Ok ... this is long and a bit of a ramble so grab a coffee. Even though this is about internet marketing, I think it's more general chat because for some reason my post turned into a book. Here goes!

Alright, so confession time.

I was this close to buying AmpCast AI from Chris Munch and Jay Cruiz.

Even typing that sentence makes me feel like I need to check my vital signs.

There's been quite a bit of noise in my echo chamber and it nearly got me ...

I don’t know what it is about those two, but they’ve got that perfect “trust me bro” energy that makes you suspicious and curious at the same time. Like watching someone sell NFTs out of a Lamborghini.

Anyway, I was watching one of their launch videos. You know the type. Inspirational music, lots of words like “automation” and “authority,” some guy walking through a WeWork with an iPad. And I thought… what if this actually works?

According to the pitch, you give AmpCast one idea and it cranks out everything. Blog post, YouTube script, podcast audio, press release, infographic, social posts, the works. Then it magically uploads everything to 300+ platforms including Google News, YouTube, Spotify, LinkedIn, and probably the far side of the moon.

For about five glorious minutes, I was like, yeah this could be my secret weapon.
No more burning out writing 12 pieces of content a week. Just feed it ideas and boom, omnipresence.

Then reality kicked in.

I started Googling “AmpCast review” and it was the same story everywhere. Every single “review” was written by someone trying to sell it. You can spot them a mile away. “Is AmpCast legit or a scam? Let’s find out…” followed by 20 paragraphs of hype and an affiliate link at the end.

No screenshots. No real examples. No numbers. Just shiny words and testimonials from people with stock-photo hair and an AI grin 😉

Then I found out you can’t even see the price unless you book a call. Which usually means you’re about to be told it’s “a small investment of only $3,000 a month to change your life.” ... in fact I did see a price of $4.5k somewhere.

That was my first nope.

My second was when I saw that one of their “features” is publishing your podcast to Spotify.
Except apparently, you don’t actually get your own feed. They just drop your clip inside some random “Business Buzz Network” show where you’re like the third voice in a five-minute segment.
That’s not authority. That’s audio background radiation.

To be fair, I don’t think it’s a total scam. It’s basically their old AmpiFire thing with AI sprinkled on top. That did have some legitimate uses for PR and backlinks. The problem is the hype. It’s always “mass exposure,” “instant authority,” “massive traffic in 72 hours.” All the usual internet marketing fairy dust.

I have red flags popping up in places I didn't know existed when I hear Chris and Jay (especially Jay ... lol) banging on.

And look, maybe I’m just jaded (no pun intended!). I’ve bought my fair share of “content automation” tools that promised to change everything and ended up being glorified RSS feeds with a fancy dashboard.

So instead of paying a few grand a month for AmpCast, I might try to cobble together my own system with ChatGPT, Canva and CapCut for visuals.

Maybe a VA to repurpose and post across Medium, YouTube, Pinterest if I have the budget.
It won’t hit 300 platforms, but might get some traction. Could even vibe code a GPT to do some distro ... I don't know.

Anyway, I'm glad I came to my senses.

I didn’t buy it. I closed the tab. Then reopened it two hours later, watched another demo, closed it again, stared into the void, and made coffee.

If anyone here’s actually used AmpCast or their older AmpiFire thing, please tell me what it’s really like. Do the “placements” actually matter? Or is it just vanity PR?

Because if it turns out it genuinely works, I’ll happily eat my words.
But for now, my credit card’s staying in its wallet. It's quite happy there.

And yes, I know I have trust issues. But after ten years online, I’d say they’re well-earned.

</rant over>