There are a lot of websites out there that promote amazing software for a whole range of uses.
You may have come across services like StackSocial or Rebeliance but the biggest and most well-known is Appsumo.
Like the others, Appsumo offers a curated selection of business-centric software at a heavily discounted price (sometimes offering lifetime subscriptions) for a limited time.
With a constantly updating catalogue of products and a freebies section, it’s a no-brainer for anyone trying to improve how they do things in their day to day work life.
Appsumo specifically produce robust video content to support the products they offer.
In our opinion, they usually do a better job of clarifying the features of a product than some companies are able to in their own videos
(We’re sure you’ve all sat through someone stumbling their way through the features of a service they’ve designed).
This is a great business model not only for them but also for the developers of these products.
It creates immediate interest in said product, they’re able to (hopefully) get a large boost in their customer base that will hopefully then go on to promote their product.
Yes, there is a significant hit in profit you take from offering such a huge discount but the long-term rewards can potentially be huge.
Now. That’s the seller side of things. Let’s think about this from a consumer perspective.
Appsumo has a great reputation, and because their offerings are geared towards business, they have a customer base that is always looking for a new way to do things.
If you’re a CEO of a startup or entrepreneur then you have probably been on Appsumo at some point.
When you have the entire internet to search it’s great to have one place where you can find everything you need (and potentially some stuff you didn’t know you needed) to help you run your business.
It’s almost like those home shopping channels we always seem to mysteriously end up on while channel surfing.
And that’s where you as a consumer needs to be wary.
Doing your research can be time-consuming, it’s why we watch review videos. But when you’re making a purchase for your business, you want to make sure you’re making the right choice.
If you’re a freelancer or a small team just starting out, spending any amount of money can be a huge decision to make.
Any site that is promoting a business is doing so at some benefit to their bottom line. That’s the reality of life.
These sites exist to take a product that exists and do a better job of promoting it than it’s already doing.
While you are being shown a product you probably wouldn’t normally find on your own, it’s important to take what’s being said with a grain of salt. Yes, these features may exist but how well do they perform?
Here are a few key things you should check not just for Appsumo but really for any software you want to use for your business.
Control
Sure, whatever you’ve bought works great straight out of the box, but what if you want to customise things to better suit how you do things? Maybe there’s a feature that is more of a hindrance than a service and you just want to be able to disable it, can you?
A product that you can tailor to your individual needs is one that’s going to be worth your money.
Mistakes
There are a lot of things we do as part of running a business that is very specific in how they’re done. Sometimes one wrong keystroke can ruin an entire ad campaign or destroy a database. If you do something wrong, how forgiving is the software in correcting that mistake?
Does it have save states? Can you recover drafts you’ve deleted?
This makes not always occur to you to think of but we all #$@% up occasionally and when it happens, you want to make sure you can correct the error.
Support
Sometimes software has bugs. Sometimes you’re dealing with a small team that may not be aware of an issue with their product.
How quickly do you get a response from them? Are you communicating with an actual person or just a link to an FAQ that doesn’t explain anything at all?
If the people who create your software can’t help you when something goes wrong then you’re in for a bad time. On the flip side sometimes, you’ll find yourself talking to the person who actually made the software and you can help them make a better product. (shout out to Arjun Raj from Hello Woofy for responding on a Sunday!)
And finally, always remember that if you don’t like something you can always return it.
