6 New Lifetime Deals at AppSumo on February 5th 2024

Introduction

In this episode of AppSumo’s Taco Truck Roundup, host Dave Swift takes viewers on a tour of the latest software deals, trending tools, and exciting new offerings available on the AppSumo platform. The video, recorded on February 5, 2024, covers a wide range of products designed to streamline and enhance various aspects of business operations, from appointment scheduling and human resources to creative project management and AI-powered landing pages. Throughout the review, Dave provides detailed insights, hands-on demonstrations, and honest assessments of each tool’s strengths, weaknesses, and potential for improvement. By the end of the episode, viewers will have a comprehensive understanding of the featured tools and be well-equipped to make informed decisions about which products best suit their unique business needs.

Timetics: Streamlined Appointment Scheduling for Online and Offline Meetings [00:21]

Overview and Key Features

• SaaS appointment scheduling tool offering online and offline meetings and events
• Lifetime deal starting at $59 on AppSumo
• Three meeting types: one-to-one, one-to-many, and one-to-many with seating plan (unique feature)
• In-person events can be ticketed, with QR code generation for ticket sales
• Integrates with Google Meet, Zoom, and phone calls for online meetings
• White-labeling and custom domain options available on all plans

Creating a Meeting and User Experience

• Step-by-step guide on creating a new meeting type
• Setting meeting name, location (online or in-person), duration, and host
• Option to charge for meetings by connecting Stripe or PayPal accounts
• Smooth and clean user interface for booking experience
• Attendees can save appointments to Google, Apple, or Outlook calendars
• Staff can connect their Google calendars and set availability

AppSumo Plan Details and Pricing

• All plans include at least 10 staff members and unlimited meetings
• Tier 2 ($99) unlocks seating plans, unlimited recurring meetings, and custom domains
• Tier 3 ($199) and above recommended for agencies looking to resell the tool
• Originally launched as a WordPress plugin, but AppSumo deal is for the standalone SaaS version

Pros, Cons, and Final Thoughts

• Standout feature: seating charts for in-person events, rarely found in online booking tools
• Minor quirks encountered during testing, such as issues uploading SVG logos
• Planned AI functionality to recommend meetings based on customer booking history
• Needs improvement: support for more calendar platforms beyond Google
• Final score: 7.9/10

VirtlX: 360-Degree Engagement Platform for Employee Satisfaction and Training [05:30]

Overview and Key Features

• Helps business owners assess employee happiness, engagement, and training
• One-time payment starting at $59 on AppSumo
• Tier 2 ($99) includes access for 10 employees with the same features
• Surveys and courses form the core of VirtlX’s offerings
• Survey types include peer reviews, employee satisfaction, engagement, wellbeing, and more
• Extends beyond employees to survey customers, gathering data on net promoter scores, brand loyalty, and market research
• Online courses to train employees and keep them updated with industry knowledge
• Detailed analytics to identify employees who may benefit from study teams or additional assistance

User Interface and Experience

• Overwhelming user interface with bright colors and strange animations
• Menus often don’t fit on laptop screens, leading to suboptimal output
• Targeted at larger businesses with traditional human resource needs, differing from typical AppSumo offerings

Areas for Improvement and Final Thoughts

• Simplify the user interface and create a more straightforward workflow for adding courses and surveys
• Reduce the number of menus to improve navigation and usability
• Final score: 5.7/10
• Potential for dramatic improvement by addressing UI issues and simplifying workflows
• Alternative options may be more appealing in terms of color palette and usability

Parma: Minimalistic CRM for Relationship Management [08:08]

Overview and Key Features

• Designed to help users remember contacts, their preferences, and last interaction
• One-time price of $59 on AppSumo for a single user with 2,500 relationships
• Tier 2 ($99) includes five users and 10,000 relationships
• Tier 3 ($199) offers 25 users and unlimited relationships
• Note-based interface with reminders and customer life cycles
• Dead simple to use, contrasting with traditional CRMs

Getting Started and Workflow

• Add contacts into groups (e.g., clients, customers, friends)
• Create a contact, assign them to a group, and fill in relevant information
• Profile photos highly recommended for easy identification
• Add contact information, including email addresses with one-click email composition
• Leave a summary note after each client interaction
• Create reminders for follow-up actions
• Set custom life cycle labels and move contacts through the process as relationships progress
• “Stay in Touch” feature reminds users to interact with contacts at set intervals

Limitations and Potential Improvements

• Almost no automation; users must manually input all data
• Deeper integrations with other tools would be beneficial
• Potential for AI integration to summarize meeting recordings and other information
• Domain name (Parma.ai) suggests possible AI features in development

Final Thoughts and Score

• Minimalist approach to CRM is refreshing and stress-free
• Real challenge will be maintaining simplicity while adding essential features
• Currently boasts 99% fewer features than most CRMs; ideal range may be 96-97% fewer
• Final score: 8.1/10
• Recommended for those averse to traditional CRMs but in need of relationship management assistance

Whelm: Comprehensive Business Management for Creative Freelancers [12:13]

Overview and Key Features

• Designed for creative freelancers (video creators, designers, audio professionals, photographers)
• Manage entire business from a single tool
• Lifetime deal starting at $59 on AppSumo
• Higher tier plans recommended for unlocking essential features
• Built-in contract library with customizable templates
• Easy client and project creation

Using Whelm: From Contracts to Media Sharing

• Add clients with name and contact information
• Create projects for each client
• Customize contracts using built-in library and form filling
• Email contracts to clients for signing
• Send invoices and collect payments (Stripe integration)
• Upload media (videos, audio, images, documents) for client review and approval
• Share media with clients via generated links or email
• Clients can review content, provide feedback, and request revisions directly on the platform
• Deliver final downloadable files to clients upon approval

Pricing and AppSumo Plan Recommendations

• Tier 1 ($59): Whelm collects an additional 1% fee on top of Stripe’s 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction
• Tier 3 ($199): No extra fees, making it the most cost-effective option for businesses processing over $10,000
• Higher tier plans also offer more features and storage space

Bugs, Limitations, and Potential Improvements

• Minor bugs encountered when uploading media via Safari; Chrome-based browsers work fine
• Video player issues with volume slider breaking the UX
• Desired features: recurring billing, subscription billing, and client request forms for Designjoy-style businesses
• Reasonable alternative to Frame.io, especially without NLE integration
• Consolidates contract signing, billing, and media sharing under one roof

Final Thoughts and Score

• Clean UI and user-friendly experience
• Minor bug fixes and UX design improvements could elevate the tool further
• Final score: 7.3/10
• Promising solution for creative freelancers looking to streamline their business management

Yep.so: AI-Powered Landing Page Builder for Idea Validation [18:00]

Overview and Key Features

• AI-powered landing page builder for quick idea validation
• Starting at $49 on AppSumo
• Simple process: name project, enter brief prompt, and generate landing page
• Pleasantly surprised by output quality despite short prompt limitation
• Generative art images add visual appeal; easily replaceable with preferred photos or images
• AI-generated copy placed automatically; no additional writing required

Customization and Smart Features

• Guides users through options to enhance landing page success
• Highlight or accent individual words in headlines using brackets for gradient effect
• Not suitable for web design or development ninjas requiring total control
• Ideal for quickly testing ideas without extensive customization
• Add social media links, alternative CTAs, and simple contact forms within seconds
• Built-in analytics to track conversion rates (views vs. purchases)
• Beta feature: collect donations to validate ideas before building (Stripe integration)

AppSumo Plan Details and Pricing

• $49: 2 domains and 10 pages
• $99: 15 domains and 40 pages (best value for most users)
• $199: Unlimited landing pages and 50+ custom domains (ideal for agencies)

Potential Improvements and Final Thoughts

• Additional design options, such as dark mode toggle
• Ability to export pages to vanilla HTML and CSS (unlikely)
• Support for longer prompts to allow user-generated copy
• Final score: 8.1/10
• Solid tool for quickly validating ideas and creating landing pages

Empiraa: Strategy and Goal Achievement Platform [22:03]

Overview and Key Features

• Helps businesses create strategies and achieve goals
• Unique offering; haven’t seen similar products
• $49 lifetime deal on AppSumo
• Keeps users accountable and on track with goals
• AI-assisted vision statement creation
• Select core values from provided list with helpful explanations
• Set 3-5 long-term goals to move the needle
• Add company teams and assign employees to each team with designated roles

Workflow and Objectives

• Create objectives connected to long-term goals
• Objectives serve as smaller, achievable steps towards goals
• Thoughtful mix of “woo-woo” and practical productivity
• Requires the right type of business owner committed to staying organized
• Superior to relying on Trello boards and hoping for the best
• Abundant training videos and tutorials throughout the platform
• Intuitive and easy to use despite initial concerns about scattered appearance

Bug Encountered and Final Thoughts

• Bug: First goal creation resulted in repeated error message; resolved by changing goal type and back
• Highest score of the week: 8.3/10
• Solid tool for businesses serious about achieving their goals

Tools Leaving AppSumo This Week [25:52]

• February 5th: Nimbler (media management), Naysayer (email marketing), ReSound (AI podcast editor), Sheer SEO (SEO toolkit), Agile (project management)
• Tuesday: Unschooler (AI course generator), UBQ (personalized sales videos), Exembley (AI productivity tool), Wollofan (Patreon alternative), Approval Studio (design feedback), LindoAI (AI website builder)
• Wednesday: AI table.ai (Airtable-style database)
• Thursday: Mediaplace (media management), GPT trainer (custom GPT training), alt text.ai (AI text generation), Metaspark (AI project management)
• Sunday: Notch (digital sales room)

Top Tools at AppSumo Over the Last Week [27:17]

1. OneTakeAI – Turn raw footage into presentations with one click
2. BeforeSunsetAI – AI task manager for quick daily task scheduling
3. Sheer SEO – Improve SEO strategy and analyze competitors
4. Expedite Social – Manage all social media from a mobile-friendly content scheduler
5. Bot9 – Create and train customer service chatbots without coding

Key Takeaways

This episode of AppSumo’s Taco Truck Roundup provided an in-depth look at several new and trending tools designed to streamline various aspects of business operations. The featured products included:

1. Timetics – A SaaS appointment scheduling tool with unique features like seating plans for in-person events and planned AI functionality.
2. VirtlX – A 360-degree engagement platform for assessing employee satisfaction, engagement, and training, with a focus on larger businesses with traditional HR needs.
3. Parma – A minimalistic CRM that helps users manage relationships through a note-based interface, reminders, and custom life cycle labels.
4. Whelm – A comprehensive business management tool for creative freelancers, offering contract templates, media sharing, and client collaboration features.
5. Yep.so – An AI-powered landing page builder that enables users to quickly validate ideas and create visually appealing pages with minimal effort.
6. Empiraa – A strategy and goal achievement platform that keeps businesses accountable and on track with their objectives through AI-assisted features and a thoughtful mix of “woo-woo” and practical productivity.

The episode also highlighted the top tools of the week, including OneTakeAI, BeforeSunsetAI, Sheer SEO, Expedite Social, and Bot9, as well as a list of tools leaving AppSumo in the coming days.

Throughout the review, host Dave Swift provided detailed demonstrations, honest assessments of each tool’s strengths and weaknesses, and suggestions for potential improvements. By the end of the episode, viewers gained valuable insights into the featured products and a better understanding of which tools might best suit their unique business needs.

Head on over to AppSumo and start stacking that SaaS while the getting’s good. Plus, use our link to save 10% on all your AppSumo purchases!