A Review Of ‘Ezine Announcer’
Foreword By The Author
As a genuine software tool it had great appeal. Many similarly promoted programs are often little more than a list of submission directories together with instructions that need following. Ezine Announcer’s main promise was that it actually takes the hard work out of the necessary actions.
Mike Alexander
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The Promise
A one or two click solution, if you like. Also, the comprehensive nature of the program had great appeal. Submitting to directories on the web by form entries is only part of the program. It also boasts quite impressive emailing capabilities, where this is necessary, including the use of templates and personalization of messages. As a database oriented program it can also be used to record everything, such as what actions were taken and when, what actions are pending etc. Compared to many comprehensive software tools it is quite inexpensive too, at less than $70 including a money back guarantee and lifetime upgrades as the product is improved and updated. Database additions and amendments are available from its home website. Last but not least, for me, is that it can be on-sold by recommendation through an affiliate (reseller) program.
The Real World
Well, those are the promises! But how does it stack up in the real world? Before I answer this, let me make one thing clear. This article only includes my first impressions and first impressions tend to be shallower than when one has enjoyed a more prolonged period of familiarization. Further reviews of this software will follow and I fully expect them to be more positive. Having said that though, first impressions do affect one’s approach to something and in the case of tasks coming under the heading ‘work’, have a bearing on whether the task is looked forward to or avoided at all costs! In the case of Ezine Announcer I have to admit to approaching each session with some degree of trepidation!
Investing Time
The main reason for this is that it’s not, in my opinion, a very intuitive piece of software. This, admittedly, is a difficult thing to quantify. However, suffice to say that I am a fairly experienced user of a large number of applications and my experience goes right back to the old days of DOS as an operating system. The main advance in the evolution of software has been in the area of intuitiveness. Intuitive software allows common procedures to produce expected outcomes, such as right-clicking an object resulting in a pop-up menu and so on. Non-intuitive software produces unexpected outcomes or no outcome at all. Ezine Announcer seems to need further development in this respect. This doesn’t imply that it’s a bad program but it definitely affects the incline of the learning curve, which is a pity if your main reason for investing in it was to save time.
Help Files
To make matters worse the Help files don’t always seem to help much. It seemed that the majority of things I tried to look up didn’t even get a mention. There’s no detailed explanation of menus either or shortcut buttons (though, to be fair, all buttons feature hover captions, which is an important intuitive feature). There are, however, a number of other assistance files available as separate downloads, such as PDF files and tutorials on video as well as a 2 Part ‘Getting Started’ course by email. These are all excellent, especially the video files, which I believe are indispensable to a newcomer to this program. Unfortunately the videos only scratch the surface when it comes to teaching the full range of what it can do which, I suppose, is a compliment to its comprehensiveness. I believe that more video tutorials are planned though, so I don’t want to sound too negative in regard to their coverage.
Specifics
There are a number of specific points I could raise as shortcomings but, since they would mean nothing except to people who have a passing knowledge of the program, there is not much point in mentioning them here. The most significant point I can report is that the creator of the software, Jason Potash, seems a very amenable character who listens enthusiastically to criticisms, takes them on board, and seems willing to put things right. Time will tell to what extent this proves the case.
Wrap-Up
All in all I think Ezine Announcer will prove a valuable addition to any ezine (or mailing list) publisher’s arsenal of marketing tools. It may even prove to be the only one necessary. I will update this report in due course to let you know how I’ve found it with the passage of time and subsequent to the free upgrades. In the meantime, should you want to try it, there is a 30-day trial version available.
© 2000 Mike Alexander, All Rights Reserved
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