Thank you…Thank you…Thank you…Brett
You have saved me more money once again…
I was really hoping you would review this one…I had heard
about it and thought it might be a good addition to my email
projects.
I am going to go get a Dunkin’ Donuts Pumpkin Spice Iced Coffee now
and not hang around my office for the 11:00 AM launch…I Am Free…!!

Thanks again Brett,
Tom

I was really interested in this product, so I am dissapointed about what they did with this release of Vydiogram. I’m glad I read your review before I bought. But what I really hate is the fact that I thought I could trust these boys of Explandio to bring a functional product, and they don’t. It is only ‘functional’ when I buy the OTO. But what stuck me te most is the way Darius responded on to your review.

I like the way you call it Brett…be it good, bad or ugly you always give it the way you see it! On this occasion offering a software that requires upgrading on virtually all of the functionality is bullshit and deserves to be called out man!

Thanks for the review Brett. You are always right on and FAIR with your reviews! Keep it up!

Thank you Brett!

I did look at it then I looked at the pricing, I had initially thought the $37 lifetime early bird was the pro version but that comes in the OTO for another $67.

Your comments make total sense. I too HATE products that don’t work on their own. The OTO is supposed to enhance the FE not be all the functionality of the product…

Also thanks for posting the conversation, just goes to show some people don’t give a damn about the product providing value.. just how it hurts they bank account.

And as far as Andrew’s threat to wreak havoc on your next launch… well for me I will NEVER buy another one of his products. He has shown his true colors, shame on you Andrew.

Thanks again Brett.

“quit being deliberately obtuse” — this is my new phrase of the day!

Thanks for an honest review, Brett!

Wow, you know I was wondering if you were the real deal or not, but honesty is something that is rare to find these days. I think the problems that Darius has here is that his business model is lacking…

I know there are some vendors out there that are at times possibly selling what would be better described as share ware or ad ware, (complete with nag screens) as a premium product not saying that is the case here but it sure seems like the business model is somewhat thin.

I know I purchased the explaindio thing and now its a yearly price and the version that I have now which is 1.0 does not function as one might expect, so basically I ended up purchasing a product which one year after buying is useless to me.

Its buggy, so to get version 2 I have to upgrade to a yearly payment, then shortly there will be version 3, yet another upgrade fee, I really wish product vendors would focus more on creating better products and less on making money at the expense of the buyer.

GOOD STUFF Brett.

This is the price you have to pay for being HONEST in this world of today – Specially in the I M world.

I am proud to say that I am associated with your Brand/Name.

Keep bringing us the truth and leave the Fake behind.

Well Done, carry on what you doing and stay true to yourself at all times brother.

Brett, you proved your loyalty to us all, and no matter what he says, he’s the one that is ruining his launch. By being honest and truthful about what you see and feel as a successful reviewer and software expert, is what everyone expects, but few deliver on that promise. This is an opportunity for him to make corrections and save the products reputation, every mistake is a step towards success of any product. That’s the way to handle stuff like this, not start to threatening a law suit (which is never going anywhere). Good for you Brett, you’re one of the very few that have the guts to do what’s right, and you’ll continue to be successful at whatever you do, because of that! Reader loyalty is what you get in return, and that’s what you earned! You earned it the hard way, being honest, congratulations.

The conversation really wowed me away…nice one Brett, can’t thank you enough to scare off these “jackers”…

Hi Brett
I have to say…I applaud you for taking the stance you have….I have bought products off of Andrew in the past and because of that I was prepared to get this one.
I was at the stage of waiting to see who gave the best appropriate bonus and I saw your email.

In the past I have wondered why sometimes you are late getting your review out and after I have already made a purchase….but not this time.

You have given an honest review and have saved me some cash..

I can’t thank you enough…Alan.

Anybody who knows you, Brett, is not surprised. Tough call initially, for sure–but a
big one to be even more sure. This is why people trust you–and it’s so important in
this industry in particular to have a clear voice of truth.

This benefits everybody–including the developer. He’ll move through this and be much
the better for it.

Thanks so much for your integrity as well as your dedication to an industry.

Elizabeth

Awesome. Andrew Darius has gone over to the “dark side” after Explandio 2.0…. more than 10 OTO. The Greed force is strong in this one.

Thank you for an honest review amongst all the others that would give positive reviews for anything that they sell. These product launches are slicker than they used to be, and generally the concept has value. The 4 levels of OTOs are getting annoying, but to have simple functions that are really necessary (typically a text or link overlay) is getting way too common.

As a sometime novelist who has been rejected more times than I care to admit, I certainly understand Andrew’s emotional reaction.

But it seems to me it would have been far better to calm himself and then reassure you and others that he is going to address the problems you mentioned, and then do so.

That’s would have been the professional response.

In any case, thanks for the review, Brett.

Thanks Brett for saving me more money.

Keep your HONEST reviews coming and don’t sweat it if the developer doesn’t like your HONEST review. If Andrew thought your review was false, then he should have told you what was false about it. His only concern is losing money in his launch. Oh Well, so be it…

Gives me one more person to block.

Glen

Thanks Brett, and please continue the unbiased, honest reviews..
It does seem like adding motion in an email is an attention getting plus.. So..

If I recall correctly, there was a similar product done a while ago called click magnet. You liked that one, right?

Do you use it, or follow click magnet to see if it is updated and supported? Do you still recommend Click Magnet, or another similar product? Thanks!

Hi Brett,

I think that Andrew could have handled this better, facts are facts and it is pretty obvious that without the additional capability the OTO provides, the FE itself is almost useless and not worth the money…

When I buy a FE product, I would expect it to have full functionality of what it is intended for, and the OTOs should enhance that basic service… What is kind of disturbing to me, is that nowadays when I think to add something to my arsenal of tools, I always expect to have to buy the OTO! (Why?)

I guess we get trained that way, based on funnels etc., but sometimes it can be taken too far, and this seems to be such a case…This is what happens when you forget what opportunity seekers (buyers of your product) go after…

As you have pointed out in other reviews of some rather well known IM folks, sloppiness in your products will not be covered by your name…Thanks Brett, and I hope that you and Andrew work it out…He has come up with some good products in the past, this one…not so good maybe…

Cheers!
Dave

I purchased another product a few weeks back called Click Magnet. It also produces an animated gif that can be sent within emails.

Thank you…Brett
Once again you have saved me some money, everybody and their brother is pushing this software and not one of them said anything how this software works without the upgrade only saying if you purchase the OTO you can get my bonus and most of their bonuses is trash too. so thank you for your review.

Darryl H.

Thanks Brett. Very well put.

That was a bold move, Brett! We all really appreaciate your unbiased reviews. That way to are wiing our hearts and wallets. Keep on going! Wish you more loyal customers and big dollars!

Saved by the bell [Brett]! Thank you.

…and Andrews immature reaction to your review
has placed him on my “do not do business with” list.

Thanks again.

Ian.

Hi Brett,
There are a lot of good products out in the marketplace but many are suffering one problem.
In fact I would go as far to say that 80% of products are no longer offering value for money.

There are too many products that have front ends requiring upgrades in order to have the basic functionality.
It’s all down to money and I commend you on your honest review and not ‘buttoning up’ in order to appease a fellow marketer.
I for one am fed up of purchasing software only to find I have to upgrade because of a lack of functionality at the front end of a product and have requested many a refund because of this.
Well done Brett and keep the reviews coming 🙂

Thank you once again Brett,
you are the one that I trust on digital products reviews

Many thanks for the honest review. I really appreciate you helping me save $$$.

Best regards,

Jerry

I know both Brett and Andrew, and I know both to be stand up guys and marketers. I know how much work goes into these products Andrew makes and how hard he works to bring cutting edge stuff.

And yes, this is cutting edge and he should be commended for bringing this to the market, not bashed publicly,

A “rip off” Brett, really? His Vydeogram does so much more than Videogram does, and is geared towards marketers and the ability to drive traffic to OUR web properties, not Videogram’s.

You can’t honestly expect that you’d post this and not upset the man that worked so hard on this project. Yes, I agree the real meat is in the Pro version, but the Standard version has its value too in the animated gifs it creates and the randomization. That alone is worth the price of admission, in my opinion.

Anyway, you certainly have the right to your opinion, of course. But you can’t be surprised when this scathing public review upsets the man that worked his ass off to create this. I feel his pain, as this seems trollish dude.

Incredible seller reaction. When he should try to figure out how to make his product better, he treats you with a lawsuit… I guess he will not also like you have published the private skype talk – maybe that shouldn’t be posted – it is private.
I congrats you for being so “front-end”. If someone had doubts about your reviews… there you have it. You could lose some $$ in the short term, but I’m sure it is a small “opportunity cost” comparing with long term results and credibility of being assertive. Well done!

Downloading a gif to your computer, and uploading manually to your social site, can be done for free without the need to buy the damn thing, just google:make gif out of video.
If I bought it to discover that, i will ask for a refund immediately.
Thank you Brett for your HONEST, functional and educational reviews.

Keep up the great work.

Jungario

Thank you for this, Brett. This business needs more people like you. Keep it up!

Oh – and I don’t consider you an IM bulldog. More like a Great Dane or a Doberman.

Thanks for the review. Unfortunately: 1) I had to change my perception about a particular marketer. I cannot support marketers with a certain, unabashed conduct. 2) It’s said that every funnel now have a FE that has 20% of the functionality. Thanks for your honest review.

OMG, Thank you so much Bret, what a pile of dog manure, leaves a very bad snell that never goes away.Guess who just got deleted from my list.Thanks again Bret

Brett–thanks for the great review, Andrew usually put’s out better products than this.
I was thinking about buying it, but after watching your review I say “rejected!”
I’m sure he’ll sell a ton of this product, but how many refund request will he get when
people see that they don’t get anything from the front end offer. This certainly won’t help
his reputation for future projects.
Thanks again, and keep up with your “honest” reviews.
David

two thumbs up for the review!

Hi Brett,
Thanks so much for the review. I wasn’t going to buy this product anyway, it looked like a lame idea when there are lots of free web sites to create Gif files from video. I just use Camtasia or Photoshop to do the same and have for years.

I am thrilled that you are taking some of these product creators and telling the truth instead of hyping these products just to get an affiliate commission. I must have got ten emails hyping this. How sad is that. I have to conclude is that all they think about is money.

I can’t believe Andrew is threatening to bring a lawsuit. What a joke.
I bought a product last week that was highly promoted that I refunded and told the vendor it was false advertising. Huge page of stuff it could do but all in the OTO version. Not in the FE. Talk about bait and switch – which is illegal by the way.

When are these product creators going to wake up and know that a customer is a customer for life if treated well and fairly. That is why I buy your products. I know you will treat me right and not play games with bait and switch or false advertising. So I here for the duration. You are the man!

Sorry for the rant but you made my day with this review.

Thanks for the review Brett, as usual you were honest. I hate when you have to buy the upgrade to get the real product. Don’t think that is being forthright (Zig called it “lying by omission”). I wasn’t too interested in this product any way but was hoping for a review on Shoplicate. Any plans to do so?
Thanks,
Richard

Brett, You dah man!

Thanks Brett. I was not going to buy but was curious about this product. I know I can always trust you to be up front about products and I appreciate your honesty.

My background is IT and for many years, I supported software and hardware and even helped with software launches (before IM software existed). Most (not all) of these IM guru software launches are good ideas but so many of these folks don’t maintain and support the product long term. For that reason, I’ve stopped buying from a lot of them. And, now that they are doing monthly payments after the launch, it’s gotten even more ridiculous to buy a lot of this software.

It’s really a shame because a well coded maintained product (like Photoshop or MS Office) is a gold mine over time and they would not have to continue to create products and do launches. Just maintain a few really good products over the long term and focus on excellent customer service. Noble Samurai is one of the IM companies that really gets that concept. I thought Andrew was smarter than that as Explaindio is a great product that appears to be getting good upgrades.

I hope he will be smart enough to turn this lemon into lemonade.

Hey Bret !! just to say , thanks for the great review ..and I know how you feel about about posting this can of reviews , against your partners .

So poor old Andrew Darius does it again, eh? The last time I heard of him shooting himself in the foot was when he made people PAY for an Explaindio update. Has he never heard of “customer service”?

Thanks, Brett, for telling it like it is.

Thank you Brett for your honesty and GREAT reviews.
I always watch for your reviews on new product ….you have saved me money and time if I did not have your reviews I would have purchased a product that has little to no upfront value and would have to take time to ask for a refund after finding no value in product I purchased.
I was hoping for a review from you on Sociocaster as I’m still on the fence with it.
Thanks again for GREAT REVIEWS!

Thanks again Brett, for the professional and honest review of Vydeogram, it seems to me that some of the vendors in the IM space are only concern in fill their pockets instead of really give a valuable product to the consumer.Threatening you and then continued by claiming that your review miss represented the facts, that is absurd. I must say that we need someone to be honest and ethical to review any type of Digital product and to my knowledge you are the best qualify person to do that. I will continued to listen to your reviews and be smart enough to make a good sound quality decision based on the reviews. Thanks and continued to bring awesome reviews….You Rock my friend!!!!

Robson Mastermindswins

Brett is the only one I rely on when I’m looking for a specific product or need info on what’s out there.

Thanks bud….enjoy your haters. Lol

I bought both the basic product and the OTO1. The products look to be pretty good stuff, actually, but I completely agree with Brett about the deceptive marketing. You have to get the OTO1 in order to do anything decent with the basic product. Every basic product should be stand alone and Vydeogram really doesn’t qualify for that. I also think that comparing Vydeogram to Videogram is the apples and oranges thing, so yes, Darius should have chosen a different name for clarity’s sake. I do agree with Darius that people don’t click on videos as much these days because they don’t want to sit through a one-minute to ten-minute video just to see what it’s about. Our internet culture is totally instant gratification, unfortunately. Darius has created some good products in the past, but his marketing is always the same–deceptive. We are long overdue for transparent marketing, folks. For Darius to threaten to sue Brett is completely childish. If you play games with customers, Darius then expect to get nailed for it. Thanks for everything, Brett! And thank heavens for the First Amendment!!

Wow. Andrew is more of a douche than I realized. I love your reviews Brett. They’re always honest and it helps me know whose email lists to unsubscribe from. 🙂 Anyone touting a piece of crap as something that you can’t be successful without gets me to unsubscribe.

Brett, thank you for another honest review.
the FE product should have full functionality, the oto is there to enhance the FE product. I rarely buy OTOs unless if the OTO is about getting more licences, dev or white label versions of the FE but not to make the FE work properly…
I’m shocked to see such a response from the product vendor, we are all one big family in the IM space, they should see the review as an opportunity to make the software better and please the buyers…I understand that there may not be enough time/money to develop the software further but at least take the criticism on board and promise the buyers to enhance the software further in the near future. Good luck to the vendor during the launch, and thank you Brett for your efforts helping your blog readers to make some buying decisions.

He probably thought that since he promoted your product,
you would reciprocate by providing a favorable review.
He obviously wasn’t paying attention to the type of
totally honest reviews you do. I for one really appreciate
this, and buy through your inks BECAUSE of this. I’ve
been burned enough times, when there is a launch for
something I might be interested in, I first check to see
if you have reviewed it. There are a few other marketers
whose reviews and opinions I also respect, but your
integrity trumps all.

He will learn the hard way. Wait until he has to deal with
the many refund requests he will surely get. And losing
many customers for future projects. And burning bridges
with his fellow marketers- you Brett. Maybe he will learn
something and relent. I will buy OTOs if they provide real
ADDITIONAL value. If I had bought this product, I would
have been outraged and refunded it promptly. And I would
be gone as a customer. I’ve done this already with another
few marketers who pulled the same stunt.

Reputation is SO important.

I also appreciate the observation that really what is the point
of the software at all? Better to post real videos.

Many thanks again for your great reviews.
Helene

Brett,

I totally agree with how you handled this review. No one should be above anyone as to obviously deceive their target audience. It just goes to show how desperate online marketers just slop something up and hope to capitalize on newbies and intermediate marketers. I don’t see the real benefit of animated images anywhere for marketing my services. I believe in the fundamentals of marketing, giving true value in an ethical way.

Just wish that more marketers out there don’t wait with baited breath for the next new shiny object to be their salvation to profits.

I will just bet that over 90 per cent of all online marketers out there already know enough to carve their own path to business success. Marketing online is not rocket science. Just use the sound principles of the past and tweak them online. Key is to try something on your own. Emails or social posts with animated gifs are not the answer.

Well done review Brett.

Not mentioned in your review was it’s value to email campaigns. It does have considerable value there don’t you think? Beyond that I think your review is spot on.

Thanks Brett,
You don’t need to apologize so much for your courage to tell the truth to us your subscribers. Congrats to Darius for asking you for a review his product knowing your honesty. Not everybody reads your reviews so he will get sales no matter what ! Yet the truth should be said and this industry should start changing thanks to the courage of people like you! Unless he is completely dishonest, Darius should admit that one should bring on the market good and finished products that would help others and not just one that is snatching the hard gained money of poor newbies (he had good products in the past) ! He would know that it’s good to test a product with people like you long before bringing it to the marketplace. Products Standards should be raised otherwise JVZoo will become a market of thieves and thus your courage is rewarding all of us including the product vendors. You are doing the work of the owners of JV who should change if they want to see it growing like Google ! They should bring out Pandas because sometimes some products are just a shame for JVZoo and they take sometimes the last savings of people putting them in misery !!! Brett we can build a better platform for honest and patient product developers that take time to finish well their products!

Brett,

Just as your email stated, you have saved me money, frustration and most importantly, TIME —

Thank you for being real and to the point.

My Best,

Dean Hart

Hi, Brett,

I bought Profit Canvass and I really like it. Well, over the last few days Ive been getting emails from Andrew regarding the VydeoGram software. Ive been pondering a whole lot how would those animated snippets help me improve my business or give me value. Well, I felt the same exact things as you did, without ever having to open the software or buy it. I just don’t see the value it brings to us customers. Then, I read your review up here, and I agree %100 with you. I appreciate your HONEST BOLD review. People like you are very hard to come by these days. Thanks. Keep posting honest reviews even if it means loosing someone you are acquainted with. Look forward to your other reviews.

I was beginning to lose respect for Andrew after the last relaunch of Explaindio. It had like a 10 product upsell funnel, and yeah… if you didn’t upgrade, version 1 was pretty useless… so I reluctantly upgraded but felt I was being held hostage in the process. My inner alarm bells have been going off ever since.This seals the deal… not buying any more of his products and not promoting for him either…

I’ve just watched Amin Motin’s review of Vydeogram. He purchased (yes – purchased!) the expensive version, and then put it to the test. For anyone still unsure, his over-the-shoulder video review is here:

{sorry .. links are not allowed, especially links to a affilaites bonus page}

Personally, I’m not going to bother with it.

Hi Brett,

You are my hero man. I freak’in love it. This is a piece of junk software thrown together for one reason only, to make money for the creator. I have Explaindio from Andrew and I really like it, but I noticed since the launch/upgrade to the latest version (which he made us pay to upgrade), he seems to be all about the money. There are tons of add-ons that cost quite a bit plus there’s a yearly subscription now. Anyway, thanks for your awesome honesty. There’s a lot of marketers that just expect reviewers to be money hungry drones that spit out favorable reviews so they can make money. I’m glad you’re not one of them.

Cheers to you!
Jim

Brett you were right to protect yourself by publishing the conversation. Nothing is hidden that way and it is transparency!!!
Sharolyn you are right and I suffered the same hostage process with Explaindio!

It is time for us “ruined buyers” to have an association to sue those who are doing false claims for products too ! There is a federal office to sue those who are fooling others in the digital market not well known but that sued some crooks in the past ! In every country in the world now governments are looking for ways to make the New Economy as safe as possible with laws to discourage and punish those who are trying to deceive others! Those efforts are backing you Brett and those threatening honesty and truth will be surprised !!!
Keep it up Brett !!!!

Great honest review! All affiliate product reviewers should be honest like you to uncover crappy products.

Thanks Brett,
I buy a lot of IM products & 80% are just a bunch of C%&P!
They are supposed to make running a business easier…but seems to me I’m spending all day trying to make something work! Infuriating!
Then people like Darius keep dumping “not ready for market products” by the boatload. I’m sincerely appreciate & value your opinion!
Keep doing what your doing!

Thanks for the review Brett, a little late for me thought, maybe I’ll get me investment back if nothing works as you say.

Jay

Spot-on Brett! Your honesty and objectivity is “what you are known for!”.

As always thanks for the candid and helpful review Brett!

Brett,

I just opened up an email from the Andrew Darius entitled…

‘Correction of VydeoGram info spred by beta tester posting review from in-production version’

which started out…

‘Hey Guys and Gal,

It came to my attention that one of our beta
testers made review from in-production version
to beat others, and sound important.

I would be nice enough to not mention his name,
although he did even posted our chat where
I was not happy about it.

Here is correction….’

He then proceeds to blame this ‘beta-tester’ for doing a review and not mentioning a few things…

I really would wish he’d use a grammar checker…He might even increase his sales..;-)

Tom

There is damage control going on as I just received an email from Andrew addressing his “issues” with this review without mentioning Brett by name.
I greatly appreciate the contents of this review on every level including that fact that it has saved my business dollars spent.

Hey Brett ,

Well Played my Friend , I have been online 4 years with Nothing to show for but That has been
my Fault , Not Focusing , Information Overload , and Well the regular Internet Marketing Crap
we All go thru , so I have come to Know who is who in this Business and I love the Fact that things are Turning around for Consumers with Guys like You and a Bunch of other Marketers
that are coming Together to Team ” Honesty , Value , Overdeliver and Transparency ” That
Greedy and Sneaky dude Got what was coming to Him , He handle everything Like a Child
and Brett you handle everything like a Business Man ,You just earned my Trust and Respect .

Brett, as the psychologist who Radio & TV Reports named “America’s Integrity Expert” in 2008, I want to add here my public support to your decision about what you made public. I am also going to backchannel you with an idea for elevating the integrity of the Internet marketing products and WordPress add-ons industries. Blessings, David

Brett,

I have come to respect you and your opinions. Thanks to you I have both saved money and purchased great products based on your recommendations.

In this case, I was not interested in purchasing, but again, you have shown the honesty lacking with many the the IMer’s out there today.

If you need any support from me, don’t hesitate to ask…

Well Brett seems you got Andrew Darius’ attention with your review see email he sent out below:

Subj: Correction of VydeoGram info spred by beta tester posting review from in-production version

Hey Guys and Gal,

It came to my attention that one of our beta
testers made review from in-production version
to beat others, and sound important.

I would be nice enough to not mention his name,
although he did even posted our chat where
I was not happy about it.

Here is correction.

During beta testing we originally had less features
in standard that first retail version 1.003 has.

Based on feedback from beta testers we decided to
add key extra features to version standard which
include following:

– video VideoGram in MP4 format (this is really
big on social networks like facebook).

– Call To Action pulsating button to allow to
point into direction of the link above the gif.

– Color Tint to make image look cooler

The beta tester just went ahead, and made review
from in-production beta version misleading ton
of people hence this correction email.

Also, beta tester/reviewer did not talk about
MP4 video VydeoGram at all, which made
that review even more misleading, since that
is critical feature.

Vydeogram in MP4 format allows you to:

– have video VydeoGram to post on FB
which autoplay on mobile
– add as intro to the video
– make VydeoGram with audio
– make Instagram add
– make facebook add
– a lot more

So now you are better informed what is really in
VydeoGram standard, which are all those powefull
features I mentioned above on top of already
powerful VideoGram in GIF format.

Watch the demo now to see it for yourself.

Talk Soon
Andrew Darius

Hey Guys and Gal,

It came to my attention that one of our beta
testers made review from in-production version
to beat others, and sound important.

I would be nice enough to not mention his name,
although he did even posted our chat where
I was not happy about it.

Here is correction.

During beta testing we originally had less features
in standard that first retail version 1.003 has.

Based on feedback from beta testers we decided to
add key extra features to version standard which
include following:

– video VideoGram in MP4 format (this is really
big on social networks like facebook).

– Call To Action pulsating button to allow to
point into direction of the link above the gif.

– Color Tint to make image look cooler

The beta tester just went ahead, and made review
from in-production beta version misleading ton
of people hence this correction email.

Also, beta tester/reviewer did not talk about
MP4 video VydeoGram at all, which made
that review even more misleading, since that
is critical feature.

Vydeogram in MP4 format allows you to:

– have video VydeoGram to post on FB
which autoplay on mobile
– add as intro to the video
– make VydeoGram with audio
– make Instagram add
– make facebook add
– a lot more

So now you are better informed what is really in
VydeoGram standard, which are all those powefull
features I mentioned above on top of already
powerful VideoGram in GIF format.

Watch the demo now to see it for yourself.

Talk Soon
Andrew Darius

Lol! That’s awesome!
You nailed it Brett!
A million thanks for exposing the truth 😉
Superstar!!!

Hi Brett,

I looked at Vydeogram but couldn’t really see how it would improve things for me. But, I thought to myself that for the $37.00…well…maybe. It’s not a lot of money. But I had a sneaky suspicion about the OTOs, so I didn’t buy it right away. Thank you for confirming my suspicions! 🙂

And, you also revealed how little responsibility Andrew is willing to take for making a mistake with the product. And that tells me all I need to know about Andrew. Instead of getting in to a dialogue with you, he starts out with threatening you?? I am not willing to contribute to and enrich someone like that, so just like someone else said in an earlier post, Andrew will see no more business from me….

Thanks again Brett, and keep up the good work!

Hi Brett thx for the review and saving me dollars. You said that you mentioed about click magnet. Can you please give me the link and does it need any hosting or any other expense ? I need it for email promotion Thx ????

Thanks, Brett! Wow, Andrew of Explandio fame (which I love, btw) appears to be greedy AND a serious butthead!

I saw his sales page before you sent your review and I thought to myself “Is this a mistake or do I really have to get the OTO ($67) to get any real funcionality?” Turns out that you do have to grab the OTO! He should leave his marketing up to someone who knows how to do it right. It turned me off immediately and I deleted the tsunami of emails pitching it.

I have Easy Web Video which includes Click Magnet which was the first, as far as I know, to come out with a giff video for email. I’ve used it with success. But even Shawn Pringle of EWV is promoting this. Hey, cash in on the latest shiny video object, eh?

Enough said on that. Boycott Andrew now!

Thanks for all your honest reviews!

Seann

Wow Brett, you sure have ruffled some features big time.

If it requires the purchase of an OTO to make the product work better, then that’s a con in my book.

If an OTO is offered to automate tasks for instance, then that’s different.

Having said that I am over OTOs. I really think that the promotion should say upfront that OTOs will be offered and for what reason.

Your reaction was mature, Andrew’s was not.

Thanks and keep up the honesty.

Well thanks again Brett. I’ve just read all the comments above mine and they make interesting reading. Firstly Brett, you embody everything about myself when it comes to running my business. I would have done everything you have done exactly the same way. I have total integrity and it’s one of the reasons I’ve not yet fully launched my IM career – I have to be totally ethical and give value to my customers which is contibuting to my procrastination as I don’t want just be another ‘sycophantic affiliate’! Anyway, what’s interesting above is that you were reviewing the full product at Andrew’s request, only for him to back track and infer that you were a beta tester once he knew that his product was just not up to scratch. I’m sure he has worked tirelessly on the product but I’m afraid that doesn’t make it any good. And let’s be honest, to the general public it screams ‘rip off’ when compared to VideoGram, so much so that in the UK he could be sued for copyright infringement alone for quite plainly imitating someone elses product (I’m not a lawyer but it’s along those lines). If I was the Videogram deveoper, I would be more angry with him that he was with you!

I would like to add one more thing that people have mentioned with regards to subscription products (referring in Andrew’s defence to Explaindio 2 for example and no, I’ve not purchased it – I did buy the first version though). I have come to realise that a subscription product is not ‘ripping people off’ if the developer is genuinely supporting the product and offering continual updates as at the end of the day they have a living to earn and developing costs time and money. The key is once again, adding genuine value (proves once again that Profit Canvas is actually outstanding value!).

Just my opinion 🙂

Brett Thanks for Your Honest Review and Saving Me The Trouble and Expense of Buying it(to be Honest The Product didn’t Appeal to Me so I Might not Have Taken The Plunge Anyway)
But in The Past Your Reviews have Definitely Saved Me.
By Being Honest Brett You are doing The Right Thing for Your Customers and really for The Product Creators because any Business that doesn’t take a HONEST LOOK At Itself Long Term will Eventually Fail.
To Andrew Darius I’am Sorry That You are Hurt and Upset,,,,Move on and Improve!!
and Andrew Thank You for Creating Explaindio I’am a Owner of That Video Creation Product and It’s Great and you have Provided Great Value with it and Great Training and Support!
I’am Sure You put a Lot of Effort into Vydeogram but I’d Prefer to See You Move on to Better Things and But Your Energy into either Improving The Product or Creating great Products in The Future Then Attacking and Wasting Energy on a Reviewer who Has Every Right to His Opinion ,,,,,,So Andrew Please Stop and Let Me Think of You has The Great Creator of Explaindio,,,,,instead of a Person who has Charactor Issues and Can’t Handle criticism and Goes Over Board,,,,I Don’t Think That Yet of You,because it can be Normal to get Upset at 1rst after putting a Lot of Work into to Something and Receiving Criticism,,,,but a Person in Control of Them Selves needs to Move on,,,Please continue to Let Me Think Well of You and I Will Continue to Enjoy Explaindio

Brett, thanks for continuing to follow your principles for us, your customers. Sometimes you’re the bug, sometimes you’re the windshield…

Since the products of vydeogram and videogram look so similar, I’m surprised the latter hasn’t had a cease and desist for the former. If Apple can sue Samsung for rounder corners, well….

rounded corners

Oh man, thanks!
I started to wonder when I took the one month option and just noticed in the PayPal page that there were 9 more payments to make! Get lifetime for $38 and monthly will cost $170?
I think not.
If something stinks about it, something else is bound to too, so thanks for pointing out all the bad smells.
There’s nothing much I can do about it, but thankfully you have.
All I’m doing is to unsubscribe from all who are pushing it and if there’s the opportunity, telling them why.

Thanks again.
My new policy is not to buy anything until you have checked it out!

Thanks Brett, Transparency goes a long way. I own your products and that is what you always provide. Thanks

Good reviews and thanks Brett
we must speak the truth even if it is bitter though

Dear Brett,

Thank you for your work and interest in getting the news out to the people. Dude sound like a solitary individual, not a conglomerate, legal actions very expensive.
It also isn’t smart communicating threats because if anything happen we’ll know the 1st person of interest. Now getting to your review. I agree with you. I am unlike you in that, when I found something that lacked functionality, as in this case, like you it is very quick to determine this product is not the one.

It’s interesting in this age of intellectual property and strict adherence to that law that this individual would be more worried about a bad review than a huge company going after him for theft of intellectual property, even if, the product is only similar to the real Videogram.

It also sounds like you did not know you were “beta testing,” his clever play on facts about your review. If you talked to the guy, did he think you to be so devoid of critical analysis as to not notice his product was 98% non-functional? And upon learning that, after having given you permission to review, that would you not report the result of your analysis. This is very strange that he does not appear to understand the industry he is in, it makes you wonder if he is actually the one who designs and develops, very curious.

I recently bought some software and come to find out some young dude in Asia is emailing me asking me to register the product because he forgot to ask before. Do you think I’m unzipping that bad boy program? No sir, I’ll chalk it up to a lesson learned and that is part of the reason I thank you because you can save people from making costly mistakes. Anyway, take it easy, watch your back, keep your head on a swivel, etc., etc.

Hi Brett,

You are great and the IM industry needs more like you. I have been in IM for approx. 2 years and have been sold products that were far from what was promised. We need more honest reviewers to flesh out the dishonest marketers. I am sick and tied of buying products and find out after purchase I need the OTO at twice or triple the price before it will do all the things they say in their Sales Pages.
From an Aussie Brett you are a Bloody Beauty and keep up your great reviews.

Although I made my decision before I read your review I always come here to see what you thought. In this case my concerns were justified and as I decided this is not the product for me. That being said I believe Andrew went overboard although I know sometimes anger at what might be perceived as unjust criticism can overwhelm us and cause rash decisions, not saying your review was unjust, just that the product creator could see it as such. Again thanks for the honest review and though some believe that its “only $37” I expect a lot for my $37 and don’t expect to throw it away on something that does not provide me value. As a side note Andrew’s response to you although extreme will not cause me to discount him in the future as some of his past and I assume future products have and will I hope be of great value
Sincerely;
Mike

Hi Brett. Thank you for being an Outstanding Internet Marketer and a decent human being. You are one of my favorite IM software developers. Thank you for creating awesome software that doesn’t take advantage of their clients.
I read your review is right on the money.
Darius sent me an email that indirectly talks about you as a Beta Tester which we all know is not true, enclosed is a copy of that email.

Quote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Hey Guys and Gal,

>>”It came to my attention that one of our beta
testers made review from in-production version
to beat others, and sound important.”<>”I would be nice enough to not mention his name,
although he did even posted our chat where
I was not happy about it.”<>”The beta tester just went ahead, and made review
from in-production beta version misleading ton
of people hence this correction email.”<>”Also, beta tester/reviewer did not talk about
MP4 video VydeoGram at all, which made
that review even more misleading, since that
is critical feature.”<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

So as you can see you have a war in your hands with Darius.
I will never purchase another item from Darius again.

If he was a smarter marketer he should have kept his mouth shut about your review.

By publicly talking about it, it gives your review credibility.

Instead of hurting you by deflecting the flaws of his program, he made it more noticeable and he hurt himself in the process.

You and Mike Thomas are the most honest people out there.
Thank you again for all that you do for us.

Thanks Brett for exposing these Vendors for what they are. Their tactics are high-handed, dubious and deceitful. I would rather have them put all the functionality of their product in the FE version and markup the price rather than them using this deceitful marketing tactic and extracting $$$ for every function via OTOs with a worthless FE version..
There is an history of this guerilla and greedy tactics from these guys. Explaindio, Social Video Magic that metamorphosed into Social Video Spark, Annual payments, etc.. They use this same tactics, or wait after 3 months to re-launch the same product with some new found functionality and/or change the name and force early buyers to buy their products again either as a new product or upgrade on a monthly basis. SHAME!!!
Anyone having the nerve to even defend or protect what clearly is a greed-driven move by these guy(s) is just unfortunate and only goes to show that they will do the same under similar circumstances.
Thanks Brett for your courage. Its time we have a Consumer protection Agency or Body to clamp down on these unfortunate practices and rid this IM space of these gangster vendors. Their responses repeatedly exposes these vendors and their mindset. Pity!
To all Product creators, Bring value, creativity and ingenuity to the market place and people will rightly acknowledge, reward and support your efforts. It can’t just be about you and your hardwork talk always, Put the customer first and watch the magic happen.

One good thing that came out of this is that I discovered a product that over $1 million was invested into Videogram and Videogram does have ree access plan (they may also have paid, but I like the free version) and I like its functionality, look, usefulness and well organized channels.

A few months ago, I posted publicly that I was no longer doing business with Andrew after Explaindio 1.0. Since then, I have seen numerous public posts by others voicing similar opinions on Facebook, in this thread and on other threads. I am not surprised.

I will say this: you are always entitled to your opinion and obligated to tell the truth. Job well done on that count, Brett! No one can sue for an opinion and certainly not for telling the truth.

As a seller, I have received critical comments in the past and I always use them as an opportunity to learn what my customers want — and I make changes whenever possible to improve my product. That’s the way it should be. Unfortunately, this seller chooses the bully method of reputation management, which CLEARLY does not work!

Thanks, Brett for your honest review. People just don’t understand, the truth will really piss you off before it sets you free. Lol. People are tired of getting ripped off by marketers who don’t care about anything but getting your money. Thank you Brett for being who you are.

Thank you Brett, this is a great review 🙂

Thank you Brett very useful and saved me some money.
Best regards R.B.

I love you and your reviews Brett. Nice honest review, hope others will find your review before they decide to buy VideoGr… oh sorry VydeoGram.

Feeling sad for his buyers.

Ha! Great review. Busted!

I don’t always agree with Brett but I think he’s hit the nail on the head here.

This is another case of a good marketing ploy (sell a standard version and offer an upsell) being taken so far that the front end product provides zero value to the users.

10/10 for doing the right thing.

Andy

Thanks for the honest review, Brett! Roger

To be successful in internet marketing you generally have to be a BS artist, a spoofer ,a liar and promote products that you haven’t tested or even used. Just forward the pre-written hype onto the masses and count the affiliate dollars come in. That’s what people like Shawn Pringle do, in fact that’s what most successful internet marketers do. They are not much more than con-men. It’s a kind of “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” cosy clique of JV buddies who tend to exploit newbies with any old garbage software that promises the world and breaks after 3 months when the refund has expired. To an extent everyone has to play this game to succeed and even Brett has had to suck up to other marketers and do the false pally-pally thing in order to generate more traffic and buyers, but at least Brett has maintained some degree of integrity and calls things as he sees them (unbelievably being honest in the IM sphere means Brett stands out from everyone else and indeed becomes a target). People like Shawn want to continue to exploit and maintain the cosy monopoly of overhyped undertested products that all affiliates can benefit from – thankfully Brett is taking some kind of stand against this all-pervading ethos and yes he’s taking heat for it but others would do well to learn from him. Eventually the truth catches up with all of us.

My first time here, and I must say I am super impressed with this review! I have spent lots on products and am disgusted that the front end pitch’s are misleading. I too really think that all promotions should say upfront that OTOs will be offered and for what reason. Simply put I am tired of the GOTCHAS! Don’t show me anything that is a OTO unless it is made clear in the pitch! If the product is really as good as it is made out to be, it should stand well on its clear and honest promotion. For all of the folks that I have been misled by,by promoting inferior product, beware that your longevity may be greatly limited. Take a stand and promote only what is really worth promoting, and our industry will benefit long term.
Thanks Brett…I will be using your reviews in the future!

Hi Brett! You are so helpful. He should take a few pages out of your book, I personally have purchased your products and They have been fantastic, and on top of that when a minor issue came up, you responded immediately, problem solved. Thank you for all you do to help and provide key tools for success!

Darius has just sent out this email (seems a little upset) I’m with you Brett, always respect your reviews.

{I shortened this post since several people have already posted the email Andrew sent}

From an internet marketing standpoint I think we need to seriously think about the concept of the OTO. If a product has to require OTO or an upsell to make the product whole, I think we should start doing away with these alltogether. Make the product whole from the start.

I understand the concept, oto, upsell, cross-sell, down-sell, are all part of the “sales funnel” that overall increases profits to product makers, but as I see it, with the high frequency of products being released on a weekly basis now, products should just be released as one product with autoresponder emails to the buyers of upsells or cross-sells. Then it gives the buyer a choice to further buy products from the creator.

It makes us all cautious that when we buy a low price product, we truly don’t know the complete price we have to dish out to buy complete functionality.

Brett,

Thank you for your honesty as usual. You validated my own assessment of the product based on the reviews and videos I had already seen. I too, was not planning to buy this because I already own Click Ad 2.0., whucjh I love, BTW.

What I don’t understand is why Shawn Pringle even stuck up for him (and I even sent Shawn an email asking why I should buy VydeoGram if I already own Click Ads). Seems almost like he ripped off Click Ads and Videogram and combined the two.

A lot of people are still stinging from the 9 layer sales funnel that accompanied Explaindio Pro. I’m still a fan of Explaindio and I appreciate Andrew Darius for the hard work and dedication he put into the development and support for it. But his marketing tactics leave a lot to be desired and in the case ,of VideoGram, he has proven himself to have very thin skin when criticized. Like others here have pointed out… instead of becoming hostile and defensive, he could take your critique for what it is and use your review to fine tune his offering. Maybe even make his OTO be the FE and offer the upgrade retroactively to the people that bought it. Or at least add a little more functionality to the FE. I’m sure we haven’t heard the end of this saga.

Thanks again for your own integrity.

Brett,

Bravo, bravo, bravo. Wish there were other folks who do reviews that actually tried to use the product to find out what it did or didn’t do. Your creds just went way up in my estimation. Keep on keeping on.

well, there’s a sucker born every minute so he’ll find SOMEONE to sell it to..haha- thanks for the great review, but honestly their own sales copy did more harm that you did! I couldn’t find a reason to buy it after watching it, and just happened to see this review while looking to see if you reviewed videoengage..

the professional thing would have been for him to ‘eat it’ a little, admit there were minor issues and offer everyone a ‘.1’ version with parts of OTO right after launch, but if you care more about quick cash than return customers, hey…good luck-

(Ask Jeff Long how that’s going for him (quick cash over customer satisfaction), now that he sold out and quit supporting Social Video Magic…)

In case anyone is missing it, I would advise you to scroll up to my conversation on this thread, with shawn, you will find it interesting I am sure. have a great day, every single one of your opinions matter. Do NOT ever let these marketers tell you otherwise.

Love
Vicky

Brett,

That is a very interesting review. I also received a review copy, but got the Pro version. I made the assumption that the name VydeoGram was used, simply because the word ‘videogram’ is often used as a generic word. I did not know about the other service.

As for the VydeoGram product itself… I actually liked the product… but that is because I have found great use of it in emails. It gives much more than a simple thumbnail, and I actually have seen quantifiable increases in click-throughs when I use it.

As for on Facebook, I agree, but mostly because as I have tried to use the ImageShack service, it doesn’t recognize my account.

As for why use it on Facebook, instead of just the full video… I agree, I don’t see the purpose. But for emails, I think it’s well worth the price.

Great review Brett, appreciate your honesty.

It’s funny how the known marketers don’t agree with you, while most customers do.

My guess is it’s because the known marketers either got the pro version free, money is no problem or they have the “scratch my back I scratch yours” in mind.

While for regular customers it’s not really worth it to pay $135 for the pro version, when you can just search for “ezgif video to gif” in google and do almost the same. And for that money you could get professional software like SEO Spyglass.

What’s up with the yearly prices, I have never seen this type of software go for yearly, I think he got greedy after hes success with Explaindio.

With the taste in the mud, I have just cancelled my annual subscription of Explaindio. Bye Andrew.

FREE http://www.videogram.com/ 🙂

what a douche, that Darius. He showed his ass for sure.

Thanks for the review you just saved me some $$

How internet marketers deal with adversity is very revealing about what to expect from them.

You would hope that exposing faults would light a fire to address shortcomings rather than ignite an aggressive defensive position that is a complete and utter turnoff to anyone even considering recommending a product/provider in the future, let alone purchasing from them.

A.D. you made a mistake.

So, this morning I started reading reviews and found myself quite involved reading many on here this morning…so much for getting “other tasks” completed. I just want to make a few points:

1) Thanks Brett for your awesome review and I also appreciate your honesty.

2) I’m sorry to read about the developers response to your reviews but maybe over time, he’ll recognize how to address differently.

3) Many comments speak to our own reactions to such behavior and I noticed the need to take sides…which in some ways, increases the conflict. I believe that it is generally up to you and Andrew to work out….and hopefully it will happen.

4) Bringing in others and trashing the entire IM world…seems quite counterproductive and I hope that we can elevate the conversation now that we are together. It’s easy to get upset..and much harder to find ways to collaborate and work together.

5) Again, thank you Brett for your reviews and your dedication. I hope that we can all figure out ways to talk kindly with one another when we agree as well as when we disagree. I hope that you and Andrew can work through this issue….and learning can take place. But I know that is something quite personal between you both.

6) Question to the rest of you…what are some other good review sites like Brett’s. I love reading his reviews and I’d love some recommendations on who else to read.

Thanks all…and here’s to a kinder and gentler dialogue.

Peace,
Alexa

Just to clarify…I was not identifying ANYONE as “bringing in others”…just something that happens when conflict occurs…when I reread, it sounded as if I was suggesting that someone was “bringing in others”…that was not my intention….

😉 Alexa

Seriously Brett, I was looking for reviews (honest) reviews about this product. Everybody is pushing this software and all their “bonuses”.

I appreciate a real honest reviews. I’m bookmarking your page for future.

I won’t be wasting my money on this.

Plus it tells you about the developers who are threatening to sue you.

God Bless

Dave

I hate when some Internet Marketers “worry” about their own “money loss” because of honest reviews, and selfishly lining their own pockets with greed with other people’s hard earned money. Many go into Internet Marketing, hoping to have extra cash in order to survive and pay bills.

It’s simple, if you want a successful launch.. get out a QUALITY product that will HELP others succeed or make their tasks easier. Don’t be selfish for your own gain$. Sooner or later, people will find out who the honest marketers are, and who’s not.

I just wanted to say thanks for your honest reviews. I had a similar business model in mind at one point, but my interests took me elsewhere. I just want to say that I think there is a very fine line between OTOs and the bait and switch tactic (which is illegal in the US). A lot of these IM products are more bait and switch than OTO. My personal policy is to never buy an OTO. If the original product can’t stand on it’s own and fulfill the sales letter promises I return it for a refund and never buy from that marketer again. Some of these “OTOs” are unethical, illegal and just bad business. I remember, not too long ago, purchasing a product that promised the moon. I was immediately presented with 9 OTOs! 9!!! How ridiculous is that?!?! By the 4th OTO I already knew I was asking for a refund. Anyway, thanks for letting me vent. Keep up the good work.

Your newest fan.

Hi Brett

Good work with the review and managing the “fallout” from it honorably.

May this help to lead to more launches showing what OTO’s are offered (added features and price) in the sales copy BEFORE the FE purchase, which is already done in some cases.

As many have said in this thread, OTO’s are not wrong, just that they should in fact add EXTRA functionality one can choose to buy, without needing to.

Thanks also to Andrew Darius for contributing to the discussion and heightened level of awareness on the topic all around (-:

cheers bro, keep it up please

I am not sure how any of the reviewers or beta testers got anything to work.
Purchased the Pro version, started out at 1.003.

Could create animated gifs just fine. Had to purchase an annual ImageShack subscription to post to Facebook (to get animations to work. This is a FB issue).

The Animations with Video had major issues from the beginning and just kept getting worse as they performed updates.

First, the MP4’s were not saving to the designated folder. After searching your hard drive, you could find them. Problem was, when published, they didn’t work. Only the video played, no animation at all.

After Andrew told us his developers didn’t work on weekends and would have to fix on Monday (how do you launch a new software then go on holiday!?), he posted “great news” the developers were working. lucky us.

1.004 released. Supposedly fixed everything. It did not.
Added a couple small issues that were fixed in subsequent updates (adding CTA image – the image size was enourmous — off of the screen huge)

Adding text just plain didn’t work any longer.

1.005 now MP4’s are no longer saved anywhere on the hard drive. A user posted a work around using a video editing software

Up to V1.007 and MP4’s still nowhere to be found although with each update all fixes were announced.

The OTO’s seemed endless. In my confusion about what I purchased I accidentally submitted a ticket requesting a refund for VydeoGram when (at the time) I really only intended to cancel Explaindio.

When I realized what I had done and noticed my updated ticket had not been responded to (although it was assigned to an agent) I reached out for Andrew by private message. He replied that he didn’t do support, 26,000 customers an all.

I have to say, I’ve hung in with products before that had launch issues but this is the first time there is a blatant and palpable disdain for the client.

Not only does the product not work anywhere close to as advertised, Andrew has had the nerve to promote 2 separate affiliate offers inside the VydeoGram private group. How out of touch with your user base do you have to be to try to sell them more shit (not his own, he was promoting as an affiliate) while the product they just purchased doesn’t work!?

Since I will likely be banned from the group I have gone ahead and taken dozens of snap shots of the issues being discussed in case I have any trouble getting my refund ….which I have not requested intentionally.

I have been around IM for 8 years, know Ray from Stompernet days and am grateful to have now been introduced to Brett. This product and service are one of the worst I have seen and I have purchased a lot of junk over the years.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the concept and probably would have stuck around to give them a chance to fix if it were not for the actions and total disrespect of the creator. I searched for reviews and found this AFTER I had made my decision to refund.

We are up to 1.007…no updates so far this morning.