Some animation software is best suited to building games while others are suited to creating cartoons. So, keep in mind what you’re most likely to use the software for and you’ll have an easier time choosing between all the different features and tools.

Today we’ll look at nine of the best animation software options available.

What makes great animation software?

Here are some of the essential features top-quality animation software should have. Keep these in mind as you make your decision.

Preloaded templates: Libraries of characters, templates, backgrounds, and graphics speed up the creation process and make it easier if you’re new to animation.

Drawing tools: Paintbrushes and blending tools give life to your animation creations and help make them more convincing and interesting to the viewer. Options to customize or import brushes are helpful if you’re looking to create ultra-specific designs.

Audio editing: Platforms that enable you to edit audio directly in the software instead of having to import or export it make life easier.

Import and export features: You’ll likely need to import files in a specific format and then export animations in a different format depending on how you’re saving and sharing them.

Device support: Some software options have mobile apps for on-the-go editing while others are limited to desktop use.

9 best animation software options

1. Adobe Animate [Best for beginners]

If you’re familiar with other Adobe products, you’ll find it easy to navigate the software’s user-friendly and clearly laid out interface.

Use Adobe Animate to create interactive animations for games, TV shows, and the web.

Adobe Fresco live brushes help you draw more expressive characters that blink, talk and walk with frame-by-frame animation.

The asset panel provides premade characters, backgrounds, audio rigs, and motion assets to help you work faster. The software’s hands-on tutorial is perfect if you’re just starting out as it takes you through the basics of putting together your first animation.

You can easily publish on social media platforms like YouTube and Twitter, making it simple for you to share your animations with followers. It’s also easy to reach audiences on desktop, mobile, and TV by exporting animations to different platforms including HTML5 Canvas, Flash/Adobe AIR, WebGL as well as customized platforms like SVG.

Keep in mind that there’s no mobile software download available, which is a downside if you like to work on your projects on the go.

Pricing: The monthly plan is $31.49.

2. Vidtoon [Best for small businesses]

You don’t have to be a skilled animator to create memorable explainer videos for your business. If you prioritize speed and simplicity over having all the bells and whistles, you might enjoy Vidtoon.

It’s a lightweight drag-and-drop animation tool that’s easy to learn and use–even for first-time cartoonists.

You can upload your own characters or art to ensure consistency across your brand, making Vitoon ideal for creating explainer videos. Plus, you can select from over 40 premade characters, 200 royalty-free music tracks, and 50 cartoon backgrounds. The characters and backgrounds come in various themes, allowing you to find relevant animations for your specific field and expertise.

If you don’t find characters you like, there is a marketplace within Vidtoon to shop for additional characters and backgrounds.

The best part is, you don’t have to pay monthly subscriptions to access Vidtoon. There are also no added fees for downloading your animations. (All of them come in full HD, by the way.)  Vidtoon is currently offering a lifetime deal on AppSumo.

Pricing: Vidtoon is $67/month. But for a limited time, you can get it on AppSumo at $49 for lifetime access.

3. Crello [Best for social media graphics]

If your priority is creating motion graphics for eye-catching social media posts and stories, Crello could be the best animation software for you.

Crello comes with an extensive library of 8,000+ pre-designed animations, objects, and backgrounds to help you create shareable animations quickly. It’s best suited to creating moving ads, logos, and Facebook banners.

The platform is beginner-friendly—suitable for someone with no design or coding skills. As a plus, it’s simple to resize and trim videos within the platform so you don’t need to worry about any additional downloads and extra steps.

Animation effects like zoom-in, fly-in, and fade-in are easy to apply to graphics. Simply select the section you want to animate and choose the animation effect from a pop-up menu.

Given its social media-heavy focus, Crello is best for freelancers, solopreneurs, and marketers looking to add some movement to their social media posts.

Pricing: The Starter plan is free and allows up to 5 design downloads each month. The Pro plan is $7.99/month and allows unlimited project and royalty-free file downloads.

4. Unity [Best for 3D and 2D games]

Animation software Unity is designed to help game creators quickly prototype and scale games for release.

A highly scriptable pipeline and Shader Graph make it easy to design any 2D or 3D animation. Real-time rendering gives you quicker feedback throughout development––any changes made to the design will show up immediately in the production. You can also render 4K resolution in milliseconds.

The Editor makes it easy to see how the game will look to players. “View mode” and “Game mode” enable you to inspect and analyze game objects while running the game and fixing bug issues.

New game developers can take advantage of free resources, forums, documentation, and tutorials to help make the most of the platform.

Unity’s editing and sequencing tools make it easy for creators to bring animations to life without coding. Control timing, angles, movements, and cues in real-time.

As a cross-platform Unity is compatible with most devices––you can run it on Windows, Mac, Android, IOS, and Linux.

Pricing: Student and Personal plans are free. Plus and Pro plans come with more features like analytics and are $399/seat/year and $1800/seat/year.

5. Powtoon [User-friendly animation creation]

Visual communication platform Powtoon comes with a powerful and free animation maker as part of a broad toolset including presentations, videos, and whiteboard doodling.

It’s easy to get started as Powtoon comes with a free library of hundreds of templates to kickstart your projects. Choose from pre-created characters, animations, and footage. You can also easily upload your own images and videos and customize them with just a few clicks.

If you need to move seamlessly between platforms, there are integrations with Canva, Adobe, HubSpot, and Powerpoint.

Once complete, it’s easy to share your animation directly to your social media platforms and website.

Pricing: A Free plan enables you to export up to three minutes of video while a Pro plan allows up to 10 minutes and Pro+ up to 30 minutes.

6. Autodesk Maya [Best for 3D animations]

Autodesk Maya is a 3D animation, modeling, rendering, and simulation software that’s best known for its ability to create immersive worlds, convincing characters, and impressive special effects.

The Bifrost visual programming environment is great for creating highly accurate and detailed environments. Prebuilt graphs make it easy to create visually impressive effects like snow and dust storms.

Maya stands out for its top-quality 3D modeling features. Polygon modeling enables you to create 3D models using geometry based on vertices, edges, and faces. NURBs modeling allows you to build 3D models from geometric primitives, and drawn curves.

Another cool feature is the Ghosting Editor which enables you to see the exact movement and position of animated objects over time.

Rigging, skinning, and retargeting help you accurately create, bind, and transfer characters.

Advanced creators can add scripts and plugins to customize the experience to their unique needs.

Pricing: A Standard plan enables single-user access and is $215/month.

7. Blender [Best for professional animators]

Blender is a free and open-source 3D animation software. Community-led, Blender has hundreds of global contributors like scientists, artists, and animators who help update the software by creating new plug-ins and tools.

Advanced rigging tools include envelope, skeleton, and automatic skinning. There’s also easy weight painting, mirror functionality, and bone layers for organization.

The built-in brush selection includes Crease, Clay Strips, Pinch, Smooth, Mask, Grab to help make animations ultra life-like. Advanced animators can also customize brushes to match their unique design requirements.

Shape keys enable you to tweak facial expressions, model muscle parts and refine skeletal rigs. If you’re looking for customizable software that adapts to meet your unique project needs, Blender is a solid choice.

Pricing: Free

8. Cinema 4D [High-quality motion graphics]

Cinema 4D is a 3D animation, modeling, simulation, and rendering software.

Keyframing makes it simple and intuitive to animate objects––simply click the circle next to any object and convert it into a lifelike animation. The Powerslider allows you to quickly define keyframes for the current state at any frame and change existing keyframes without leaving the default layout.

A handy timeline window gives you greater control with tracks for every animatable parameter and options like layers to organize and control the visibility of objects, tracks, and keyframes.

Use Cinema 4D’s effectors, tags, and expressions to animate without keyframes. Choose to use presets to help you get started or create your own expressions in the node-based Xpressor editor or via Python programming.

Cinema 4D’s huge range of tools, features, as well as presets make it ideal for seasoned pros and beginners who are still learning.

Pricing: Plans start at $59.91/month.

9. Toon Boom Harmony [Best for cartoon animation]

Popular with cartoon creators, Toon Boom Harmony is behind some of our favorite TV animation shows including Spongebob Squarepants, The Simpsons, and Rick and Morty.

The top-tier onion skinning feature enables you to see the previous drawing underneath the next sketch to help create seamless movements and transitions.

Advanced lighting and shading tools allow you to create depth, volume while the Weighted-Deform Node creates the smoothest texture deformation and ultimately more realistic animations.

Multiple import and export features make it simple to upload your own paper drawings or digital images as more than 13 different file types.

You’ll need to feel comfortable starting from scratch though––currently, Toon Boom Harmony doesn’t come with any pre-designed characters.

Pricing: An Essentials plan is $25/month, an Advanced plan is $63/month and a Premium plan is $115/month.

AppSumo’s verdict: best animation software

Whether you’re looking to create 3D gaming environments, social media graphics, or cartoons, there’s a top-quality animation software option on this list for you.

Think about which features are most important to you and how you’re most likely to use animation software. It can be helpful to write a quick list of your top priorities, that way it’ll be easier to decide which animation software is best for you.

While you’re testing out animation software, make sure to check out the AppSumo Store for all the latest deals we’re running.

For some businesses, transitioning to lean methodology is the right approach. Going lean can foster better team collaboration, improve customer relationships, and help businesses continually improve.

But is this framework right for you? Let’s find out.

Here’s why small businesses should consider adopting lean methodology and how to get started.

• What is lean methodology?
• What are the benefits of lean methodology?
• 5 tips for implementing lean methodology

What is lean methodology?

Lean methodology is a way of enhancing the people, resources, and work an organization puts in to generate value for customers.

The term “lean methodology” comes from the manufacturing world—specifically from the Toyota Production system in Japan. Now it’s filtered into businesses and workplaces across different industries.

This methodology has become particularly popular in software and product development. With multiple rounds of development and the need to iterate or test product features, lean methodology is a solid choice for this field.

There are five core principles of lean methodology. Understanding these core principles will help you identify whether lean methodology is a fit for your business.

1. Find value. Identify the team’s work value. Remember that in lean, value is determined by anything your customer is willing to pay for. It’s important to differentiate between value-adding and waste-adding activities. Consider the end goal of your efforts and what the customer gets out of it.
2. Map your value stream. Visualize each step of the end product’s journey to the customer. Map it out on a kanban board like Focus Commit or a similar visual workflow so your team and customers can check in on its progress when they need it.
3. Create flow. Review how tasks move through your workflow. Identify and eliminate any bottlenecks to ensure continuous progress.
4. Establish pull. Start new work only when there’s demand and your team has the availability to complete it.
5. Seek constant improvement. Aim to consistently improve every process in your team. You can do this by prioritizing activities that generate the highest value for customers while removing activities that don’t (i.e., waste).

What are the benefits of lean methodology?

Following lean methodology is all about reducing waste and maximizing team efficiency to deliver consistent customer value. When implemented correctly, lean helps teams refine their processes and continuously improve their efficiency and effectiveness.

1. Lower costs and budget surprises

Reducing waste means saving money. Overhiring, overproducing, and bottlenecks are all costly and wasteful. This waste can be reduced through improved management of systems and processes. When businesses think about the big picture of their resources and how they’re using them, they’re able to contract the right number of employees, materials, and working hours at any time.

Implementing lean methodology means boosting efficiency––this increases any business’s bottom line. By consistently tracking processes, tasks, and budgets, you can eliminate costs that don’t add value.

2. Fewer bottlenecks

Bottlenecks or processes that don’t match your workflow can throw off your project and make it hard to hit deadlines. Using lean, tasks aren’t randomly assigned to team members. Instead, team members collaborate to make sure work is evenly distributed and deadlines are realistic.

Teams discuss possible bottlenecks in advance so they can be sorted out before they become a drag on resources and delay work. Since team capacity and work-in-progress items are consistently projected, reviewed, and modified with lean, businesses can forecast bottlenecks in advance.

3. Better team engagement

Disengaged team members can drag down the overall productivity and profitability of any organization. Lean methodology puts teams at the center of product development. Under lean, employees stay in consistent contact with managers about how their tasks are going and how the process could improve.

As teams get more involved in the process, they become more actively engaged––and more likely to participate, share and implement board feedback, and care about their work.

4. Stronger customer relationships

Lean methodology prioritizes customer needs. Progress in lean is evaluated according to the value delivered to the customer as opposed to the number of tasks ticked off.

Every project starts and ends with the customer. Frequent feedback loops improve communication between customers and businesses. Instead of one feedback session at the end of the project, businesses collect feedback throughout the product development process. That means the final product should match exactly what the customer needs. On top of that, all this customer communication helps build stronger relationships.

5. Continuous improvement mindset

Lean encourages continuous process refinement and improvement mindset. It’s not about setting a process and forgetting about it. Even for ultra-efficient and successful businesses, there’s always room to improve and deliver more value to the customer.

This helps team members strive for improvement, too. Teams start to expect regular feedback from managers and leaders. With every iteration and feedback round, the team continues to expand its skill set and improve work processes.

5 tips for implementing lean methodology in small businesses

Embracing lean methodology can be a big change for most businesses. For that reason, it’s best to think carefully about whether this framework is right for your team and business. If you’re ultimately ready to give lean methodology a try, follow some of these core tips for a smoother transition.

1. Start slowly

Transitioning to lean methodology will require your team to adapt to new processes and workflows. Rather than force a sudden change that’s hard to adapt to, it’s best to start slowly. Start by incorporating one or two elements of lean methodology. For example, these could be more frequent feedback sessions with team members and using a kanban board to better track task and workflow progress.

As your team adapts to these changes, ask for their feedback and evaluate any sticking points. The more your team gets comfortable with these changes, the more lean methodology workflows and processes you can start to add.

2. Get organizational buy-in

For lean methodology to work across your business and not just in one small team, you need to get organizational buy-in. That means getting team leaders and managers on board with new workflows and processes. Those at the top of your business have the chance to positively influence other team members and encourage their adaption of new lean processes.

Before attempting to get everyone else on board, make sure senior members of your team are excited about going lean.

3. Create cross-functional teams

Lean methodology shouldn’t be confined to one team in your business—it’s important to develop cross-functional teams. For instance, this could look like engineers contributing to product development projects or getting involved in content marketing.

Having some team overlap can help build an understanding of how everyone fits into the puzzle. Plus, lean methodology won’t end up designated to one sector of the business.

4. Monitor performance

As you adopt lean methodology across your business for different teams, projects, and tasks, be sure to check in regularly on your team’s performance. Are they reaching projected milestones? Hitting deadlines? Do they seem more motivated or less engaged?

Consistently evaluating progress and performance across your business will help you see whether lean methodology is helping or hindering your team. If you find performance is slowing, identify the blockers and focus on enhancing your processes.

5. Focus on long-term improvement

Implementing lean methodology shouldn’t be an overnight project. To get it right and make it easier for your team to adapt, focus on implementing small continuous changes gradually. Think of lean methodology as a long-term investment––not a short-term one-and-done change.

It may take a few projects before you find the right workflows and processes for your team. That’s why it’s a good idea to experiment with a few short pilot projects before you commit to a full-on transformation.

Implement lean methodology today

Lean methodology can be an effective way to boost productivity, engagement, and project success while lowering costs and reducing waste. But it’s not for every business. This framework requires plenty of collaboration, feedback rounds, and monitoring to get right.

If you decide to give lean methodology a try in your business, remember to take it slow and ease both your team and customers into the process. Then if all goes well, consider implementing it across your business in the long term.

Need some apps to help you implement lean methodology? Check out AppSumo today for some of the best lifetime deals available!

The truth is, it depends. Freelancers, solopreneurs, and bloggers will all have different priorities. For some users, templates are essential, while others want advanced reporting and A/B testing.

Before you commit to a subscription, consider some ConvertKit alternatives. That way, you’ll find the best email newsletter software suited to your marketing goals.

First, let’s dig into ConvertKit and learn what makes it so popular.

What are ConvertKit’s features?

Built to meet founder Nathan Barry’s need to sell courses and books to his blogging audience, ConvertKit is geared toward helping creators build their audience and monetize their content. Currently, over 428,000 creators use the platform, making it one of the most popular choices available.

ConvertKit’s key features:

• Build automated email funnels. Send targeted content to the right people at the right time. Whether you’re welcoming new subscribers, sending a daily podcast, or offering special promotions, use smart filters to manage who receives your content and when.
• Create landing pages. Include a landing page or a sign-up page on your website to help grow your subscriber list.
• Advanced segmentation. Instead of having to create a new subscriber list for every announcement or product launch, create customizable segments for users based on tags, locations, demographics, and interests.
• Free courses. If you want to sharpen your email marketing skills, take free ConvertKit courses designed to help you build profitable newsletters.

Why you may want a ConvertKit alternative

Although it’s a trusted and popular email newsletter platform, there are limitations to using ConvertKit.

• Easy to lose content. Some content doesn’t autosave, making it easy to lose content if you don’t hit Save after completing each section.
• Not always easy to use. The lack of intuitive drag-and-drop functions can make the platform seem harder to use.

Compared to other newsletter platforms on this list, ConvertKit is also more pricey. To get access to integrations and automated email sequences, creators need to pay a minimum of $15/month.

Depending on your newsletter goals, ConvertKit could be a great choice. But at the same time, if you’re a founder, entrepreneur, or artist, you might need more specific features to help you reach your goals.

So without further ado, let’s jump in. Here are our top 10 ConvertKit alternatives to jumpstart your email marketing campaigns.

10 best ConvertKit alternatives in 2023

Here are 10 of the best ConvertKit alternatives to help you build successful email marketing campaigns.

1. SendFox [Best for lifetime plans]

Developed by AppSumo, SendFox is the best ConvertKit alternative (OK, we might be a bit biased).

It’s got a simple user interface so you can focus on writing without getting distracted by potentially unnecessary features.

Plus, SendFox is a great choice for online creators who might not already have a website. Let’s say you’re a vlogger or podcaster exclusively on YouTube or Instagram. With SendFox, you can create a landing page entirely personalized to you.

SendFox comes with two payment plans:

• Free: $0 for up to 1,000 subscribers
• Lifetime plan: $49 for up to 5,000 subscribers (+$49 for every additional 5,000 subscribers)

For users looking for more features to optimize their campaign, there’s an add-on Empire plan.

2. GetResponse [Best for optimizing conversions]

GetResponse is a great ConvertKit alternative for users looking to boost their conversions. Different from other software on this list, GetResponse prioritizes a combination of automation and scheduling features to help your email marketing campaigns run more smoothly.

Email autoresponders let you send messages to subscribers automatically based on time or a specific event. There’s also a solid advertising functionality that lets you perform split testing.

Unlike ConvertKit, GetResponse has a “website builder” option that lets you create a website without any coding.

Creating emails with this tool is super easy because it has a library of readymade templates, free photos, and GIFs to make the process seamless.

GetResponse comes with four payment plans:

• Free: $0 per month for up to 500 contacts
• Email Marketing: $15.58 per month for up to 1000 contacts
• Marketing Automation: $48.38 for up to 1000 contacts
• Ecommerce Marketing: $97.58 for up to 1000 contacts

 The price then increases according to the number of contacts on your list.

3. Mailchimp [Best for new users]

Mailchimp is probably the most well-known email marketing platform on this list. It’s simple to get started, intuitive to use, and has comprehensive features.

With a large template library, Mailchimp is ideal for people new to building email newsletters. The quick drag-and-drop editor also makes it easy to create visually pleasing emails. Unlike ConvertKit, Mailchimp’s autosave means you won’t lose any of your content when you step away from your screen.

With the live preview option, you can see how your campaign will look on your audience’s devices.

Robust reporting lets you view data on clicks, opens, unsubscribes, and purchases, plus integrate your Mailchimp reports with your social media and Google Analytics.

Mailchimp comes with four payment plans:

• Free: $0/month
• Essentials: $11/month
• Standard: $17/month
• Premium: $299/month

These prices are for up to 2000 contacts; the price scales up according to the number of contacts on your list.

4. Campaign Monitor [Best for promotional emails]

Campaign Monitor is a great option for time-pressed businesses that need to send out lots of visually pleasing, branded emails.

There’s an extensive library of customizable templates and fonts to help you send emails to customers and followers. The drag-and-drop email editor makes it straightforward to edit campaigns and maintain consistency across your brand.

Plus, there’s an auto-email responder that lets you send automated emails to your audience if they perform certain actions, like buying a product or downloading an ebook.

There’s also a new SMS feature, so you can implement SMS marketing for more results.

Campaign Monitor comes with three payment plans:

• Basic: $29/month
• Unlimited: $59/month
• Premier: $149/month

These prices are for up to 2000 contacts; the price scales up according to the number of contacts on your list. There’s also a free trial.

5. Sendinblue [Best all-in-one marketing tool suite]

Instead of exclusively sticking to email marketing software, Sendinblue aims to bring all your digital marketing tools into one platform.

Unlike ConvertKit, Sendinblue features tools to help you create Facebook ads as well as manage SMS campaigns. You can even use the platform to set up a chatbot on your website.

There are also tools to help you build signup forms and landing pages. Like other newsletter platforms on this list, there’s an intuitive drag-and-drop editor.

The pricing structure lets marketers send more emails for less money. Sendinblue is much friendlier to growing subscriber lists than ConvertKit, which can get expensive for businesses sending lots of emails each month.

Sendinblue comes with four payment plans:

• Free: $0/month
• Lite: $25/month
• Premium: $65/month
• Enterprise: Contact for details

These prices are for unlimited contacts; the price scales up according to the number of emails you send each month.

6. Drip [Best for ecommerce stores]

Drip is a data-driven email marketing platform that aims to boost conversions. Tie it into your CRM or online store and Drip gathers information to inform your upcoming campaigns. The software easily integrates with Shopify, Magento, and WooCommerce.

Just like the name suggests, Drip is designed with drip email campaigns in mind, using collected customer data to push leads down the sales funnel.

Using the Facebook Lead ad feature, you can add potential customers to your email list when they input their details through your ads. The Facebook custom audience feature lets you share unique ads with your customers based on their interaction with your brand, such as if they bought a product.

Another standout feature is Drip’s ability to educate users about their customers.  By clicking on each customer profile, you can learn about their experience with your brand, how they interact with your business, and which emails they’ve opened. Discovering patterns of behavior among your customers can help you identify what you’re doing right and where to improve.

Drip comes with scalable pricing plans:

• $39/month includes up to 2500 contacts and unlimited emails

There’s also a free 14-day trial that lets you test out all of Drip’s features.

7. ActiveCampaign [Best for integrations]

Another ConvertKit alternative that’s geared toward drip campaigns is ActiveCampaign.  Great for building automated sales funnels, ActiveCampaign integrates with your CRM, segments audiences, and helps you nurture leads.

It has a simple user interface with a drag-and-drop editor that makes customization a breeze. It also has 125+ email design templates, which means you might never have to touch HTML again (unless you want to).

ActiveCampaign also connects with 880+ apps, so it’s easy integrate into your tech stack.

ActiveCampaign comes with four payment plans:

• Lite: $61/month
• Plus: $125/month
• Professional: $187/month
• Enterprise: Contact for details

These plans are for up to 2,500 contacts; they then scale up according to your subscriber list. There’s also a 14-day free trial for you to test out the platform’s features.

8. MailerLite [Best for tight budgets]

With 700,000+ users and 1 billion emails sent per month, MailerLite is a popular ConvertKit alternative.

One reason why it’s so loved is because of its focus on relationship building and accessible plans.

Just like many other email service providers on this list, MailerLite has a set of easily customizable templates with a drag-and-drop editor.

There’s also a dashboard for analyzing your email performance such as CTR, new subscribers, and unsubscribers.

One of the most convincing reasons to choose MailerLite over other email newsletter apps is because of its generous payment plans.

MailerLite comes with four payment plans:

• Free: $0/month for up to 12,000 emails
• Growing Business: $10/month for unlimited emails
• Advanced: $21/month for unlimited emails
• Enterprise: Contact for details

Each of these plans allows for up to 1,000 subscribers. Plans then scale up according to the number of subscribers.

9. AWeber [Best for small businesses]

AWeber is a top ConvertKit alternative for small businesses and solopreneurs. While the editing tools are simple, the platform includes 700+ email design templates.

One cool feature is the Smart Designer Tool, which automatically creates unique templates based on the look of your website. There’s also a gallery of 6,000+ photos, so you don’t have to spend time sourcing original pictures in order to create distinct emails.

You can also send out personalized automated emails after your audience makes specific actions, such as signing up.

AWeber comes with two payment plans:

• Free: $0/month for up to 3,000 email sends
• Pro: $29.99/month for unlimited email sends

The Pro plan allows up to 2,500 subscribers for the above plan; it then scales up according to the number of subscribers.

10. Substack [Best for writers]

If you want to earn money for your writing, then Substack could be the right newsletter platform for you. The platform lets bloggers and writers charge a subscription fee for their newsletters. It’s become a popular way for writers to earn money without relying on an intermediary publisher.

Creators receive a unique website that ends with “substack.com,” to which audiences can subscribe. You’ll get a profile page and a bio to let your audience put an identity to your newsletters.

Substack pricing:

Substack is free to start using. Once your subscribers start paying for your exclusive content, Substack takes 10%.

ConvertKit alternatives FAQ

Which is better: AWeber or ConvertKit?

ConvertKit offers more advanced features for email marketing, but AWeber is a great email marketing platform for users starting email marketing campaigns.

Which is better: Mailchimp or ConvertKit?

Mailchimp has a better free plan for up to 2,000 subscribers, while ConvertKit’s free plan only allows for up to 1,000 subscribers. ConvertKit has more features for creators, while Mailchimp is best for businesses and solopreneurs.

Should I use ConvertKit?

Use ConvertKit if you’re a creator ready to build and monetize your audience. If you need a more affordable or simpler email newsletter tool, choose a ConvertKit alternative like SendFox.

Which ConvertKit alternative is best in 2023?

The right ConvertKit alternative for you will depend on your unique email marketing needs and goals. Think about which features and tools are most important to your campaigns. Also, think about how much time you want to spend learning a new platform.

If you’re a creator who wants to build your audience, ConvertKit is still a solid all-around option. But if you manage an ecommerce store, Drip or ActiveCampaign may be better.

Don’t have a subscriber list or a website? Use SendFox to build an engaged subscriber list with personalized landing pages. Grab the SendFox lifetime deal on AppSumo for $49 today.

With over 600K customers, Constant Contact is one of the most popular email service providers out there. But that doesn’t mean it’s the right choice for everyone.

Are you in the market for a dynamo email newsletter platform to take your email marketing campaigns to the next level? We’ve got you covered.

Here are ten of the best Constant Contact alternatives in 2023.

An overview of Constant Contact

Constant Contact is a simple email newsletter tool. It’s known for having intuitive features and an easy-to-use design. The tool is a favorite with small business owners launching early campaigns.

Here are some of Constant Contact’s key features:

• Website builder: Create a simple website or landing page from scratch in a few minutes
• Logo maker: Build a visual identity for your brand
• Templates: Choose from a huge library of email templates
• Analytics: Access powerful analytics tools to see everything from who your latest subscriber is to who’s opening your emails and what products they’re buying
• Automated emails: Automatically send emails to your customers after they perform certain actions

Constant Contact is one of the best email software providers. But the features and price point might not be a fit for everyone. Some users may prefer more complex features or may want a lower price point.

If you’re looking for alternatives to Constant Contact, don’t sweat it—we’ve got your back.

Why you may want a Constant Contact alternative

Despite the positives of choosing Constant Contact, there are also a few negatives that may encourage people to choose another platform.

Some of these cons include:

• Price: While it has a free trial, Constant Contact, unlike many of its counterparts, does not offer a free plan
• Limited features: The platform may not include enough tools for experienced email marketers
• Dated Templates: Available templates don’t always look sleek or professional

If these cons get in the way of your goals, you may want to consider another option.

10 best Constant Contact alternatives in 2023

Before you commit to paying for a subscription, check out these Constant Contact alternatives: one of them might have all the features you need to level up your email marketing campaigns.

1. MailChimp [Best for new users]

If you search for the best email newsletter platforms, Mailchimp is usually one of the first options that pops up. It’s easy to get started, simple to use, and has plenty of top-tier features to help get your email campaigns in front of more people.

While Mailchimp has around 100 templates (fewer than Constant Contact), they’re easier to customize to your brand. The intuitive drag-and-drop editor makes it simple to design something on brand and aesthetically pleasing in a matter of minutes.

Mailchimp’s automation features are much stronger than Constant Contact’s. Users can automate emails to adapt to the customer journey, create auto-responders, and set up single-step automation. The tool will also decide on the best time to send emails according to your audience. For comparison, Constant Contact has basic automation features that let you automate date-based emails like anniversaries and birthdays.

To nail your subject line every time and improve CTR, Mailchimp has launched a feature called Subject Line Helper. This suggests the most suitable headings for your newsletters and email campaigns.

Mailchimp comes with four payment plans:

• Free: $0/month
• Essentials: $11/month
• Standard: $17/month
• Premium: $299/month

These plans allow a maximum of 2000 contacts; the price scales up in line with the number of subscribers.

2. SendFox

SendFox is a solid all-around email marketing software that won’t use up your marketing budget. The platform makes it easy to create landing pages and forms to collect lead contact information––no design or coding skills needed.

Plus, you can build one-off campaigns and automation sequences from pre-designed email templates.

For days when you’re feeling less creative, the Smart Campaigns tool can repurpose existing content from social accounts, blogs, and podcasts into new emails. It’s also simple to set up behavior-triggered sequences that send emails after recipients take specific actions, like filling in a customer feedback form.

SendFox integrates with popular apps like Integrately, WordPress, and Zapier. Marketers can also promote referral programs in email footers and automatically send out prizes to subscribers for helping you out.

One of the best parts of SendFox is its pricing model. Since it’s a lifetime deal, you can just pay once instead of a costly monthly subscription.

SendFox comes with five licensing tiers:

• Tier 1: $49 – 5,000 subscribers
• Tier 2: $98 – 10,000 subscribers
• Tier 3: $147 – 15,000 subscribers
• Tier 4: $196 – 20,000 subscribers
• Tier 5: $245 – 25,000 subscribers

3. Mailerlite [Best for accurate delivery]

Mailerlite is another newsletter platform that targets small businesses. It’s a simple email marketing tool and offers great value for your money.

Similar to Constant Contact, Mailerlite has a website builder and some automations. Another one of the most helpful features is the platform’s email verification tool, which confirms whether your newsletters get delivered to the email addresses on your list. It also vets every email address added to your list so you’re only sending emails to safe addresses.

The platform also has a specialist subsidiary software that sends transactional emails, such as invoices and order confirmations when customers make an online purchase.

Mailerlite comes with four payment plans:

• Free: $0/month for up to 12,000 emails
• Growing Business: $9/month for unlimited emails
• Advanced: $19/month for unlimited emails
• Enterprise: Custom prices

These plans allow a maximum of 1000 contacts; the price scales up in line with the number of subscribers.

4. Sendinblue [Best for SMS marketing]

Not just an email newsletter tool, Sendinblue gathers all your digital marketing tools into one central tool suite. For example, you can manage SMS campaigns and create Facebook ads in Sendinblue, too.

There’s also a feature to help you build landing pages and sign-up forms to make growing your email list easier. Like other email tools on this list, it has an easy to use drag-and-drop email builder to help you create unique custom-built emails.

Sendinblue has robust segmentation features, so you can painlessly send emails based on your audience’s location, gender, or interests.

Sendinblue comes with four payment plans:

• Free: $0/month
• Lite: $25/month
• Premium: $65/month
• Enterprise: Contact for details

These prices are for unlimited contacts. Plan prices scale up according to the number of emails you send each month. For example, the price increases once you send above 20k emails per month (except for the free plan which only allows 300 emails per day).

5. ConvertKit [Best for monetizing subscribers]

ConvertKit is a top Constant Contact alternative for creators looking to monetize their audience. The platform’s landing page templates, sign-up forms, and link pages help you attract more subscribers to your newsletter.

ConvertKit also makes it simple for creators to set up automated sales and follow-up funnels to pitch products to their target audiences. You can embed buy buttons, use tags to segment your audience, and exclude previous buyers from your email pitch.

If you’re not selling a digital product, ConvertKit lets you create a tip jar so your subscribers can start supporting your work. Data-driven dashboards show you all your sales data in one place.

One big advantage of using ConvertKit is being able to connect it to all the other platforms where you sell courses, products, memberships, or merchandise. This helps you get a more in-depth view of your business beyond the products you’ve sold through ConvertKit Commerce.

ConvertKit comes with four payment plans:

• Free: $0/month
• Creator: $15/month
• Creator Pro: $29/month

These prices are for up to 300 contacts; the price scales up according to the number of emails you send each month.

6. CampaignMonitor [Best for ecommerce brands]

Another OG newsletter tool, CampaignMonitor, has some solid features for ecommerce brands looking to send out promotional emails.

CampaignMonitor’s ecommerce-forward integrations and branded emails make it easy for businesses to send out plenty of on-brand emails. The drag-and-drop newsletter builder makes it simple for both newbies and email pros to create an aesthetically pleasing email.

With the SMS marketing feature, you can tie your email and SMS campaigns together for better results.

Plus, the auto-responder feature lets you send automated emails to your audience if they perform specific actions, like downloading an ebook or purchasing a product.

CampaignMonitor comes with three payment plans:

• Basic: $9/month
• Unlimited: $29/month
• Premier: $149/month

These prices are for up to 2500 contacts; the price scales up according to the number of contacts on your list. There’s also a free trial.

7. ActiveCampaign [Best for drip campaigns]

Another top Constant Contact alternative is ActiveCampaign, which is best for drip campaign segmentation. It’s an excellent option for building an automated email sales funnel to help you convert more subscribers.

Use ActiveCampaign to send standalone newsletters or to build a complex sales funnel that runs in the background of your business. With its segmentation feature, you can send drip emails to the right subscribers at the right time to increase the chance of a conversion.

ActiveCampaign also has a unique Machine Learning feature that helps you decide the best time to send your newsletters, identify prospects that will most likely turn into leads, and analyze your subscribers.

ActiveCampaign comes with four payment plans:

• Lite: $61/month
• Plus: $125/month
• Professional: $187/month
• Enterprise: Contact for details

These plans are for up to 2,500 contacts; they then scale up according to your subscriber list. There’s also a 14-day free trial for you to test out the platform’s features.

8. GetResponse [Best for bonus features]

GetResponse features an extensive library of readymade templates to choose from. Plus, it has a set of easy-to-use tools to customize your newsletter to your taste.

This email marketing software goes beyond typical email tools by offering a webinar builder. Using this, you can host up to 1000 subscribers in a live event, helping you build a strong connection with your audience.

GetResponse comes with four payment plans:

• Free: $0/month for up to 500 contacts
• Email Marketing: $15.58/month for up to 1000 contacts
• Marketing Automation: $48.38/month for up to 1000 contacts
• Ecommerce Marketing: $97.58/month for up to 1000 contacts

 The price then increases according to the number of contacts on your list.

9. Benchmark [Best for full customization]

Whether you’re an email marketing newbie or want to code your email, Benchmark is a great Constant Contact competitor. The tool’s easy-to-use HTML code editor gives you a live preview with every line of code you add.

Busy marketers who’d rather set up a campaign and forget about it can use the RSS email option. With it, you’ll be able to automatically send subscribers an email when you update your blog or any other RSS feed.

Benchmark also includes other essential email marketing features like robust A/B testing, prebuilt templates, photo editing, and a drag-and-drop editor.

Benchmark comes with three payment plans:

• Free: $0/month
• Pro: $15/month
• Enterprise: Contact for details

These plans are for up to 500 contacts; they then scale up according to your subscriber list.

10. HubSpot [Best full-suite marketing platform]

If you’re looking for an all-in-one digital marketing tool suite, HubSpot is an impressive Constant Contact alternative. When you run your email marketing campaigns through HubSpot, the key advantage is having all your other marketing tools in one place.

While Constant Contact offers more focused email marketing features, HubSpot has a broader variety of marketing tools for seamless collaboration.

The email marketing platform has key features like audience segmentation, customizable templates, preview mode, and integrations with other tools like Gmail, DesignWizard, and JotForm.

HubSpot comes with three payment plans:

• Starter: $50/month
• Professional: $890/month
• Enterprise: $3,200/month

The payment plans allow a maximum of 1000 contacts; the price then increases according to the number of contacts.

Choosing a Constant Contact alternative in 2023

The right alternative to Constant Contact depends on your email marketing goals and budget.

Creators may prefer ConvertKit’s monetization features while an ecommerce store may want to use ActiveCampaign for its drip campaigns.

And if you want one less software subscription to think about, why not check out our lifetime deals over on the AppSumo store today?

But to succeed, you’ll need to choose an in-demand freelance skill that you’re naturally interested in. Next, you’ll have to spend time honing your skills and learning as much as possible.

Here’s a guide to the top 16 in-demand freelance skills, their earning potential, and where to learn them.

How did we arrive at the annual salary and hourly rate?

We studied freelancers of all experience levels on platforms like Fiverr and Upwork to better understand how freelancers of different skill sets and experience levels charge for projects, either on hourly rates or different payment terms. We also reviewed individual freelancers’ websites to build a more diverse data pool.

Analyzing these results helped us build a picture of the average rate freelancers in each industry charge. Remember that the annual salaries and hourly rates mentioned throughout the article are to be used as a guideline. They’re average benchmarks––not a maximum or minimum rate. As you research different freelance projects and contracts, you may find that some offer more or less compensation.

If you’re getting started as a freelancer, these rates can help you figure out ballpark figures. Your own unique experience, skillset, and industry niche will shape how your charge clients more than anything else.

Top 16 in-demand freelance skills

Before you decide which freelance skills to learn, take a look at our list of the most in-demand freelance skills. Mastering one or more of these skills will help you level up your freelance career.

1. Blockchain and cryptocurrency programming

Average annual salary: $130,000

Average hourly rate: $150

Blockchain is a programming language that manages and holds information about cryptocurrency transactions. Unlike other programming languages, it’s highly resistant to external modification. While it’s still a new cryptocurrency, blockchain is now the number one data managing technique.

Because of its robust transaction security, many industries like law, logistics, and finance use the technique. But since it’s so new, there aren’t that many specialists yet. So if you have blockchain skills, you will likely be in demand with many clients.

Where can you learn blockchain?

Platforms like Skillup have courses aimed at teaching beginners the basics of Blockchain.

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2. Mobile app development

Average annual salary: $110,000

Average hourly rate: $70 – $80

As people spend more time on their phones, the demand for app developers is also increasing. Organizations are looking for freelancers to code, design, and test mobile apps.

You’ll need some specific coding knowledge as a freelance app developer. iOS apps use Swift coding language. Android apps use Java or C++. When you know this, you can choose to learn one language or all three to become an expert mobile developer.

Where can you learn mobile app development?

Udemy has a course that takes you from complete beginner to creating an iOS AppStore quality app.

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3. Website design

Average annual salary: $80,000

Average hourly rate: $80

Web designers usually have multiple skills like website coding skills including languages like HTML and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) since they usually work with front-end developers to code each site.

Web designers usually choose to specialize in one or more of three categories:

• User Interface (UI) Designers handle all functions on a website like button placements and navigation making them as user-friendly as possible.
• User experience (UX) Designers create sites that are aesthetically pleasing and easy to use.
• Visual design Combines both UI and UX skills.

Where can you learn web design?

Learning platform Coursera has hundreds of web design courses suitable for all levels:

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4. Amazon web services development

Average annual salary: $115,000

Average hourly rate: $80

AWS is the world’s largest cloud storage platform. But it’s known as being unreliable—prone to system failures and cyberattacks. As a freelancer, you could provide cloud managing services to companies that use Amazon’s online storage.

Where can you learn Amazon web services development?

The AWS site has many online courses with content for beginners up until cloud storage experts. You can also take an exam that provides you with an official certification upon completion.

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5. Artificial Intelligence development

Average annual salary: $100,000

Average hourly rate: $70

Even though AI is a relatively new concept, it’s only set to grow in use and popularity over the next few years. Since most AI is designed to make everyday life easier, specialists design lines of code and algorithms with daily problems in mind.

AI specialists need to know how to build algorithms, as well as program voice or facial recognition software.

Where can you learn Artificial Intelligence development?

Platforms like Coursera and Udemy have multiple courses on AI.

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6. Website development

Average annual salary: $100,000

Average hourly rate: $80

Given the shortage of web developers, there’s a huge demand for freelancers with web development skills.

Choose from three different specialty areas:

• Front-end developers build online items that directly interact with users like login pages, user buttons, and click buttons. They program everything that’s visible on a website.
• Back-end developers build the internal side of the site that’s not visible to visitors. This includes the foundations of the site as well as databases, and servers.
• Full-stack specialists can manage both the front-end and back-end of the site.

Where can you learn web development?

You can learn the basic skills needed to become a web developer on Codecademy. Then when you’ve completed the novice levels you can move on to advanced courses. Each level has interactive tasks which make the process more fun.

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7. Accounting and bookkeeping

Average annual salary: $75,000

Average hourly rate: $50

Many people don’t know how to file their taxes and efficiently manage their business finances. That means there’s often high demand for freelance accountants and bookkeepers.

Small business managers often hire freelancers to complete quarterly tax returns, manage payroll, maintain accurate financial records, and build financial reports.

Where can you learn accounting and bookkeeping?

The Becker CPA Exam Review provides everything you need to get CPA certified and start working as an accountant or bookkeeper.

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8. Data analysis

Average annual salary: $80,000

Average hourly rate: $40

Data analytics is another fast-growing sector that’s created a huge demand for workers. Data analysts compile, organize, and interpret data to build informative reports for businesses. These reports show trends and patterns for businesses to keep in mind for strategy and development.

Coursera has hundreds of free data analysis courses as well as paid ones that give you a certification

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9. Writing

Average annual salary: $70,000

Average hourly rate: $45

So many businesses need online web content and don’t have an in-house team to write everything. Content is usually an ongoing need for businesses, so it presents a great opportunity for freelancers looking for regular tasks.

Freelance writers can choose between being generalists or writing only about a specialist niche. Sticking to one or two niches is often more profitable as you’ll gain subject matter expertise and be able to charge more for your words.

The best part of starting out as a writer is that you don’t need a certification. As long as you have knowledge of your chosen subject and can write, you can improve your skill through courses and practice.

Where can you learn about writing?

Skillshare has several courses for beginner freelance writers.

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10. Editing

Average annual salary: $60,000

Average hourly rate: $40

As long as there are writers creating content, businesses will need editors to review their work.   Editors usually check for spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, sentence structure and coherence, factual correctness, formatting, and if the content follows company guidelines.

Just like writers, editors can be generalists or focus on editing one or two types of content in a specific industry niche.

You don’t need a certification to start editing. But you’ll need high-level attention to detail as well as solid punctuation and grammar skills.

Where can you learn about editing?

Coursera has some university-led editing courses that cover the fundamentals:

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11. Career coaching

Average annual salary: $80,000

Average hourly rate: $60

With people increasingly conscious of their work-life balance, career changes are becoming more common. People who are dissatisfied with their current job roles might feel like they want a change but don’t know how to do it.

As a career coach, you’ll help your clients improve their quality of life by helping them fulfill their passions instead of just paying the bills. While career coaches are in demand, the field is competitive as more and more people choose this flexible career path.

To stand out, create a solid personal brand. Think about who you are as a coach, what made you choose it as a career, and how you can help people feel more fulfilled in their careers and life.

You’ll need to draw on your own life experiences to help you relate to others going through similar phases. But to help you understand the fundamentals of coaching, it’s a good idea to enroll in a course.

The World Coach Institute created a set framework and enables you to become a qualified life coach:

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12. Shopify development

Average annual salary: $90,000

Average hourly rate: $80

As a go-to platform for people setting up an ecommerce store, Shopify developers are in huge demand.

You can build the Shopify store and then charge a fee for maintaining it. If you bring a new client to Shopify you can also charge Shopify a commission fee.

Skillshare has a top-rated Shopify development course that’s led by developer Chris Dodd:

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13. Social media marketing

Average annual salary: $70,000

Average hourly rate: $60

Many businesses with social media don’t have the time or know-how to successfully run their social media accounts. That’s where social media freelancers come in.

Day to day you’ll plan clients’ social media campaigns, ensure posts are correctly uploaded, and engage with followers. The idea is of course to boost engagement, follower counts, and business leads.

To be successful, you’ll need to know your way around social media platforms and understand how their algorithms work.

Udemy has loads of social media marketing courses to get you started:

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14. SEO

Average annual salary: $100,000

Average hourly rate: $100

SEO is another digital marketing skill that businesses with websites always need. Since most people don’t click beyond the first page or even the first three results, SEO continues to be an in-demand skill.

You’ll need to be both technical and analytical. You’ll also need to stay updated with SEO trends and news around Google algorithms.

SEO specialists must be comfortable using multiple tools and creating detailed SEO reports for clients.

There are loads of paid and free SEO courses out there. To get started, we recommend reading Moz’s SEO Learning Center. The best part is that it’s free.

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15. Graphic design

Average annual salary: $60,000

Average hourly rate: $30

Graphic design freelancers work on a huge variety of projects in web development, marketing, corporate communications, social media, and user experience design. That means no two days are alike and you’ll often have to adapt to new challenges and deliverables.

To be a freelance graphic designer, you’ll need a solid portfolio to demonstrate your skills and expertise. You’ll also need to know your way around a few Adobe design programs.

Skillshare has many different Adobe design courses to get you started with the basics:

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16. Video editing

Average annual salary: $60,000

Average hourly rate: $30

As businesses increasingly produce more video content, they need video editors to help them in the production process. Video editors take the raw footage and cut, curate, and format it in a way that the client wants.

Video editors often specialize in using a specific video editing software or they use a few depending on the client’s needs. There are loads of free video editing tutorials on YouTube, or you could take an Adobe Premiere Pro class on a platform like Udemy.

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Learn an in-demand freelance skill in 2023

So there you are—an idea of the top freelance skills in 2023. Learning a couple of these (and doing them well) will set you on the path to a fulfilling and long-lasting freelance career.

First, think about your current skills and what interests you already. Based on this, consider what would be a natural fit and how you could create a service offering as a freelancer.

Remember that the key to a successful freelance career is to never stop learning. When you invest in your learning, you invest in your career. Ready to start freelancing? Check out the AppSumo Store, we have some of the best software deals running to get you set up.

The good news is that there are loads of resources to help you on your freelancing journey. Today we sharing 10 steps to help you start freelancing along with some helpful resources.

10 steps to start freelancing today

Starting to freelance can seem overwhelming. With so many things to think about, where do you begin? Follow our 10 steps and start freelancing today.

1. Find an in-demand skill

Identifying in-demand skills that you already have will help you create a popular service package offering. Find a skill that people always need and that won’t go out of fashion. This could be writing, illustrating, coding, or social media management, for example.

Tip: Check out freelancing platforms like Upwork and Fiverr for inspiration. For example, by looking through Fiverr’s WordPress developers, you can see which skills are most popular and how freelancers market themselves.

Image source: Fiverr

Next, think about how you could package this skill as an offering that helps clients achieve their goals and solve their problems.

Here are a few ideas:

• Managing company Facebook and LinkedIn pages
• Writing ebooks
• Illustrating graphics for a company website
• Developing WordPress sites
• Bookkeeping for small business accounts

2. Define your services

Knowing how to turn your skills into a service is the first step to becoming a successful freelancer.

To be successful as a freelancer, it’s important to truly understand your client’s situation and how your services will benefit them. Think about how you can package your services to properly address their problems.

Next, you need to come up with a concise explanation of your services and how they resolve issues. Think about what you do, how you do it, and for what kinds of businesses and clients.

Here’s an example of how Tom Rigby, a freelance copywriter clearly defines all the different services he offers:

Image source: Tom Rigby

3. Improve your skills

The key to success as a freelancer is to never stop learning. Even if you think you’ve mastered your offering, you need to keep refining your skillset and learning more.

Always leave time in your week for learning and self-development. That way you can grow your service offering and improve your current offering.

Depending on the skills you want to build, consider taking courses on platforms like:

• Udemy 
• Coursera
• Adobe Digital Academy
• Skillshare
• HubSpot

By continuously investing in your learning, you’ll remain competitive in the long term and become a go-to freelancer in your niche.

4. Network with your ideal clients

Before you start freelancing, identify your ideal client type for your service offering. Think about whether they have a shared problem and similar characteristics. Are they in the same industry vertical? Perhaps you’re targeting a broader base of potential clients?

Regardless of who your ideal client is, you’ll need to position yourself in front of potential clients so they know about your work and the services you offer. As you grow and build a reputation, you might be able to rely on client referrals or people finding you organically. But to begin with, you’ll need to be proactive about identifying potential clients and freelance work opportunities.

You can get yourself in front of prospective clients by:

• Tapping into your existing professional network on LinkedIn
• Marketing yourself on social media and your website
• Using freelance platforms like Fiverr or Upwork
• Responding to freelance job postings
• Participating in freelance community groups on Facebook and Slack

Try getting in front of clients using these methods and see which ones work best for you and your offering.

5. Build an online portfolio

An online portfolio is key for proving your experience and expertise to prospective clients. Your portfolio demonstrates your work quality by displaying your past projects. It’s your chance to show clients what you’re capable of producing and your value as a freelancer.

Include your best work in your portfolio and use each piece to show off your offering. Try to provide evidence of how your work benefited the client.

Consider including things like:

• Testimonials
• Case studies
• Samples of work
• Data-driven results
• Mock-ups

Always ask for permission from past clients before featuring their work, results, or testimonials.

Here’s an example of a web designer’s brightly colored and intuitive portfolio. On the first page there’s an overview of all the recent project’s they’ve worked on. Browsers can then click through each project to read up on the details of the project.

Image source: The Lonely Pixel

Image source: The Lonely Pixel

6. Start freelancing part-time 

Before you take the plunge and quit your 9-5, it’s a good idea to freelance part-time; as a side hustle. This gives you the perfect opportunity to test out your service offering, figure out exactly what your potential clients want from you, and start marketing your business.

When you start actively doing these things daily, you’ll start to get a feel for what freelancing is like and whether it suits your skillset. You’ll also be able to refine your offering slowly over time without the pressure of needing to depend on a paycheck from freelancing.

7. Develop a personal brand

Building a personal brand can help you stand out from other freelancers and connect more with clients. Instead of having to pitch people you want to work with, having a strong personal brand may mean that you get more organic inquiries as you prove your expertise on various platforms.

Here are a few places you can develop a personal brand online:

• Twitter
• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Industry-specific sites like Behance for graphics designers or illustrators

Try to be as consistent as possible. A few interactions every day along with a daily post is a great goal to have.

Building a personal brand is a great long-term strategy that’ll help you build relationships and increase your leads over time. Cultivating it from the beginning will give you a strong foundation for the future.

Freelance writer Kat Boogard has a strong personal brand. She regularly updates her personal blog, social media, and sells a range of products designed to help freelancers through her online shop.

Image source: Kat Boogard

8. Build your reputation 

Building a solid reputation for yourself will help you land future freelance gigs and ensure you become an in-demand freelancer in your niche.

Building your reputation starts with maintaining positive client relationships. Instead of seeing your clients as one-off projects, it’s important to see them as humans.

Focus on building positive relationships with your clients and delivering top-quality work. You’ll not only feel great about doing a good job, but you’ll be more likely to receive repeat work and client referrals leading to more work.

How can you build good client relationships?

• Produce high-quality work consistently: High-quality work is essential for client satisfaction. You need to solve the client’s problem and provide value to build a long-term relationship.
• Look for ways to provide more value: Try to surprise and delight your client by going the extra mile with your work. If you take the initiative and show your ability to take on extra responsibilities, you’ll improve satisfaction and open the door for other ways to collaborate.
• Communicate efficiently: Solid client communication fosters stronger business relationships and will increase your client’s trust in you.
• Manage expectations: It’s tempting to overpromise but it’s much better to underpromise and overdeliver. Meet your deliverables and go above and beyond on what you initially promised. That way your client will trust your process and be pleased when you overdeliver.

9. Set your rates

Setting freelance rates is always a delicate balance of maximizing the amount you’re paid, remaining competitive, and not losing out on work. Start by looking at what your competitors are charging for similar freelancing services.

Setting freelance rates is an art and not a science––you’ll likely find that your rates fluctuate depending on the industry vertical, your experience, and the client’s budget. As you’re setting rates, consider these factors:

• Industry: How much market demand is there from your chosen industry?
• Experience: The experience you have will likely impact the value you’re able to deliver.
• Project complexity: Longer more complex projects need to be compensated for accordingly.
• Client’s location: Geographical location and local currency may impact the client’s budget.
• Urgency: Freelancers often charge more for rush projects.
• Project duration: One off projects may incur higher costs than steady long-term contracts.

These variables will help you determine your rates for each project. Remember your rates aren’t set in stone. Reassess them regularly and make adjustments according to your experience and the current market demand.

10. Join freelance communities

Freelancing can get lonely. Without teammates, meetings, and break rooms, it can feel isolating. But the best part about freelancing is that there are thousands of freelancers just like you.

Joining freelance communities is a great way to form friendships with other freelancers of all experience levels. There will be some freelancers who are just beginning their journey and who can relate to your highs and lows. And there’ll also be more experienced freelancers who you can ask for advice.

As you find your way around these communities, you’ll be able to build out your freelancing network. Once you establish your reputation and people know what you do, other freelancers might even start referring work to you when they’re too busy to take on new projects.

FAQs on how to start freelancing 

Can you start freelancing with no experience?

Yes, it’s possible to start freelancing without experience. It’s vital, though, to choose a freelancing idea you’re already interested in and then start building a portfolio. Even if you don’t have any experience freelancing, you likely have skills and experience that will help you develop a service offering. Commit to long-term learning and learn as you freelance.

Which skill is best for freelancing?

There’s no one best skill for freelancing. Instead, think about what you’re already passionate about and what you have experience doing. See how it compares which freelance skills are most in-demand in 2023 such as web design, writing, editing, and coding. Choose a skill that combines both criteria.

How do freelancers get paid?

Freelancers have lots of options when it comes to getting paid. They usually agree on contract payment terms with a client before a project begins. These terms might be that the freelancer completes several projects, works on a retainer, or completes just one project.

Freelancers usually accept payment digitally through platforms like PayPal, Wise, or bill.com. Your client may also pay you through a simple bank transfer too. Or you could accept credit card payments. It all depends on freelancers and client preferences.

Can you freelance part-time?

The short answer is yes–in fact, it’s often best to start freelancing part-time. Many freelancers start by moonlighting; working their regular 9-5 job and completing freelance projects in the evening or at the weekends. Freelancing part-time is a great way of testing the waters before going all-in.

Which freelancing platforms are best?

When you start freelancing, as well as tapping into your existing network you might want to use some freelance platforms to find your first projects. These marketplaces can help you get the wheels turning of your freelance business––but don’t rely on them too much. Remember it’s always better to build your own network and start relying on it more over time.

To get started here are a few popular freelancing platforms:

• Upwork
• Fiverr
• Flexjobs
• Toptal 
• Freelancer.com
• Guru
• SimplyHired

Start freelancing in 2023

Freelancing can be a great way to enjoy flexibility, remote work, and varied client work that excites you. To succeed, start slowly and gradually increase your workload as you become more confident. Then if you want to, take the plunge into full-time freelancing work. The key is to never stop learning and strive for high-quality work every time.

Ready to start freelancing? First, check out the AppSumo Store, we have some of the best software deals available today.

Today we’ll show you when is a good time to start monetizing and our top 10 content monetization strategies.

When should you start to monetize a blog?

There’s no hard and fast rule for when to start monetizing a blog. But, having these two conditions will increase your chances of success.

1. Get consistent traffic: You don’t need millions of visitors but look for steady and consistent traffic that shows people are interested in your content.
2. Have a social media following/email subscriber list: Again, you don’t need tens of thousands of followers or email subscribers but a small to medium list of subscribers who engage with your content regularly will help.

The key to successfully monetizing your blog is to set a goal and then calculate your preferred way to reach it. For instance, if you’re aiming to make $5,000 each month from your blog, there are multiple ways you could do this:

• Sell a $250 course to 20 people
• Sell a $50 pack of email templates to 100 people
• Join an affiliate program and make $5,000 commission from sales through your affiliate links

10 successful blog monetization strategies

Here are 10 blog monetization strategies you can start using today to increase the revenue from your blog.

1. Sell ebooks to your audience

Selling ebooks is one of the easiest ways of monetizing a blog. If your visitors are already engaging in your content, they might be willing to pay a small amount to get an in-depth how-to guide. Depending on your niche, this could be a guide on how to build a successful dropshipping business, an exclusive piece of fan fiction, or your unique dog training strategies.

Freelance WordPress consultant Tom Hirst created a $39 ebook on pricing freelance projects on the back of a viral Twitter thread he wrote summarizing his expertise in pricing freelance projects.

Hirst demonstrates that the key is to write something that your target audience is already engaging with. For example, could consider building out your best-performing blog posts into an in-depth and actionable ebook or packaging your most popular newsletters into a downloadable guide.

Sell your ebook directly through your blog, or through platforms like Amazon, Podia, and Gumroad.

2. Build online courses

Selling online courses is another way to monetize your blog. You don’t need to be a of subject-matter expert to create a course; you just need to know how to do something better than your audience.

Present your material in an easily digestible format, so that your audience gets as much value as possible from your course. Make your course actionable by providing a detailed step-by-step guide and giving examples.

For example, vegan chef ​​Kathy Hester launched the blog Healthy Slow Cooking and wrote the cookbook “The Vegan Slow Cooker” before launching online cooking classes on Podia:

Each class recording is priced at $35. Alternatively, people can sign up for a $50 monthly subscription for unlimited access to pre-recorded course content.

3. Sell other digital products

Building an effective digital product that solves your audience’s pain points is a great way of building a passive income stream.

For example, if you have in-demand skills like coding you could sell website themes or WordPress plugins. If you’re a pro video editor, you could sell video presets to your audience. Email templates, spreadsheet templates, and image filters are other digital product ideas you could sell to your audience.

For example, blogger Jessica from Life Is Messy and Brilliant sells digital planners, stickers, and planner templates to help her audience get organized.

Based on her audience’s pain point of feeling disorganized she created a digital product to help solve the problem.

4. Create membership-only gated content

Once you’ve got some high-quality content that people love reading, you could charge a small fee to give fans exclusive access to a members-only section on your site. Here you could offer additional insights, unique perspectives, and more in-depth content.

However, don’t put all of your high-quality content behind a paywall. You should always have some free pieces to encourage people to become members. Show readers that your exclusive members-only content is worth the money and that the value of becoming a member outweighs the subscription cost.

Another advantage of creating membership-only content is that you also create a community of members at the same time. You could create a Slack community where like-minded members can interact with one another. Hold members-only chats and forums where members can interact with you and ask questions or discuss topics relevant to your expertise.

Fizzle is an example of a paid membership site for people who want to build successful online businesses.

Subscribers get access to premium course content, a forum where they can interact, and live group coaching sessions/webinars.

Fizzle also has plenty of free blog content to entice potential members. A monthly membership is currently $49/month and includes access to all their resources.

5. Advertise with Google Adsense

While payouts from Google can be low until your blog is pulling in loads of traffic, it’s an easy way of setting up a revenue stream.

Although payments from Adsense can be as low as $0.001 per click, you can work your way up to earning hundreds or thousands of dollars per click if you’re selling high-value goods to quality leads.

To achieve more Adsense success, you need to optimize your ad placements and generate plenty of traffic. Install the free WordPress plugin AdInserter and A/B test your ads’ placements. You can see which ads perform best as well as where on your site they drive the most clicks.

While it may take a while for ads to start generating a solid income, they’re easy to set up and can be an excellent revenue stream if your blog receives plenty of traffic.

6. Join affiliate programs

Using affiliate marketing, you promote products of other businesses and receive a commission for every sale you bring in. The best part of affiliate marketing is that you don’t need to come up with a product of your own. Simply identify some great products created by another brand and promote them to your audience.

The key is to choose products that fit the niche you’re already writing about. Next, you need to write about them naturally and only promote them to your audience if you actually believe in them. That way your inclusion of these products will appear authentic and you’ll be more likely to make sales.

You can contact brands directly about their affiliate programs or you can find products through affiliate networks like:

• Clickbank Affiliate
• ShareASale
• Amazon Affiliate
• eBay Partner Network

For example, blogger Ryan Robinson successfully makes tens of thousands of dollars through his blog every month through affiliate links. He teaches his audience how to build a profitable blog from scratch and promotes affiliate products he believes in throughout his articles.

For example, from Ryan’s affiliation with the domain hosting site BlueHost, he’s managed to make over $40,000 in one month.

Again, you’re going to need steady traffic before you start seeing big results from any affiliate programs you join. But the plus side is that once you’re up and running you can generate a solid monthly income.

7. Receive donations 

Not all of your readers will want to sign up for a recurring monthly subscription, but some of them might be happy to donate to your blog.

Choose between:

• A tip jar: Visitors can choose to make a donation of any amount.
• Donation platforms: Sites like Patreon help you establish a recurring monthly donation. You can give people perks for different donation tiers.
• PayPal: If you already have a PayPal account, you can add the button to your site and accept donations there.
• Crypto: As crypto wallets become more mainstream, you could choose to accept crypto donations from your readers instead.

For example, Brandon Stanton, the creator of the Humans of New York blog and Instagram account, has a Patreon to help with the creation of future stories. He offers different membership prices so people can pledge what they’re comfortable with.

8. Write reviews or sponsored posts

When writing sponsored posts or reviews, a blogger charges the brand to test the product and then publish a write-up. The product gets exposure to the blogger’s audience and the brand reaches a new audience and gets new customers who might not have come across their product otherwise.

You’ll need steady traffic and credibility in your niche before you’re can get brands to pay for a feature. It’s also important to choose the brands you work with carefully—there’s no point writing dozens of reviews for products you’d never use only to lose your audience’s attention.

Alexis of the blog Fitnancials makes $3000+ per month with sponsored posts. Her blog is based around helping women better manage their money, live a healthier life, and travel the world.

She works with several different sponsored post websites like Acorn Influence, Social Fabric, and Tap In Influence.

9. Sell ad space direct

Instead of relying on ad platforms like AdSense, you can also sell ad space directly to businesses. With this method, you can choose which businesses advertise on your site instead of Google choosing them for you.

Choosing product ads for your site improves user experience too since people will only see ads that you’ve handpicked. You don’t need to host any spammy or irrelevant ads if you don’t want to.

10. Host paid virtual summits

Similar to a webinar, a virtual summit is a live online event. But different from webinars, there are usually multiple sessions led by different speakers. Summits are usually more interactive and include activities like live quizzes.

Virtual summits are often ticketed or have free access. To maximize your revenue, you could sell an all-access pass allowing people to review material from the summit anytime they want.

Even if you don’t have a ton of followers or regular readers yet, you can see success from summits by getting influencers on board. You can piggyback off their expertise and reputation.

For example, Jon Schumacher launched the Webinar Mastery Summit, a virtual conference for people who want to improve their webinar hosting skills, when he only had an email list of around 2,000 subscribers.

At the conference, he featured 25 experts and generated over $25,000 in revenue as well as doubling his email list.

Jon proves that you don’t need a massive following to monetize a summit successfully.

How to monetize a blog in 2023

If you’re already blogging, it’s a good time to start monetizing your blog.

While steady traffic and a solid follower base will help you generate more revenue quickly, you don’t need it to get started. Start by choosing a couple of monetization methods that feel like a good fit for your blog.

Then, when you’re generating regular revenue, start incorporating more methods. Remember though, always be authentic to your blog and monetize in a way that’s not too forced.

Ready to start monetizing your blog? First, take a look at the AppSumo Store, we have some of the best software deals running.

How do you know if you’re ready to monetize your content? What kind of content is suited to monetization? And how do you keep your followers happy while earning revenue? All of these are valid questions that need answering before you implement some monetization strategies.

Today we’ll give you an overview of content monetization and a few ideas to get you started.

What is content monetization?

Content monetization is a way of using content so that when people consume or interact with it, you make money. You could be paid directly by the users themselves or by a third party that markets products through your content. It’s an essential component of the growing creator economy.

Paid membership-only access to content is a popular example of being paid by users. Sponsored content and PPC (pay-per-click) ads are popular ways of being paid by third parties.

Who should monetize their content? 

Anyone creating and publishing content regularly can begin to monetize their content. If you’re already publishing content on platforms like Facebook and YouTube, some built-in tools enable you to benefit from PPC ads when your engagement reaches certain levels.

Content monetization could be a great way of increasing your income if you:

• Are passionate about a specific subject or niche
• Have a blog, social media channel, or YouTube channel that receives regular traffic
• Receive consistent engagement from your followers and can see growth in engagement and followers
• Want to spend more time working on your content platform in exchange for potential earnings

All kinds of content creators decide to monetize their content. Here are a few examples:

• Photographers selling photographs
• Investors selling online courses
• Freelancers selling project management templates
• Food bloggers making money through PPC ads
• Fitness influencers making money through product placement on their videos

The possibilities for monetizing content are endless. But it makes sense to consider your niche, which content receives the most engagement, and how you plan to grow your following.

5 effective content monetization ideas 

Whether you’re looking to monetize directly through your followers or indirectly through third parties, consider these five creative content monetization ideas.

1. Joining affiliate programs

In affiliate marketing, you encourage users to buy products or services. Using URL tags, every product is tracked, and you receive a commission based on how many of your users purchase.

One way to do this is to use referral links. For example, throughout your recipe blog, you can include links to the ingredients and cooking equipment readers will need if they want to make the recipe at home. Every visitor who clicks that link and makes a purchase is tracked and you’ll get a set percentage of the sale’s earnings.

Recipe blog Mob Kitchen sometimes includes affiliate links throughout their recipes. In this post, they mention an affiliate brand, Ocado.

Source: The Mob Kitchen

Another method is to use a referral code. In your Instagram post , you tell viewers they can get 65% off if they mention your discount code at checkout. You’ll then get a commission from the sale.

The Body Coach, Joe Wicks, publishes discount codes in his Instagram posts to encourage users to purchase from partner brands:

Source: Instagram

To join affiliate programs, you can either work directly with brands of your choosing or sign up to an affiliate network. These networks first check that your content is up to a high standard before putting your name in front of multiple brands, with the chance to be affiliated with them and take a cut from your referrals.

Amazon Associates is a good starting place for creators looking to link to a wide range of products. There’s also CJ Affiliate for creators looking to link to SaaS brands or ShareASale for connecting to major brands like the NFL Store.

2. Monetizing premium content through subscriptions

Premium content is any content which followers need to pay to access. If you’ve already got a loyal base of followers and solid engagement levels, premium content can be a great way to increase your monthly earnings.

Followers already know what you have to offer, and may be willing to pay a little extra for more value or additional updates.

For example, paid subscribers might get one extra weekly newsletter about your best dog training tips. You could also create a whole new section of premium content for subscribers. For instance, any time you interview a subject matter expert or create new email templates, your premium subscribers get access.

Peak Freelance is a paid membership where subscribers get access to premium content and products:

Another idea is to give your subscribers access to a gated community or forum where they can interact with one another. Here you could personally interact with subscribers, answer questions, and hold live events.

3. Monetizing content with paid ads

Most creators monetizing content with paid ads use PPC to get paid every time someone clicks on the ad. The value attached to the click varies on the industry and the quality of leads you’re sending. Each click could bring you from between $0.001 to several hundred dollars—it all depends on what you’re selling and to whom.

Setting up PPC advertising is simple. You join an ad network and they choose what to display in your ad space, usually depending on the visitor’s browsing history.

4. Sell digital products

Digital products are downloadable pieces of premium content and customers usually retain lifetime access.

A few examples of digital products include ebooks, online project planners, image filters, email templates, and pre-built spreadsheets.

On Etsy you can purchase Lightroom presets to style your photos:

Image source: Etsy

Selling digital products is a great idea if you already have a loyal following of people engaging with your content. These followers likely read your newsletters, follow your blog, and interact with you on social media.

The best part is that digital products are often evergreen. Get it right and you’ll have created a product that has the potential to generate a steady year-round passive income.

5. Create sponsored content

Similar to affiliate marketing, creating sponsored content means linking up with a brand or advertiser within your industry that aligns with your content and brand values. The advertiser or brand pays you to create content, whether that’s a video or blog post to promote their product.

The key component of creating engaging sponsored content is to ensure that it fits in with the rest of your content and doesn’t stand out as being spammy or fake. Ask yourself: If it wasn’t sponsored, would you still publish it?

If the answer is yes then you can be sure you’re publishing high-quality content that fits in with the rest of your content.

The best platforms to monetize content on

Choosing the right platforms for your content monetization goals will help you maximize your earning potential.

1. Patreon 

Patreon is an easy-to-use content monetization platform that enables you to create membership-only content for your subscribing followers.

Patreon collects 5-12% of your earnings depending on the subscription package you choose. When your followers sign up to be your patrons, they pay a set donation every month in exchange for receiving access to gated content. The content could be podcasts, videos, or downloadable ebooks.

You could also set up different membership tiers. That way different subscribers get different levels of access to your content depending on how much they’re paying you every month.

If you’re looking to create a steady flow of income each month instead of selling individual pieces of content, Patreon is a great option.

Marketer John Bonini has a successful Patreon with around 450 patrons supporting his content:

Image source: Patreon

2. Adsense

The most popular and readily available PPC ad provider is Google Adsense. Adsense doesn’t ask you for a minimum amount of traffic before you sign up, making it suitable if you’re just starting out.

Image source: Google

Keep in mind you need to wait until you reach minimum earnings of $100 before Google deposits money in your account. Since per click yields are as low as $0.001 per click it could take a while to reach that limit if your ads receive few clicks.

3. Substack

Substack is a popular platform for monetizing email newsletters. If you enjoy writing and have a strong social media following or blog readership, creating a paid newsletter could be a logical next step in monetizing your content.

Whether you write about comics or food, building a strong readership and engagement levels has the potential to unlock a consistent monthly income. For example, if you can find 2,000 people to pay you $5/month, that’s $8,110—not a bad side hustle.

Substack is easy to set up and has an easy revenue model—writers keep 90% of the revenue, minus credit card fees.

Here’s an example of Bankless, a popular paid Substack newsletter on crypto:

Image source: Bankless

4. Podia

Podia enables content creators to build their own online courses from scratch. With 50,000+ creators using Podia as their online course platform, it’s a top choice for creating and selling courses.

Even for first-time users, Podia is easy to get started with. It supports all file types, hosts all of the course content, and doesn’t limit how much content you can create and sell.

To get started, creators can sign up at $39/month plan which allows unlimited courses and downloads.

Image source: Podia

5. YouTube

Creators can use YouTube to monetize their content with ads, online courses, or product placement.

YouTube attaches ads to all videos so it makes sense to join their partner program and opt to include paying ads with your videos and start to earn an income.

Keep in mind though that your account needs to qualify for YouTube’s partner program. This means reaching at least 1000 subscribers and 4,000 viewing hours on your account within your first year.

You could also use your YouTube videos for product placement. Reach out to brands in your content niche and see if they’ll sponsor you to feature their products. Before brands are willing to pay you to show their products, you’ll need to prove that you have a growing subscriber base and receive consistent video views.

If you’re just starting out, instead of taking payment from brands you could opt for freebies instead.

Best practices for monetizing content 

Monetizing content is a great way to generate additional revenue each month. But to get it right and continue to grow your engagement levels, it’s important to follow a few best practices.

1. Be authentic and stay confident in your offer

While earning revenue from your content is the goal, don’t sacrifice your values. It’s important to strike the balance between sharing content you’re passionate about and content that will resonate with your audience and generate some income.

Choose to feature products that you truly believe in and only say things you mean. That way you’ll maintain your content’s authenticity.

2. Don’t neglect the legal technicalities

If you’re sharing sponsored products, you’ll need to disclose any paid partnership. The FTC requires creators and influencers to acknowledge any relationships they have with brands whether financial or family, to ensure transparency.

If you give running shoes a 10/10 rating, but were paid to review them, your followers need to know.

3. Focus on the metrics that count 

Staying on top of your content’s metrics is essential for measuring success and encouraging other brands to form partnerships with you.

Track your ads and affiliate links performance and watch how your audience interacts with your content. Prospective and current brands will also want to see metrics like average conversion rate, audience demographics, and average click-through rates.

While follower counts, likes, and shares can tell you which pieces of content perform best, they’re not the key metrics that earn you income.

Content monetization: How to make money from content in 2023

Creating content you’re passionate about that earns you money can seem like a pipe dream. But if you’re already creating content and are steadily building an audience, it’s simple to start monetizing your content.

The key is to start slowly and be authentic. Set realistic goals and always put your audience’s needs first. Ready to start monetizing content? First, check out the AppSumo Store, we have some of the best deals on software to help you monetize content.

That’s why following some key project management principles can help boost productivity, set realistic expectations, and ensure more project success.

13 project management principles to kickstart your productivity

These 13 project management principles aren’t rigid rules or structures that you must follow. Instead, they’re guidelines for enhancing your or your team’s productivity. Following these core principles will set you on the right path for starting and executing any project.

1. Clearly define project goals and objectives

Before you dive into working on any project, clearly define your goals. The goals and objectives you set for your project will be a key determiner in the success or failure of the project.

When you define your goals before the work begins, the team, the client, and you, all set realistic expectations of the project. That way you can avoid any potential future misunderstandings and manage everyone’s expectations from day one.

Here’s an example of setting quarterly objectives and expectations using the project management platform Monday.com:

Image source

2. Nominate one experienced project leader

While everyone on the team should have the opportunity to voice their opinion on the project, you need someone to make final decisions and oversee the completion of each task and project stage. Otherwise you may run the risk of slow decision making, endless tasks, and limited quality checks.

Nominate one experienced project leader who can oversee the whole project from start to finish,delegate tasks, and make key decisions.

Your chosen project leader needs to be someone who’s comfortable multitasking and working between stakeholders, team members, senior managers, clients, and stakeholders. They’ll need to be solid communicators who can clearly express their expectations and goals for team members.

Project management software like Kissflow is essential for maintaining a complete overview of projects from start to finish. It makes it easier for project leaders to delegate tasks, evaluate workloads, and prioritize different moving pieces:

Image source

3. Know the project deliverables 

When you’ve defined the project goals and objectives, it’s time to clarify the project deliverables. Deliverables are the concrete items or services that the successful close of your project will bring.

A deliverable could be any unique demonstrable product, new feature, result, or service capability.

You can determine your project deliverables by thinking about your objectives.

For example, if the end objective is that users can better manage, track, and analyze their company marketing budget, your deliverable might be software that allows users to upload data and then monitor, track, and manage as they need.

You might also create some informative guides and training manuals so that users know how to operate the new software effectively.

Here’s an example of what your project deliverables could look like:

Image source 

4. Set out clear team roles and responsibilities 

Few things cause more problems than poorly defined team roles and responsibilities. When people don’t know what they should be doing, or how their tasks relate to other team members’ roles, it’s easy for projects to get derailed.

Blurred lines around responsibilities can also lead to unnecessary disagreements, tasks being completed twice, or items not being finished.

When team members know what they need to do when and how their responsibilities fit into the bigger picture, your project will be more likely to run smoothly and be a success.

During the project kickoff phase, clearly outline each team member’s role to ensure everyone collaborates effectively together.

5. Evaluate project risks 

Whether it’s a risk of incompletion, going over budget, or running out of other non-monetary resources, there are risks associated with managing projects.

Before you officially launch your project, it’s essential to identify all the potential risks and try to mitigate them at the beginning rather than being caught out by a surprise risk later down the line.

Make it a collaborative process and ask all team members to chip in risks they think you should consider.

A solid risk assessment acknowledges that things might go wrong. While you can’t prevent all possible risks, you can properly prepare for them and save your project from failure.

6. Know the project priorities and milestones 

Sometimes when you’re in the middle of a complex project, it’s easy to get sidetracked by smaller details that feel important at the time but aren’t the priority.

Knowing your project priorities and key milestones will help you evaluate progress and show you where you are. Defining your task priorities from the outset will show you where to direct the team’s focus in the event of a task conflict or problem.

To define your priorities:

• Set key project milestones in the planning phase so you and your team know if your project is on track.
• Identify KPIs and metrics that give your team a tangible sense of progress.
• Rate tasks on a scale of 1-10 according to their importance.

Here’s a visual example of how your project milestones could look:

Image source

7. Create a system of accountability and responsibility 

Maintain a sense of accountability by keeping team members invested and motivated by the project.

To do this, choose a central project management system that enables you to assign tasks and deadlines to specific team members. Make sure everyone knows what they should be working on and when you expect to receive completed work. Automated email and chat reminders can help make people feel responsible for their work by ensuring they don’t forget about it.

All team members should have access to the project management tool and be able to easily track progress and see their role in the project on a big picture level.

When you take time to set up an effective project management system from the start, you’ll also free up your own time as a project manager. You won’t need to micromanage every small detail and instead give your team members the confidence to work to their strengths and better manage themselves and their time.

Using project management software like Trello, you can easily assign tasks to team members with deadlines:

Image source

8. Set a realistic budget 

Every project has limited resources. To maximize your chance of project success and completion, it’s important to think about a realistic budget so you have access to enough resources.

You need enough resources to give yourself some room for unexpected costs, delays, and sensible timelines. At the same time, make the best use of project resources. Take measures throughout the project’s duration to ensure you’re saving expenses where possible and staying on track.

We recommend uploading your budget onto a project management app like ProjectManager so that you can track your costs and expenses in real-time:

Image source

9. Create a strategy for initiation 

Project initiation is all of the preliminary tasks that need to be completed before any other project activities can kick off. During this stage, you’ll need to complete all of the admin tasks like creating feasibility documents, business cases, as well as liaising with stakeholders and any other managers.

Following a proper initiation strategy ensures you keep all your project admin docs organized from the get go. That means when you’re halfway through the project and a stakeholder asks to see a feasibility document, you’ll know that you have one and where to find it.

Make sure all your relevant project initiation documentation is stored in one easily accessible central location so people can check documents when they need them.

10. Have a strategy for execution 

Project execution usually starts with an initial project kickoff meeting to officially start the project. This is where you share your vision and goals for the project, assign tasks to team members, and set everyone off to get started.

During the execution stage, make sure you have a way of recording errors, changes in direction, or other unexpected events. That way you can keep things running smoothly even in the event of change.

11. Build a communication plan

It’s easy for project managers to set up multiple communication channels like Slack, email, and project management chats to keep everyone updated on project progress. But when there are so many different channels to keep track of, it can be overwhelming for team members.

That’s why a clear and methodical communication plan is essential for keeping your project on track. Implement guidelines surrounding your chosen communication channels whether that’s email, Slack, or daily Zoom meetings.

You may choose to use different communication methods for different types of task updates. For example, team members might have to update their project management dashboard daily to update others on task progress. And you might also have a weekly team Zoom meeting to share general progress and sticking points.

The key is that everyone on the team understands how to communicate different project updates via the right channels.

It’s also important to set realistic expectations with stakeholders and clients about when they can expect to receive project updates. People need to know when they can expect certain information about the project.

Create a clear communication plan from the outset so everyone is on the same page about communication expectations.

Tagged comments within your chosen project management app can help keep everyone informed about small daily task updates:

Image source

12. Track and monitor progress

To make progress a tangible item that teams can more easily track, it’s important to set up some KPIs. Your KPIs might include budgets, quality expectations, and project timelines.

During the project, track your project progress and regularly review your KPIs. That way if your project starts to go over budget or isn’t hitting timeline expectations, you can catch problems early and make adjustments before they derail your project.

Here’s an example of how you could set up a visual dashboard to track your project KPIs:

Image source

13. Have a process for closing the project

It’s important to create a project closure process, so your project doesn’t get stuck in a neverending feedback loop or become something forever unfinished.

Even if you didn’t meet all the project goals and objectives, you still need to wind things down formally. To do this, formally hand over the finished product, or new features to the stakeholder. Then, provide guidance on how to operate and troubleshoot the new product.

If you didn’t complete everything you had hoped to finish, create a protocol for what happens next. Will you complete these items at a later date or are they no longer a priority?

You need to also create an official sign-off document that means your work on the project is complete and is now in the hands of the stakeholders or client.

It’s also a good idea to hold a meeting with team members and stakeholders about lessons learned and how you can improve for next time.

Implement these project management principles to boost your project success

Project success often boils down to effective project management. Follow these 13 project management principles and see how you can more easily collaborate with team members and stakeholders.

If you aim for project efficiency, streamlined processes, and clear communication, you’ll be on track to be a solid project manager. Ready to start managing projects using these principles? First, check out the AppSumo Store, we have some of the best software deals available.

Knowing the key differences between landing pages and websites will help you decide when to build each one and how to create something to achieve your business goals.

What is a landing page?

Landing pages are standalone web pages built to accomplish a single goal. This goal might be selling a product or service, getting the visitor’s email address, obtaining sign-ups for a newsletter, or getting registrants for an online event.

Landing pages are designed to convert visitors. For that reason, they have unique characteristics that help users complete the action.

Here’s an example of a landing page from Shopify built to get visitors to sign up for a free trial:

Landing pages should limit distractions that could take visitors away from the page and give them all the details and information they need to take the action the business wants.

A landing page can be used as a product sales page, a single-page website, or a coming soon website. In some cases, it could also be a stand-alone website with multiple sections pointing to one clear call to action.

What is a website?

A website is a group of different landing pages, web pages, and sections to provide visitors with the information about your business they’re looking for.

Usually, a business website will include multiple sections like an about page, a contact us page, a blog page, products, and services pages.

Websites usually have separate pages for different features.

Here’s an example website from Typeform. You can see all the different pages on the site on the top navigation menu:

What’s the difference between a landing page and a website? 

Knowing the key differences between landing pages and websites will help you choose what’s right for your business.

1. Landing page vs website: Objective

A landing page is designed with one specific goal in mind: to convert visitors; whereas a website usually has multiple purposes.

Instead of generally sharing information or promoting the business, a landing page showcases a single offer.

Here’s a landing page built to get visitors to start a free trial from social media scheduler Loomly:

The main purpose of a website should be to explain the business, build consumer trust with the business, and encourage engagement with your brand.

Customer service platform Zendesk has a clear homepage explaining the business’s aims. The website also has several navigation options, that are not just on the navigation menu but also on the different sections of the page itself:

Although landing pages and websites are different in structure, landing pages can sometimes be part of a website but a website is often more than just a single landing page.

2. Landing page vs website: Navigation

Landing pages don’t have a navigation bar at the top to enable visitors to navigate to other parts of the site—unless they’re part of a website.

Below is an example of an ultra-clear and streamlined landing page from Pipedrive:

A website is navigation friendly and actively encourages people to visit multiple different pages on your site. But because of a landing page’s top focus on just one goal, it’s best to leave out the top bar or sidebar navigation menus.

Calendly uses a top navigation bar so visitors can quickly find what they’re looking for:

Of course, you can include a navigation bar on your landing page. But in order to encourage your visitors to convert, it’s best to eliminate distractions and keep them on the landing page.

3. Landing page vs website: Traffic sources

If you’re spending money on Google Ads, Facebook Ads, or any other kind of paid ad, you should always send traffic to a purpose-built landing page with a clear conversion goal. This ultimately should result in a higher ROAS (return on ad spend).

True, a single-purpose page might drive some people off if their needs are different from what your landing page addresses. But it’s best for paid traffic as it enables you to measure ROI and effectiveness and make tweaks based on your metrics.

You shouldn’t drive paid traffic to your website’s homepage or any other page on your site. It’s best if general website traffic comes from unpaid sources like content shares, organic Google searches, and social media posts.

When do you need a landing page?

You need a landing page when you’re trying to achieve a focused goal and if you’re running paid ad campaigns. Landing pages are nearly always best for generating leads and closing sales because they have a clear CTA and provide the next steps for prospective customers.

Creating a great landing page boils down to including these three elements.

1. Clear aim

Before you build your landing page, make sure you have a clear answer to the question—what do we want to achieve with this landing page?

Knowing your aim will help you create something easy for visitors to navigate and take action from. For example, a Shopify landing page for an ecommerce store is very different from a lead capture landing page for a marketing agency.

2. Compelling CTA

A clear and engaging CTA that stands out on your landing page will help visitors understand what action you want them to take.

Use high contrast colors for your CTA buttons to make the copy stand out. Include imperative action words like “Sign up!” or “Get your freebie!” so visitors know what to do.

SurveyMonkey uses contrasting CTA buttons with imperatives to encourage visitors to click through:

3. Engaging copy

Writing engaging copy that speaks directly to your target audience has the potential to make or break your landing page.

To identify what kind of sales copy you should use on your page, you need to first know your page’s aim and your target audience.

Do you want to get more newsletter sign-ups? Are you selling tickets to an upcoming event? Are you giving away a free ebook?

If you’re selling tickets you’ll need a different approach than if you’re asking visitors to download an ebook.

Consider how your audience communicates and how you can best get your message across.

Keep your copy concise and start by opening your page with a hook to get their attention.

CopyHackers write attention-grabbing copy that’s in keeping with its brand voice:

When do you need a website?

Websites enable your visitors to experience and understand your business in a way that landing pages can’t.

Your prospective customers visit your site to get a complete understanding of your business. They can read your About page, view your blog, and look at the different products or services you sell.

For building brand awareness, trust, and authority in your industry space, a well-designed and comprehensive website is essential.

Building an effective website means thinking about the following three elements.

1. Consistent branding 

When people look through different elements of your website, they should know it belongs to your brand. Whether your brand voice is fun or formal, stick to that voice throughout your website.

The same goes for color schemes and logos. Once you’ve decided on the look and feel of your brand, you need to replicate it throughout your website.

Monday.com has clear and consistent branding throughout its website, making it obvious to visitors whose website they’re on:

2. Solid overview of your business

Visitors arrive on your website looking for more information about your business, so make sure your site gives people a clear overview of what your business is and does.

Your website should answer all the basic questions a new visitor might have about your business on the homepage. For instance, who you are, what you do, and why it should matter to them.

Next, think about how you can divide your site up into logical sections that make it easy for people to find out more details. If you sell just one product you might choose to have a separate web page for each of its different features. Or you might choose to build out a blog with multiple posts detailing its use cases.

The important thing is to structure your website in a way that makes sense to your business.

3. Intuitive navigation 

Your website layout should make it easy to navigate around the rest of your site. It should be simple for visitors to find what they’re looking for in a matter of seconds.

Remember that if visitors can’t find what they’re looking for quickly, you run the risk of them bouncing to another competing website.

Build a clear top menu bar that allows visitors to see all the different main pages they can click on.  Here are a few navigation ideas you should include:

• About page
• Blog
• Services
• Contact details
• Pricing
• Features
• Team

The navigation options you choose to include will depend on the type of business you have. The key is that visitors can find what they’re looking for quickly and easily.

Mailchimp has a simple navigation bar at the top enabling visitors to quickly find products, resources, inspiration, or pricing:

Should you choose a landing page or website? 

Both landing pages and websites are essential components of any business’s marketing campaigns. Knowing when and how to use each one will help you engage with more visitors and convert more customers.

The trick is to know their key differences and strengths so you can leverage each to your advantage. Then it’s just a case of creating pages, sending traffic, performing tests, and evaluating results.

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