February 24, 2008
Honest review of ZEzWeb
This is an honest (I hope I don't get myself in trouble) review of Keith Wellman's newest product release, a website building membership concept called ZEzWeb.
First off I must say that Keith is a very smart marketer. He has enjoyed a nice level of success with past products and will most likely do the same with this one.
So what exactly is ZEzWeb and what do I think of it?
EDIT: folks have been trying to get signed up but need an invitation code. This is not open to the public at present but Keith has said he will let my readers in. The code for now is "vip" without the quotes.
In a nutshell, ZEzWeb is a membership concept that gives users a relatively streamlined ability to build websites via a simple to use web interface.
This is designed for anyone wanting a sales site up on the web but either doesn't want to or is not able to pay other folks to create a countdown page, the sales page, and/or squeeze page they will need. It steps you through pulling together the different aspects you need for each page and organizes them in a predefined template (or you can set it up on a blank page if you wish.)
The templates they use are based upon tried and tested IM principles and I would say could be pretty effective if they are populated with the right content. If you are new to copywriting and/or building a sales site then this will be a definite help to you.
I do like the fact that you have the option of putting a countdown page and squeeze page in place before your sales page. Those are both valuable tools that require an extra step in production that many people fail to take.
Another nice feature is the ease of Pay pal integration or another processor of your choosing if you like.
They have even built in an upsell feature where you can enter your own upsell… or if you don't have one, they will provide one for you. I don't know yet (so I apologise if I am wrong) but I have to imagine that they are getting something out of providing your upsell either in the form of affiliate revenue or in plugging their own products within the upsell.
Yes, I can honestly say I would have liked to have access to a system like this when I was just getting rolling.
Now as for functionality, let me first point out that this system is in Beta so there are still some areas to be populated and some small kinks to be worked out.
The entire site operates in a slick black interface so it does look pretty cool. However, I have found it slow to load which is a little annoying. They are letting in 1000 people for free and there have been some big guys (themselves included) promoting the thing so their server is most likely getting hammered right now. I imagine they will work on and improve that aspect of the membership.
To set up a "campaign" you need to enter a domain name. I did not yet see where you would get the DNS info for a name you already own. Yes, you can enter and set up a domain you already own but there are no instructions for what DNS settings you need to use to make your site live (that may be coming too)
They do also offer the option of buying a domain name through the interface. All I can say is… pretty smart. What they are doing is taking you to a reseller account that is actually part of Godaddy. In the big picture of things I suppose I could say "Who cares" if I am setting up a site and I need a domain then it is a great added feature that they make it easy to grab one. I imagine their goal is to also create a nice residual revenue stream with that as well.
There is a decent amount to what they have created so I could go on here for quite a while.
Rather than do that, here is my summary and recommendation.
In short, great concept that will be very helpful for anyone in the new to somewhat experienced Internet Marketer levels.
Yes, there are some kinks and issues to work out but again, I think the concept has a lot of merit.
The bottom line is, they are letting 1,000 people and I came in at about half way through that.
I recommend that you grab a spot (it's free) and then see where they take this thing.
My invitation code is 498 which is not yet active. For now the code to get in is "vip" without the quotes.
I am going to check and see if their TOS will allow me to make a brief movie of the members area. If so I'll be posting it shortly.
Onward & Upward!
Sam Knoll
Filed under Blog, General Musings, Product Reviews by SamTheEagle
Comments on Honest review of ZEzWeb »
Keith Wellman @ 12:36 am
Sam,
I'm the owner of course and just wanted you to know that I read your review and agree 100% except the invite code 
Great review
You actually don't have an invite code…at least not yet.
When you do it will be that number but for now the invite code is vip (all lowercase).
I don't mind giving that to your readers and for the next few weeks the site is closed to the public but if your readers use that code they can get in.
I also don't mind you doing a video of the members area. Just know that much will be changing (for the good of course
Issues and advancements that are in the works:
- Speed. Quite simply it's slow and we know it is. We know the problem and are working on it
- Time outs. The site times out and people get logged out in the middle of their work. That is unacceptable and we just found out it was happening so we're on that right now.
- Autoresponder integration. We're making it as easy as enter 1 email address and you're done. (your autoresponder email address and we form the code from there).
- Upsells. We have 1 right now that members can use (to test the concept). What we have works so we're rolling it out to a full scale line of products people can promote as an upsell. Yes we take a 25% cut on those sales. We're considering lowering that or taking it off completely but for now we think it's a small bit to pay for having it completely done for you
- Templates. Pre-build graphical site templates for different tastes. We're also considering PLR product people can use for the sales letter (without us taking a cut).
- and more. much more.
We're working on the layout of a BIG addition that I don't want to spoil but I'll give you a hint…
Think blogger.com.
Take care and keep up the great site!
Keith Wellman
SamTheEagle @ 8:32 am
Keith,
Thank YOU for the comments.
You and I met at a seminar in Baltimore a while back. I have always been impressed with your products and have no doubt that ZezWeb will continue to grow and evolve, getting better and better all of the time.
Thank you also for the permission to shoot a video… I'll do it.
For anyone else reading this, Keith is a stand up guy who always delivers if not over-delivers. I still do recommend you take a look at his service. ZEzWeb
Lare @ 11:39 am
After the beta test is over and I have registered and built a domain or a number of them, will I be required to pay the $497 for what I've already done? OR will it continue to be free since I entered durig the beta phase?
SamTheEagle @ 12:29 pm
Hi Lare,
I cannot say for certain but I would be incredibly surprised to see that happen.
Keith is a very astute marketer and at present the site has copy in multiple places talking about the fact the service is free and why it is so. If they were to take the site out of Beta and announce that all users who entered as free "beta testers" now have to pay to keep using I believe they would experience some huge backlash.
I simply don't see that happening. The bottom line is… to do that would be a huge marketing misstep.
Sam
Lare @ 8:11 am
Thanks Sam.
Edwin Ang @ 9:41 pm
Hi Keith,
I have been trying to send you a note. Could you give me your email address?
Thanks,
Edwin
Lare @ 7:58 am
I'm curious. There are only a few (maybe 10) website templates. I understand that you can make your own and simply follow the pattern provided but won't the large number of people doing this quickly saturate the SE's with virtually the same thing? Everyone will be doing the same thing, similar to a few of the other things I've seen on the
net the past few years. Soon there will be no value in what's offered when this happens.
SamTheEagle @ 8:23 am
Lare,
Very good point and question.
I think one aspect or what Keith is offering one must keep in mind is that the pages created with ZEzWeb are not necessarily designed or intended for SEO purposes.
There is no reason you can't build SEO friendly pages but you are right, that if all you do is use the templates as they are (which is what most people will do) then before long they will start to look too used to people.
Now, when considering SEO… take into account that you've got to put some real content on any squeeze page for the SE's to even think twice about it. As for any other pages you create with ZEzWeb, they should have unique content on them anyways (yes, especially the sales pages!). If the overall layout, flow and design of those pages are like many others it still should not matter, provided the content is unique.
The other aspect of this I will urge anyone to consider is that ZEzWeb should be looked at as a fantastic time saver and a way to model your materials after proven, successful, battle tested pages, but also as a starting point from which one can and should continue to work.
Worry not Lare. As long as you are doing what you do to 100% and not just doing the quick basics you should be absolutely fine.
Sam Knoll