AppSumo at Work: How We Use Freedcamp to Get More Done
Let’s take a second to pull back the curtain on AppSumo. We take pride in being the #1 place to get awesome deals on business software. And we use a lot of tools to help us identify, source, and promote top software deals.
Sometimes the tools we promote are also the ones our team uses behind the scenes to keep AppSumo running smoothly.
Take Freedcamp, for example. It’s one of our team’s favorite tools. Here’s what it is and how we use it.
What is Freedcamp?
Let’s start with a quick overview.
Freedcamp is a project management tool that combines many of the most popular project organizing features into a single dashboard.
Freedcamp lets you interact with all your projects using your preferred view: Kanban boards, task lists, calendars, Gantt charts, and beyond.
It’s also great for collaboration. You can invite your entire team to different projects and set up notifications or send direct messages when it’s time for another team member to take over.
Beyond mere project management, Freedcamp also offers tools for other departments. You can use Freedcamp for sending invoices, as a CRM, or to save and store files.
At AppSumo, we mainly use Freedcamp for project management in our partner onboarding process for Select deal campaigns. Here’s exactly how we use it.
AppSumo + Freedcamp = Successful partners
The best way to understand how AppSumo uses Freedcamp is to think of it as the single point of truth during every launch. The AppSumo team and all of its partners have access to this tool.
- On AppSumo side, we use Freedcamp to onboard partners, and keep them organized, on time, and ahead of important tasks
- The partner side of Freedcamp keeps every new team moving with confidence into their launch
Let’s break each of those sides down into more detail.
How AppSumo uses Freedcamp
Starting with the basics…
At AppSumo, we have a dashboard within Freedcamp that we call our Master AppSumo Dashboard. (“MAD” for short. 😜)
From the Master Dashboard, members of the AppSumo team can check out every partner project from a high level, clicking in and out of each campaign to offer broad assistance.
Individual partners can access their own project but not the dashboards of other partners—for obvious security reasons.
Templates. Tasks. Source of Truth.
When AppSumo onboards a new partner, the first thing we do (after celebratory tacos and confetti) is launch a new project in Freedcamp.
We’ve got multiple starting templates that make this a breeze. Each template is built around slightly different partner personas.
For example, we have separate templates for different code redemption types because different redemption types require slightly different projects.
Upon creating the Freedcamp project, we then start entering in all of this information for our partners.
We fill out all the project information for items such as tasks, documentation, videos, and more. These are mostly onboarding instructions and resources for the new partner.
Once everything is uploaded, we invite the partner to their custom project in Freedcamp. Whenever new partners are confused or have questions about their upcoming launch, we can almost always point them back to Freedcamp—like a Magic 8 Ball containing all of life’s answers. (“Will I have a successful launch?” “Outlook good.”)
In summary: Freedcamp helps keep us and our partners on track during onboarding with one unified source of truth. It’s also where partners can track their progress and processes. Now let’s talk about the partner side.
How partners use Freedcamp
When a partner accesses their dashboard, they can access a 60-second video that explains what AppSumo is and what they can expect from working with us.
We go over everything that the partner will need to be successful to launch on AppSumo. That includes…
Legal + payment details
As you might have guessed, there are agreements and contracts behind the scenes of every AppSumo deal. We include each partner’s signed contract between AppSumo and the partner in Freedcamp for easy accessibility.
That way, both teams know exactly what we’re all building, the agreed-upon scope, and the end goal.
Payment details
Everybody wants to get paid. AppSumo collects payments and then pays out each partner based on their campaign sales.
How does AppSumo know how to pay out partners? Once again: Freedcamp.
There’s a section for partners to upload their payment information. The AppSumo team uses these details to seamlessly pay our partners following the launch.
Set priorities
One of the most helpful tools within Freedcamp is the flag system. These flags can be used as labels in several ways. At AppSumo, we use them to prioritize tasks that we need to be accomplished by the partner.
In order for us to quickly build an optimal campaign, partners are responsible for delivering a lot of information to AppSumo. Not all of those deliverables have equal weight in terms of importance or timeline.
So, we use high, medium, and low priority flags to help partners stay organized.
Use cases
Things can get pretty technical during a launch. Instead of having to break down these technical requests each time for each partner, we rely on use cases and GIFs of walkthroughs.
The AppSumo team includes almost all the information a partner needs to achieve a successful launch in Freedcamp. That includes GIFs that quickly demonstrate to partners how to upload documents, configure their app with AppSumo, deliver product updates, or navigate other aspects of the pre-launch process.
As a general rule: we want to over-prepare the partner so they have every bit of information they need when connecting to AppSumo.
Along with GIFs, each template also includes relevant videos and case studies for partners to dive deeper and understand the full launch process.
Information to submit
Freedcamp also serves as a checklist.
It takes a lot of knowledge transfer for AppSumo to understand partner products, their unique messaging, and the specific features within each deal. Most of that sharing of information takes place within Freedcamp.
Having a place to make sure all the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed makes it easy on the partner. They can see information requests in the same place they’re submitting said information.
It also makes AppSumo’s life easier. We never have to worry about details getting lost in email or buried deep in a Slack channel. All the information is centralized in the same place.
Here’s the best part…
Freedcamp is coming back to AppSumo for a lifetime deal!
You can use the same tool for your business that AppSumo uses to organize and optimize hundreds of successful partner launches on our platform.
That’s right. If you’re looking for a single source of truth for tracking projects, working with clients, and staying ahead of deadlines, then check out Freedcamp’s lifetime deal on AppSumo. No monthly fees. Just pay once and you’re good to go.