Well, what’s the best side of the pool for diving?

Depends. (“Deep ends”—get it?)

If you’re looking for a new payroll system, we’ve got you covered. From basic payroll to advanced payroll, from tax filing to managing employee benefits, here are 14 of the best payroll software tools you should consider for your small business.

1. Deskera People

Deskera People pegs its software not just as an easy solution but as the “easiest online payroll software for small business.” With it, you can run payroll, submit claims and expenses, handle hiring management, and manage leave and time-off with little to no learning curve.

Top features:

• 3-step payroll processing with unlimited and off-cycle pay runs
• Flexible pay schedules that allow you to pay all employees assigned to a certain schedule quickly and easily
• Custom earning and deduction components, including bonuses
• A drag-and-drop pay stub, pay slip, and salary slip designer
• A super simple 3-step process for migrating your data to Deskera

Source: Deskera

Pros: 

• An easy-to-use user interface that makes managing payroll simple and quick
• Includes payroll reports and an in-depth dashboard that shows last-month and year-to-date payroll costs, upcoming runs, cost estimates, etc.
• Available on-the-go on Android and iOS, both for employers and employees

Cons: 

• Deskera mainly offers email and chat support—it’ll be an adjustment if you prefer to hop on a call when you need customer support
• Currently, built-in statutory and tax compliance are only available for the USA and Singapore

Best for: In the company’s own words, Deskera People offers “enterprise-level features [at] small business pricing.” So it’s great for startups and small businesses but also up to the challenge of serving growing mid-sized and enterprise companies.

Website: https://www.deskera.com/people/payroll

Pricing: You can try Deskera People free for 15 days with no commitment. After that, it’ll cost you anywhere from $49 to $229/month per user (or $39 to $199/month per user if annual plans are your thing).

2. Agiled

As far as all-in-one tools go, Agiled is one of the best. You can run payroll (of course). But you can also do a ton of other things like keep track of your contact via the CRM, create contracts, send invoices, keep your finances in order, and manage employees.

If using 201 tools to manage your business drives you mad, Agiled can help you get that number down to one or, at most, a few.

Top features:

• Payroll processing in three steps with options to use attendance logs, include or exclude expense claims, mark absent days as paid or unpaid, etc.
• Payment details, timesheets, and employee documents in one place thanks to teammate profiles
• A white-labeled employee portal

Source: Agiled

Pros: 

• Agiled is an all-in-one business management tool, so if you’re interested in features beyond payroll and HR, this one’s got you covered
• Integrates with tools like QuickBooks, Xero, Zoho Books, Wise (formerly TransferWise), and TimeCamp

Cons: 

• The payroll features are simplistic compared to alternatives
• Payroll is only available in Premium and Business plans
• Compared to more in-depth resources from other payroll software companies, Agiled’s help documentation doesn’t get to the nitty-gritty

Best for: Medium-sized businesses that don’t need many bells and whistles.

Website: https://agiled.app/manage-employees/

Pricing: For access to payroll features, you’ll need a Premium or Business plan, which will run you $45/month or $79/month respectively. Even better, you can grab the AppSumo lifetime deal for as little as $69—it’s a steal!

3. Gusto

Gusto is used and loved by over 200,000 businesses. While it’s not quite as decked out as Agiled, it does handle more than payroll. It helps with HR too, and it does a great job. In February 2022, it was recognized by Nerdwallet as the best HR and payroll platform.

Top features: 

• Unlimited payroll that you can process in a few clicks or run automatically with Payroll on AutoPilot
• Automatic filing of local, state, and federal payroll taxes
• Built-in time tracking and benefits that automatically sync with your payroll
• Self-setup employee portal with built-in financial tools like savings and emergency funds

Source: Gusto

Pros: 

• Full-service payroll system that integrates with tools like Xero, Clover, and QuickBooks Time to handle time tracking, workers’ comp, PTO, and more
• Ability to administer small business medical, dental, and vision health benefits in Gusto
• Ability to pay contractors in an impressive 80+ countries, meaning you can tap into global talent

Cons: 

• Some users have mentioned that customer service and the onboarding experience could use some work
• Reporting features could be simpler
• Compliance support may be lacking, especially when issues come up

Best for: Gusto is a great choice for all sorts of small businesses and nonprofits, whether they have simple salaries, wages, and pay schedules or more complex payroll and HR needs.

Website: https://gusto.com/product/payroll

Pricing: Gusto’s pricing plans start at $39/month, plus $6/month per person.

4. Patriot 

Patriot is another great payroll software that can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year. Just like with Deskera, you can run payroll in just three steps.

Plus, each new tax calculation goes through 20,000 tests before it hits Patriot’s software. So, you can rest easy knowing that your payroll reporting is as accurate as can be.

Top features: 

• Free payroll setup and unlimited payrolls
• A net-to-gross payroll tool
• Local, state, federal, and year-end tax filing (accuracy guaranteed)

Source: Patriot

Pros: 

• User-friendly, which makes it great for non-accountants (it’s mobile-friendly, too!)
• Support for businesses with multiple locations
• Easy to pay by department
• Ability to customize hours, money, deductions, pay rates, and pay frequencies

Cons: 

• You’ll have to shell out some extra moolah for e-filing 1099s and additional state tax filings if you file in multiple states
• Benefits administration and HR services aren’t part of the deal like they are with other software such as Gusto
• Payroll reports are fairly basic and not very customizable

Best for: US-based small businesses that want a simple payroll solution that won’t break the bank.

Website: https://www.patriotsoftware.com/payroll/

Pricing: The Basic Payroll plan is $17/month plus $4 per employee or contractor, and the Full Service Payroll plan is $37/month plus $4 per employee or contractor. You can take the software for a free test drive for 30 days if you’re not sure which plan you need.

5. QuickBooks Payroll

If you’ve ever used or considered using TurboTax, you’re familiar with the company behind QuickBooks—Intuit. Since QuickBooks is one of the most popular tools for accounting, using its payroll services is a no-brainer for many users. Especially since, you can also “access HR and benefits with the #1 payroll service provider.”

Top features: 

• Same-day and next-day direct deposit
• Auto payroll
• Auto forms and taxes to save you time (and frustration)

Source: Capterra

Pros: 

• 24/7 Support for customers including expert setup
• Access to employee services including HR support, workers’ comp, health benefits, and 401(k) plans
• An accuracy guarantee and tax penalty protection of up to $25,000

Cons: 

• Doesn’t have many integrations or add-ons beyond other Intuit products so you’ll have to pair it with QuickBooks online if you want more integration options
• Transferring data from another platform is risky—the QuickBooks team only checks data for accuracy on the Premium plan and only transfers data on Payroll Elite

Best for: QuickBooks Payroll is for US-based small or mid-sized businesses and nonprofits, including accountants. It’s best if you already use QuickBooks for your accounting.

Website: https://appsumo.com/products/quickbooks/

Pricing: QuickBooks Payroll plans start at $70/month plus $4/month per employee (but you can often snag a half-off deal on their website).

6. OnPay

OnPay—backed by payroll experts—has one of the most flexible solutions on this list. The software is “designed to be accurate for everyone” from startups and entrepreneurs to medium-sized businesses to the accountants serving those businesses.

If you don’t want to spend time hunting for the perfect solution, you can make OnPay what you need it to be.

Top features: 

• Unlimited payroll runs and multistate payroll (available in all 50 states)
• Pay by direct deposit, debit card, or check with multiple pay rates and schedules available
• Lifetime employee self-service accounts with self-onboarding
• Report designer and custom reporting
• Special payroll services

Source: Capterra

Pros: 

• Truly full-service, offering all the payroll features a small business would need plus HR tools and benefits administration
• Integrates with 10+ leading tools for accounting, time tracking, HR, compliance, and more
• Customer support can lend a helping hand with free account migration and integration setup—accuracy guaranteed

Cons: 

• OnPay isn’t recommended for employees outside the US
• No mobile app so you’ll have to do everything on a desktop

Best for: OnPay is best for small or large US-based businesses with special payroll needs—including nonprofits, restaurants, and companies with more than 500 employees.

Website: https://onpay.com/

Pricing: OnPay’s pricing couldn’t get any simpler. There’s one all-inclusive, affordable pricing plan—a $36 monthly fee plus $4/month per person.

7. Square Payroll

Square has made quite a name for itself among small brick-and-mortar businesses. But you can do a lot more than just accept payments with it.

With Square Payroll, you get access to full-service payroll, automated tax filings, and employee benefits within this one tool. Plus, you’ll have access to live payroll specialists whenever you need them.

Top features: 

• 5-step and multistate payroll processing for employees and contractors
• Integrations for timecards, tips, and commissions
• Hourly, salary, or custom amounts
• Local, state, and federal payroll tax filing

Source: Capterra

Pros: 

• No long-term commitments, so you’re never locked in
• Integrates with Square POS, Team Management, and other Square products
• Integrates with other products including QuickBooks Online and timecard tools
• Payroll specialists available to answer questions

Cons: 

• No option to customize payroll dates
• Some users say the employer dashboard is basic compared to similar software
• Custom service response times are sometimes a little slow

Best for: Square Payroll is a no-brainer for brick-and-mortar businesses that use Square as a POS, small businesses that only hire contractors, or businesses where employees clock in and out.

Website: https://squareup.com/us/en/payroll

Pricing: Square Payroll has different pricing options for those only paying contractors and those paying both employees and contractors. Pay Contractors Only starts at $5/month per person, and Pay Employees & Contractors starts at $35/month plus $5/month per person.

8. Rippling

In the company’s own words, Rippling is “payroll so powerful it can run itself.” Giving the quote, unquote “easiest” tools a run for their money, Rippling runs payroll in not much more than a minute. Literally.

Since time is of the essence, especially when you have a million other business tasks to take care of, Rippling is a good (and speedy) payroll option.

Top features: 

• Global payroll services for employees and contractors worldwide
• HR data syncing enables you to run payroll with the touch of a button
• Automatic compliance and tax filing
• Prebuilt and custom reports

Source: TechCrunch

Pros: 

• Rippling is lightning-fast, with an average time of 90 seconds to process payroll
• Customizable workflow templates to help you automate hundreds of payroll-related to-dos
• More than 400 integrations to simplify your workflow and keep all your data synced

Cons: 

• Currently no simple way to change tax exemption and filing status, which can cause you to overpay—or worse, underpay—your taxes
• Some users prefer the desktop version because of difficulty finding their way around the mobile app

Best for: Rippling is ideal for small to mid-sized businesses wanting a modern software that offers payroll control and a wide variety of HR integrations with single sign-on (SSO) functionality.

Website: https://www.rippling.com/payroll

Pricing: Rippling starts at $8/month per user, but depending on the product you’re interested in, there may be a base fee, too. If you contact the Rippling team, they can fill you in on Payroll pricing.

9. Wave Payroll

Wave is an easy-to-use, reliable money management tool for freelancers and small business owners. So it’s no shocker that Wave Payroll is an easy-to-use, reliable tool for making sure your team gets paid. If you’re doing business in the US or in Canada, this one is definitely worth checking out.

Top features: 

• Direct deposit
• Automatic payroll journal entries
• Self-service pay stubs and tax forms
• Payroll processing, reporting, time tracking, and workers’ compensation designed for small business owners

Source: Wave Payroll

Pros: 

• Payroll and accounting tools are connected and sync automatically, meaning there’s way less manual bookkeeping to do
• Only pay for active employees (unlike other platforms where you may have to pay for employees whether or not they are active)
• There are no setup fees or hidden charges and you can try it free for 30 days

Cons: 

• Automatic state and federal tax filing aren’t yet available in all (or even most) states
• Currently only chat and email support are available

Best for: Wave Payroll works well for small business owners who run their bookkeeping on Wave and want to add seamless payroll features.

Website: https://www.waveapps.com/payroll/

Pricing: In the 14 states where tax payments and filings are available, pricing is $35/month plus $6 per active employee or contractor paid. In self-service states, it’s $20/month plus $6 per active employee or contractor paid.

10. Sage HRMS Payroll

Wisely, Sage doesn’t claim to be an easy breezy solution because it is more complex than others on this list. However, timeliness and accuracy are centerpieces of the company’s marketing. So, if you want to be sure that your payroll management is “flawless,” don’t count Sage out.

Top features: 

• Sage Payroll CheckPrint for “out-of-the-box ready-to-print checks”
• Custom check creation with SAP® Crystal Reports
• Payroll tax forms and e-filing to prevent tax filing errors and non-compliance with state or federal reporting and payment requirements
• Payroll timecard automation for easy-breezy importing and validation of time and labor data

Source: Sage HRMS

Pros: 

• Sage HRMS is available as a standalone solution or as part of Sage 50 cloud Accounting, which includes HR and payroll solutions, plus small business accounting and finance tools
• Streamlines the process of accurate, timely in-house payroll management
• Lots of help resources including Sage University to help you use the software like a pro

Cons: 

• A bit of a learning curve when it comes to getting set up and using the tool to its full potential
• Some users have been disappointed at being unable to file local taxes with Sage, although the software does simplify other taxes

Best for: Sage works best for small to medium-sized businesses that manage their own payroll in-house.

Website: https://www.sage.com/en-us/products/sage-hrms/payroll-management/

Pricing: Contact the Sage team for pricing info.

11. Zenefits

Zenefits is a simple, intuitive platform that cuts down on the time you devote to payroll administration. The company claims to be able to address the unique situations of all sorts of businesses “from one-man shops to thousand-person enterprises.”

But, ultimately, Zenefits lets users be the judge by offering personal demo accounts. That way, you can see if the software really will meet your unique needs.

Top features: 

• Unlimited pay runs, pay previews, and dynamic pay stubs
• Multiple pay rates and labor codes for analyzing data by role, department, location, etc.
• Garnishment withholding
• Automatic federal and state filing, new-hire state filing, and tax compliance

Source: Zenefits

Pros: 

• Integrates with tons of apps and platforms you already use like Xero, QuickBooks, Zapier, and more
• Has a team of payroll experts who offer advisory services
• Choose between using your own broker or one of Zenefits’ broker partners to administer employee benefits

Cons: 

• Payroll is an add-on so you’ll need a base Zenefits plan to use it
• Some users have mentioned slow response times from the support team

Best for: In Zenefits’ own words, “From one-man shops to thousand-person enterprises, our payroll is built to address your unique situation.”

Website: https://www.zenefits.com/payroll/

Pricing: The Payroll add-on is just $6/month per employee. Base monthly pricing ranges from $10 to $27/month per employee.

12. Wagepoint

Wagepoint keeps it real. The company acknowledges that, for small business and accounting firm owners, payroll administration probably wasn’t part of their business ownership dream. It’s a chore.

Wagepoint’s payroll software solves that problem by automating the process, so you can check it off of your to-do list with the touch of a button.

Top features: 

• Automated income, deduction, and other calculations
• Automatic tax calculations and remittances
• Online employee portal where pay stubs, tax forms, and direct deposit info can be accessed any time
• Painless electronic filing of year-end docs like 1099s and W2s
• Pay-as-you-go workers’ compensation

Source: G2

Pros: 

• Complete payroll solution that helps with everything from onboarding new hires to making payments to prepping records of employment (ROEs)
• Industry- and bank-grade security to keep all sensitive information protected
• Great customer support team to answer questions and help you navigate the software

Cons: 

• Setup can take longer than alternatives
• Some users say they’d like more customization options to meet unique business needs
• Has fewer integrations than other software like Zenefits

Best for: Wagepoint’s online payroll app is built for the small business and can be used in-house or by accounting and payroll pros serving small business clients.

Website: https://wagepoint.com/us/product/payroll

Pricing: Wagepoint’s pricing is based on the number of employees you have and how often you pay them. According to its pricing calculator, the cost per payroll for 5 employees paid bi-weekly is $30. And the great thing is, you can explore the software free—no credit card required—until you run your first payroll.

13. BambooHR

Focused on US-based employees, BambooHR provides a simple way to pay your team on time, every time. No one likes a late paycheck. But you want to avoid spending hours running payroll to pay the team on time (or hours filing taxes).

So BambooHR reduces the manual work you have to do, keeping both you and your team happy.

Top features: 

• An employee self-service portal where employees can access their payroll info including pay stubs and direct deposit accounts
• 100+ detailed reports available instantly so you’re never in the dark about labor costs
• Top-tier data security including a three-tier backup redundancy plan, advanced data encryption, continuous monitoring, and diversified data centers

Source: BambooHR

Pros: 

• Wages, hours, account numbers, benefits, deductions, and withholdings sync from BambooHR to payroll so that your data is never outdated
• Android and iOS apps give employers and employees access to the info and features they need on any device
• BambooHR takes local, state, and federal taxes totally off of your hands to save you time and make sure you’re meeting all tax requirements

Cons: 

• Users have requested user interface changes and improvements like better search capabilities and the ability to organize employee documents by folder
• Onboarding support and documentation on how to use the software also seem to be lacking
• Not as flexible or customizable as some other online payroll software solutions

Best for: BambooHR is great for US-based businesses that are short on time. One user even said, “I have been doing payroll for more than 25 years. I have never worked with a payroll system that is as consistent and provides this level of service. Moving from a competitor to [BambooHR] has saved me one full day each payroll period.”

Website: https://www.bamboohr.com/payroll-software/

Pricing: You’ll have to request a quote if you’re interested in this software. But don’t worry—the quote is free!

14. RUN Powered by ADP® 

Last up, there’s RUN, which is used by close to 800,000 small business clients. It’s received 10+ awards over the years, including one for its employee mobile app. The app alone has more than 2 million ratings with a 4.7 overall rating in the App store and 4.5 overall rating on Google Play.

Not only can this software make your life easier but it can do the same for your employees. Everybody wins!

Top features: 

• Recurring payroll, multijurisdiction payroll, and flexible pay options
• AI-powered error detection that flags potential errors before they cause problems
• An employee mobile app for easy access to pay, scheduling, and benefits info on the go
• Payroll tax calculation, filing, depositing, and reconciliation done for you

Source: ADP

Pros: 

• Flexible packages that scale with you so you’re covered whether you just need payroll basics or the whole nine yards
• RUN is like the TurboTax of payroll and HR, with step-by-step screens, guidance, and tips for important tasks
• AI learns your business, anticipates your needs in advance, and checks your payroll for accuracy

Cons: 

• Some users have mentioned that certain reports are tricky to access and could be more customizable
• Even if your payroll hasn’t been processed yet, there’s no time frame after submission for correcting errors or making edits
• RUN can cost a pretty penny for truly small businesses

Best for: RUN is great for businesses managing payroll in-house and want smart features to make the process painless.

Website: https://www.adp.com/what-we-offer/products/run-powered-by-adp.aspx

Pricing: Get in touch with the ADP team and they’ll get you a quote.

Time to pick your new payroll software

You don’t want to stress out over running payroll and your employees don’t want to stress out over payday. So, a small business payroll system can help you both breathe easier. But there are a million payroll providers out there, including many not mentioned here, like Paychex Flex, Xero, and Paycor. How do you choose?

AppSumo can help you compare your options at a glance and get the info you need to make the right choice for your business. Not to mention, if you can snag an annual or lifetime deal for the software you need in the AppSumo store, you can save a ton of money. We’re always updating the store with new solutions so keep your eyes peeled for payroll processing tools!

Video is having something of a moment these days. According to HubSpot, 54% of consumers want to see more video content from their favorite companies.

In the first part of this post, we’ll explore 12 paid and free video editing tools to help you create your videos with style. Then, we’ll break down our deal video creation process step-by-step to give you some key takeaways that we’ve learned from creating video content over the years.

12 Best Paid and Free YouTube Video Editor Tools 

Here, we’ve pulled together 12 go-to video editing tools on the market. They’ll help you edit better and faster so that you can get back to replying to all the nice comments on YouTube.

1. Adobe Premiere Pro

Source: Adobe

Adobe Premiere Pro is the industry-leading professional video editing software.

Here’s what you can do:

• Stay super organized with advanced meta-tagging tools and workflows powered by Adobe Sensei
• Edit any video format all the way up to VR, and use helpful tools like Auto Reframe, advanced color grading tools, audio mixing, and so much more
• Easily pull motion graphics and images from After Effects, Photoshop, Spark, etc.
• Edit on your phone with Premiere Rush

Best for: Consummate professionals who don’t mind Adobe prices

Pricing: Premiere Pro starts at $20.99 per month (or $52.99 per month for the full Adobe Creative Cloud).

Related: Learn more about the 10 best Adobe Premiere alternatives for Windows, Mac, and more.

2. Filmora9

Source: Wondershare

Filmora9 is a great option for a YouTube video editor made for beginner to intermediate online video creators.

Here’s what you can do:

• Enjoy advanced layering (up to 100 layers)
• Add royalty-free music, effects, filters, and professional 3D LUTs in an easy drag-and-drop editor
• For more advanced video editing, Wondershare also creates FilmoraPro 

Best for: Beginner to intermediate YouTubers or Vimeo video editors

Pricing: $69.99 (one-time payment)

3. InVideo

Source: InVideo

InVideo is a scalable video creation platform that provides templates that help you make engaging videos, faster.

Here’s what you can do:

• Use pre-made templates to create professional-level videos in minutes
• Access InVideo’s media library loaded with millions of beautiful images, videos, and music
• Perform professional video editing functions: Trim clips, crop frames, loop video, and tons more with additional Advanced Editing options

Best for: Marketers, media companies, and any business that wants to create marketing videos

Pricing: InVideo offers a freemium version of their tool. Premium features start at $10 per month.

4. Adobe Spark

Source: Adobe

Adobe Spark is a lightweight online graphic, video, and web page editor.

Here’s what you can do:

• Use online editing tools to quickly create short videos
• Easily share creations across your favorite social channels
• Upload and use your favorite fonts, graphics, and photos — they’re stored online for easy regular access

Best for: Entrepreneurs and creatives looking for an easy online editing tool (picture Canva or Stencil)

Pricing: After two free months, Adobe Spark starts at $9.99/month (or $52.99 per month for the full Adobe Creative Cloud).

5. Camtasia

Source: TechSmith

Camtasia is an all-in-one screen and webcam recording tool with video editing functionality.

Here’s what you can do:

• Use the screen-capture and recording tools to create powerful tutorials and webinars
• Access a suite of editing tools to add effects, upload audio files, and other basic editing features
• Make video lessons interactive with quizzes to keep viewers engaged

Best for: Businesses, educators, and entrepreneurs

Pricing: Camtasia is available for a one-time payment of $249.

Related: Find out more about the best Camtasia alternatives for screen recording and video editing.

6. Final Cut Pro X

Source: Apple

Apple’s Final Cut Pro X is one of the go-to tools for professional video editors, with good reason. In fact, AppSumo’s video editor, Brandon, uses it. (See other tools Brandon loves!)

Here’s what you can do:

• Create professional-grade videos with a long list of powerful editing tools
• Use dynamic audio and visual editing tools for that added creative touch
• Experiment with advanced functionality like 360-degree video editing

Best for: Mac Pro users, professionals

Pricing: Final Cut Pro X is available for a one-time payment of $299

7. Kdenlive

Source: Kdenlive

Kdenlive (KDE Non-Linear Video Editor) is an open-source video editor that’s compatible across most video software.

Here’s what you can do:

• Access a standard multi-track video editing layout for straightforward editing
• Save time by avoiding the video file conversion process (most file types upload directly without needing to convert)
• Use basic effects, transitions, and title-creation features to add flavor to your project

Best for: Tech-savvy video creators

Pricing: Kdenlive is free and open source

8. MAGIX Vegas Pro

Source: MAGIX

MAGIX Vegas Pro is an advanced, customizable video editor.

Here’s what you can do:

• Access a robust suite of editing tools for professional-grade video creation
• Enjoy rendering tools like stabilization to diminish the impact of a shaky camera
• Use advanced editing features like motion tracking to help edit images moving across the screen

Best for: Professional film creators looking for advanced editing power

Pricing: Current promotion is for $299

9. iMovie (free)

Source: Apple

iMovie is a simple Mac-exclusive video editing software that comes standard on most Apple computers, iPhones, and iPads.

Here’s what you can do:

• Use simple video editing tools to create movies on your phone or computer
• Add animated titles, transitions, and personal videos and photos straight from your camera roll
• Film yourself on greenscreen to add the background of your choice

Best for: Apple users looking for a streamlined video editor to use across multiple devices

Pricing: Free (but only available for Apple users)

10. Shotcut (free, open source)

Source: ShotCut

Shotcut is a free, open-source video editing tool.

Here’s what you can do:

• Convert and adapt with native timeline editing that supports most major audio, image, and video formats
• Access dozens for editing tools from filters to color correction
• Dive in with free templates to help you create videos faster

Best for: Tech-savvy video creators

Pricing: Free and open source

11. Olive Video Editor (free)

Source: Oliver Video Editor

Olive Video Editor is a free non-linear video editor currently in alpha. Unlike beta versions, that means it’s scaling rapidly but not fully developed yet. You can download the current build now.

Here’s what you can do:

• Access a robust suite of video editing tools for flexible, professional-grade editing
• Communicate directly with the creators, influencing the creation of future tools and features (this is an open-source tool, after all!)
• Use shortcuts to speed up video editing

Best for: Early adopters curious to see if someone’s finally going to bridge the gap between professional-grade video editing software and free, open-source videos (jury’s still out)

Pricing: Free and open source

12. DaVinci Resolve (Free)

Source: DaVinci Resolve

DaVinci Resolve combines professional 8K editing, color correction, visual effects, and audio postproduction in one software tool. The program runs on all major platforms (Mac, Windows, and Linux).

Here’s what you can do:

• Access powerful editing, VFX, color correcting, and audio mixing features
• Use the streamlined “Cut Page” to import, edit, trim, add transitions, titles, automatically match color, mix audio, and more
• Integrate with ease and move projects between DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro, Avid Media Composer, and Premiere Pro

Best for: Editors in fast-paced environments working on things like commercials and news cutting, and users seeking a seamless all-in-one video solution

Pricing: Free, but if you want the multi-user collaboration features of DaVinci Resolve Studio 16, you’ll have to upgrade for a one-time fee of $299

AppSumo’s Video Editing 101 

Tip 1: Preparation is key

No one likes a rambly video intro. No matter what kind of video you’re making, do your homework beforehand to make sure your content is top-notch. First, our scriptwriter, Lyndsay, digs deep into our partner products to gather the most important information customers need to know before they buy.

We create each script using a few different sources, including our partner’s website and the product itself. Plus, we have partners submit a form with specific product information and a demo walkthrough. Lyndsay brings all of this research together to create an explainer video for all of you.

Even if your videos are more conversational and off the cuff, preparation is still key:

• Know what you’re going to talk about
• Bullet point your main ideas (so meta!)
• And rehearse the parts you’re most passionate about

If nothing else, it’ll make editing way easier.

Next, we film the video! We just dropped our tips for the filming process, including how to get the best audio and lighting for home recordings. Most of all, make sure you film with the editing process in mind to make work easier for your team later on.

Tip 2: Get your script in line with the lens 

We use a Padcaster Parrot Teleprompter, which comes with a native app that controls everything. Brandon simply loads the Google Doc into the app and the video host reads along.

Source: Padcaster

The benefit of a teleprompter is that it’s connected to the camera — directly in front of the lens. That way, the host can look directly at the camera. There’s nothing worse than watching someone clearly reading a script way off-camera. If a teleprompter isn’t in your budget, just spend more time on Tip #1 and let it roll!

At this point in the AppSumo deal video process, we have multiple people working together: Lyndsay writes the scripts after collaborating with our partners. Our design team creates graphics. Brandon films either Vanessa, Chris, or Chrystie on this set. And then the footage gets shipped off to Jordan for editing.

Tip 3: Create an organizational system for the process 

Even if you aren’t working across departments and city limits, there will always be moving parts in the video creation process. What… are you just going to make ONE video? We hope not.

Over here, we love a kanban board like former AppSumo partner MeisterTask to move scripts along. All AppSumo content teams use it. We communicate mostly through Slack with automated notifications when certain deliverables are completed.

AppSumo’s secret Kanban board

Tip 4: Find the editing tool you like 

This could mean shelling out some dollars, but it’s worth it to find the software you feel comfortable with that isn’t clunky or inefficient. For our editor Brandon, that’s Final Cut Pro X. He’s been using it for about 8 years and finds it to be a simpler UI than most others.

Check out 11+ more video editing tools listed below!

Editing our deal videos is fairly simple.

First, we trim down all the dead space in the main video and put aside any bloopers for the ending. Next, we excerpt the parts of the product demo that are mentioned in the script. Our wonderful scriptwriter — who is extremely helpful and had no hand at all in writing this — leaves timestamps in the script to know which part of the recording goes which section.

Tip 5: Take time to research on-brand motion graphic templates  

We use a number of tools to level up the visual and audio elements in our videos, so let’s take a minute to break down each of them.

• For zooms, we use either the native “Ken Burns” effect or a third party plugin called ProPath (it appears to be discontinued, but you can look at other similar Final Cut Pro X effects from Pixel Film Studios). The latter is ideal if you have more than one area to zoom in on.
• We typically use a combination of templates with Final Cut and Adobe After Effects, but Brandon is always on the prowl for ways to spice up our visuals. He’s found Envato’s Videohive.net to be super reliable, with a lot of animation bundles that are easy to customize.

You may also want to check out Lordicon for graphics — it’s a FREE collection of 500+ animated, interactive icons for web and mobile projects, videos, apps, and presentations available in the AppSumo store for a limited time.

Once we’ve killed it with the visuals by adding graphics and gifs, we layer in music. We source most of our royalty-free music through Epidemic Sound. Their library features boatloads of premium tracks with and without vocals, and they’re organized by genre for easy searching.

After final touch-ups, including adding some *drumroll*…sweet sound effects. Voilà: it’s ready to ship!

Advanced Tip: Build Your Video Studio

Want more behind the scenes of how we set up AppSumo’s video studio? Here’s the studio tour brought to you by Brandon.

The Right Tools for the Next YouTube Star

Annnnd… that’s a wrap!

Sumo-lings: don’t let the wrong video editing software stand in your way. With the right tools, you’ll be well on your way to small business YouTube stardom.

Looking for video hosting sites other than YouTube? Find out the 7 best video hosting sites in the market.

We’re talking:

• Accounting
• Payroll
• Human Resources
• CRM
• Email marketing campaigns
• Product & Inventory Management
• Quotes & Invoices
• With more on the way…

Oh, and since 2019 this team has launched an award-winning mobile app, raised a $100M Series A, and gotten 300K new users within 6 months, all during a pandemic — with almost zero marketing.

It appears this team is onto something.

It’s one of the most comprehensive SaaS products we’ve ever launched on AppSumo, rivaling tools like Zoho, Quickbooks, Xero, and Zendesk.

“SMBs don’t buy software. They buy solutions  to their problems.” – Shashank Dixit

Check out Deskera’s LTD promotion that dropped today.

But unfortunately in the world of SaaS, terms like “end-to-end business software” can lose their meaning. So we synced up with Deskera’s CEO, Shashank Dixit, to learn what Deskera is truly all about.

Can You Introduce Us to Deskera?

Deskera was founded in 2008 as an ERP and accounting software for SMBs in Southeast Asia. But a lot has changed since then.

Today, we focus on three core competencies: Books, CRM, and People. I would say most of our customers come for the accounting but stay for everything else.

Because under the hood of each of these products is all the accounting, payroll, inventory, invoicing, CRM, helpdesk, and HR tools that a modern SMB needs to grow. Deskera is an all-in-one suite of cloud-based business software that’s fully integrated and ready for SMBs right out of the box. The pricing is also intentionally SMB-friendly.

SMBs don’t buy software. They buy solutions to their problems. We help SMBs grow by connecting their entire business in the cloud — and giving them full control, right in their pocket.

How Has Your Product Evolved Over Time?

If you look at the interfaces of the biggest accounting, HR, and CRM software, everything is outdated. Go look at SAP. These products aren’t very user-friendly. So we wanted to do a total refresh of everything to invest in the long-term success of our users.

In the late 2010s, as we were interacting with thousands of customers, listening to their needs, we started to realize that the vast majority of our users are primarily on mobile. We also took a hard look at our product interface, doing a major UX and tech stack overhaul in 2019. We moved everything to the cloud and prioritized the mobile experience. We moved our website from WordPress to React, migrated to Ghost for the blog, and chose React Native for the app. And we raised a $100M Series A in the process.

This process was super labor-intensive, but it worked. Since we launched the app in late 2019, our app has won a 2020 Webby Award for “Best Visual Design – Function” and brought in 300K+ new Deskera users, validating all the work we put into our mobile-first approach.

One of the best things about mobile is that it saves our customers the money from having to buy so much other hardware. Desktop? You can if you want, but mobile has every functionality you need. Barcode reader? No need because you can scan barcodes with your phone and instantly see the product on your phone. These are expenses that we’re saving Deskera customers every day.

But after making progress across the Asian SME market, our team is gearing up to expand worldwide — which is a big reason we’re talking today.

Where Would You Position Deskera in the Business Software Market?

For some reason, North American SMB companies don’t have a single true end-to-end business software solution. The current market for SMBs is highly fractured: Everyone gets separate tools for their CRM, accounting, inventory, payroll, invoicing, HR, etc. Businesses must invest a lot of money in SaaS products that may or may not integrate with each other.

“Deskera’s premise is simple: If enterprise companies can solve this problem, why can’t SMBs? Now they can.” – Shashank Dixit

And the result is that it’s terribly cumbersome to manage your business.

Large U.S. enterprise companies have solved this problem with solutions like SAP or Oracle. Deskera’s premise is simple: If enterprise companies can solve this problem, why can’t SMBs? Now they can.

Let’s give a concrete example: If you want to set up a commission-based sales team, you currently need at least three different software tools to do it:

• CRM to track leads and funnels
• ERP software to document invoices
• Payroll system to pay out commissions

If you’re big enough to even be able to afford Salesforce, you still need payroll software. If you get HubSpot, you still need accounting and ERP tools. Each of these apps is only designed to do a small part of the work.

With Deskera, you can set up commissions out of the box — because it’s truly end-to-end.

So What’s In the Future for Deskera?

We’ve got more product lines in the pipeline, including Deskera Stores coming out in Q4 of 2020. Due to COVID, our customers needed to get products online fast — sometimes only 5-6 products — but didn’t want to pay for Shopify or custom-build an ecommerce solution. So we’re excited about that launch.

Ah yes, there’s also another launch: AppSumo.

As a newcomer to the North American market, we’re launching with AppSumo because we share a common ethos: That “the tools you need to run your business shouldn’t put you out of business.” That is just spot-on.

What I want SMBs to know is that when you need to grow past the startup phase, Deskera is an fully integrated suite of business software that will help you get there without all the headache. We’re deeply committed to listening to our customers and helping them grow.

You’re as good as the tools  you use. If your tools are limited, no matter how good you are you can never rise to your potential. Our goal is to remove that barrier to SMB growth.

Why AppSumo? What’s In It for Sumo-lings? 

I can’t stop talking about the fact that generally what we’ve found is that the whole market is condescending to SMBs. Netsuite is the product that serves this market, but it will cost you at least five figures for a license. The big names in software in this space are just prohibitively expensive.

Everyone gets pigeon-holed into using 2-3 different tools. Most people end up running everything through Quickbooks. But if you need effective multi-location inventory? Nope. If you need customer support? Don’t have high expectations. All of this is a big tax that SMBs have to pay.

This means that small businesses often get blamed for being small.

But did you know that 90% of businesses in America employ fewer than 20 people? And if you include sole proprietors, that bumps the number to 98%. We constantly praise big tech, but the truth is: SMBs are modern-day commerce in North America.

And SMBs need all the support they can get during this worldwide crisis.

So that’s why we’re running this AppSumo deal: We really want Sumo-lings to take this product to market and change the way the market has been operating.

The cool thing about stacking Deskera codes is that Sumo-lings can launch their agencies, careers, and programs around an all-in-one business software solution that gives them what they need to help clients with everything from accounting to HR.

SMBs all over the country are looking for their next bookkeeper, accounting, payroll specialist.

Let’s say you want to launch a small payroll provider: Deskera will empower you to scale your services around that. With Deskera, you get everything: payroll features, but also the other HRIS, CRM, and accounting software you can use to potentially land and expand your service offerings.

If you’re a fractional head of sales, you can stack codes to use this CRM across many different client engagements. Then you can add services like building out the helpdesk feature or email marketing campaign functionality for your clients. Or even share the Books feature to set up a sales-based commission structure for your clients out of the box.

Deskera will help you go horizontal or vertical. Or just buy it to cut the ongoing cost of the various accounting, CRM, inventory, email marketing, payroll, and HR tools you use to run your business.

Two more cool things for Sumo-lings who stack 3+ codes:

• Get your own affiliate landing page — If you stack codes, we’ll give you your own page to share to earn commissions for everyone who signs up for Deskera using your link. Plus, if we get 5K affiliates who take Deskera to market, we will have broken Quickbooks’ monopoly. Pretty cool.
• REST APIs — We have APIs that allow you to whitelabel this software and use the code to build your own applications.

Where to find the Deskera LTD

To celebrate making moves into the North American market, Deskera is available on AppSumo starting at $149 LTD for a limited time.

• Noah Kagan’s taco fixation
• Our copy’s addiction to FOMO
• The way everyone loses their mind when Black Friday Deals drop

But certain myths have built up that aren’t totally accurate. Truth be told, we’ve often failed to clarify misconceptions as they come up—and that’s on us.

If you’re reading this, our hope is that we can use this space to address some of these myths and give you more information about how we roll here at AppSumo.

So without further ado, let’s set the record straight…

Myth #1: Does AppSumo really take 70% revenue share?

Our business model is simple: We partner with some of the best SaaS brands in the world to give Sumo-lings (our customers) deals on the tools and resources they need to grow their businesses. We’re the marketplace, and our partners bring tools to promote to our community.

Misconception: AppSumo’s revenue share is 30/70 with partners.

Truth: We actually have two revenue share models:

Partner Revenue Share

We allocate a lot of money to get deals in front of potential buyers. Marketing is a huge ongoing expense that is required to make the magic happen. So our real revenue share model splits our revenue 50/50 with our partners., i.e., we each take home 30%. Here’s the breakdown:

• 40% of revenue is immediately invested into marketing, advertising, affiliates, and payment processing fees (We spend $100,000+ in payment processing fees alone each month!)
• Our default revenue share model is to split the remaining 60% with our partner

130% Partner Commissions

But as if that weren’t enough, you may not be aware that every partner receives 130% commission for every new buyer they bring in. This way, partners can actually make more money on our platform than if they did a lifetime deal (LTD) on their own.

Here’s Olman (“Olo”) Quesada, our Head of Business Development:

Olo: Some of our best partners have taken advantage of their exclusive partner affiliate link to make way more than 30%. Past partners have sent their link to cold email lists or used it to re-engage customers who churned. We firmly believe partners should be compensated adequately for new buyer acquisition, and this is our way of doing it.

Let’s run the numbers. Say a partner launches a $69 LTD on AppSumo. If they share their link with certain cold segments of their list, getting 50 new buyers to purchase their deal, here’s their extra revenue:

Marketing Budget

Here’s a sampling of where that 40% marketing spend goes to promote partner deals:

Ad spend

We allocate upward of $5M a year toward ad spend, mainly Facebook and Google ads. We’re continually optimizing our ad spend to get the best results we possibly can.

Content

We have a kickass content team that touches every product that comes through our store—deal copy team, video team, webinar team, and email copywriting team. We spend over 7 figures here annually.

Affiliate program

Then there’s the AppSumo Affiliate Program: We have over 4,000 affiliates in our network who get 100% commission on each new buyer they bring in, up to $50. We pay 5% on all affiliate purchases made by returning customers.

But we eat the cost of other marketing expenses, including:

Referral program

As of 2020, we have an altruistic referral model (Give $10, Get $10) using a tool called Friendbuy. 10% of all purchases made on AppSumo are made with free credits given to new and existing Sumo-lings through this refer-a-friend program.

AppSumo Plus

The bulk of all purchases made on AppSumo come from our AppSumo Plus Membership that offers members 10% off every tool they buy.

Myth #2: AppSumo only promotes products straight out of beta

Yes, it’s true we find many diamonds in the rough who use AppSumo to launch their product to the world. For example, Lemlist launched on AppSumo out of beta, scaling to $1M ARR in less than two years. In these cases, Sumo-lings are like early adopters who are kickstarting SaaS products—microinvestors who care more about product than profit.

Zapier famously used AppSumo to launch out of beta back in 2012:

But as we’ve grown, perhaps we haven’t emphasized this evolution enough. Today, it’s increasingly common for established SaaS products to launch promotions on our marketplace. Whether it’s launching into the North American market from abroad, promoting a major rebrand or product overhaul, or simply avoiding spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a major Facebook ads campaign, SaaS companies of all stripes partner with us to promote their products.

Here’s a few of our recent partners from this year alone:

• Malwarebytes – Est. 2008, 247K+ product installations/day
• WishList Member – Est. 2008, over 100K users
• Crello – Est. 2017, over 2M users
• Depositphotos – Est. 2009, clients in 192 countries
• BIGVU – 2016, 1.5m users, 30K subscribers
• PromoRepublic – Est. 2012, raised $2.2 million seed round in 2019

When you launch on AppSumo, you’re joining a community that includes names like Twilio, ClassPass, Shopify, Zendesk, Intercom, Bill.com, Optimizely, UserTesting, Buffer, Freshbooks, WP Engine, Audible, Evernote, and many more.

While we do launch beta products, we’ve evolved to give our community of over 1M entrepreneurs, agency owners, and freelancers a wide breadth of deals — from all types of partners.

The diversity of our marketplace is definitely something we’re leaning into.

Myth #3: AppSumo partners fail

According to Lighter Capital, 92% of SaaS startups fail within 3 years—even with a 20% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Despite that alarming statistic, our team has still managed to partner with a very high percentage of winners over the years, and has brought our community millions of dollars in savings along the way.

Olo: We do our best to partner with tools that are in it for the long-run. But no selection process is ever going to be 100% foolproof — just ask the folks at SoftBank.

 

But as we’ve run the numbers, we’ve found our partners to follow the opposite trend: Over 92% of products we launch are live after 3 years. We actually have a really high percentage of picks — one reason why Sequoia Capital has started to pay attention to our partner list.

 

Due to our rigorous Business Development and Beta-ling vetting process, an AppSumo launch is a signal to VCs that you’re worth a double take. A successful launch can provide a valuable proof of product/market fit, a key validation VCs obsess over. Former partners like HeySummit, Grammarly, Headspace, UserTesting, 99designs, Bonsai, Help Scout, and many more prove this.

Myth #4: Reviews are fake (or too good to be true)

From our perspective, reviews are important but moderation is low priority. Sumo-lings write reviews and they get approved. It’s an important part of our ecosystem, but we don’t have control over how many tacos Sumo-lings give a certain product.

The only reason reviews get taken down is if they contain profanity, a support issue that’s been resolved, or it’s just a total shitpost — rules we share with every Sumo-ling before they leave a review.

We’ve heard complaints about the number of reviews written by Sumo-lings who have only bought one deal or who “Joined today.” But for context, 4-5K new Sumo-lings join the community every month. We love it when they leave reviews. It’s an important part of being a part of this community.

We intentionally added visibility into the number of purchases a reviewer has made to increase transparency, so Sumo-lings can weigh each review however they see fit. We want each buyer to be empowered, knowing when a given reviewer bought their deal, joined AppSumo, and how many deals they’ve bought. We invite everyone to assess the credibility of each review—and ultimately judge for themselves.

Myth #5: AppSumo partners can’t grow sustainably

In the past 10 years, we’ve done over 1,000 unique launches with SaaS partners. Fewer than 20 of these companies have gone under or completely failed. Some have been acquired, but not all acquisitions result in a lack of Sumo-ling support for the AppSumo deal.

The AppSumo community has essentially been micro investors for the past 10 years. Our partners have raised over $17 billion in funding, making waves across the technology world. Here’s a small sampling of recent partners:

• Restream: Raised $50M Series A a year and a half after their AppSumo launch
• Frase: Had the biggest launch in AppSumo history, their website traffic is up 500% above pre-launch levels two months after their deal and weekly active users are up from 840 to 13,579 (an 1800% increase!)
• Process Street: Raised $12M Series A in the year following AppSumo launch
• Respond.io (formerly Rocketbots): Co-Founder Gerardo Salandra was on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Enterprise Technology in Asia in 2020
• Krisp: Raised a $5M Series A one year after their AppSumo launch
• CloudApp: Raise a $4.3M Seed Round a year after their AppSumo launch

Olo: We like to say that AppSumo is like training at high altitude: On launch day, you get to see what it looks like to onboard hundreds of customers in real time. This allows you to stress-test your product—and your team.

 

The customer base you get from an AppSumo launch is the base you use to grow. Sumo-lings make phenomenal affiliates. If they love your product, there’s no way you can keep them from talking about it a lot, publicly, all over the internet. We encourage our partners to capitalize on the noise and energy of a launch. If your product is solid and you have a dedicated team to support your users, you will thrive. But on the flip side, AppSumo isn’t going to save you if you don’t have those elements in place.

 

The truth is, the type of company that has a great launch would have been fine without us. We just help our partners reach that next level of success faster and stronger. But what we’re looking for is companies with a healthy run rate. We make sure partners have at least a year’s worth of runway to launch a deal with us.

If you’re curious about our other requirements, check out How to Launch a Product on AppSumo.

Don’t take it from us

But enough from us. If you’d like to learn the inside scoop from our partners, here are several others perspectives to check out:

• From 169 Customers to 8,266 in 28 Days: How Frase Built the Biggest AppSumo Launch Ever
• The PromoRepublic experience: how a startup can get supersonic acceleration in the American market through partnership with AppSumo
• How We Made $250,000 In One Week: A Guide For Successful Appsumo Promotion [Update]
• $93,884 & 3,500 customers in 3 weeks: Our AppSumo experience
• Why You Want To Be Featured On AppSumo (Even if It’s Risky)
• Are You Launching a Product? See How We Made $450k in the First Two Months

Meet Powtoon, a visual communications tool that lets you create animated videos with graphics, voiceover, sound effects, and more. Apparently, it’s quite popular among the big wigs. Powtoon is used for:

• Social media promos
• Explainer videos
• Video presentations
• eLearning
• Employee engagement… and more.

It’s basically like Canva, but for video. And there is a free version. But fair warning, like PicMonkey, you can’t download a video made in the free version unless you sign up for a subscription.

So if your team is ready to explore the best Powtoon alternatives, here’s your list of places to start.

And … action!

1. Wideo

Wideo is a web-based video creation platform that lets you produce animated videos and presentations quickly. Get started with a video template that you can customize using drag-and-drop functionality. And voila! You’ll have a professional-looking video ready to share right away.

Main features:

• Video template library
• Licensed music library
• Drag-and-drop animation editor
• Easily convert your video layout in just a few clicks
• Youtube uploads

Cost: Wideo normally starts at $19 per month, billed annually. But for a limited time, you can get it on AppSumo starting from a one-time payment of $59.

Best for: Marketing professionals, startups, and content teams who want to create more engaging presentations and video content

2. Moovly

Moovly is a video creation studio software. It has a familiar video editing design, with streamlined tools so beginners don’t get lost in the weeds. You can upload your own audio, video, and images — or use one of the many starting templates and free media content available within Moovly.

Main features:

• Video template library
• Browser-based
• 1.3M free media objects
• Video automator
• Google Sheets integration for bulk video creation
• WordPress plugin
• Mobile app

Cost: Moovly starts at $49 per month. There is a free plan.

Best for: Creatives who need to build videos on the go or companies looking for an automated solution for creating high-volume explainer videos

3. Animaker

Animaker is an animation software and live-action video maker for beginners and non-techies. As an established tool in the short animated explainer video space, Animaker boasts some in-depth features like auto lip-syncing for your little animated characters as well as a brand kit for storing your company’s colors, fonts, and logos.

Main features:

• Drag-and-drop 4K video and character builder
• 100M+ free stock videos, images, sound effects, and music
• 1000+ templates
• Resizing for specific social platforms
• GIF maker
• Auto lip-sync for animated characters
• Subtitling
• Brand Kit to save your assets, fonts, and colors

Cost: Starts at $19 per month. Animaker has a free plan.

Best for: Companies looking to create their own animated explainer videos

4. VistaCreate

VistaCreate is a Canva alternative that empowers you to create gorgeous short videos for use across social media. The strength of VistaCreate is in its gorgeous, made-for-social designs and animated elements that align with current design trends. Designs on point.

Main features:

• 25K templates for all big social media formats, including 5K animated options
• 50K free video clips
• Depositphotos access
• YouTube intro/outro maker
• One-click resize

Cost: Crello Pro usually starts at $7.99 per month. There is a free version.

Best for: Businesses making visually stunning online video ads for social, particularly Instagram Stories (plus other graphic design assets)

5. Vyond

Vyond, formerly known as GoAnimate, is an animated video maker for training, eLearning, and marketing purposes. Vyond offers a suite of enterprise-ready offerings, including extra data security and a white-glove service with a dedicated Customer Service Manager, etc.

Main features:

• Three 2D character looks: contemporary, business-friendly, and whiteboard animation
• Multi-user video collaboration (for larger plans)
• White-glove enterprise-level support
• Extra data security features

Cost: Starts at $299 per year. Vyond does not have a free plan.

Best for: Teams looking to create large suites of secure, animated eLearning/training videos

6. InVideo

InVideo is a robust drag-and-drop video creator for everything from YouTube videos to “bite-sized ads.” Create beautiful modern explainer videos, explore thousands of easy to use templates for various social media channels, edit videos for YouTube, create video presentations, and more.

Main features:

• Advanced editing: trim/extend clips, crop frames, loop video, and more
• Media library full of millions of beautiful images, videos, and music
• Licensed music library
• Tons of templates
• Convert articles into engaging videos

Cost: InVideo normally starts at $10 per month.

Best for: Marketers, media companies, and any business that wants to create kickass marketing videos

7. Raw Shorts

The lucky-number seventh Powtoon alternative on our list is Raw Shorts, a drag-and-drop animated video maker for businesses. Powered by artificial intelligence, this tool literally transforms your written content—like blogs, scripts, ads, and spreadsheets—into animated videos. Let’s unpack some more features.

Main features:

• AI-powered text to video
• Video templates
• Stock videos
• Turn text content into videos in minutes
• Upload your media or use content from their library
• Choose from multiple animation styles
• Whiteboard animation maker

Cost: Raw Shorts starts at $39 per month paid annually. They do not have a free plan.

Best for: Businesses who want quick explainer and promo videos, without the time and hassle of normal video editing

8. Biteable

Biteable is a Powtoon alternative known for its ease of use that’s ideal for companies looking to create presentations, marketing videos, and more. They provide you with hundreds of thousands of video templates, so you can create professional (and fun) content in minutes. IMHO their visual style is really impressive.

Main features:

• Video templates
• Animations
• Change text, colors, music, and more
• Discover templates and tools by category (advertising, promo video, animated text, etc.)
• Animate your logo
• Brand your content
• Graphic creator

Cost: Biteable’s premium version starts at $15 per month paid annually. They have a free version.

Best for: Small businesses, solo-preneurs, big enterprise-level companies… basically everyone.

9. Adobe Spark

And of course, Adobe is one of the leading design software tools on the planet. So, you know they’ve got a great Powtoon alternative up their sleeve. And you’re right: It’s called Adobe Spark. It’s a simple combo graphics and short video editor—a great tool for creating simple social media content.

Main features:

• Thousands of free images and icons
• Templates
• Collaborate with your team within Adobe Spark
• Create branded templates
• Mobile-friendly (iPhone and Android video editing apps)

Cost: Adobe Spark offers a free version. Premium memberships start at $9.99 per month.

Best for: Companies and individuals looking for a simple graphics and social video creator

10. Prezi

Another popular Powtoon alternative is Prezi, presentation software for academics, marketers, and business owners to showcase their ideas in style. They provide three core offerings: Video animations, graphic/image editing, and slideshow tools similar to Powerpoint.

Main features:

• Business-focused graphics like pie charts
• Video slides that rotate on the screen with your presentation
• Create on-screen graphics for live and recorded videos
• Pre-designed static and dynamic graphics
• Basic video editing (like trimming and adding text)

Cost: Premium pricing begins at $7 per month. Prezi has a free version of its video tool.

Best for: Teachers, business owners, marketers, students

More Powtoon alternatives

So, which Powtoon alternatives caught your attention?

Tell us in the comments! There are so many more tools in this space like Movavi, Animaker, VideoScribe, Emaze, Wideo, Promo.com, and more. And if you didn’t quite find what you’re looking for, keep an eye on the AppSumo store. We’re all about giving you the best deals on great software. You never know when the next Powtoon alternative will show up with a lifetime deal.

So you want to launch and sell online courses?

With a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 20% through 2027, becoming a publisher of online education resources is definitely worth the double-take you just did there.

While it feels like “everyone” is launching a course or membership site, there is still room for course creators to carve out a nice (and highly passive) income stream by teaching new skills to eager online learners — if the course is professionally-created, well-reviewed, and properly marketed.

In this post, I’ll show you some of the best online learning platforms for your next big course. Let’s do it!

1. Gurucan

Key Features

• All-in-one platform to run and start a digital knowledge business. From no limit content upload to building converting pipelines, including emails and push-notifications
• Wrap all your digital products (online courses, memberships, digital downloads, podcasts, blogs, workouts, meal plans, chats) in the best bundle of mobile app and browser version
• Mobile LMS allows managing all types of digital products from any browser — desktop & mobile
• It’s all about your brand. The self-managed customizable color appearance of the interface comes with all pricing plans
• No coding required

Best For: Content creators looking for a simple, modern, and friendly all-in-one platform to run a digital business

Price: Starts at $26 per month

2. Heights Platform

Key Features

• Courses and communities integrated in a fully white-label program designed for the modern creator to monetize their knowledge
• Create unlimited courses, digital products, communities, projects, and bundles on any pricing plan
• An all-in-one solution that provides everything needed to build a successful knowledge business. Every plan includes a blogging feature and affiliate program feature to help creators promote their content.
• Flexible options to accept payments from students. Mix and match any combination of one-time, installment, and subscription payment plans for your content. Create discounts and coupon code URLs, making it easy to list your products on AppSumo.

Best for: Experts and coaches who view themselves more as creators than they do digital markers, and want to provide a comprehensive blend of courses and community features to their learners.

Price: Starts at $39/month.

3. Thinkific

Key Features

• Engage students with videos, quizzes, text, surveys, automated check-ins, Google docs, discussions, and more
• Create prerequisite lessons, drip schedule content, add multiple instructors, create course cohorts and even build a membership site around your course
• Drag-and-drop site builder with education-focused themes to choose from
• Set up free trials, affiliate programs, upsells, payment plans, coupons, or a lower cost for the first month

Best for: Non-technical course creators looking for a comprehensive solution like a Shopify for hosting their course

Price: Paid plans start at $39/month. Thinkific has a free version.

4. Udemy

Key Features

• Udemy hosts over 100K courses on a wide variety of subjects
• Anyone can become an instructor on Udemy. But if you want to monetize your online courses, you have to apply to become a Premium Instructor
• Courses live on the Udemy marketplace, available from $10-$199 per course or subscribers to Udemy for Business

Best for: Instructors who want to create a course without managing the marketing, hosting, or need to design a site

Price: It’s free to create a course

5. LearnDash

Key Features

• Create advanced quizzes including 8 different answer types like multiple choice, sorting, matching, fill-in-the-blank, essay questions, and more — plus questions and answers support any type of media.
• Award certificates, download reports, drip content, automatically engage with learners based on trigger actions and reuse content across different courses
• Create forums for your course participants and add gamification to the experience with course completion points

Best for: Professional course creators in higher ed and professional training who need a really robust LMS feature set for WordPress

Price: Starts at $159 for a 1 site license with updates and support for a year.

6. Teachable

Key Features

• Teachable is broken up into “Teachable Schools,” essentially the website where your courses live, and Courses which is the educational content you sell.
• Offer live courses for group coaching, give students course completion certificates, and host your videos right in Teachable
• Setup payments the way you want: offer coupons, subscriptions, memberships, bundles, and more

Best for: Coaches and subject-matter experts who want to launch a hosted website for their course(s)

Price: Plans start at $29 per month

7. Kajabi

Key Features

• Kajabi is positioned as an all-in-one online learning platform: it gives you the website for housing your courses and digital products, plus:
• Email marketing, automation-based campaigns, built-in discussion forums, analytics, and more.
• It’s really positioned as a replacement to all the plugins and integrations many in eLearning have used forever

Best for: Course creators who need an out of the box solution for creating, hosting, marketing, and tracking their course revenue

Price: Starts at $119 per month

8. LearnWorlds

Key Features

• Build a website (called a “school”), offer coupons, promotions, and set up one-click funnels
• Show interactive transcripts during courses, add easy interactions into videos, track student progress, and create question banks for randomized tests
• Package learning materials as ebooks that allow students to take notes and annotate text online
• Integrated community and membership site features, and give certificates for completion

Best for: Serious course creators and educators needing a high-quality online learning platform for a whole catalog of courses

Price: Starts at $29 per month

9. TalentLMS

Key Features

• Build a white-label website, easily reuse course content, view course analytics
• Host virtual learning sessions to offer blended learning experiences, run assessments, collect survey responses, gamification elements for learners, and issue certificates upon completion

Best for: Course creators looking for a versatile learning management system (LMS) for creating training resources for internal use

Price: Plans start at $59 per month. TalentLMS has a free plan.

10. Koantic

Key Features

• WYSIWYG course editor, automatic video subtitle tool, pre-made templates
• Build interactive assessments with 9 different question types
• Collaborate on course creation with team authoring tools
• Publish to your site/LMS or to the Koantic LMS cloud

Best for: Non-technical course creators wanting to create courses with flexible publishing options

Price: Plans start at $39 per month. Koantic has a free plan.

Pick Your Favorite Online Learning Platforms

Of course, there are so many online course platforms around today.

If you’re a learner, other online platforms you may want to check out include Edx (and their massive open online courses, MOOC), WizIQ, Skillshare, Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, Docebo, the Harvard Open Learning Initiative, Stanford Online, and Udacity.

Good luck, Sumo-lings! Class dismissed.

BONUS MATERIAL: PRODUCTIVITY BOOSTED PDF

Find the best productivity strategy for you with a side-by-side comparison of top productivity frameworks. Download Now

Basecamp is basically the Al Pacino of project management software.

Award-winning. Been around for decades. Headliner. Best-in-class. But, admittedly, not the perfect fit for every Hollywood role.

The same goes for Basecamp — it’s not for everyone. So, let’s chat about some basecamp alternatives.

Introduction to Basecamp

Basecamp has a streamlined, no-nonsense UI that enables remote team messaging and shared project management. Their founder wrote the book on remote work. Basecamp has some truly innovative features like Hill Charts and daily automatic check-ins to capture what everyone’s been doing. We use Basecamp at AppSumo, along with a whole host of other tools including MeisterTask and Slack—and many more.

Source: Basecamp

Basecamp is ready out of the box, with the tradeoff that there are fewer customization features across the board.  The real downside of Basecamp is the limited visualization, analytics, and reporting functions relative to other leading project management software today.

In this way, Basecamp can be viewed more as a task tracking and communication software for large teams versus an in-depth project management software that goes granular on time tracking, financials, or budget tracking. Also, Basecamp 3 is $99 per month flat—meaning it’s best suited for medium-to-large teams.

If Basecamp isn’t the right casting choice for your next blockbuster, check out these promising Basecamp alternatives:

1. Agiled
2. Nifty
3. Asana
4. Trello
5. ClickUp
6. Notion
7. Stackby
8. Freedcamp
9. Airtable
10. Teamwork
11. Monday.com
12. Slack
13. Bonus: Teamdeck + Bloo

Top Basecamp alternatives in 2020

1. Agiled

List of features:

• Kanban
• Gantt Charts
• File Management
• Invoicing
• Time & Expense Tracking
• Project Discussions

Why Agiled is an excellent alternative to Basecamp: If you need to manage projects easily, collaborate with your team and clients, track time and expenses, and invoice for the projects, Agiled might be a good Basecamp alternative for you. Agiled also has in-app messaging like Basecamp.

Free version: No

Starting pricing: Agiled usually starts at $15 per month. Or you can get Agiled one-year deal on AppSumo at $249.

2. Nifty 

Source: Nifty

List of features:

• In-app messaging
• Document management
• Kanban
• Time & expense tracking
• Knowledge hub
• Gantt chart

Why Nifty is a good alternative to Basecamp: With Nifty, you can create Google Docs (or native Nifty Docs) right in the UI, track time, and assign more than one person on tasks. Nifty is a good Basecamp alternative for PMs who manage agencies, small teams, and teams of engineers requiring more in-depth reporting.

Free version: No

Starting price: Nifty usually starts at $39 per month.

3. Asana

Source: Asana

List of features:

• Timelines
• Kanban
• Client portal
• Time & expense tracking
• Automation
• Pre-made templates
• Gantt charts

Why Asana is a good Basecamp alternative: If you need more robust project management control features like reporting, managing workloads, and visualizing your project data—a real bird’s eye view—Asana might be a good Basecamp alternative for you. But note that Asana doesn’t have an in-app chat feature like Basecamp.

Free version: Yes

Starting price: $10.99 per month per user

4. Trello

Source: Trello

List of features:

• Gantt charts
• Kanban
• Time & expense tracking
• Workflow automation
• Budget management

Why Trello is a good alternative to Basecamp: In general, Trello is simpler than Basecamp. Many people use Basecamp as a comprehensive tool to manage teams and projects across their business. Get Trello if you need a more straightforward, linear kanban project management tool.

Free version: Yes

Starting price: $12.50 per month per user

5. ClickUp

Source: ClickUp

List of features:

• Client portal
• Inbox
• Gantt charts
• Kanban
• Time & expense tracking
• Budget management

Why ClickUp is a good Basecamp alternative: With easy setup, frequent updates, a Loom-like Chrome extension for adding marked-up screenshots to tasks, and one of the more robust sets of features on this list, ClickUp packs some deep project management tools while sparing your wallet. That said, with more features comes the tradeoff of complexity to get it running exactly like you want it. This is also a relatively new player in the market.

Free version: Yes

Starting price: $5 per month per user

6. Notion

Source: Notion

List of features:

• Notes and docs
• Multiple database views
• Budget management
• Highly customizable templates
• Kanban

Why Notion is a good alternative to Basecamp: If you’re tired of Basecamp’s limited flexibility, Notion shares a similar UI feel with near-limitless customization. Though Notion is not a pure project management software, it is a strong choice for building company wikis and managing projects on flexible kanban boards. The tradeoff is the learning curve of building a new mental model for modular docs-based project management.

Free version: Yes

Starting price: $5 per month per user

7. Stackby

Source: Stackby

List of features:

• Kanban
• Multiple database views
• Connect third-party APIs to pull info
• Pre-built templates

Why Stackby is a good alternative to Basecamp: Stackby is better for teams who want to push and pull third-party data, configure their databases, and keep track IRL. With fully customizable column types, this tool also appears on our list of Excel alternatives. While different from Basecamp, if you manage and run highly data-driven projects, this tool might be the right fit to keep your projects on track.

Free version: No

Starting price: Stackby usually starts at $5 per user per month. For a limited time, get annual access for $199.

8. Freedcamp 

Source: Freedcamp

List of features:

• Kanban
• Gantt chart
• Wiki
• Time tracking & invoices
• Custom-email tasks to yourself
• Issue tracker
• CRM

Why Freedcamp is a good Basecamp alternative: In general, Freedcamp is a lot more than just a project management software—it’s also a CRM, invoicing, and issue tracker. One benefit is that you can fully customize each project on the platform, choosing the tools your team actually uses. Plus Freedcamp is a former AppSumo partner!

Free version: Yes (with an impressive array of features)

Starting price: $1.49 per user per month

9. Airtable

Source: Airtable

List of features:

• Customizable templates
• Client portal
• Gantt charts
• Kanban
• Time & expense tracking
• Budget management

Why Airtable is a good alternative to Basecamp: Flexibility is the key differentiator from Basecamp here. Airtable is a linked-database tool. You can see things in a grid, calendar, gallery, kanban, or Gantt chart (in the Pro plan). This tool is useful for project analysis and allows the use of complex formulas within the database you’d use as your project tracker.

This tool also appeared in our roundup of Excel alternatives if that gives you an idea of the true nature of its functionality.

Free version: Yes

Starting price: $12 per month per user

10. Teamwork

Source: Teamwork

List of features:

• Client portal
• Customizable templates
• Idea management
• Milestone tracking

Why Teamwork is a good alternative to Basecamp: Teamwork is an in-depth project management software ideal for agencies who need time logging, a client portal, and in-depth reporting features like percentages on task completion. Teamwork is also much more affordable for smaller teams but may be overly complex for some users.

Free version: Yes

Starting price: $9 per month per user

11. Monday.com

Source: Monday.com

List of features:

• Client portal
• Gantt charts
• Kanban
• Time & expense tracking
• Budget management

Why Monday.com is a good alternative to Basecamp: With a user-friendly and fun design, Monday.com will give you the features like Gantt chart, time tracking, and timelines that you may be missing with Basecamp.

Free version: No

Starting price: $39 per month for 5 users

12. Slack

Source: Slack

List of features:

• Client portal
• Customizable templates
• Idea management
• Milestone tracking

Why Slack is a good Basecamp alternative: Slack is a go-to internal communication app for businesses of all sizes, and Basecamp serves a similar function. Booth tools are positioned as an alternative to email for remote teams. Slack is not a project management tool, but you can integrate with certain other project management tools or use various channels and checkboxes for task management.

Free version: Yes

Starting price: $6.67 per month per user

Honorable Mentions:

Teamdeck

If you’re looking more for resource management: more advanced team scheduling, time tracking, leave management, and reporting features in your workflow, check out AppSumo partner Teamdeck.

For a limited time, get lifetime access to Teamdeck for $49.

Bloo

Another incredible lifetime deal on a project management tool that combines boards, calendars, files, and more to handle even the most complex initiatives. Beat the disorganization blues once and for all with Bloo (available for a limited time for $49 lifetime.)

Thanks, Sumo-lings! Stay safe and take it easy, y’all.

The pressure is mounting. Walls are closing in. The team you met on Tatooine Upwork isn’t making any progress. Time isn’t on your side. Will the outside world ever hear of your product again?

Okay, okay, maybe it’s not that dire. But the odds aren’t exactly stacked in your favor:

• Social media is dominated by hostile algorithms
• Getting into the Product Hunt Top 5 is more competitive than ever
• People have been writing “growth hacking is dead” blogs since 2015
• Coronavirus has upended the world economy, throwing everything into upheaval and grave uncertainty

It wasn’t supposed to be like this… and you’ve got a galaxy to win over.

And it might be even worse for teams trying to relaunch a new version or groundbreaking feature. How do you rewrite the narrative with your new and improved 3.0 product when there’s a large, dated ecosystem of user-generated content and legacy reviews attached to it?

You could dish out $100K’s in ad spend. Or create a complex go-to-market gameplan with a small army of friends and freelancers.

Or… you could launch on AppSumo.

We sat down with four founders who ran deals grossing over $2,396,735.40 in total revenue from AppSumo deals. When we asked, “Why AppSumo?” we found their answers centered around a single theme:

Get paid to run your biggest word-of-mouth marketing campaign yet.

In this whitepaper, you can hear firsthand from four different founders about their AppSumo launches:

• Their initial skepticism about whether AppSumo was right for them
• What to expect during an AppSumo launch
• Opportunities for building MRR out of a launch
• Why AppSumo works for new and established SaaS companies
• What they got out of their campaigns, post-launch strategies, and more

Download Why Launch a Product on AppSumo? to learn how four SaaS founders generated millions of dollars of revenue on AppSumo

Read these four stories about founders who used AppSumo to:

1. Rapidly build, launch, and establish self-sustaining SaaS companies… and repeat 3x
2. Introduce their product to the U.S. market from Spain
3. Successfully relaunch a new version of an established WordPress product
4. Launch out of beta and make it to $1M ARR in less than 2 years (not even counting profit from the AppSumo launch)

Plus, you can read their advice to founders curious about partnering with AppSumo.

Who It’s For

If you’re curious about exploring the possibility of a partnership, please check out our Submit a Product to apply.

We’re looking for new and innovative partners to launch:

• Online courses & digital downloads
• Growth-stage SaaS products
• Established SaaS products

…to our audience of 1.5M+ tech-savvy entrepreneurs, freelancers, and hustlers.

If you think your product, digital download, or course has product/Sumo-ling fit, we’d love to hear from you.

We sat down with three AppSumo affiliate marketers to do a deep-dive into how they make AppSumo’s affiliate marketing program work for their online businesses and clients.

Sandeep Mallya, 99signals

Agency Owner, Blogger, & YouTuber

“To be a successful AppSumo affiliate, you need to be an AppSumo customer first…. Once you’ve tried the products out, start reviewing the ones that really helped you and publish in-depth how-to guides on your blog to showcase your expertise.”

For Sandeep Mallya, entrepreneur and digital marketing consultant from Bangalore, India, AppSumo has been a natural fit as an affiliate program.

Source: 99signals

Tell us a bit about you.

I started my digital marketing agency, Startup Cafe Digital, in 2015 to help small businesses and startups leverage SEO, content marketing, and social media marketing to grow their traffic and generate qualified leads for their business.

Then I launched 99signals in 2016 as a side project to document all the strategies, tools, and tactics that I was using to grow my small agency.

The goal was simple: to arm other solopreneurs with all the right information and tools they needed to launch a successful online business.

I joined a few affiliate programs and started publishing comprehensive reviews and comparison posts about the tools that I was familiar with. Over time, these posts started ranking well on Google and I observed a steady rise in my affiliate income. Fast forward to today, 99signals has grown significantly and generates over $5,000 in side income each month. The blog currently features 200+ in-depth articles, how-to guides, and actionable tips on a wide range of marketing topics — from SEO and content marketing to social media marketing and affiliate marketing.

How does affiliate marketing fit into your business?

I write in-depth reviews, comparisons, and how-to guides on almost all the affiliate products I promote on my blog. I believe in publishing long-form posts and always ensure my articles stay “evergreen” by updating them frequently with fresh information. I also publish video reviews and tutorials for the AppSumo tools I promote on my blog. I mostly rely on SEO techniques like keyword research and link building to generate traffic for my articles, but also experiment with PPC ads and Facebook ads from time to time. I’ve also steadily grown my email list to over 10,000 subscribers and I send email alerts to them each time I publish a new piece of content.

Can you tell us a bit about your audience?

My audience consists of early-stage entrepreneurs, online marketers, bloggers, and of course, aspiring entrepreneurs. It’s essentially the same audience that AppSumo caters to. Many of them are running their own business or managing a side hustle — a blog, podcast, or YouTube channel that is generating a consistent stream of income. As a result, the tools that AppSumo offers are right up their alley.

There are two advantages of buying AppSumo tools:

• You get cutting-edge online tools from some of the biggest names in the tech industry and promising startups

• You get lifetime access (in most cases) to these products – meaning you just need to pay a one-time fee towards a software that would otherwise cost you a monthly subscription fee

If you’re an entrepreneur, this is an incredible platform for you to buy your favorite business tools and save thousands of dollars at the same time.

Tips for being a great affiliate marketer

I follow two rules when it comes to affiliate marketing:

• Be 100% informed about the product you’re promoting.
• Create high-quality content that’s comprehensive, unique, and interesting. It has to solve a major problem or question a user has about the product they are about to buy.

I follow the same rules while creating content for AppSumo tools as well. When it comes to being an AppSumo affiliate, you need to understand the structure they follow and the type of deals they promote. You need to master the platform! In other words, to be a successful AppSumo affiliate, you need to be an AppSumo customer first. The first thing you should do is buy some of the deals and test them out. Once you’ve tried the products out, start reviewing the ones that really helped you and publish in-depth how-to guides on your blog to showcase your expertise. Do this consistently and in due time, you’ll establish yourself as an authority who people can trust.

What’s your advice for being an AppSumo affiliate?

When I signed up for the AppSumo affiliate program, I already had a ton of reviews and how-to guides for other affiliate products on my blog, so naturally, I thought the logical next move would be to essentially do the same thing for the AppSumo tools I was promoting. The reviews started ranking well on Google, but it took at least 2-3 weeks for them to reach the top 3 search results. 2-3 weeks is the average shelf life of an AppSumo deal. By the time my reviews started ranking, a majority of the deals would be sold out.

That’s when I realized I could be doing video tutorials and leveraging YouTube as a platform to reach out to a whole new audience. There’s much less competition on YouTube for the keywords you’re targeting, compared to the organic competition for the same keywords on Google. My first video review of an Instagram marketing tool called Shorty did quite well and boosted my affiliate income. Since then, I’ve consistently published video reviews and walkthroughs on my channel to help other AppSumo users and that’s positively impacted my AppSumo affiliate income as well.

I really enjoy the timely payouts and the approachable nature of the AppSumo team. The affiliate team at AppSumo is always eager to assist and provide the necessary resources to help you grow your affiliate income. Furthermore, the affiliate dashboard has all the information you need and the tracking is impeccable.

Carly Campbell, Mommy on Purpose

Mommy Blogger & Course Creator

“AppSumo has shown me numerous times that they value the work I do. They’ve reached out to me for my opinions on their program, and they’ve worked with me to make my sales even better.”

Source: Mommy on Purpose

Tell us a bit about you.

My name is Carly Campbell, founder of Mommy on Purpose and Blogging Like You Mean It.

Mommy on Purpose was started in 2016 when I was pregnant with my first baby. There was NO WAY I was going to go back to work and leave him in daycare, so I was determined to make this whole blogging and internet marketing thing work for me.

I figured out Pinterest traffic, and within 9 months I had replaced my income (and then some). Today I am absolutely passionate about helping other moms find more work freedom so they can stay at home with their kids!

How would you define affiliate marketing for a beginner?

Affiliate marketing is just sharing products you love with other people—and earning a commission on the sale. Sure, you can sell things you don’t use + love yourself, but it’s a heck of a lot harder. People can often tell when you’re not being genuine!

Your affiliate commission is like an “advertising fee” paid by the brands you are promoting.

Affiliate marketing is one of my favorite income streams because I don’t have to do much long-term WORK. When you create and sell your own products, you are in charge of maintaining that product and customer support for it – it’s much harder than just selling someone else’s product!

How does affiliate marketing work for you?

I have two affiliate marketing “channels.” The first is on my blog, Mommy On Purpose. There, I sell affiliate products IN CONTENT. 99% of the things I sell are things I use and love myself.

I don’t use email or social media to make sales on my blog, so the content has to be problem-solving content, not just “chatty” type content. Creating problem-solving content is how you get people to find and click on your affiliate links! I tend to use mainly Amazon Associates there and digital products created by other internet marketers.

Here is an example of a post that sells mostly Amazon items. And here’s another example of a post that sells digital products created by others.

I have another business, Blogging Like You Mean It, where I sell affiliate products to my email list and in my Facebook group.

I only sell things I have used and enjoyed, but this is much more “active” sales. I need to write emails, have conversations, and answer questions about the products. These active sales generally make more money than passive sales.

What are your tips for being an AppSumo affiliate partner?

Because AppSumo deals are short term, you have to treat them a little differently than you would your evergreen affiliate promotions. It’s not as effective to just link out to AppSumo deals in content – this is a program that is better for an ACTIVE audience than a PASSIVE audience. (Although you certainly can link to AppSumo and collect cookies all over the internet!)

Also, I’ve learned that you can have more success and earn more money if you do not try to promote deals too often. If you know one particular product can do really well for you, focus all your energies on that promotion (e.g. 3 emails about the single promotion vs. 3 emails about 3 separate promotions).

Any parting advice?

It’s important to think about how affiliate marketing will play into your long-term plan for your business. Try to partner with companies that value their affiliates. We are paid members of a team and should be treated as such. Too often we see programs slashing commissions or shutting their programs down altogether with no notice. AppSumo has shown me numerous times that they value the work I do. They’ve reached out to me for my opinions on their program, and they’ve worked with me to make my sales even better.

Amy Lynn Andrews, The Useletter®

Blogger & Newsletter Author

“Operate with the highest integrity always.”

Source: Amy Lynn Andrews

Tell us a bit about you.

My passion is minimalist business. I help beginners build their own minimalist online businesses at AmyLynnAndrews.com and in my once-a-week, tip-packed email called the Useletter®.

How do you share AppSumo products as an affiliate?

While I do share AppSumo affiliate links on my site, I get the best response when I share them in the Useletter®. The format of delivering highly-curated content to online business owners, bloggers, and those who want to work from home is perfect for AppSumo offers.

What’s your biggest piece of advice for affiliate marketers?

Trust is a form of currency with compounding returns. Make it your highest goal. Give way more than you take. Operate with the highest integrity always.

Making Affiliate Marketing Work For Yourself

Thanks so much to each of our partners for their valuable advice and insight about the AppSumo affiliate marketing program and how they make affiliate marketing work for them.

If you’re curious to learn more, sign up today to start earning 100%* commission on every new AppSumo customer you refer!

*Earn 100% on the first purchase by new AppSumo customers and 5% on sales to existing customers (up to $50 per order)

BONUS MATERIAL: PRODUCTIVITY BOOSTED PDF

Find the best productivity strategy for you with a side-by-side comparison of top productivity frameworks. Download Now

Several months ago, I read this blog post that I can’t stop thinking about.

It’s called The Digital Productivity Pyramid.

In the post, productivity guru Tiago Forte suggests a non-linear curriculum for modern knowledge work. The part I can’t stop thinking about is how the base of the pyramid consists of the basic computer skills and abilities you need to navigate online work—what Forte calls “digital fluency.”

Source: Forte Labs

It’s sort of a no-duh, right? To be productive in online knowledge work, you must have your basic computer skills down.

But this pyramid is non-linear, meaning that improving your basic computer skills—everything from browsing the web to using Gmail keyboard shortcuts—will help you in all other areas of productivity as well.

This means that you can—and should—dip back in to improve these essential skills whenever you can.

Today, we’re going to explore Gmail shortcut fluency, with a focus on moving fast and boosting your overall productivity. Because nobody wants to spend all day on email, but it happens way too often.

• Make Sure Keyboard Shortcuts Are Enabled
• Gmail Organization System
• Top 10 Gmail Keyboard Shortcuts for Productivity
• Tools to Boost Gmail Productivity
• Gmail Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat Sheet

Make Sure Keyboard Shortcuts Are Enabled

First things first: Make sure Gmail shortcuts are turned on. To do this, simply:

1. Select the gear button (Settings) on the top right-hand side of your inbox
2. From the dropdown menu, select “Settings”
3. Make sure you’re in the “General” tab
4. Scroll down, select the radio button next to “Keyboard shortcuts on”

Boom, done.

Gmail Organizational System

Here at AppSumo, we’re all about productivity… and shortcuts. (“Last one there’s a rotten egg!”)

Sure, you can spend your whole day doing email. But just imagine the freedom when you start navigating your inbox using only your keyboard. The shortcuts I’ve chosen below were handpicked to fit into Kelly Stocker’s famous Ultimate Gmail Organizational System based on Getting Things Done (GTD) by David Allen.

After implementing Kelly’s Gmail organizational system, my inbox looks like it’s been touched by an angel (a really organized angel.)

For reference, here’s what my inbox looks like

I’ve been so impressed by the effects of this system on my own workflow that I also wrote about it over on the Process Street blog: Organize Gmail: Top Expert Tips to Reach Inbox Zero.

If you’re really serious about email productivity and organization, I would highly recommend you take 20 minutes to change your inbox workflow forever. Honestly, I cannot recommend you make these changes sooner. Do it.

Ok, now the disclaimers are done. Let’s dive in.

Top 10 Gmail Keyboard Shortcuts for Productivity

Ready to navigate your inbox like a pro? We thought so.

1. Select all conversations: <*> + a

A key to inbox zero is getting all the new emails out of your main inbox. The shortcut to doing this is simply to hit (<*> + a). Yes, this is really Shift + 8 + a. Do it, and suddenly all the conversations in your inbox will be selected. If you want to select every conversation since the beginning of your inbox, you’ll need to click the blue prompt “Select all 18,343 emails in inbox.”

2. Archive: e

Then, with one click of a button, you can make them all disappear. Archive is truly the best invention of the last one hundred years. If you’re not using Archive to get emails out of your inbox, WYD? Archive means an email is gone but not deleted: you can always call it back up if you need to.

3. Trash: #

Second only to Archive is Trashing emails. (Third is probably Report as spam: !) Use Trash when you really want to get something out of your inbox for good.

4. Compose: c

Now we’re getting into our outbound flow. Hit <c> when you need to write up a new email. Magically, the compose window will appear.

5. Toggle star/rotate among superstars: s

With Kelly’s Gmail organizational system, you no longer have Primary, Social, and Promotions tabs. Instead, with this system, you create not just one inbox, but five. That way, you can mark emails with stars/icons to drop emails into each of the five inboxes (Inbox, Follow Up, Awaiting Reply, Delegated, Reference, and To Read). Change the star with the simple shortcut <s>.

6. Reply all: a

This one solves an annoying problem I used to have in Gmail: the fact that when you click the “reply” button, it automatically replies to sender, requiring you to reselect “Reply all” if you want to make sure everyone’s looped in. If you do want to just reply to sender, just hit <r>.

7. Bold: <⌘> + b

For common text formatting, learning shortcuts can save you a lot of time—in Gmail or out of Gmail. Formatting shortcuts for bold like (<⌘> + b) or italics like (<⌘> + i) will also speed up your Google docs workflow.

8. Open Tasks: g + k

For many of us, having a daily to-do list is essential. If you’re in your inbox and want to start using Tasks for your to-dos, simply hit (g + k). This will open your Tasks bar along the right-hand side of our screen, so you can check another thing off your list.

9. Add conversation to Tasks: <Shift> + t

If you use Tasks, one quick hack is to select a conversation and hit (<Shift> + t) to instantly make it into a Task for your to-do list. Whether it’s an email you need to respond to that day, a specific ask from a client, or simply something you need to read ASAP, you can use this shortcut to put it out of sight and out of mind for now — to be taken care of later.

10. View all shortcuts: ?

Curious to find your own suite of go-to shortcuts? Use <?> to explore even more Gmail shortcuts that will improve your email productivity! Simply hit g + k and then use Find (<⌘> + f) to look for the function you need.

Tools to Boost Gmail Productivity

1. HubSpot CRM (free)

Source: HubSpot

HubSpot’s free CRM integrates with Gmail to give you notifications when people open your emails. Never wait around for days wondering if someone got your important message. Plus, if you need more robust CRM features like pipeline management or bulk sending, HubSpot has you covered.

2. Unroll.me (free)

Source: Unroll.me

I’ve been using Unroll.me for years. This tool will do damage to all those newsletters and marketing emails you get every day. Simply go through the simple onboarding process and then click to unsubscribe—or “roll up” subscriptions into a single email that comes daily. I’d recommend just using this tool to unsubscribe from all those mystery promo emails or old grad school lists you’re still on.

3. ReplyButton

Source: ReplyButton

AppSumo partner ReplyButton allows you to embed buttons, polls, and surveys right in your outreach emails—making it easier and more efficient than ever for leads to engage with your outreach emails. Sumo-lings have loved seeing their response rates go through the roof.

4. Mailtrack (free)

Source: Mailtrack

Mailtrack offers a highly-rated free email tracking Chrome extension for Gmail. Though the free version does stamp each email with the brand, it might be worth it to use this tool to get notified when someone opens your email.

5. Signitic (free)

Source: Signitic

Ever wish your email signature could do more for your business? Signitic lets you create and customize an unlimited number of email signature campaigns. Put branded banners into your signature and gather more leads. This tool is currently free in the AppSumo store.

6. Bananatag (free)

Source: Bananatag

Bananatag is another email tracking Chrome and Gmail extension that is free up to a certain daily limit. Get detailed notifications when someone opens an email or clicks one of your hyperlinks. Bananatag also has other features like snoozing emails, scheduling recurring emails, and email templates.

7. Helpwise

Source: Helpwise

Helpwise is perfect if you need to manage several different Gmail accounts (sales@, help@, hello@, etc.) This shared inbox solution will help you deliver better customer service and sort through incoming emails faster. Helpwise starts at $49 LTD in the AppSumo store for a limited time.

Gmail Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat Sheet

All of these shortcuts come from the team at Gmail. Keep in mind you can always use the “?” shortcut anytime in your inbox to discover new commands. But here are a few more for you:

Keyboard Shortcuts for Writing Emails

Source: Gmail

Keyboard Shortcuts for Formatting Text

Source: Gmail

Keyboard Shortcuts for Other Actions

Source: Gmail

And that’s a wrap! What are your best Gmail hacks? Seriously, I want to know in the comments below. Happy shortcutting!