Gennaro Cuofano's Blog, page 233

How Does Grammarly Make Money? Grammarly Business Model In A Nutshell

Grammarly makes money by selling premium plans starting at $11.66 to $29.95 per month. The company also makes money by selling human proofreading services to its paid users.

Grammarly leverages on a freemium service, where free users are prompted to switch to a paid subscription.

Let’s dig into the Grammarly business model and why it’s so effective.

Grammarly culture, mission, vision, and core values

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Source: Grammarly

Grammarly vision is to build a comprehensive communication assistant.

As pointed out on Grammarly website:

All Grammarlians care deeply about improving our users’ lives through better communication. We take personal responsibility for achieving aggressive goals both individually and collectively. Additionally, we all share a set of core EAGER values, which ensure that you are joining a highly effective, collaborative team.

Therefore the mission is to improve our users’ lives through better communication.
From its mission and vision Grammarly articulated its core values:

E: ethical
A: adaptable
G: gritty
E: empathetic
R: remarkable

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Source: Grammarly

 

From these values, the objective is to offer a payoff of Grammarly users defined as to accelerate personal and professional growth.

Grammarly monetization strategy

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Grammarly leverages on a freemium model where its browser extension is offered for free to users. Those users are prompted to upgrade to the premium version to get more value. For instance, Grammarly provides a side-by-side comparison of a free and premium account:

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Advanced features, like grammar, context and sentence structure; vocabulary enhancement suggestions; genre-specific writing style checks and plagiarism checker detector are offered for the premium account which starts at $11.66 per month, up to $29.95 per month!

Grammarly also offers a human proofreading service that allows paying users to get additional services, by choosing three modes of delivery (24 hours, 3 hours, 30 minutes).

Grammarly marketing strategy

As pointed out on marketingland.com Grammarly was ranked number one on YouTube first-annual list of top TrueView, based on the action taken by users on the Grammarly ads. This shows how good is Grammarly at communicating in a very short time its payoff to its potential users:

Grammarly viral growth
According to Owler, Grammarly might make around $7.8 million per year. Its viral growth leverages on a set of free tools:
Grammarly for Mac

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With its app for Mac, Grammarly makes it easy to use its editor to Apple users.

Grammarly for Microsoft

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With its app for Microsoft, Grammarly makes it easy to use its editor to PC users.

The Grammarly Keyboard

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With its app for mobile, Grammarly makes it easy to use its editor to mobile users

Grammarly chrome extension

The Grammarly Chrome extension is also a key tool that allowed the company to grow quickly its free users base. Thanks to a seamless UX and a set of prompts Grammarly managed to reach profitability and become cash flow positive.

Key takeaways on Grammarly business models

Grammarly leverages on a freemium business model. Its product is designed for virality as it offers a set of free tools, mostly compatibles with any device. Thanks to its AI and seamless experience, free users are turned in paying customers. Prompts within the product make it easy for free users to understand the benefits of having more advanced features through the paid version.

Grammarly vision is to build a comprehensive communication assistant which payoff for its users is to grow professionally. Grammarly’s core values can be summarised in the “EAGER” framework.

Grammarly is one of the best examples of how a freemium model, well engineered, can bring massive growth and virality for an organization. It is important to remark that a freemium model is not a size fits all. However, when you’re able to design a great product, a seamless experience, a simplified and gamified UX, and a clear payoff for paying customers, a freemium becomes a powerful weapon to grow your business!

Other resources: 

What Is a Business Model? 30 Successful Types of Business Models You Need to Know
Business Strategy: Definition, Examples, And Case Studies
What Is a Business Model Canvas? Business Model Canvas Explained
Blitzscaling Business Model Innovation Canvas In A Nutshell
What Is a Value Proposition? Value Proposition Canvas Explained
What Is a Lean Startup Canvas? Lean Startup Canvas Explained
What Is Market Segmentation? the Ultimate Guide to Market Segmentation
Marketing Strategy: Definition, Types, And Examples
Marketing vs. Sales: How to Use Sales Processes to Grow Your Business

Handpicked related business models:

How Does WhatsApp Make Money? WhatsApp Business Model Explained
How Does Google Make Money? It’s Not Just Advertising! 
The Google of China: Baidu Business Model In A Nutshell
How Does Twitter Make Money? Twitter Business Model In A Nutshell
How Does DuckDuckGo Make Money? DuckDuckGo Business Model Explained

The post How Does Grammarly Make Money? Grammarly Business Model In A Nutshell appeared first on FourWeekMBA.

7 Sales Strategies To Quickly Grow Your Business

The first and foremost pieces of information necessary when assessing sales strategy is what exactly it is and why it is essential that it be successful and to build a successful business model for your organization. 

Essentially, sales strategy is a structured, well-informed plan which enables a company to sell its products consistently. No matter the quotas or end-goals of the company, a strategy ensures they meet their goals not just once, but every time.

Limit Promotional Offers

People love a discount and so there can be miscommunication within the company and deals can be made that aren’t in the best interest of the business. 

Set the boundaries of the promotional offer so that the sales team know exactly what they’re allowed to offer customers and where to draw the line. This also ensures customers don’t complain if they hear that they were denied a discount that a friend got previously. 

It’s best to offer a standard discount for all customers to avoid any possible problems.  This way,  no one will complain that they got a smaller or bigger discount.  

You can also offer discounts based on previous purchases, loyalty and so on. Your sales team should be equipped with knowledge on when and bow to offer a specific discount.

Complete A SWOT Analysis

SWOT stands for: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Analyzing these are critical to a business’s success. Knowing what you’re good at and what you are less successful at is how you know where to focus your energy, money and time. 

The knowledge of opportunities that match your strengths, for instance, would result in you pushing your product to your desired target market. Whereas, the knowledge of your weaknesses in association with opportunities stops you from wasting time or resources on an unlikely target.

You should analyze your sales process to see what your strengths,  weaknesses, opportunities, and threats are.  The main two areas to analyze in your sales process and while working with sales teams are strengths and weaknesses. 

This will be easy to see from the way your salespeople communicate with the customers and the results they achieve. For threats and opportunities,  you need some market research.

Create Set Templates

There are some scripts and templates you can set up that remove the fallible human element from the transaction and encourage success. Creating a dock that explains who you are as a company, what you do, what you’re selling and why this will be beneficial for the customer is an easy thing to email and distribute. 

Similarly, scripts for cold-callers to use can be helpful for them, so that variance in delivery doesn’t result in variance in offers.

This makes the process standardized. Everyone gets the same treatment, and everyone sees the same message. It would have to be extremely well written and optimized in every sense to grab attention and make people listen. 

Think about the video format and how it would reflect on open rates and click-through rates.

Interpret Your Journey

To assess where you plan to go as a business and therefore what your plans and strategies are, it’s important to look back and interpret the journey you’ve taken to this point. 

This is especially useful in that it shows you where and why you’ve been successful, and where and why you’ve been lacking. Once you know what worked, you can do it again. Once you know what failed, you can improve. You have to look back to move forward.

Analyze your previous quarter and compare it to the one before it. What is the difference between them? Why does that difference exist?

Were the sales people happier and more motivated? Were there any other circumstances that might have affected them in the meantime? Did your process change? 

You can also use your team’s insights to get more accurate and detailed data in this matter.

Follow-Up Process

Statistically, 50% of sales reps only make one call and don’t follow it up, but the majority of buyers won’t buy something from you the first time you pitch it. Start with a follow-up email that incites action, after that, give them another call and make sure they know they can trust you and ask you anything. 

Finally, send an ultimatum email after which, you should withdraw if they’re still uninterested. The ultimatum email usually contains a discount that should entice the reader further to respond positively to the message.

Invest In Customer Relationship Management Software (CRM)

While these steps outlined previously are important and make a big difference, sometimes it isn’t enough, and you need to get technology involved. This is a simple process, in which customers can input performance information and where sales representatives can update their progress in the follow-up process. 

Most systems that can provide spreadsheets and statistics that you can use as an informative resource for things like your SWOT analysis.

Profile Your Customers

Before you start targeting people for sales, it’s vital to establish who exactly you believe your client-base to be. You should base this on the usefulness of your product, income, age, profession and so on. 

Once you’ve got a clear notion of who you’re selling to, you know the kind of thing they need to hear and understand before a sale is made. For instance, selling funeral insurance to students is as unhelpful as selling student debt loans to pensioners.

It’s not difficult to improve your sales strategy; it just takes a little time and effort. By incorporating these seven steps into your business, the likelihood of success is already higher.

Guest Contribution by Katrina Hatchett’s which niche is problem identification and resolution. As well as being involved in many business projects, she is also a business blogger at Academic Brits and a writer for Origin Writings and Ph.D. Kingdom blog. Her objective is to increase the effectiveness of communication in the workplace.

Other resources: 

What Is a Business Model? 30 Successful Types of Business Models You Need to Know
Business Strategy: Definition, Examples, And Case Studies
What Is a Business Model Canvas? Business Model Canvas Explained
Blitzscaling Business Model Innovation Canvas In A Nutshell
What Is a Value Proposition? Value Proposition Canvas Explained
What Is a Lean Startup Canvas? Lean Startup Canvas Explained
What Is Market Segmentation? the Ultimate Guide to Market Segmentation
Marketing Strategy: Definition, Types, And Examples
Marketing vs. Sales: How to Use Sales Processes to Grow Your Business

The post 7 Sales Strategies To Quickly Grow Your Business appeared first on FourWeekMBA.

What Is UX Design And Why It Matters In Digital Marketing

Marketing consists of creating a series of touch points that resonate with your audience. That can be in the form of blogs, social media, PR, events, and much more. 

There are paid and organic strategies, some will deliver results while others won’t. However, they share a common goal: increase brand awareness and drive conversions.

A critically important aspect that is often overlooked when planning your digital marketing strategy is the user experience (UX). Part of what makes your digital marketing efforts successful is the encompassing user experience. How do people interact with your brand?

From the first time a consumer learns about your brand to the moment, they become a paying customer; you should focus on creating a unique experience.

User Experience (UX) Design Impacts Your Digital Marketing

The most important marketing asset for your business is your website. Your content should be visually appealing enough that it drives users to take action. Upon visiting your website, a user should encounter an intuitive and frictionless user experience.

When strategizing and identifying your digital marketing efforts, there are some factors to consider.

The User Interface (UI)

This is the face of your website. How are elements distributed across the page? Which colors are used? What typographic styles are incorporated? These are the elements that will drive your users first impressions.

All of these small details add significant value to the big picture. Whether it’s a “subscribe now” button, paid ad, in-line call-to-action, or a landing page; the design should be intuitive and tell the user what to do next. 

The position of elements should tell a story and navigate the user to take the desired action. Don’t overwhelm them with options because it will deteriorate the user experience. 

Leverage colors to evoke certain emotions and portray your brand’s characteristics. Color can also be used to create focal points and draw users’ attention.

Your font selection plays a big role in the personality you create for your brand. A conservative font with minimal typographic accents will create a sense of professionalism and seriousness. 

Meanwhile, a more playful font can depict a youthful, relaxed, and easy-going organization.

Speed

People hate waiting for pages to load. 

According to surveys done by Akamai and Gomez.com, nearly half of web users expect a site to load in 2 seconds or less, and they tend to abandon a site that isn’t loaded within 3 seconds.

A slow website immediately deters visitors, and they are likely to leave your website in search of an alternative. When a user can quickly browse your website and find what they need, the user experience is drastically enhanced.

Additionally, a slow website will increase your bounce rate – the percentage of visitors that leave after visiting only one page. 

A high bounce rate signals to the search engine algorithms that your page is not relevant to the search or that your content is not valuable. This, in turn, will likely cause a decrease in your sites search engine rankings.

Usability

Don’t compromise functionality for aesthetics. Whether it’s your website or a landing page for your next marketing campaign, the end goal should not be simplicity. 

Although it’s common to hear that your user interface should be as simple as possible, you want to strive for the simplest solution without discarding important features/elements.

Your design should be influenced by the features that are required to achieve the desired results. Your design should not determine which features make it on the page.

It’s equally as important that a user can convert from every page easily and quickly. Limiting the number of pages dedicated to driving conversions is hindering your ability to grow.

Mobile Experience

With ever-increasing use and reliance on mobile devices, it is imperative that you create your digital marketing strategies with mobile in mind. When thinking about your website, you can no longer get away with only offering a desktop version.

“A whopping 96 percent of smartphone users have encountered websites that weren’t designed for their mobile devices.” -Experience Dynamics

To create the best user experience for consumers, your content and any paid advertising should be optimized for mobile and desktop screens. Every time someone interacts with your brand, your content should resonate with them and feel uniform across platforms.

UX Impacts Your SEO Rankings

Google makes updates to its algorithm on a daily basis. The ever-changing search engine landscape has altered the way websites rank, ensuring that the user is presented with the most relevant search results. Creating an immersive user experience has become just as important as identifying keywords, acquiring backlinks, and conducting on-page optimization.

UX directly impacts your user engagement metrics and these user metrics are just one of many SEO ranking factors. If you can keep users on your page, you’ll rank higher on Google.

User Engagement Metrics That Matter:

Bounce Rate – the percentage of users that leave your website after visiting only one page
Page Dwell Time – how much time visitors are spending on your website

A high bounce rate is typically a direct result of website visitors who visit your page but did not find what they were looking for or your content was subpar. Users may have left your site because of a confusing UX design, irrelevant content, poor web design, or slow load times.

If your content is not optimized, a user will leave.

User experience matters in digital marketing. Regardless of the content medium or device, consumers will engage with businesses that offer fast, highly interactive, and visually pleasing virtual environments.

If you are looking for a team of User Experience designers, Seamgen is a San Diego based agency with over a decade of experience working across startups and enterprises alike. Their collaborative and consultative approach will help drive results for your business and your customers. 

Guest Contribution by Jonathan Besquin, Marketing Manager at Seamgen, an industry-leading custom software development company. His dedication to content creation has yielded fruitful results for the company. 

He enjoys sharing his strong knowledge base with the rest of the tech community and wants to help you succeed. Being an avid adventurer, he likes to get outdoors and travel around the world.

Other resources: 

What Is a Business Model? 30 Successful Types of Business Models You Need to Know
Business Strategy: Definition, Examples, And Case Studies
What Is a Business Model Canvas? Business Model Canvas Explained
Blitzscaling Business Model Innovation Canvas In A Nutshell
What Is a Value Proposition? Value Proposition Canvas Explained
What Is a Lean Startup Canvas? Lean Startup Canvas Explained
What Is Market Segmentation? the Ultimate Guide to Market Segmentation
Marketing Strategy: Definition, Types, And Examples
Marketing vs. Sales: How to Use Sales Processes to Grow Your Business

The post What Is UX Design And Why It Matters In Digital Marketing appeared first on FourWeekMBA.

How To Bring Your Insurance Business Model Online [Case Study]

Discovering that you can make money with a website can be overwhelming, especially if your primary way of obtaining money has been offline or via telesales.

However, what if I told you there was a detailed way to transition your business from an offline business to an online business.

In this post today I am going to go over how I took my insurance agency 100% online and how I converted the old business model to fit the new system with very few hiccups.

From Zion To Simply: how to pick up the right name

After ten years of selling insurance over the phone, I started getting leads that were asking to do everything over the internet.

They didn’t want to talk to me and most of all they just wanted to get a quote and apply online at their own pace.

I realized this trend and decided to take my offline telesales business to 100% online.

When it comes to taking your business online, you first need to determine if your current business name can function as an online business.

The name of our previous business was Zion Financial, and we didn’t put much thought into it; we liked the word Zion, and we were in the Financial space, so we came up with the name.

We were able to obtain the .com version of the domain, so we had an online presence. However, the website was just as useless as a business card at a networking event.

Sometimes customers thought we were affiliated with a religion and the other time’s people thought we were part of Zion Bank.

Since were purchasing leads through a third party, most of the customers just went with it, so it wasn’t a big deal.

When deciding to build an online business, we agreed on a few things:

Zion Financial didn’t tell the story about what we wanted to offer.
Zion Financial could be too easily confused with Zion Bank
We didn’t want the name to sound too religious
Zion Financial sounded more like a Holding Company
We need a new name for our online business.

It is essential not to get too tied to a name, and while this might not be the case for everyone, be sure to re-evaluate if your current name will work well for an online business.

We came up with the name Simply Insurance, it matched our idea of the business (a place you can buy insurance easily online), and it told what we actually would sale (Insurance).

We had to purchase simplyinsurance.co at the time because the .com version of the site was $10,000 and that wasn’t an acceptable risk until the site made money.

Never invest too much in your idea off the bat, get it making money first.

Below is a chart showing where we started and where we wanted to take the business in the simplest of terms:

Zion Financial LLC
Simply Insurance


Business Tagline
Insuring Your Tomorrow, Today!
The Simplest & Fastest Way To Buy Insurance Online.


Business Idea
Sale Insurance Myself or though Agents.
Sale Insurance 100% Online WIthout Agents.



The College Of Online Courses: finding all you need from online resources

The next step was going to be super important, and that was going to be an education.

In the insurance industry, there is a ton of education required, from continuing education to product education.

The education I would need to learn for the business work online would have nothing to do with what I had known over the last ten years of selling insurance over the phone.

I was hit with new words like SEO, Organic Traffic, Link Building, PPC, SEM, Google Analytics, Content Marketing, Ahrefs, Anchor Text, Title tags, etcetera.

While this was all foreign to me, I had to learn it because this is what was needed to make the business function in an online capacity.

I spent money on several courses and took them all. I took them about four times each and still reference them today.

Before you can take any business online, you have to understand how to get people to it then how to generate revenue from the visitors.  

If you aren’t willing to educate yourself when it comes to switching to any new business then don’t waste your time, just stay where you are.

Zion Financial LLC
Simply Insurance


Education Needed
Insurance Products, Continuing Education, Licensing
Content Marketing, SEO, Writing Skills, Link Building, etc.



Copy & Paste

Now that we had the new name and vision as well as the education on how to make this all work, the next step was taking our current system or business model and converting it to work online.

This meant we would have to take what we do offline and change it online, and it looked like this:

Zion Financial LLC
Simply Insurance


Obtain Great Products
Get Appointed With Insurance Company
Find An Affiliate Partner


Generate Leads
Purchase Leads From Vendors
Generate Leads Through Traffic Via SEO & Content Marketing


Sales Process For Lead
Call On Phone / Close Sale
Educate With Content / Click Through To Affiliate


Customer Service Follow Up
Call Customer Directly
Affiliate Is Responsible For Follow up

As you see from above, I kept the flow the same, I needed to get a solid insurance product, generate leads, have a process in place that would get the customer to purchase and then make sure they received excellent customer service.

While the final result of having an educated customer purchase insurance stayed the same, the process was entirely different.

With Zion Financial, the responsibility of the sale and the customer service was almost entirely on one of my agents or me.

With Simply Insurance, the responsibility of the sale is up to the customer.  This would mean that I needed to give them enough value (education) in my content that they felt compelled to purchase from my website.

This is why education is the most important thing when starting a new business.

Time & Transition

Once the new business model was in place, it was time to transition from the old business completely while putting in more time on the new one.

With my old business (Zion Financial), I would have to spend hours on the phone with insurance companies, customers, doctor’s offices, medical exam companies, underwriters, compliance departments…You name it!

Being on the phone and working 16 hours a day was normal and it is how I made the old business function

However, Simply Insurance was the exact opposite; I actually spent hours throughout the day writing.

I was creating content that I knew my customers needed to read, like how to choose between a traditional term life insurance policy or a life insurance policy that doesn’t require a physical exam.

Once I had written that content, I reached out to others and shared it to generate links.

Over a year and a half, I created 80 pieces of content and generated thousands of backlinks.  

I was a great student.

Eventually, I was no longer taking any phone calls from Zion Financial and was able to focus on Simply Insurance Full Time.

Zion Financial LLC
Simply Insurance


Obtain Customers By
Buying Leads Online @ $50 per lead.
Writing Content For Free


Number Of Possible Customers
Limited By Budget
The Entire United

States

The most significant change is that I am no longer spending huge marketing dollars on purchasing leads.  I can spend them on things that can continue to grow my traffic.

The second most substantial change is time; the change in business model completely changed how much time I have to spend working daily.

No, It Isn’t Easy

While the transition to going all online was 100% worth it and the best decision I have ever made, it wasn’t easy.

Figuring out how to take a business offline and make it work online will always be a hard thing to do mainly because you have to know precisely how your current business works and then you have to figure out how it should work online.

Going from being a Barber to starting an online business is going to be different from being a computer repair shop and starting an online store.

If you educate yourself and stick to it, change your business model and follow your gut.

Eventually, you should be able to transition your offline business to an online business.

Other resources: 

What Is a Business Model? 30 Successful Types of Business Models You Need to Know
Business Strategy: Definition, Examples, And Case Studies
What Is a Business Model Canvas? Business Model Canvas Explained
Blitzscaling Business Model Innovation Canvas In A Nutshell
What Is a Value Proposition? Value Proposition Canvas Explained
What Is a Lean Startup Canvas? Lean Startup Canvas Explained
What Is Market Segmentation? the Ultimate Guide to Market Segmentation
Marketing Strategy: Definition, Types, And Examples
Marketing vs. Sales: How to Use Sales Processes to Grow Your Business

The post How To Bring Your Insurance Business Model Online [Case Study] appeared first on FourWeekMBA.

The Art of Policy Writing for Your Company

Company policies are the mortar to the bricks of your business. Without good policies businesses will crumble – it would be like a society without rules. 

Making sure that your policies are well written, clear and precise will help create a strong business. There is an art to policy writing which will ensure that everyone knows what to do and keep your company ticking along smoothly.

The Key Policies Every Business Needs
Health and Safety

It might seem like the boring one or the obvious one, but it’s also the most important one. It doesn’t matter if your business involves heavy machinery or laptops on a desk – it is vital that you get these rules right.

 A written policy with these rules explained will show employees that you take their safety seriously and will also protect you in the event of an accident. 

Without a clear policy, you could quickly find yourself in need of a good lawyer if an accident occurred because there was no policy to protect your staff or customers. 

If you are unsure what you need to consider for these policies, there is plenty of information to be found by your local health and safety governing body or contact a health and safety advisor.

Code of Conduct

These should be a simple set of rules to make clear to your staff what they should and shouldn’t be doing. If it’s written in the policy handbook, there’s no excuse to be going wrong. 

It will also help new employees feel more comfortable if they have something to refer to, so they know what is expected of them.

Employment

From the biggest firms to the smallest start-ups it’s necessary to have an employment policy so that the employer knows what to look for and what to expect. 

This should also include details regarding equal opportunity to prevent discrimination against any job applicants for any reason.

Leave of Absence

Everything from holiday, sick leave, maternity/paternity leave all needs to be detailed in writing. Some of the policies will be mandatory as required by law, but it is still good to have these written up as well. 

This way everyone will know what they aren’t and are entitled to, as well as letting managers understand what they need to accept from their employees.

Once you have the key policies written up you can move onto any others which are relevant and important to your company such as disciplinary policy, working hours, benefits, and perks, termination and company travel.

Writing style for policies

Perfecting the writing style for your policy handbook is easy once you understand the key points to remember. It’s best practice to keep the handbook short and clear. 

Otherwise, your employees are not going to read it. Keep it positive and present tense; no one wants to be told over and over again ‘Don’t do that!’

Make sure that you aren’t using jargon either, some people may not understand it, and the idea of the policies is that everyone is clear.

Language tips:

Use gender-neutral language – Your employees may not notice the gender of the language you are using, but it can backfire pretty strongly if you don’t make it gender-neutral. Instead of ‘she’ or ‘he,’ use ‘them,’ ‘their’ and similar, neutral words. You should also stay away from making the language too aggressive or full of words that appeal more to men. You want to reach your entire staff, so it’s best to stick with this.
Use the active voice – Passive voice is generally boring and even makes some sentences harder to understand. Active voice makes everything more interesting and grabs attention.
Use short sentences – Long sentences can be confusing, so it’s best to keep them short.
Use bullet points, clear images, and charts – This makes the long text clearer and easier to comprehend.
Keep it brief, plain and clear – It’s best not to over-complicate things. Keep it to the point; make it simple and understandable to every employee.

By sticking to these points, you’ll be able to create an eligible policy guide which provides your staff with clear policies and their accompanying procedures. 

Every company needs policies even if you just have a couple of members of staff, or if you have a large corporation. This will help to protect you and your employees within the workplace. 

Before you roll out your policies company-wide it’s best to get a second opinion on them, make sure they are going to be clear to all members of staff and cover all the points you need. Well written policies ensure your company is happy, productive and safe.

Creating great business policies can make a massive difference to your business. From employee safety to leave of absence and other details, everything has to be written properly and perfectly. 

Make sure that you have included everything that you wanted and that it’s well planned out. You should also keep it short and to the point to keep the attention of the readers. Follow some of these tips to create a perfect business policy for your business.

Nora Mork is a business journalist at UK Writings and Boom Essays . She shares her experience by speaking at public events and writing posts for online magazines and blogs, such as Essay Roo .

Other resources: 

What Is a Business Model? 30 Successful Types of Business Models You Need to Know
Business Strategy: Definition, Examples, And Case Studies
What Is a Business Model Canvas? Business Model Canvas Explained
Blitzscaling Business Model Innovation Canvas In A Nutshell
What Is a Value Proposition? Value Proposition Canvas Explained
What Is a Lean Startup Canvas? Lean Startup Canvas Explained
What Is Market Segmentation? the Ultimate Guide to Market Segmentation
Marketing Strategy: Definition, Types, And Examples
How to Write a One-Page Business Plan
How to Build a Great Business Plan According to Peter Thiel
How To Create A Business Model
What Is Blitzscaling And Why It Matters

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A Checklist for Using Instagram for Your Business

How popular is Instagram as a venue for businesses? Currently,

about 25 million businesses are already involved. And as Instagram continues to grow in terms of consumer use, that number will only increase.

If you have not yet dipped your toes into business use of Instagram, you need to do so now. Your competitors are probably already there, and you are missing out on a significant opportunity to spread your brand.

So, here’s your “to-do” checklist.

Get a Business Account

You may already have a personal account and are using that for your brand. If so, you can easily convert it to a business account, and your followers will be switched over automatically. But, if you don’t already have a personal account, you can open a business one easily.

You simply download the Instagram app and sign up for a personal account. (Note: if you already have a Facebook business account you can log in with that account and immediately have your own Instagram business account).

Once you have your personal account set up, you simply log in, go to your profile and click on the hamburger menu at the top. Under setting, you will be given the option to transfer the account to a business one. You will need to fill in your business information, but that is about it.

This is an easy step. Now you need to actually use that account to develop your brand presence and grow your following.

Who is Your Ideal customer?

Hopefully, you have already generated a customer profile, so you know the key demographics of that audience. If not, you must do so. You can develop this profile by some relatively easy research:

Who are your current customers? Create a profile from them
Who are the followers that your competitors have on Facebook and Instagram?

Once you have defined your target customer, craft a clear statement of what value your product or service brings to them. This should drive all that you ultimately post.

What kind of content does your ideal customer want to see?

Again, you can use your current customers as resources. Conduct surveys – ask them what type of content is most helpful or engaging? And check out your competitors’ Instagram accounts. Which types of content are most popular with their followings? Remember, Instagram is visual, and businesses communicate with their audiences with photos, videos, infograms, and such.

At the same time, the small amounts of text that are used are critical. Your bio tells your story – who you are and what value you want to bring to your audience. If you are going to establish relationships, your followers must know you on a personal level.

If you don’t feel skilled in crafting an engaging bio, get one professionally written. There are writing services and freelancers to be found who do this for a living – find them at Flashessay.com, Upwork, or Write Load

When are Your Targets Online?

There’s plenty of research out there about which demographics are online at what times and on what social media platforms. While it is not foolproof, it is certainly based upon real data and will give you a general idea of when you should be posting. Best times also vary for the type of industry, and there is some research regarding that.

On the other hand, there are hugely successful businesses that have thrown all of that research to the wind and grown amazing followings in a short period. Nathan Chan, for example, launched his digital magazine, Foundr, using only Instagram. He posted several times a day for quite a while in the beginning – literally inundating his following – and he grew his following to 10,000 within three months. You can read his story here and get some great ideas.

However, you determine to post, do it on a regular schedule. Your followers will expect it. Don’t let them down, or they will bolt.

Content – Obviously, the Critical Key

Unless your posts engage and compel, you will not grow a following, and without a following, there will be no conversions and sales. Instagram is visual, so you know you must focus on photos, drawings, videos, etc. You can do many things with that content:

You can tell stories – You can post photos and videos of yourself and your staff at work. Anything you can do to humanize your brand develops connections with your audience.
If you support charitable causes, post photos or videos of your participation. Today’s Instagram consumer is generally 35 and under, and this demographic wants to do business with companies that demonstrate social responsibility
You can tell stories of your happy customers – post them using your product or service. ModCloth does a great job of this.
How-to videos are popular – WD-40 uses them to show the variety of uses (now up to about 2000) of this little product
Geico and Progressive have the gecko and Flo – they have Instagram accounts.
Get a theme. That’s what Nathan Chan of Foundr did. He posted inspirational quotes layered on amazing photos as backgrounds
Create compelling, entertaining, inspirational captions

Engage Your Audience

The more interaction you can gain, the better.

Do whatever you can to encourage commenting and discussion. And ALWAYS respond personally.
Offer freebies or discounts if a viewer will share your post with five people
Run contests with deadlines and then post the winners.
Ask questions; take surveys; solicit photos and videos from followers and customers

Leverage Your Profile

Your business account allows profile features that personal account holders do not get. Be sure to leverage these:

This is the one place on Instagram where you can provide a link to your website
Use your profile to create your brand “voice” – is your business professional, casual, a bit cheeky? Consider the difference between Rolex watches and Red Bull. Every business has a “personality.” If you struggle with writing up this profile, get some professional help from a creative writer or journalist. They can be found on freelance sites like Freelancer, or at writing services like Get Good Grade.
Include hashtags and perhaps emoji to further your “voice”
Consider using your logo as a profile picture
Be sure to include your contact information
You can also include a call-to-action button for contact, email subscription, etc.

Create the right Hashtags

These make your account easier to find for consumers who search on Instagram. You may want a branded hashtag, of course, but consider others as well. If you sell gardening tools, for example, you will want to create hashtags related to gardens, plants, etc. See what hashtags your competitors are using and use variations of those.

Use Instagram Ads

The beauty of Instagram Ads is that you can target your audience and you can include CTA buttons that will allow users to take action directly from your ad. This makes it a lot easier for your targets to get to your website, to a promotion, etc.

Measure the Success of Your Efforts

Instagram offers an entire array of metrics that you can track – it’s part of having a business account. Use these analytics tools to track the growth of following, the success of specific posts and/or ads. Start with the Instagram Insights tool and then, as you grow, there are other external analytics tools that you can use too.

Ready, Set, Go…

There you have it – a checklist of 10 tasks that will put your best foot forward on Instagram. There are others of course, and you will learn them as you go along. But these ten will be the first and most important.

Guest contribution by Natalie Andersen, digital marketer, entrepreneur, and enthusiastic blogger

Other resources: 

What Is a Business Model? 30 Successful Types of Business Models You Need to Know
Business Strategy: Definition, Examples, And Case Studies
What Is a Business Model Canvas? Business Model Canvas Explained
Blitzscaling Business Model Innovation Canvas In A Nutshell
What Is a Value Proposition? Value Proposition Canvas Explained
What Is a Lean Startup Canvas? Lean Startup Canvas Explained
What Is Market Segmentation? the Ultimate Guide to Market Segmentation
Marketing Strategy: Definition, Types, And Examples
Marketing vs. Sales: How to Use Sales Processes to Grow Your Business

The post A Checklist for Using Instagram for Your Business appeared first on FourWeekMBA.

How To A Run A Digital Agency

Times have changed.

We now live in a world where the internet and social media are capturing all of our attention. The business landscape has also undergone a substantial shift and now lives in the digital world for the most part.

All these changes have caused new needs in the marketplace.

SEO, social media marketing, web design, e-commerce, and software development are all trending since virtually any business that runs online needs at least one of them.

Why I Started a Digital Agency?

Six years ago I went to a university and started studying to become a software engineer.

It was a struggle at first, but then I understood the importance of working and studying extra to succeed.

Long story short, I was able to find my first job only after two years of studies and have worked as a full stack web developer for over four years. I was doing really well at my job for the most part, and for many people, they would probably be very satisfied with it.

But there was something inside me that wanted to change.

I was a bit tired of the routine and being paid by the hours, not directly for the results I produce. Having more control over my time was another thing that I was seeking.

So I’ve decided to quit my job and embark on the adventure.

The Struggles of My First Year

As someone entirely new to the business, it was tough.

I didn’t understand marketing well, didn’t know how to sell.

I was full of desire, so I stared directly messaging people on Instagram and Facebook to ask if they needed a website.

After sending hundreds of messages, I was a bit discouraged.

But I learned my lesson: you can’t just simply “jump” at people and sell them something, especially at a higher price.

They don’t know you, don’t trust you and don’t like you. So I had to learn how to attract business. I had to learn marketing. I’ve tried writing some articles here and there, tried Instagram, tried Facebook.

As you probably suspect, I wasn’t successful at that.

I didn’t understand the differences between B2B vs. B2C marketing, didn’t pick the right channels for my niche. I wasn’t consistent with my marketing as well.

Part of a reason why I kept jumping from channel to channel was that I was watching a lot of videos on YouTube by so-called ‘gurus’ like Grant Cardone, Gary Vaynerchuk, and others.

So what happened was that once one of them mentioned one strategy, I would try that.

The next time I would hear of a new thing – I would go and do it.

So I had to change something cause otherwise, I wouldn’t be successful and just become crazy because of all this information overwhelm.

How to Pick the Right Strategy for Your Business

Probably the biggest problem that I’ve faced within my first year was that I didn’t know which strategy and marketing channel to pick for my business.

So now that I understand the difference, I have a suggestion that might be helpful to you.

If you’re in the B2C niche, Instagram and Facebook are probably your best choices.If you’re running an online shop, then Instagram would definitely be #1. It’s a very visual platform, and most of its users are relatively young.

In case of your business in more in a B2B space like mine, I’d suggest exploring LinkedIn and YouTube.

Pick one of those channels and dominate them. Don’t try to do everything at once. Spend a good year or two becoming a master of a platform.

Then once you have achieved great results – stack on your success and expand to another channel.

It’s also worth mentioning that writing articles and doing SEO is still a great strategy for both B2B and B2C; it just takes time.



It’s a long-term strategy.

Starting a simple blog doesn’t require building a custom website; you start with a simple WordPress site.

With all that said, let me tell you what my marketing strategy is at the time being.

I mainly focus on writing long form in-depth posts.

Then I share that content on all major social networks like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. What I also do is I copy my articles from the website, and I create LinkedIn articles from them.

LinkedIn has become more suited for content marketing in the last few years, and it is not very saturated yet.

That’s why it’s a great channel to take advantage of.

Become a Producer, Not a Consumer

Another piece of advice that I have for you is to become a producer, not a consumer on social media.

It’s amazing how much content there is out there. And a lot of it is very valuable.

But from my experience, if you consume too much of it, a few bad things can happen.

Number 1 – you will be overwhelmed with all the information and struggling to make sense of it. Instead of acting, you’ll be thinking too much about the advantages and disadvantages of every possible approach.

And the chances are that you’ll procrastinate. Or try one strategy for a few months and quit to try another one. This behavior will definitely not help you to succeed.

Number 2 – you will spend too much time-consuming information. Therefore you will have much less time to work on yourself and your business.

On top of that, you’ll be very easily distracted and struggle to focus on one thing for a long period.

What’s the solution to these problems?

Stop consuming and start producing. Once you start creating content, your social media presence will start growing.

Not only that, you’ll become an authority that people would want to ask for advice.

Obviously, it will take at least a few years for you to get traction. But it’s worth it.

Grow as a Person

For things to change, you must change.

That’s inevitable.

One of the great things that I am learning on my journey is that the world is your mirror. And you’re the one responsible for your life. To succeed in this game of entrepreneurship, you absolutely must develop new virtues.

For me personally, the biggest one is to be patient.

Another thing that you have to learn and accept changes.

You have to listen to what others are saying to you, especially those who have already been there and done that.

The tricky part about it is that you also have to develop a “thick skin” to protect yourself from critics.

But willing to listen and change is necessary.

Three Rules for Productivity and Growth

I would also love to share with you some of the principles that help me stay on track and make sense of this business.

Eliminate distractions. You have to eliminate as many distractions as possible and focus on the work. For me personally, the biggest one is social media. The one thing that works for me particularly well is waking up at 5:30 and starting my work at around 6:30. No one is bothering you at this time, and it’s a great way to jumpstart your day.
Create a plan. If you want to achieve a goal, you must have a plan. Reverse engineer what you want from your life and create yearly, monthly, weekly and daily goals. It doesn’t matter if your strategy is great. It won’t be at first. But it’s much better than not having any. You’ll learn and adjust on your way.

I personally love writing my daily and weekly goals on the whiteboard and crossing them out. It helps me keep my momentum.
Stay optimistic. Being optimistic and positive is what will definitely help you go through tough times. You have to be grateful for what you have. When things aren’t going well for me, I often think that I am in a great place: My family and friends are alive and healthy, I have a roof over my head and food to eat, and I am privileged to have an opportunity to try my own thing. This kind of perspective always helps me stay positive.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are many challenges that come along the entrepreneurial path.

But maybe they’re just opportunities?



Maybe God, universe or whatever you believe in is just testing you to see if you are ready for what’s prepared?

It’s up to you answer that.

Anyway, I hope my insights were helpful to you.

Thanks for reading.

Other resources: 

What Is a Business Model? 30 Successful Types of Business Models You Need to Know
Business Strategy: Definition, Examples, And Case Studies
What Is a Business Model Canvas? Business Model Canvas Explained
Blitzscaling Business Model Innovation Canvas In A Nutshell
What Is a Value Proposition? Value Proposition Canvas Explained
What Is a Lean Startup Canvas? Lean Startup Canvas Explained
What Is Market Segmentation? the Ultimate Guide to Market Segmentation
Marketing Strategy: Definition, Types, And Examples

The post How To A Run A Digital Agency appeared first on FourWeekMBA.

How Many Businesses Fail? Small Business Statistics In A Nutshell

There are about 50% of businesses that survive more than 5 or 10 years in operation. Unfortunately, an approximate 20% of newly established businesses will fail within one year of operations. 

Background story

The role of entrepreneurs in the economy of the United States is vital. New businesses are the contributing factors to the growth of the economy with the employment and wages they can generate. 

The good thing about starting a business in the United States is the ease of doing business. You can start your business quickly and easily. But with the birth of new businesses also comes the death of a business. Not all businesses survive the first year of operation. 

There are many factors that can lead to business closure. The interplay between the birth and death of businesses is not fully understood with an array of economic measures presented in the US statistical organizations.

The Rate of Business Failure in the US

The Business Employment Dynamics (BED) can provide complete and comprehensive access to data on the trends of business establishments and closure from the year 1994 to the present. 

There is an obvious fluctuating trend in the cycle of starting a business across all industries in the overall economy.

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Source: bls.gov

Different entrepreneurs open an average of 500 thousand new businesses every year. According to the data, more than 715,000 new businesses opened in the year 2006 which was the highest of all time while the lowest was in the year 2010, with just over 560,000 new businesses opened that year across the United States.

The Rate of Small Business Survival by Industry

There are about 50% of businesses that survive more than 5 or 10 years in operation. Unfortunately, an approximate 20% of newly established businesses will fail within one year of operations. 

Half of the businesses opened yearly will not make it their 5th year in operations.  However, certain business industries never go out of business and are always flourishing.

If you are planning to open a business about social assistance and health care, prepare for a profitable and sustainable business journey down the road. 

The health care and social assistance industry has the highest survival rate of all time. The lowest performing business industry of all time is the construction, warehousing and transportation industries as shown in the graph below.

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Source: bls.gov

Common Reasons Why Businesses Fail

It is common statistics that half of the business establishments will not make it past the 5-year mark. However, it is not also alarming that 80% of businesses fail within ten years.

The highest number of business deaths was recorded in the year 2009 when there were more business closures than business establishments.

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Source: bls.gov

So what are the factors contributing to the death of a business? There are many factors affecting business failure. Here are five of the most common reasons why businesses fail according to several reputable business statistics agencies:

Failure to deliver value

Think of what you can under-promise but over-deliver. Always add value to your products or services. What differentiates you from other competing companies?

Failure to connect with customers through deep conversations

The inability to connect with your target audience will pose a threat to your business. Your clienteles are the key to your business success. You need to walk 1000x miles in your customer’s shoes. 

Listen to what they truly want not just what they need. Help them achieve a certain emotion or status. Make your product or service solve their problem. Know your customers by heart by listening and establishing deep conversations with them.

Lack of originality.

Expect that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of similar businesses like you that are playing in the same field with a similar offer at certain price points. Learn what sets you apart. What differentiates your product or services from similar companies that offer the same packages.

Leadership breakdown.

Your business is your baby. Treat it like you are raising your own kid. A breakdown in leadership acts as a catalyst for failure in business. If you are not attuned with personal development, you better start seeking Personal Development coaches. Your success in business will greatly rely on your personality as the founder.

Failure to establish a profitable business model.

Most businesses fail because of this factor. If you don’t have a system that racks profit, your business is going south fast. Try to make a business offer that allows you to have profit. It is going to involve a lot of trial, error, and failure. It is inevitable that you are going to fail along the way, you better fail fast and bounce quickly.

Surviving and Growing Businesses

Every entrepreneur wants to grow their businesses. There are helpful guidelines that allow the business owner to fast forward the success of his business.

Create a business plan. If you just discovered the business by chance and you think you can create profit out of it, learn all about the business. Some people say you need to have a passion for what you do to achieve success. If you truly want to achieve success for sure, you need to create a business plan. In your business plan, envision your company’s growth many years from now. Determine the things you need to perform to get to that status you want. Even if you are a small business, you still need a business plan to start with. It becomes your guideline or road map in achieving your goals.


Track your expenses and keep them low. The true indicator of business success is positive cash flow. For you to know if you are on the road to success or failure, you have to manage your finances wisely. Poor money decisions can lead to a flop business.


Reinvest some profits back to your company. To grow, you need to reinvest a portion of your profits back to the company. This will upgrade your products or services to address your customer needs and problems better. Customer satisfaction means more business revenues.


Measure your productivity. Sometimes you get too busy with so many trivial things. Some business activities don’t contribute to the company’s success. When considering client requests, event or marketing opportunities, or even partnership opportunity, make sure it complements your goals for the company. Choose carefully what you allow into your business. Make sure you still follow your business plan and guidelines.

Entrepreneurship can be both exhausting and rewarding. You need to pack yourself up with loads of perseverance, endurance, determination, focus and will power to find ways to sustain the enterprise.

Guest contribution by Gabe Nelson, part of the team at buildapreneur.com

Related resources:

What Is a Business Model? 30 Successful Types of Business Models You Need to Know
Business Strategy: Definition, Examples, And Case Studies
What Is a Business Model Canvas? Business Model Canvas Explained
Blitzscaling Business Model Innovation Canvas In A Nutshell
What Is a Value Proposition? Value Proposition Canvas Explained
What Is a Lean Startup Canvas? Lean Startup Canvas Explained
What Is Market Segmentation? the Ultimate Guide to Market Segmentation
Marketing Strategy: Definition, Types, And Examples

The post How Many Businesses Fail? Small Business Statistics In A Nutshell appeared first on FourWeekMBA.

How Much Is The AI Industry Worth? A Quick Glance At The New AI Economy

Currently, the Artificial Intelligence market total revenue is valued at 3.5 billion dollars which and it is predicted to reach $26.4 billion dollars by 2023 with an increase in CAGR of approximately 40 percent. Some of the most common technologies that are contributing to the growth of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) market are Machine learning (MI), Natural Language Processing (NLP), Predictive Analysis, Robotics and Image Recognition.

With the increase in automation of various tasks, AI could eliminate around 2 million jobs in the next 5-7 years and more than 3 million jobs by 2030. It is predicted that everyone person out of five will use AI technology to complete their work.

What is AI?

AI is the intelligence that is demonstrated by machines therefore,  AI is also known as Machine intelligence. AI is a system that can interpret any external data, learn from such data and can use the learning to complete tasks and goals. The major goal of AI is to implement the intelligence of humans in machines by developing such systems that can think, understand, learn and behave in a manner similar to humans.

Use of AI in various sectors

AI is being used in various industries and offers a lot of promise for the future. Some of the most popular applications of AI in present times include:

Various games are using AI technology to make the games more realistic and engaging. Games like poker, chess, tic-tac, etc are now using AI.


NLP is used to interact with a machine such as a computer in a natural language spoken by humans. The systems that can comprehend speech and language and then talk to a person in the same language are also widely gaining popularity. The system is also capable of understanding accents, noise in the background, slang words etc. Its application can be seen in virtual assistants like Alexa and Siri.


The vision systems that are capable of interpreting and comprehending visual inputs or photographs on the computer screen are also being used for various practical requirements. Doctors are using this technology to diagnose patients while crime investigators are using it for face recognition of criminals.


Software that can recognize handwriting with the help of AI and then can write in the editable text has been used in solving many cases by law enforcement agencies.


Robots have been incorporated with processors, memory, and sensors that exhibit intelligence. They are also able to learn from mistakes and can adapt to environmental needs.

Market size and analysis

Technologies such as ML, NLP, Predictive Analysis and image recognition have a large share in the AI market. At present, North America has the largest share of revenue generated from the AI market which is more than 40 percent. This is due to the fact that companies in North America are adopting AI in large numbers. After North America, Europe has the second largest share of revenue generated from the AI market.

In the next 5-7 years, the Asia Pacific region is predicted to be the most lucrative market for Artificial Intelligence. This is due to the fact that this region is emerging as a hub for startups working on innovative ideas. Many startups here are already providing AI-based products and several other startups are working on the development of new products and services related to AI such as chatbots and virtual assistants.

Many countries such as the U.S., China, Germany, India, and Japan have seen growth in the AI market because of the rising trend of automation in many industries. Many new companies in these regions are coming up with innovative service offerings across various industries such as BFSI, healthcare, gaming, agriculture and many more.

Growth depending on sectors and regions

North America already has the largest share of the AI market and the market is predicted to grow considerably till 2022. The segments that contributed to the largest share of the AI market are government and defense sectors and they would continue to be a dominant market for AI for the next few years.

With a large number of startups and tech giants such as Amazon, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Apple, IBM, etc, the AI market will continue to grow to a rapid pace in the U.S. The market for AI in the North American region would undergo consolidation in the upcoming years. This consolidation would be driven by increasing adaptability of AI and AI-based products across new industries.

The increasing trend of using AI for video surveillance, video analysis, and cybersecurity solutions, will continue to boost the AI market in the U.S. in the coming years. Governments across the world will also be using AI for improving their core functions across various domains such as defense, finance, technology, transportation etc. This translates into increased spending by government departments for the next few years, giving a tremendous boost to the growth prospects of the AI industry.

Guest contribution by Ethan Scott – he started his career in the publishing industry at a very young age. It was 2014 until Ethan realized that he needed to explore the terrains of writing and seek his passion for it. He worked, partnered and contributed to 20+ websites and blogs and constantly thrived by working on them.  

Read next: AI Economy: How Do You Make Money With Machine Learning?

Other resources: 



What Is a Business Model? 30 Successful Types of Business Models You Need to Know
Business Strategy: Definition, Examples, And Case Studies
What Is a Business Model Canvas? Business Model Canvas Explained
Blitzscaling Business Model Innovation Canvas In A Nutshell
What Is a Value Proposition? Value Proposition Canvas Explained
What Is a Lean Startup Canvas? Lean Startup Canvas Explained
What Is Market Segmentation? the Ultimate Guide to Market Segmentation
Marketing Strategy: Definition, Types, And Examples

The post How Much Is The AI Industry Worth? A Quick Glance At The New AI Economy appeared first on FourWeekMBA.

What Is A PESTEL Analysis And Why It Matters

The PESTEL analysis is a framework that can help marketers assess whether macro-economic factors are affecting an organization. This is a critical step that helps organizations identify potential threats and weaknesses that can be used in other frameworks such as SWOT or to gain a broader and better understanding of the overall marketing environment.

Why does a PESTEL analysis matter?

A PESTEL analysis is one of the tools and frameworks that marketers can use to assess the impact of external market forces on the organization growth and profitability over time.

Indeed, the PESTEL analysis becomes a companion framework to other tools, and frameworks, like the SWOT analysis as it allows to gain a broader perspective on the overall market and industry where the organization operates.

In too many cases marketers fall into the trap of analyzing an organization as it operated in a vacuum. Understanding macro trends, and how those are and will affect the organization is a crucial skill for marketers to gain perspective on the company’s overall marketing strategy.

And to perform a better analysis of the current and future scenario. This also allows an organization to formulate a better business strategy. This also helps organizations adapt their business models based on the changing macroeconomic landscape.

Related: Business Strategy: Definition, Examples, And Case Studies

What are the critical components of a PESTEL analysis?

The PESTEL analysis comprises six macro-environmental factors that span from political to legal:

Political: how much is the government involved in the economy or in that particular market? And how much a government policy can influence that?
Economic: how much economic factors, such as interest rates, employment, foreign exchanged, unemployment and other factors will affect the company’s profitability?
Social: how much emerging trends or demographics, such as population growth, age distribution, and so on affect the organization? 
Technological:  how much technological innovation, development, and disruption might affect a market or the industry in which the organization operates? 
Environmental: how much the surrounding environment and the impact of a business on ecological aspects are influencing the organization policies as well?
Legal: how will change in legislation affect the organization’s profitability, sustainability, and growth?

Related resources:

What Is a Business Model? 30 Successful Types of Business Models You Need to Know
Business Strategy: Definition, Examples, And Case Studies
What Is a Business Model Canvas? Business Model Canvas Explained
Blitzscaling Business Model Innovation Canvas In A Nutshell
What Is a Value Proposition? Value Proposition Canvas Explained
What Is a Lean Startup Canvas? Lean Startup Canvas Explained
What Is Market Segmentation? the Ultimate Guide to Market Segmentation
Marketing Strategy: Definition, Types, And Examples

The post What Is A PESTEL Analysis And Why It Matters appeared first on FourWeekMBA.