a product I have reviewed, I do put an affiliate link under the post, so the only thing I ask from my readers is if I give a product a good review, and if it is something they can use, pick it up through my link. Its the commissions that I get from the approved products that lets me run this website.
well spotted…so useful to know, for us, your subscribers and also for the creators…
I think they should be paying you for reviewing and addressing this flaw…
thank you for another great unbiased review
Thanks for a very honest review, Brett. This industry need more people like you!
Aw, c’mon Brett – tell us something fer real! Don’t sit on the fence on this one!
Or, to put it another way – good job and thanks!
I appreciate the honest interview – I have been getting emails about this one
Thanks for the review Brett. One question, doesn’t the pro up sell allow self hosting which would let the branding be your URL? Like you, the ability to use the timeline is paramount, so I was very interested. I did not notice the inflexibility of the question numbers, etc in the demo. That’s not acceptable, micro-committments demand a congruent flow.
Im not totally sure about the pro version. I normally dont review OTO’s. I did speak to Stephan about 20 min ago on Facebook and he said that the OTO will let you remove the branding, so this might have been what he was talking about. Though really I dont feel that you should have to buy an OTO for this anyway.
Thanks for that review which reminds me of a purchase I made from him almost a year ago. The product contains a video which now does not exist according to the message on the video display. When I spoke to him about the problem, he blamed the problem on me and has not
corrected the problem.
The product in question:
CB Chief – Developer License
Purchased 04/14/2014 1:58 PM
By: Stefan van der Vlag
Thanks for the heads up on security issue. I have had this since initial version and gave up on getting it to work, the v2 was promised and going to rock etc, but now we find this security hole, I will be leaving this one on the shelf..and put it down to experience..don’t waste your money is my opinion.
Well to be fair version 2.0 is a vast improvement on the original. It just needs some tweaks / fixes and it can be a great product. Its very close, just not quite there yet. If they correct the security issue and remove the branding to their site, my opinion of this would change.
Good comprehensive review. Thankyou.
Good review Brett! Please keep us updated on this. I would like to get this but with your review, I want to wait till what you feel would be safe and branding taken off.
WES
I was working with Stephan and the developers earlier this morning, explaining the security issue to them etc. They have patched this. The branding will not be removed though, you need to buy the OTO for this.
you can add your own ftp details to host it on your server and brand your business name.
Yes that is the OTO.
Like you said, is’t a cool concept but it’s not ready for prime time. Plus the remove branding oto is bullsh**! Haahaa … I was actually thinking about getting this but after reading your review … HELL NO!
Thanks Brett 🙂
Umm I saw the name Devin Zander and that rang alarm bells. Tell me if I am wrong but has he not been associated with a couple of other software releases which had big style negative feedback over the last year or so?
Well first let me say that I have spoken to Devin several times and he really is a nice guy. Also he has shown professionalism to me that some others have not. However since you specifically asked, I will be totally honest. I have also noticed that several of the products he launched do have very high refund rates. This may be because he is such a good sales man that people have overly high expectations though. Also I do know that he gives refunds without question, so that may contribute to it as well.
hi brett, what software would you suggest as an alternative to social lead chief?
Sorry no. Though I will say I was working with Stephan and Rohan (the developer) about the security issue, I explained it to them and gave them some suggestions to fix it, they have corrected it. So now, if your ok with the branding or your willing to buy the OTO it might be worth considering.
Brett,
Thanks for the review. I decided to go get the OTO early because it allows you to create separate Control Panels for my clients and will go very nicely for the marketing tools I provide to speakers on my online speakers bureau. This will also eliminate the branding issue.
Terry
For sure Terry, if you dont mind the branding, or dont mind paying for the OTO then its all good 🙂
Hi Brett,
Really appreciate your honest review! While everyone else is promoting it , you have the guts to call a spade a spade. You are truly an IM watchdog! Thanks a ton Brett and continue your great unbiased work!
I purchased and went though the entire LOOONG funnel. I can’t remember the last time I had 3 OTO’s and a Downsell for each OTO that’s 7 touches before I was presented my login page with no login credentials arriving in email after purchasing. I had to open a ticket with support which were fast to fix it.
Oh but wait…I can’t even get access to the training and overview info without immediately connecting my FB account after logging into the app…WTF???
Do you think I am going to connect an app without reviewing the training and testing against my personal FB account???
If you are doing Agency Marketing (no branding and reselling access accounts to customers) or have a VA team where you need separate accounts you will end up spending nearly $400+
Granted there are a few downsells that can reduce this, but this is what chapped my backside:
$197 for the Pro to get your own branding
$197 (no downsell discount) for Enterprise so you can have subaccounts for your team
Another thorough critique of the second release of this product. I wonder how many of your subscribers understand the genuineness and integrity of this review in so far that you gave it higher marks; noted improvements; guided the developer to a security fix ….yet still didn’t promote it, which you could have easily done!
Ladies and gentleman, you just can’t find this level of authenticity in internet marketing!
Unreal…Thanks Brett!
unreal – Brett!
You are just a great man to follow in IM!!
Great Job and thanks for a review that actually shows the weakness of an offer and product, there are so many fake reviews out there that are really just affiliates trying to get a sale, I see this (Web Software) on a dedicated server as a huge issue, face book will ban the IP of their “Dedicated Server in a week tops” Then what?
Never buy a product where all your work is sitting on a server which you have no control or access to.
This product is a bad deal for all concerned.
Well I dont think FB will be banning this. I dont see it breaking any FB rules (and I have a lot of experience with FB apps). As for being a web software, a lot of my own software is web based (on my server). There are definite advantages to this, for example its very easy to do updates.
Thanks heavens there is genuine knowledgeable “guru” out there who is prepared to give an unbiased review and communicate with the developers of software applications to improve their product.
I like many other online marketers absolutely detest/hate OTO’s. If you cannot promote the product upfront with all the “bells and whistles” declared in the original Sales Page, including the OTO’s – their price and what the enhancement is to the original purchase… Then don’t bother marketing to me!
Well everyone has OTO’s.. I have OTO’s in my launches Roy. The truth is that with affiliates expecting so much payment for promoting a launch OTO’s are required for the vendor to make anything at all. However some things should not be a part of the OTO. Removing the company branding should not have been an OTO (in my opinion).
Understand Brett… unfortunately since Mike Filsaime put out Butterfly Marketing… everyone follows the herd and believes that it is an accepted principle in I.M. to use OTO’s…Upsells, Downsells, Cross sells. Man o Man, no wonder the buyer gets really cheesed off with this style of promotion. And Yes! I understand the philosophy and reasoning behind same. But why does one have to be just another sheep in the herd. For me I am the “black sheep” in the herd and refuse to follow convention and follow the herd over the cliff.
Be upfront on the original Sales Page with your OTO’s and don’t use deceit to entice the lamb into the paddock where despair awaits… if you don’t have the funds to purchase, or challenge oneself with a big question mark whether to purchase or not. It is a one way trip to the abattoir!
Personally it should not be an accepted principle as a part of marketing. The right of refusal… “Do you want fries with that sir”… NO THANKS!
Well you do have the right of refusal. There is a link under every single OTO that says .. no thanks. Really I dont understand why people complain about OTOs. Do you walk into McDonalds and start yelling at them when they ask you if you want to ‘super size’ your order? Does their menu have the price of ‘super sizing’ on it as well? Also I dont understand why people always question .. is there an OTO> Really what does that matter? Either the front end is a good value worth buying or it isnt. OTO’s should not even be a consideration. As a general rule OTO’s are fine. However some things should not be an OTO and I think that removing company branding on a promotional software is something that should not be an OTO. More should always cost more, this is understandable. But some things, especially things like removing branding (in my opinion) should be included right off.
Thanks for the great, honest review, much appreciated!
I can look past the branding and just get the OTO but what I also noticed is that the app is buggy and not working on my Iphone at all. This is a major setback.
This app seems to have a of potential but the creator of the app needs to get out of this shitty “biz op” mentality and think more towards small business and entrepreneurs. Big difference.
There is no need for the cheesy videos (besides the main one).
No need for the many upsells that are annoying.
Better user experience (specially with security).
Away to change your password, and not have to be force to log into FB to access the app.
And if you are going to mention the “world class” sales copy… at least get rid of the spelling errors.
Just my two cents.
Anyways, I do wish that they fix this app and make it professional someday… I will gladly buy it when they do so.
Great idea… poor execution.
Yea thats a good point that I forgot to mention. No way to change your log in user name and password that I could see. I got so involved in the security issue that I forgot about that. Also just a FYI: As an experienced developer who knows a LOT about the Facebook Graph API, I honestly cant see a single reason why this even needs the log in with Facebook. Stephan seems to have the desire to create a great product, but he also seems to be hindered by his developers.
Totally agree, Safelist Pirate was a classic example, Stephans great idea flawed by the programmers. I would have booted them years ago
Btw… are there any survey/poll apps for facebook that you would recommend?
Thanks again.
Not at the moment. Sorry. I would recommenced this if they would just remove that branding. If it does not bother you or if you are ok with buying an OTO to get it removed (from what I understand its fairly expensive though), then you might consider this one.
Thank you Brett for the honesty.
Is there any recommended alternative to help engage a facebook audience? Do FB Tabs even work? It seems to me like the newsfeed is for the most part the only place you have a chance to catch eyeballs. And mobile is even harder with Facebook’s random timed refresh.
So the alternative to SLC? Is it by hand?
Thanks in advance-
Tod
Yes the newsfeed is ‘where its at’. Honestly tabs on fan pages are all but worthless anymore. Ill keep my eye out for great news feed products 🙂
Thanks for the review. I was thinking of purchasing but now have second thoughts after reading what you had to say. My decision is not all based on your review. There is a suite of marketing products that I have seen that includes something called Success Surveys. I am waiting to hear from the developer of that product regarding exactly what it can do. Then I will decide which path to take.
As far as removing branding goes only if you get an OTO that is fairly common amongst the IM crowd. Even big companies do that. Would be nice if they didn’t…
I think a good solution would be to change the website where the app is hosted so its more generic but still have the web admin on the social lead chief site. I dont think Stefan is trying to force you to brand anything its just how this is set up. I also understand why the oto to self host the app is so much higher because they dont want blackhat people to rip it off. Not to mention you would need your own SSL and app to run it that way. So your average buyer wouldnt understand how to set it up and may require more support. This app is still a money maker.
Despite some apparent flaws as pointed out, I refuse to buy into a product with such a deep funnel these days. I’d be more interested if they just sold it for say $197 with all the bells and whistle features included and a $297 Enterprise version – all on the one sales page up front.
Screw this upping the power by hundreds of times and putting you ahead of the pack ONLY if you buy this or that upsell which will go for loads more post launch.
If you want me to buy guys(Stefan and Dev) – full disclosure up front. Hate the awful surprise and feeling that your product is only half (my words) of what it can be after we’ve bought it. Its just trickery to me.
Don’t care what anyone says – limited featured polls and surveys are not worth $300-$400 when there are far cheaper alternatives out there… despite the spiel of
OTO1 Commercial @ $67:
– Ability To Host Your LeadTool + Allows Full Branding! (Worth $197)
– Image Creator Suite – Create Template Inside The App (Worth $197)
– 60+ Customizable Templates – Plug and Play Templates! (Worth $197)
– Arrow Library – Quick Switch Around Different Arrows. (Worth $97)
– Integrated Retargeting Software – Full Remarketing Software (Worth $197)
– Commercial License + Full Client Login (Worth $997)
– Premium Heroic 1-on-1 Support (Worth $997) (made me laugh – we have to upgrade to get 1-on1 support – really?)
and OTO2 @ $97
– Upload Your Posts With 1-Click CSV Import!
– Works inside the Facebook Timeline; set your settings & watch the leads come in!(whats new about this from Main frontend product??)
– Simple dashboard enables you to create & manage your Pages in seconds (Is the dashboard already sold to us already not simple enough??)
– Post to ANY Facebook Page you admin and generate leads—– (wait a minute – I thought I could already do this??
– High converting, tested 1-click upload automatic posting technology (don’t most FB timeline products upload with one click – I could be wrong)
– Fully self hosted solution – no need to install ANYTHING at all (does the average layperson know how to do this readily? But you do get hero support)
+ webinar
OTO3 Enterprise – 10 User sub accounts @$197
++
Brett – can you come up with a polling/survey solution for FB timeline? I’m sure it would be equally as effective(if not more so), less costly and we know you are always up front with us. The upsell pages here were hidden.
Cheers
Mark
I understand why they do the upsell. Its so people who dont need all of the ‘bells and whistles’ can also be customers. For example, if they charged $297 from the door for everything .. everyone who just wants to use it themselves, on one account etc .. would not buy because for them $297 would not be a good price (since they dont care about all the ‘bells and whistles’) .. that being said I do agree that the pricing of this is to aggressive and some of the things that are in the upsells should have been included with the front end.
PS) I’m 100% sure I could write a software that does everything that this does. If only there where 3 of me I could get a lot more done 🙂
I have the FE of SLC and Soc Mobi. I wish SMS posted to the timeline. I need one that does both! Hah! I may go for the Pro upgrade for SLC just because I don’t want their branding.
Any suggestions for alternatives? Too bad I can’t just…blend the features I like from both! 😉
Thanks for your reviews, Brett!
I purchased another product from Stephen, the maker of Social Lead Chief last year and it has never worked. He never answered one email and never got a refund. Buyer beware!!!
What about timeline optins? I see your picture in the sales page. Is it any good?
Thats one of my products. Of course Im going to say its good. Or did you actually expect me to say that my own work is bad?
I wasn’t sure if it was actually your product or not, I went to the “Brett’s Products” section of your site and didn’t see it there so I didn’t think it was.
It looks to be exactly what I want at this current moment in time, a way to promote video posts with an optin form at the bottom through FB ads.
May I ask why you closed the sales on it? Social Lead Chief’s sales funnel sold 5000+ on jvzoo, and I can only imagine that if you came out with a similar product you’d be able to get similar results
Anyways, I just purchased timeline optin through someone’s link who has resell rights on it and I’m looking forward to using it.
Thanks for the honest review on Social Lead Chief Brett, Social Lead Chief does look decent if I’m willing to shell out the extra $67 + $97 for the OTO’s. I’ll give it a bit and hopefully by time I need it you might have decided to code something similar.
Sidenote: Do you happen to have links you could post to the OTO pages for Social Lead Chief so I could take a look at them?
I do have links to the OTO pages, but I cant give them to customers, thats a big ‘no no’ and would really make vendors mad at me.
Is there an alternate software that would do the same thing as this?