Brad Fallon's "uQast"

by bfas
55 replies
I just received a "Stompers-only" email from Brad Fallon with an announcement of "uQast".

I watched the promo video and am awaiting the link to, well I'm not sure what, more info I presume.

The video is very slick as one would expect. The product itself - a 'platform' for marketing user-generated digital content - looks a LOT like an update of his "FreeIQ" from a couple of years ago.

FreeIQ, a "search engine" for free & paid digital information / user-generated content - was, in my mind, a great idea that was maybe a little ahead of it's time. The idea was, combine all of the features & functions that an affiliate would find most attractive - a 1-year cookie, 2-tier commissions, easy uploading of digital info products, easy payments, etc. in order to attract both 'info-creators' and 'info-seekers'/buyers. Some very good content was available initially, but it also quickly became overrun with junk.

uQast looks like FreeIQ polished and brought forward. IF that's the case, AND he can generate enough momentum for it to gain traction and eyeballs - the main reason FreeIQ didn't succeed - then it might be something very much worth watching.

If anyone has any more info, I'd love to hear it.

bfas
#brad #fallon #uqast
  • Profile picture of the author darksaberco
    I am watching these videos too. Being a stomper, I know brad personally, and he is a freaking amazing marketer, I hope this succeeds, not just because I like brad, but because it could be really really cool and big!
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    • Profile picture of the author maverick4u
      It does look awesome. Free hosting of all of your digital media including videos. One thing I was curious about was their "review ranking" system. It seems to be somewhat vulnerable to the dark siders. Whats going to stop them from posting a million positive reviews to their content from different proxies or to shoot down a competitors product with negative reviews?
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      • Profile picture of the author Charles Harper
        Originally Posted by maverick4u View Post

        It does look awesome. Free hosting of all of your digital media including videos. One thing I was curious about was their "review ranking" system. It seems to be somewhat vulnerable to the dark siders. Whats going to stop them from posting a million positive reviews to their content from different proxies or to shoot down a competitors product with negative reviews?
        What is the catch?

        What do they want from us (the unsuspecting populus) in return?

        CT
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        • Profile picture of the author DannyUK
          Originally Posted by Charles Harper View Post

          What is the catch?

          What do they want from us (the unsuspecting populus) in return?

          CT
          The software looks good, almost as if some effort has been put into it which is very rare in this industry.

          But I too am waiting for the other shoe to drop.
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        • Profile picture of the author SuccessMatrix
          Originally Posted by Charles Harper View Post

          What is the catch?

          What do they want from us (the unsuspecting populus) in return?

          CT
          I think there is no "catch", they will provide a platform that really is for free just like youtube and other social websites. What's the catch with YouTube? None. They benefit from the user generated content + traffic, and make money from ads on the site.

          Next, uQast offers a sales platform for digital products for free. With Clickbank you have to pay $47 to get your product listed, and they cover the payment process for you, and the affiliate commissions.

          uQuast is letting you list your product for free, they take care of the sales process, and affiliate handling. If you make a sale they keep a percentage as processing fee. That's how they participate in your earnings. But you only pay if you make a sale.

          That's my understanding from the demo videos so far: http://welcome.uqast.com/ (no affiliate link)


          (Btw. Click2Sell Affiliate Network - Innovative Affiliate Marketing Network (no affiliate link) works the same. You can list an unlimited (!) number of products for free. They take 7% per sale processed, and split sales commissions for your affiliates. While with Clickbank you have to pay $47 for EACH product you want to offer.)
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          • Profile picture of the author jtunkelo
            Originally Posted by SuccessMatrix View Post

            I think there is no "catch", they will provide a platform that really is for free just like youtube and other social websites. What's the catch with YouTube? None. They benefit from the user generated content + traffic, and make money from ads on the site.
            Not quite true what you said about YouTube. The amount Google makes from YouTube ads is a pittance. YouTube is still a massive loss leader for Google, and will probably continue to be.

            However, how they make it worth their while is they use the massive traffic YouTube generates to strike outstanding bandwidth deals, so it works to their advantage in the bigger picture.
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      • Profile picture of the author writetale
        Originally Posted by maverick4u View Post

        It does look awesome. Free hosting of all of your digital media including videos. One thing I was curious about was their "review ranking" system. It seems to be somewhat vulnerable to the dark siders. Whats going to stop them from posting a million positive reviews to their content from different proxies or to shoot down a competitors product with negative reviews?
        ....you also heard about tripadvisor.com and all the trouble they're having behind the "review" format. legal and otherwise. (i could be guessing but i believe amazon changed their customer reviews format as well for that very reason)

        i dunno. somebody needs to report back to the commissioners...
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  • Profile picture of the author lonestar164
    Any idea how much the custom names are going to cost? I'm not a Stomper, so please mention if there's a Stomper and Non-Stomper price. I'm sure it won't be cheap, but it will be oh so worth it.
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    • Profile picture of the author OmarBriones
      Originally Posted by lonestar164 View Post

      Any idea how much the custom names are going to cost? I'm not a Stomper, so please mention if there's a Stomper and Non-Stomper price. I'm sure it won't be cheap, but it will be oh so worth it.
      Don't quote me on this, because I'm not 100% sure, but off the top of my head, I remember it being somewhere around $2,000-$4,000 - Or maybe I'm totally imagining those numbers... It could just be $600... I didn't sign up for the pre-registration when I had the chance, and I threw away the form, so I'm only going by what I can remember in my super messed up memory lol.
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  • Profile picture of the author OmarBriones
    It's NOTHING like FreeIQ - he's been working on this project for YEARS! And I'm telling you, it's NO DOUBT going to be a HUGE success!!

    I was blessed to be a part of the first group who he announced this too, and as soon as I learned about, I did extensive research on other programs that can do what it does... But there's really nothing like it. Trust me.

    It's gonna cost a pretty penny for a membership with a shopping cart, but it's worth 10x the investment... That's how I feel.

    ~Omar
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    • Profile picture of the author bfas
      Originally Posted by OmarBriones View Post

      It's NOTHING like FreeIQ - he's been working on this project for YEARS! And I'm telling you, it's NO DOUBT going to be a HUGE success!!

      ~Omar
      This is what a lot of the early adopters of FreeIQ said - and believed. Myself included.

      The reality is that how 'good' it is, unfortunately, is only one 'ingredient' in whether or not it will be successful, let alone a "HUGE success!!"

      There are plenty of really excellent ideas, products, platforms, etc., that have come & gone, just as there are plenty that probably shouldn't be enjoying the success they have.

      Personally, I like Brad - he JV'ed with me on a product I created, "ScreenShow Pro" that was one of FreeIQ's initial 'launch' products - and I liked FreeIQ. But it's going to take a lot of things going right, for some extended period of time, for this to really take off.

      bfas
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      • Profile picture of the author OmarBriones
        Originally Posted by bfas View Post

        The reality is that how 'good' it is, unfortunately, is only one 'ingredient' in whether or not it will be successful, let alone a "HUGE success!!"

        There are plenty of really excellent ideas, products, platforms, etc., that have come & gone, just as there are plenty that probably shouldn't be enjoying the success they have.

        Personally, I like Brad - he JV'ed with me on a product I created, "ScreenShow Pro" that was one of FreeIQ's initial 'launch' products - and I liked FreeIQ. But it's going to take a lot of things going right, for some extended period of time, for this to really take off.
        I agree completely! But I KNOW this product is one of those things... It's going to be another revolution in Video Marketing... And the amount of people who have already pre-registered, the huge buzz that's going on with it, proves that it's gonna have a very successful launch. (at least I believe)...

        But will it keep the buzz? I don't know about that... Because there will always be an alternative CHEAPER version of pretty much the same type of service with some minor differences, that I also know A LOT of people will jump on when that comes out (again - just what I believe)...

        Congratulations on the JV!! That's awesome!

        ~Omar
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  • Profile picture of the author Richard Weiler
    The word is that the custom names are going to cost $1200.
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  • Profile picture of the author Richard Weiler
    You can also check out my signature file for more info.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bon508
    It would be cool if the "FREE" word used so much in the promo videos really meant free. I don't blame Brad for going for the big bucks by (1) charging premium prices for custom names and (2) charging monthly membership fees -- he's a top Internet Marketer, after all. But it would've been unique (and generous) of him to be satisfied with earning boatloads of money from sale commissions only -- thus making this service genuinely free and enabling everyone to benefit.
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    • Profile picture of the author SuccessMatrix
      Originally Posted by Bon508 View Post

      It would be cool if the "FREE" word used so much in the promo videos really meant free. I don't blame Brad for going for the big bucks by (1) charging premium prices for custom names and (2) charging monthly membership fees -- he's a top Internet Marketer, after all. But it would've been unique (and generous) of him to be satisfied with earning boatloads of money from sale commissions only -- thus making this service genuinely free and enabling everyone to benefit.
      Interesting info Bonnie.

      I suspected that some kinds of membership levels will require to be paid accounts, while only the ones who get in during launch/pre-launch will be able to get in for free. But I didn't see any exact statements about planned pricing in the videos.
      Anyone here having deeper inside views?
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    • Profile picture of the author OmarBriones
      Originally Posted by Bon508 View Post

      It would be cool if the "FREE" word used so much in the promo videos really meant free. I don't blame Brad for going for the big bucks by (1) charging premium prices for custom names and (2) charging monthly membership fees -- he's a top Internet Marketer, after all. But it would've been unique (and generous) of him to be satisfied with earning boatloads of money from sale commissions only -- thus making this service genuinely free and enabling everyone to benefit.
      I TOTALLY Agree!
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  • Profile picture of the author lonestar164
    Is it just me or did the website say 2:00 PM EASTERN yesterday, but PACIFIC today??? Was I the only one that showed up 3 hours early?
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  • Profile picture of the author GailTrahd
    Can anyone tell me how much the custom names ended up being? I too heard him say EST so I rearranged my entire work day. Then when it said PST today I couldn't be here because of an appointment I had already rearranged once. UGH.
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    • Profile picture of the author lonestar164
      The word on the street is $1,197 for a one-time payment, or 3 payments of $500. Looks like you'll get another change tomorrow at 5PM Eastern. Good luck...unless you're going for the same custom name I'm gunning for.:rolleyes:
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  • Profile picture of the author steitieh
    Any reviews? since its been on now for a couple of days?


    Thanks,
    ~Rami
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    • Profile picture of the author SuccessMatrix
      Originally Posted by steitieh View Post

      Any reviews? since its been on now for a couple of days?

      Thanks,
      ~Rami
      Sadly, I've given up on trying to understand this service...
      At first I thought it will be for free to use it, unless you choose to pay for some advanced options.

      Status as they opened doors for pre-launch was that "founding affiliates" can pay 3x $497 to join, or $1,197 if paid in full, but actually that payment is not declared to be for "joining", but rather for your name you are reserving, like www.uQuast.com/mybranding.

      Then a calculation demonstrated, how if you reserve your name now as founding affiliate, NO OTHER COSTS will ever apply. No membership fees, no other payments for '2 years', nothing. And this calculation summed up HOW YOU SAVE ABOUT $7.000+ BY ACTING NOW.

      ...hmm, and at that point they lost me.
      Does this mean, that everyone who joins later will have to pay over $7.000 to get in?????

      This cannot be! That would be madness.

      So what is the point? What kind of scarcity did they refer to with that insane $7k?
      I don't see what I would win or lose by joining "now".
      Yes, I'd get my name reserved in the URL, but what do I save that others will pay for (again, what $7k are we talking about)?


      I want to understand what will be inside BEFORE I go JOIN. Will the market place grow fast or not? How probable will it grow big, if the price remains insane - THESE are questions I am interested in prior to entering a market place.


      I wonder - who will EVER pay $7.000 for a digital product delivery service when there are still options to go with great affiliate marketplaces for selling, and amazonS3 dirt cheap hosting for delivery.

      So maybe I'm totally misunderstanding. Because they also mention monthly fees of $197,- for those who get in later. But I still don't get at what point I am saving this $7k???

      I might be willing to pay $197,- but not $7.000 for this.

      They mention one target group could be musicians.
      Well, I doubt all the struggling musicians will be able to pay over $7k for this service...

      I don't get it.
      They promote how this is going to be THE place = a mass service on the internet for everyone and his grand mom.
      But the pricing makes it appear elite and exclusive to me rather than conquering the new internet.

      So what is it?
      I am just annoyed that they make it so NON-TRANSPARENT.
      All the nice videos explain FEATURES.
      But I am unable to understand what exactly I need to do as user. :confused:


      Anyone smarter out there kindly enlighten me.
      In the meantime I'll sit and wait what happens when they go public.
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      • Profile picture of the author steitieh
        Originally Posted by SuccessMatrix View Post

        Sadly, I've given up on trying to understand this service...
        At first I thought it will be for free to use it, unless you choose to pay for some advanced options.

        Status as they opened doors for pre-launch was that "founding affiliates" can pay 3x $497 to join, or $1,197 if paid in full, but actually that payment is not declared to be for "joining", but rather for your name you are reserving, like www.uQuast.com/mybranding.

        Then a calculation demonstrated, how if you reserve your name now as founding affiliate, NO OTHER COSTS will ever apply. No membership fees, no other payments for '2 years', nothing. And this calculation summed up HOW YOU SAVE ABOUT $7.000+ BY ACTING NOW.

        ...hmm, and at that point they lost me.
        Does this mean, that everyone who joins later will have to pay over $7.000 to get in?????

        This cannot be! That would be madness.

        So what is the point? What kind of scarcity did they refer to with that insane $7k?
        I don't see what I would win or lose by joining "now".
        Yes, I'd get my name reserved in the URL, but what do I save that others will pay for (again, what $7k are we talking about)?


        I want to understand what will be inside BEFORE I go JOIN. Will the market place grow fast or not? How probable will it grow big, if the price remains insane - THESE are questions I am interested in prior to entering a market place.


        I wonder - who will EVER pay $7.000 for a digital product delivery service when there are still options to go with great affiliate marketplaces for selling, and amazonS3 dirt cheap hosting for delivery.

        So maybe I'm totally misunderstanding. Because they also mention monthly fees of $197,- for those who get in later. But I still don't get at what point I am saving this $7k???

        I might be willing to pay $197,- but not $7.000 for this.

        They mention one target group could be musicians.
        Well, I doubt all the struggling musicians will be able to pay over $7k for this service...

        I don't get it.
        They promote how this is going to be THE place = a mass service on the internet for everyone and his grand mom.
        But the pricing makes it appear elite and exclusive to me rather than conquering the new internet.

        So what is it?
        I am just annoyed that they make it so NON-TRANSPARENT.
        All the nice videos explain FEATURES.
        But I am unable to understand what exactly I need to do as user. :confused:


        Anyone smarter out there kindly enlighten me.
        In the meantime I'll sit and wait what happens when they go public.
        From What I understood; I believe we'd have to pay that $1.2K Now and NEVER pay the monthly $197 ever ... You mentioned "2 years" which I never saw anywhere.

        The reason I am asking here is: the history of trouble that went through after launching stompernet makes me always think twice before I hit the order button.. Also, I honestly don't see the huge potential in expansion. I do believe they have so many unique and excellent features and tools which I would love to have immediately, but at the same time, I would want to make sure that this thing will pick up and people will start using it.

        I also believe that asking for $197 per month for future merchants isn't appealing compared to the "BIG Market Players" whom they've mentioned in their sales letter.

        Overall, I was looking for real reviews because the 'Offer' they have is also vague to me!


        ~Rami
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        • Profile picture of the author SuccessMatrix
          Originally Posted by steitieh View Post

          ...........
          I also believe that asking for $197 per month for future merchants isn't appealing compared to the "BIG Market Players" whom they've mentioned in their sales letter.

          Overall, I was looking for real reviews because the 'Offer' they have is also vague to me!

          ~Rami
          Exactly my opinion.

          (The 2 years was stated besides the crossed out yearly membership, if I recall this right, since I looked at that "2 years" several times wondering about.)
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          • Profile picture of the author Marty S
            Originally Posted by OmarBriones View Post

            It's NOTHING like FreeIQ - he's been working on this project for YEARS! And I'm telling you, it's NO DOUBT going to be a HUGE success!!
            Cmon Dude! This is totally a re-engineering of FreeIQ which was a complete BUSTO. I mean the logos are even so similar its confusing.

            Originally Posted by SuccessMatrix View Post

            Sadly, I've given up on trying to understand this service...
            At first I thought it will be for free to use it, unless you choose to pay for some advanced options.
            I cannot enlighten you on this, as I too was initially interested, and then confused about the pricing aspect of this. I mean it sounds convenient with a built in check out system and hosting, but wow I can get a lot of hosting with S3 for $1,100. I thought at first his income model was going to be affiliate transactions between members, but I suppose not now.

            I keep getting the invitation to join for free, however the system is not allowing me to do so. Once I join, I am immediately brought to the affiliate founders sales page asking for $1,100-$1,500. And from the information in the videos available, this will allow me to have a /username but I am not even sure I see the benefit in that. If this service ends up being free, then why should I care about the /username? Why not just send my traffic to /764532 from my own sales page if the check-out it the same?

            If there is a difference or benefit, it is certainly not explained in all of the videos or emails as of yet.


            Originally Posted by steitieh View Post

            I also believe that asking for $197 per month for future merchants isn't appealing compared to the "BIG Market Players" whom they've mentioned in their sales letter.

            Overall, I was looking for real reviews because the 'Offer' they have is also vague to me!
            Agreed - at least on the available information so far, which is kind of a bizarre way to launch IMHO.
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  • Profile picture of the author steitieh
    Well, they've got it closed for now.

    I tried to search for 'SEO' in uQast.com and found 2 results, the first is a downloadable eBook and the 2nd is a video.. I tried to play the video and it's ridiculously slow! (managed to have it play faster after 2 or 3 trials, and thats because they're on a cloud... the cloud will try to give me a faster resource eventually) but what do you think will happen when someone goes to a video and (or) media sharing site and tries to play a video for the first time and never see it load as fast as it is supposed to?

    "I also find it insulting to our intelligence to bluntly compare uQast to Youtube, iTunes or even Vimeo in the very first video of your launch.."

    Cloud hosting is a complex technical term... for an ambitious person to build a fast video search engine and a social media network it takes MUCH more than the S3 service they're using! They'll certainly need clusters of redundant dedicated servers... Clouds wont do (I got that from a tech. guy whom I've consulted a year ago to build some social network) ..What I am trying to say is: Building your business on top of a cloud (shared hosting space) that you do NOT own and is open to the public to use as well is very risky..

    I was almost sold 2 days ago, yesterday I was a little more hesitant and today I am certainly out even when they're back up.

    ~Rami
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  • Profile picture of the author bfas
    Like I said. "...looks a LOT like an update of his "FreeIQ" from a couple of years ago."

    Great feature set, some very good ideas. FreeIQ flopped. In my mind, there were two reasons for this. First, the 'time & place'. It was 'before it's time', and it's entirely possible there is/was/won't be a 'time' for it.

    Second, because it was free to upload content for sale, it quickly became overrun with junk. It got to a point where you had to wade through mountains of garbage people we're selling to find anything decent.

    I don't think the dynamics will have changed enough for this to be successful. They'll make a little money from those who either were sold on the promo or those willing/able to risk a few thousand bucks on a 'just in case' gamble.

    Michael
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    • Profile picture of the author AndyBeard
      I am going to attempt to answer a few of the questions here - I can't answer everything because some things such as will this be successful are impossible to answer.

      I have been working with the uQast team for just over a month so I am probably as familiar with using the platform as anyone.

      There will be a free version

      The most specific difference is the custom URLs - there will be other differences though those will become more apparent as we raise the bar higher on the "Pro" features.
      At the time free accounts are possible it will be clearer on the difference, but you will likely at that time end up paying more.

      A good way to look on the current offerings is as a "sunrise" period similar to what happens with domains, but the important difference is we didn't hold back 1000s of "premium" names.

      The streaming from the flash player is Amazon S3 but not in the same way as most people might implement it - we are using Rightscale and have a Wowza cluster that is self scaling.
      There is a lot more involved than simply uploading the files to S3 - the technology involved isn't just offloading the content to a CDN though in some cases that might be possible at a later date.

      Optimizing the player is something I have on my agenda along with how it works with other media on a page. This is especially important for those hosting the player offsite where there may be lots of additional resources on a page.

      It is not the only thing that is being worked on, both bugs and features but I have found the development team to be highly competent and "dialled in" on the overall mission - that is an important differentiation as many developers honestly don't care about what they are creating.

      As for FreeIQ - I looked at the platform in a lot of depth over 3 years ago - it had a lot of potential, and I also looked on it as in some ways being a competitor to what I was trying to create as a startup.

      Whilst I am sure some remnants of FreeIQ remain, most of uQast is different code - the concept is different in subtle but powerful ways and the development is hopefully a lot more dynamic.

      I tried to highlight some of the opportunities in a couple of blog posts but I think especially important is checking out the jv/affiliate offer.
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    • Profile picture of the author WontBeDenied
      Originally Posted by bfas View Post

      Like I said. "...looks a LOT like an update of his "FreeIQ" from a couple of years ago." Michael
      I agree with you Michael it's "FreeIQ" all day. The design,
      the layout and the premise behind uQast are the same.

      Now, uQast has some unique features that are rich and
      very useful. A lot of people jumped on it quick and a lot
      of people were just plain confused. The wording of the
      launch and the delay made it a challenge for people to
      pounce on it as smoothly as he would have liked.

      My question is taking this project so mainstream that
      the investment of $2,000 will be worth it.
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      • Profile picture of the author AndyBeard
        The wording on the launch is complicated.

        First of all affiliates confused the messaging especially on microblogging platforms such as Twitter. In some ways they themselves were confused as to the exact offering, but I have a feeling some were vague due to various launch competitions.

        The first video covered the premise and whole mission of the service, which includes the free component.
        The second video covered the features as implemented
        The 3rd video covered the current offer which is prelaunch "sunrise"

        Some of the "mission" of uQast is the same as FreeIQ, but there wasn't necessarily anything bad with the original goals.
        I think there is a lot more emphasis on quality free content than there was before

        p.s. A smart warrior who took subtle hints would have close to 6 premium storefronts for that sum, fully paid up.

        Almost every time you see a sales video using Vimeo, you can be sure they are breaking the Vimeo Tos doing it.
        If you see JW Player being used on a sales page, and the JW Player logo pops up, there is a high chance they haven't paid the commercial use license for every site you use it on.

        How much traffic do people drive to YouTube, Docstoc, Slideshare etc with no direct financial benefit? That is partially forward looking as we still need remote doc embedding, but the premise is that currently there is room for a better platform which is more integrated with sales and lead generation.
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  • Profile picture of the author pr5931
    I also watched the videos.
    It sure sounded like a good concept but too expensive for newbies and terms are too confusing at this point.
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  • Profile picture of the author MCDavies
    I'm sorry, but this looks to be a complete waste of time. And to put any money into this would be insanity!

    I'll stick with searching for relevant information and reviews right here on WF ;-)
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  • Profile picture of the author tgeo
    Been underground for a while and finally being pulled up to the surface by the onslaught of junk, false claims, hyped up sales pages, and lies, etc.. coming out lately in the IM field.......

    For what it's worth, here's my thoughts and experience with UQast-

    I'm wondering why many of the more prominent IM marketers haven't been promoting
    this thing since Dec.7 when it first offered "founding affiliates". Any one else wondering?

    Something doesn't smell right....

    Anyway, I purchased (at least I thought I did) a very sought after keyword url (custom names) that they were selling to founding affiliates, for example uqast.com/marketing, etc... after the only email I got about this whole program (the very 1st time I ever heard about it and I'm on a lot of lists) from a token email from Jeff Johnson, the only one that emailed me.
    Hmmmmmm...

    So I bought the popular custom name-- after I got Johnson's email 2 weeks after the ORIGINAL launch for which I didn't get ANY emails from anyone about this. The URL was "available" at the time of purchase, as were--supposedly-- MANY OTHER desireable urls like /golf, /realestate, /videos, /makemoney, etc..

    Turns out that these urls were NOT available behind the scenes since they were "reserved" after the initial launch, but they showed as available when schmucks like me signed up 2 weeks later!!!

    Even though my order went through--$497/month for 3 months-- WITH THE PURCHASED URL, I was denied that url A FEW DAYS LATER since it was "reserved after the initial affiliates launch"; in other words, they didn't tell us that these popular keyword/urls were NOT available until AFTER we purchased. I say 'we' because there were probably many others who thought they secured a great url like the ones that were 'available' as listed above.

    Needless to say I requested a refund after they told me I couldn't keep the keyword url that I purchased (and even confirmed in their order receipt email that I got).

    Still wondering why it's not getting promoted by the big dogs. Any of you Fallon buddies can chime in as to why not. There is another grand opening in January where perhaps we'll get bombarded with the launch emails.

    I am now thoroughly disgusted and tired of the IM dishonesty, and am using this experience to soon launch a program, or blog to guide those people who have no clue about what to look out for when considering the misleading and often false junk that hits their inboxes.

    Best of Luck, and have a Happy & prosperous New Year--
    Timothy Peterson
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    • Profile picture of the author Dave Rodman
      Banned
      FreeIQ was a massive bust. And I don't see this one being any different. I was in stompernet at the time of the launch of FreeIQ. The big question was why Fallon was spending all his time on FreeIQ when he had 1000+ members paying $800/month to which he devoted hardly any time.

      Brad Fallon is a smart guy, but he's a dreamer. He reminds me of John Reese, expect he seems to finish a lot of projects..he just doesn't keep them going. He needs someone to actually drive the project past the launch stage. He even admitted that in the past. For his e-commerce websites, he has his wife to do that. For stompernet, he had Andy Jenkins. If he didn't have Andy, there is NO WAY IN H#LL that stompernet ever gets launched.

      I don't think FreeIQ was ahead of it's time. I think he did a huge launch for it, and then he didn't devote much time to it after that. I don't see this being much different.
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      • Profile picture of the author Richard Weiler
        I have put in a lot of time effort and cash for uQast.
        I think a lot of people naturally thought that they were
        going to jump into uQast and see massive results and
        a huge launch.

        I was not surprised that uQast did not hit the desired
        numbers YET.

        When I got into uQast I knew it would be for the long
        haul. I did not think the site would not fill it's self.

        Here is the challenge. uQast is built on the premisis of
        internal traffic. Right now there is not a whole lot....

        Why? There is not loads of content just yet! Brad was
        banking on internet marketers seeing that this is truly
        ahead of its time. He thought they would identify it and
        rush in with the content and help bring the traffic with a
        generous affiliate program.

        No one seems to realize how ahead of the game uQast is
        and what problems it solves for normal everyday people.

        I know the new head of marketing for uQast and this is not
        going to go away. It is going to get BIGGER! Yes it has
        plenty of room to grow but early adopters will reap the
        benefit in the long run.

        Some big things are coming which I do not have permission
        to discuss but they will change the whole game.

        uQast is Brad's baby. He has 4 YEARS into it and will not let
        it die. You will see the momentum on this project pick up and
        come to a peak within the next six months to a year.

        This launch is for internet marketers. Once the site is filled with
        content I guarantee there will be a launch for the general public.

        Full disclosure: I am an affiliate and a friend to many closely involved
        on this project and I intend to be on the inside track when this massive launch goes lunar.
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        • Profile picture of the author Dave Rodman
          Banned
          Originally Posted by Richard Weiler View Post

          I have put in a lot of time effort and cash for uQast.
          I think a lot of people naturally thought that they were
          going to jump into uQast and see massive results and
          a huge launch.

          I was not surprised that uQast did not hit the desired
          numbers YET.

          When I got into uQast I knew it would be for the long
          haul. I did not think the site would not fill it's self.

          Here is the challenge. uQast is built on the premisis of
          internal traffic. Right now there is not a whole lot....

          Why? There is not loads of content just yet! Brad was
          banking on internet marketers seeing that this is truly
          ahead of its time. He thought they would identify it and
          rush in with the content and help bring the traffic with a
          generous affiliate program.

          No one seems to realize how ahead of the game uQast is
          and what problems it solves for normal everyday people.

          I know the new head of marketing for uQast and this is not
          going to go away. It is going to get BIGGER! Yes it has
          plenty of room to grow but early adopters will reap the
          benefit in the long run.

          Some big things are coming which I do not have permission
          to discuss but they will change the whole game.

          uQast is Brad's baby. He has 4 YEARS into it and will not let
          it die. You will see the momentum on this project pick up and
          come to a peak within the next six months to a year.

          This launch is for internet marketers. Once the site is filled with
          content I guarantee there will be a launch for the general public.

          Full disclosure: I am an affiliate and a friend to many closely involved
          on this project and I intend to be on the inside track when this massive launch goes lunar.
          Like others have said, uqast is the same as FREEIQ. It looks exactly the same. I'm sure the only reason they changed the name is because FreeIQ was owned by both Andy Jenkins and Brad so the corporation needed to be dissolved.

          When I look at it, it just looks like garbage videos to me. When Brad pitched it initially, I did see the promise, but after seeing what happened with FREEIQ, I don't have much confidence this will be different. Big marketers put their content in there THAT time, not going to happen this time though.
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          • Profile picture of the author AndyBeard
            Timothy

            Here is how the story goes... and this is as gospel as I can see and based on my involvement.

            The times here I am just copying out of the support system, off the top of my head I am not sure what time zone.


            You ordered 12/23/2010 4:00 am

            We had your W9 12/23/2010 7:00 am (needed for the aff program)

            At 12/23/2010 7:17 am you issued a ticket saying that you had ordered a name and it didn't

            You submitted a second ticket at Thu, Dec 23 2010 9:59pm

            It was responded to Thu, Dec 23 2010 10:08pm - Dan Siles asking for you to send a receipt
            You first responded to that followup Wed, Dec 29 2010 6:57am

            "Dan--
            Just wondering if you guys got this resolved.
            T Peterson"

            So you must have received that ticket as you knew Dan's name.

            And the refund was resolved....


            But that isn't the full story because there was the first ticket

            I Triaged that Thu, Dec 23 2010 12:10pm


            But before that I had also spent time with the developeres working out what might have happened, exactly how many people it affected, whether all the people it affected had been charged or not, and to decide how to handle it.

            I didn't even see the second ticket as Dan had responded to it taking it off the unresponded list.

            Something had broken in the system for a short period of time with the name lookup for availability. A few people, I believe it was just 5 had somehow been able to order names which shouldn't have been available.

            Timothy you were one of those 5

            A few others tried, but the developers had already fixed part of the problem so whilst they could see the names as being available, they weren't being allowed to purchase them. There were a lot of people asking to buy those names.

            Dan offered you some alternatives - possibly also some bonus as a way of "making it right" - there were some other better names than the one you were after still available and I pointed those out even though I had my eye on them for a good friend.


            It is quite possible you didn't receive Dan's response after 9 minutes - we have had some email issues (but where did you get his name from?) you didn't provide a telephone number with your tickets and hell... it was the start of the holidays and proactively chasing tickets that weren't responded to in a reasonable period was hard.


            Thank you for trashing our support on the Warrior Forum as it gave me the opportunity to show just how much we care to get this thing right.
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            • Profile picture of the author bfas
              Originally Posted by AndyBeard View Post


              ...

              Thank you for trashing our support on the Warrior Forum as it gave me the opportunity to show just how much we care to get this thing right.
              Andy,

              That was a good and appropriate reply, but that last bit isn't something I would expect to see from a professional concern.

              Just sayin...

              Michael
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  • Profile picture of the author AndyBeard
    I tempered things a huge amount compared to how I might respond to something like that on my blog.

    From the original

    I am now thoroughly disgusted and tired of the IM dishonesty, and am using this experience to soon launch a program, or blog to guide those people who have no clue about what to look out for when considering the misleading and often false junk that hits their inboxes.
    Effectively I was being called dishonest

    (Paul if you see this don't pull this thread because a Warrior was called out for dishonesty - ye hear )

    I haven't poured as many months/years into this as some of the team directly, but even after 2 months there is a "piece of me" in there.
    That piece is growing every 16hrs day I invest.

    Also I neglected to mention how hard it was triaging something like that with Skype offline for 24hrs.
    We fell back to using Google Chat but that is nowhere near as efficient communicating with a geographically dispersed team.

    One of these days I am going to write a full history of how/why I ended up abandoning my own startup plans and becoming involved with uQast.

    That story starts with Allen Says and his Internet Guru Blog.
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    • Profile picture of the author Marty S
      1-) Convoluted offer with multiple videos juggling different messages.
      2-) Undefined value for buyers of URL names.
      3-) Past association with failed product - FreeIQ (C'mon Brad, you could have at least got a new logo rather than simply changing the letters!)
      4-) Customer service problems as noted in this thread.
      5-) Excessive price tag, when initial offer touted "FREE".
      6-) Sign up process for FREE account leads to PAY page, and then nothing else.

      Whether Brad is an honest GURU or not is irrelevant. So is the amount of time he spent on developing this. Nobody cares about that. What buyers want to know is what's in it for me? Instead of answering that simple question, this launch so far is tantamount to a Launch-MASH-UP. I just don't know what to think about it, even though the initial concept, (free video product delivery) seemed like something IMers could use, but the more I read/watched the more confused I became.

      Confused is OK if I haven't paid anything yet, but once I do pay confused WILL translate into anger and disappointment = REFUNDS.

      To Brad Fallon and uQast team:
      I know you have made MILLIONS sir, and I have not,
      but I do okay.
      I want to be your customer but you are pointing me away.
      Please tell me EXACTLY what it is you are trying to say,
      in just a few words...
      Wow, that would HURRAY!
      Oh, and this you need...... yesterday:


      Amazon.com: So What?: How to Communicate What...Amazon.com: So What?: How to Communicate What...

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    • Profile picture of the author tgeo
      Andy--

      I apologize for not responding to this until now but I've had personal issues to take care of for the last 10 days or so.

      I kind of thought I'd get attacked for sharing how I purchased something in good faith but never did receive it. I don't think it's good business to attack one who has been burned, but I guess that's human nature. You obviously don't see it from my perspective.

      Upon reflection I regret making the post since offense was taken by some-- I did not
      direct anything toward (or "call out") you or Dan (didn't even know you were on the other end) but only at general practices that hurt marketers like myself who try to find more ways to succeed, but find increasingly more stuff out there that adds to our skepticism and negativity of new marketing tools coming out on a daily basis.

      I stand by the facts of my post, but regret the last part, I sincerely apologize to anyone that was offended.

      To answer some q's you had--
      My 1st support ticket was answered by Dan with a request from him to send him my info so he'd check on it and see what's wrong. I DID NOT REQUEST A REFUND at that time, but only requested to get the name I bought.

      I then immediately replied WITH THE REQUESTED INFO (that same day) to that email he sent, but I think that was the wrong procedure, but that is how I got his name. I hadn't heard back from him since I replied to his original response, so I sent the 2nd ticket, that's when I realized I should have originally responded by using the support system instead of replying to the email I got from him. My apologies if I didn't follow procedure.

      It was in response to my 2nd ticket when Dan notified me that "I have followed up on this ticket with billing and it appears the name was already reserved during the previous Founding Affiliate launch on December 7th... At this time, we can refund your payment....."

      Anyway Andy, I still plan to use the affiliate program eventually. I appreciate your candid response here and your concern to get things right, thanks.

      TP
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      • Profile picture of the author CashDyno
        I had looked into this today and watched the videos and thought this sounds like it could be a great chance to get in on the ground floor. Then I was sent to sign up page and seen they wanted $1200.00 for keyword url. For me to spend that kind of money on a slim chance this might work in these days would be foolish. The thing that bugs me the most is the hype in Brads video how you will be able to make soooo much money all you have to do is give him 1.2k. I looked around the site and most of the content they have is old and rehashed. It seems every new product that is launched these days there sales pitch is so misleading and never reveling what is required to join or exactly what they are trying to sell you. I have to wonder how long it will be until the ftc or some other governing body steps in to clean it up?
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  • Profile picture of the author TimothyW
    Interesting fun fact...

    domain name uqast.com -- Creation Date: 07-may-2010

    just surprised me, that's all.
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  • Profile picture of the author Richard Weiler
    Why is Ross Goldberg Promoting uQast despite Free IQ's Failure?

    Find out from him.....
    Uqast | Ross Goldberg's Immortal Internet Marketing

    Oh... and trust me he isn't the only big boy hopping on.
    There are many more on the way.....
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    • Profile picture of the author Dave Rodman
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Richard Weiler View Post

      Why is Ross Goldberg Promoting uQast despite Free IQ's Failure?

      Find out from him.....
      Uqast | Ross Goldberg's Immortal Internet Marketing

      Oh... and trust me he isn't the only big boy hopping on.
      There are many more on the way.....
      I didn't know Ross Goldberg was a "big boy".
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      • Profile picture of the author Richard Weiler
        Originally Posted by Dave Rodman View Post

        I didn't know Ross Goldberg was a "big boy".

        I knew someone was going to say that.

        How about Mike Filsaime?

        He has jumped in and there are many more....
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        • Profile picture of the author bfas
          Originally Posted by Richard Weiler View Post

          I knew someone was going to say that.

          How about Mike Filsaime?

          He has jumped in and there are many more....
          Fwiw, Mike Filsaime did the initial announcement & launch presentation of FreeIQ with Brad.

          Michael
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          • Profile picture of the author Richard Weiler
            Originally Posted by bfas View Post

            Fwiw, Mike Filsaime did the initial announcement & launch presentation of FreeIQ with Brad.

            Michael
            I am sorry I am confused .... I thought that NO ONE that supported freeIQ would ever support Brad in uQast?

            Wasn't that the main argument at the top of this thread?


            It's not Mike or Ross that is going to make uQast. It is the masses.
            Mass adoption is not going to happen over night but it is happening.

            When uqast was first launched it only had about 13,000 results. I am seeing About 574,000 results(0.07 seconds) (Pasted from google.)
            depending on what algorithm they are currently using.

            The "big boys" are moving forward. Everyone else will fall in line or be
            left behind. Many other people big and small are moving forward vanity
            URL or not.


            You don't have to give brad a dime to benefit from this platform.
            Get inside use it and then let me know how you feel.
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            • Profile picture of the author bfas
              Originally Posted by Richard Weiler View Post

              I am sorry I am confused .... I thought that NO ONE that supported freeIQ would ever support Brad in uQast?

              Wasn't that the main argument at the top of this thread?


              Yes, you are confused. Try reading it again.

              You might also want to try removing the fanboy affiliate glasses. No one who didn't have a stake in the game would look at this and not recognize it as a renewed effort at the FreeIQ idea - which I had thought was a good idea; but none-the-less flawed, and it failed. Confused launch message aside, the same things that sank FreeIQ can just as easily sink uQast, even without the questionable dollar grab.

              Michael
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              • Profile picture of the author Richard Weiler
                Originally Posted by bfas View Post

                Yes, you are confused. Try reading it again.

                You might also want to try removing the fanboy affiliate glasses. No one who didn't have a stake in the game would look at this and not recognize it as a renewed effort at the FreeIQ idea - which I had thought was a good idea; but none-the-less flawed, and it failed. Confused launch message aside, the same things that sank FreeIQ can just as easily sink uQast, even without the questionable dollar grab.

                Michael
                First off I don't make a living doing affiliate offers. I make money online helping big corporations and medium sized businesses make a transition into the 21st century. This is one of the few affiliate programs I have ever signed up for.

                I wish everyone would take off their ANTI affiliate Google's off and look at all the positives. I don't care if I ever make a dime in affiliate commissions in uQast. I don't have a store and I don't know that I ever will.

                What I am seeing is AMAZING conversion and list building opportunities.
                I plan on making my money on uQast by using the FREE side of it and helping big Corporations and small business owners benefit from it too.

                When I signed up for uQast I didn't think it was going to hit it over night.
                I knew it needed content before most people would be attracted to it. It still has a long way to go in that department but it is starting to fill out.

                I don't care about the store although at the right time for the right person it would and could be a great fit.

                How is that for an affiliate?
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  • Profile picture of the author Steadyon
    Is it just me, or does anyone else think the name uQast is crap!

    I can't even pronounce it.

    I know they are trying to create something that can be trademarked, but utter crap in my humble opinion. Too clever for it's own good. The name alone will stop this thing going mainstream.

    You heard that from me Brad. PM me if you want proper advice about the name.
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  • Profile picture of the author Richard Weiler
    I am confused as why were not spending time talking about the obvious benefits of the "FREE" parts of the platform.

    Does anyone see that it makes perfect sense that forms for list building and the ability to sell and check out right inside the video while it is playing is the future of internet marketing?

    To top it all off the video and it's form can be shared to web 2.0 sites that you do not own your self and generate sales and opt in's for your list!

    Your "fans" will be sharing your free content making you money and building your list for you.

    How does it possibly get any better than that?

    So you don't want to buy a vanity URL..... Okay.
    Why not use the AMAZING new list building and
    shopping cart features. Your Conversion rates are
    going to Sky Rocket as soon as you use this system.

    Why fight it.... It's FREE~
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  • Profile picture of the author bfas
    Can any one of those "founding members" offer an update?

    I just did a few searches and the results were worthless. "Public Domain" returned 3 'regular' results: "'domain name", "public transportation", and "the buying public", plus one 'paid' result about autoblogging - nothing about "public domain".

    A number of other searches that should have something returned 'paid' content on how to quit smoking, and numerous 2-word searches returned a small number of results, all of which had relevance to 1 of the 2 words only.

    I'd be interested to hear from any of those who bought stores or keywords, or if any members have been receiving any updates from uQast.

    Michael
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  • Profile picture of the author escapethematrix
    Any update on uqast? Did it go anywhere? What's the status today?
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