We live in an era where smart companies make use of AI bots to enhance their customer service experience. An AI chatbot is nothing but a software that engages the customer in conversations and provides rather specific answers to their immediate queries. The companies mainly make use of chat bots so they can increase their online sales but the question is, do AI chatbots really help in boosting sales?
Artificial intelligence chatbots mainly distinguish themselves from other chatbots by their ability to understand the intentions behind the customer’s questions. In this way, chatbots provide the precise information customers are looking for at that moment, whenever they need it, not only this but also providing solid opportunities for initial sales, cross-selling and up-selling.
Talking about my own start-up venture, SleepyCat that has come a long way since 2017, we started making the use of an AI chatbot in the early 2020 and have witnessed constant growth since then.
Kabir Siddiq, CEO and Founder SleepyCat
Our system is built to have a more contextual conversation with users meaning it will show results on context to the previous chain of questions answered.
Here are some ways an AI chatbot can be used to your advantage and increase sales –
1. Conversion from visitors into leads
All the people who visit your website are potential customers and chatbots should be able to store any kind of data that the users provide. Generation, qualification and conversion of leads are one of the features that distinguish all smart chatbots. This will also result in increase of your lead database and will create greater possibilities to generate sales.
2. Customer interaction
Your customers expect to not only have their queries resolved but also be treated in an empathetic, humane manner. Oh and not to forget; 24×7 availability of someone behind the screen, only if these conditions are fulfilled they will stay with you and keep engaging.
Smart chatbots have already stored answers and they respond to the customers based on the keywords mentioned in their question. Moreover, AI chatbots are aligned with web services or APIs to offer quick and personalized solutions.
3. Increase in Sales
The best part about AI chatbots is that it can not only be used to entertain new customers but also drive more sales from the existing customers. Once a chatbot has interacted with a particular customer and has the history stored, it can cross-sell or up-sell products to the existing customer. This is one very efficient way to boost sales. Also, this helps in gaining loyalty of the customers and improves customer relationships.
Chatbots can offer solutions to a multitude of information based on the requirements of the business. Talking about us at SleepyCat, we use our chatbot to answer questions mainly about order tracking i.e. customers asking for tracking details of their orders, all answers regarding the delivery of orders and off-course queries pertaining to product specifications.
We have had more than 5000 successful interaction sessions with the AI chatbot. The average duration lasts for a good 3.5 minutes which adds to the retention quality of users that managed to land on the website and use the chatbot. This brings us a steady conversion rate of 2% and we’ve had over 200+ conversions using this feature within 7 months.
Making use of the AI chatbot for a business is not an option anymore; rather it has become more about staying competitive in the market since more than 20% of the enterprises globally make use of this technology to scale up their businesses. The greatest and most important benefit of the AI chatbot is that it helps in revolutionising the customer experience, let’s dive a little deeper into this –
With time companies have realised the importance of personalisation and that the most important tools in a business is one that can effectively collect user data along with offering a personal touch that the modern-day consumers are looking for.
Chatbots powered by Artificial Intelligence are great for attracting customers and also holding their attention. There are several advancements happening in big data analytics and tracking users past purchasing behaviour, chatbots can simplify the customers experience with an unmatched level of personalisation. This makes the customers feel important and they also start trusting the chatbots recommendations based on the quality of their interactions.
That time is not too far when chatbots will take over social media; answering comments and replying to the inbox messages will become absolutely normal by a chatbot. We are able to accomplish this because the tremendous potential that chatbots bring to the business helping businesses to boost their sales and providing an enriching experience to the consumers. This bot phase has just started gaining traction; it will be one hell of a ride till we reach its highest potential.
This article is contributed by Kabir Siddiq CEO & Founder of SleepyCat.
Autogas is understood as automotive LPG, which is a mixture of propane and butane. It’s widely used as “Green” fuel, as its use reduces greenhouse emission. It’s the foremost convenient variety to petroleum-based fuels, gasoline, and diesel utilized in transport. In recent times, most of the countries have well-developed autogas markets. It emits fewer hydrocarbons, monoxide, and oxides of gas. It will increase engine longevity as a result of its high measure.
It helps in reducing the carbon emission compared to gasoline and diesel. Many governments around the world are actively encouraging the employment of autogas in recognition of its varied environmental advantages and cost-effectiveness.
With the threat of global climate change rising Brobdingnagian, the necessity for apace deploying clean fuels for transport has never been pronounced.
Compared to other fuels autogas is an efficient source of fuel as it is cheaper than other available fuels. LPG vehicles are cheaper than other vehicles.
Comparing Autogas With Other Fuels
Autogas v/s Petrol
Cost: The price of automobile fuel cars is less than the value of gasoline cars. Autogas saves costs.
Octane rating: Automobile LPG incorporates a higher measure compared to gasoline.
Auto LPG could be a liquified gas; whereas, gasoline is liquid at gas pressure.
Autogas vs CNG
Auto LPG will run three times space on a full tank compared to CNG.
The conversion value of LPG is 50% less that of CNG.
Automotive LPG vehicles are cheap, as compared to CNG.
LPG is safer as a result of low tank pressure as compared to CNG.
India Autogas Market
It is calculable that there are 2.38 million vehicles capable of running autogas in India, and the majority is of three-wheeler vehicles. The chief makers currently provide models intrinsic with autogas. There is an increase in sales of automobile LPG of fourteen percent because of the hike in costs of gasoline and diesel. The entire sales were around 400,000 tonnes within the year 2017-2018.
Autogas Dispensing Stations Across India(2008-2020)
The transportation sector is increasing the employment of autogas fuels, thus, making the expansion of the market. This increasing demand for cleaner fuels is the major market driver. Indian automotive LPG has reached $ 5.15 million units within the year 2019 and is anticipated to expand. Factors contributing to the present growth embrace rising demand for economical fuels compared to traditional fuels. There is an increase in the demand for environment-friendly fuels to decrease the pollution level in India.
The marketplace for autogas is growing as a result of the autumn in its costs, relative to alternative fuels like petrol and diesel. In most cities, three-wheeler rickshaws: a vital part of public conveyance is currently being regenerated to autogas running vehicles. Across the state, 1350 filling stations are there for automotive LPG in five hundred cities in states chiefly Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra.
Companies Providing Autogas Vehicles
Future Of Autogas In India
According to the Indian automobile LPG Coalition(IAC), LPG vehicles can cross the three million mark within the next 5 years in India. It is expected that three million autogas vehicles can run in India by the year 2022. At present, 2.3 million autogas vehicles are running, with a median of 10000-16000 vehicles remodeled monthly.
“Due to the earliest stages of the event of electric vehicles, the state of affairs for LPG is a lot of positive. It provides a lot of opportunities for autogas in today’s market. Moving forward, we can see three million vehicles running on LPG if the govt offers a transparent roadmap on various cleaner fuels,” aforementioned Suyash Gupta, Director General, Indian automobile LPG Coalition.
The reason behind the expansion of autogas is its cost. The cost per unit of LPG is fifty percent to that of diesel and gasoline. As winter is approaching, the considerations concerning air pollution and its harmful effects can reappear; thus, the government ought to encourage the use of cleaner fuels as autogas emits sixty-eight percent fewer oxide than gasoline and ninety-six percent than diesel. Autogas reduces vehicle emissions. Hence, five hundred cities have already got autogas filling stations. A lot of regions may be brought below the reach instantly, as autogas does not need pipelines and can be shipped easily.
Advantages and Downsides of LPG Hopped-up Vehicles
Advantages:
Autogas offers low running prices.
Cheaper than gasoline and diesel.
Lower service value because of less wear and tear of engine parts.
Environmental advantages – less harm to surroundings(reduce emissions of Carbon dioxide).
Higher compression will increase power output.
Disadvantages:
Extra value in shopping for an LPG automotive.
Problems in finding LPG service stations.
Government Incentive Policy
The chief government policy incentive for autogas is the excise tax exemption. The government has removed restrictions on the retail costs of autogas, petrol, and diesel; this suggests that the businesses are liberal to revise their autogas costs monthly. Once the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax(GST)on first July 2017, the taxation of LPG modified, that favored the autogas market. After the GST reform, LPG is taxed at one rate of eighteen in all sectors. This shift in costs provides a major boost to autogas demand in India.
The Indian autogas market began to increase in 2008. Still, the consumption of autogas is low as compared to alternative fuels. Autogas is the best energy supply that is present in abundance at present and prepared for future use. It’s the third most used fuel in the world. Autogas is convenient and low maintenance fuel. It impacts air quality. It helps in reducing the carbon emission compared to gasoline and diesel. Various governments around the world are actively encouraging the employment of autogas in recognition of its varied environmental advantages and cost-effectiveness.
Trade business ideas are essential financial ideas. It includes the purchasing and selling of product and services. There are monetary transactions being done in exchange for the product and services. Exchange can occur inside an economy between the producers as well as the consumers.
Trading business organizations are the companies that deal with this purchasing and selling of products and services. They don’t make products by themselves. Instead, they get it from different producers or distributors and offer it to end client or retailers. Trade organisations work in a way where they can keep up their own stock in a shop or distribution center. Otherwise, they can also request things dependent on client request.
There are these few trade business ideas, that you can think about.
Garments Trading
Let’s start with something which is very familiar to all. Setting up a garment trade business ideas is one among them all. You can think of opening up your own store or even make an online website.
You need to display your products in front of your customers. A wide variety of the products you will be selling needs to be available in your physical as well as an online store. A garment trading business is essentially a very rare one.
Trade Business Ideas- Garment Trade
Another creative option is starting selling from a boutique or any particular brand. In this way, you can get brand loyalty from the customer also. This ensures good quality products. If anything goes wrong, it is the responsibility of the brand to look after it. You might only need to do the basic exchange or return purpose.
Hardware Trading
The technology can be found anywhere. Almost every house-hold possess either a laptop or a desktop. At least a smartphone can be found. Selling the parts of the software can be one of the trade business ideas you can opt.
As the option suggests, it would be better if you provide both the physical and offline store. This will help you reach customers who are far away. However, you would need to market yourself in case you want to have good growth in your venture.
FMCG basically stands for Fast Moving Consumer Goods. This includes all the daily needs that a normal household need. These include packaged foods, toiletries, cosmetics, beverages, prepared meals etc.
The advantage of choosing FMCG is that it gives you a wide range of products to choose from. Your store will attract regular visitors on a large scale. Since people from your locality might miss something or the other in their daily lives. At least once a week, you would need to visit the store for your basic items. This will increase the volume of your sale as well.
Book-store Trading
There might be a controversy going around regarding ‘Internet shall replace books someday’. It is somewhat a true possibility. But the Indian book market is expected to make a steep rise in the sale, making it around 739 billion by the end of 2020. This data has been collected from a relevant survey.
Trade business ideas 2020- Book-Store
So, you can indeed open up your book store, if you choose this one from all the trade business ideas that are available. The students require books all year-round. So you cant count them as your daily customers. You can attract book lovers as well. This could be a bonus for your trade business ideas on the book store. It is because book lovers will come searching for almost every new book that has been published recently.
You need to have a good connection with all the publishing house that producing the best sellers. Keep in touch with a few international publishers as well. In this way, you can keep your store versatile and open to your customers.
The rise and fall of e-book readers
Gift-store Trading
Gifting for an occasion or to say sorry to your friend or girlfriend. Gift Shop can be the one-stop trade business ideas that can solve this issue. A gift-store is supposed to keep unique and creative items that can attract more customers.
You need to be innovative enough while displaying your products. This makes people think that you can think out of the box. You can certainly opt for the customization option, which will add more to your reputation.
If you have interest and knowledge on the usage of automobiles then this is one of the best trade business ideas for you. You need to open up a store where you can keep all the products such as auto spare parts, engine parts and mounts, tyres and tubes, gears and gear parts and so on.
Trade Business Ideas – Automobile Accessories Trade Business
If you look into the research, it says that the automobile industry has a steep rise in recent years. This is because more people are investing in buying vehicles and their parts. In the near future, there is no negative growth that can be found. So, you can think of a choice to make.
Stock Market Trading
A simple and evergreen option of all the trade business ideas is stock market trading. If you are willing, you can do it remotely. It requires a smart mind and a fast software/application. The software/application will enable you to keep a proper track of the recent movement in the market.
Ideas you can opt for
However, this invites a lot of risks. You need to be well aware and have to be very cautious about where you will be investing. With the right strategy, your luck also plays an inevitable role, of course, if you do believe in the existence of luck.
Home Accessories Trading
The homemaking business is growing at each step. If you want to be a part of it, you can invest your time, labor and money without any hesitation. The rising number of houses and flats is making it one of the best trade business ideas.
Trade Business Ideas – Home Appliances
People will come flocking for the home accessories to decorate their households. You have options to choose from such as furniture, kitchen appliances, toilet appliances, home decor and the list goes on. These will help you to choose from a number of products you would like to sell to your customers.
With these trade business ideas, you can start your career now. You have to fulfill the basic requirements and know a few things that are required to initiate your business. So, you can choose from all the above niche. With the right strategy, your business can surely take off with flying colors.
The Cloud Computing Business is growing at a remarkable rate as more companies realize the power of the cloud and its unparalleled and terrific potential. The immense growth of Cloud Computing made Businesses shift to the cloud. However, some entrepreneurs remain skeptical of the blooming cloud market is a testament to how quickly cloud has gone mainstream.
Cloud computing is evolving day by day as new startups come up with more innovative and unique use cases. In this fast-paced business world, everyone is trying their best to make a mark. With growing innovation boosted by breakneck competition in the cloud market, numerous use cases have popped up that help in exploring new horizons making the cloud a much more vast and versatile infrastructure.
Cloud startups continue to attract venture capital funding from the companies and the attention of the top cloud computing platform providers amid a digital transformation march that’s expected to push public cloud service revenue from $214.3 billion in 2020 to $331.2 billion by 2022.
However, at a certain point in time, things can go south quickly and quite easily which is why there is immense pressure on these startups to not just come up with extraordinary and unique ideas but to also keep delivering while making smart business decisions. The inevitable future is Cloud Computing and it will be exciting to witness the process of the journey of all these groundbreaking startups.
Cloud computing is a stage in the market that performs administrations like programming, storing data, systems administration, databases, and servers through the web. It has subbed the physical utilization of hard drives and private servers.
Some of the characteristics of cloud computing are Elasticity, Pay per use, Workload resilience, Resource pooling, Flexibility, Disaster recovery, Easy maintenance, On-demand services, Broad network access.
Worldwide Growth of Cloud Computing Service Providers in 2020
There are some cloud computing companies and startups in India which are successful including IBM, Amazon, Ctrls, AGC, Microsoft, Cloud Sify.
The global pandemic may have affected many sectors of the economy, but it doesn’t seem to have hindered the cloud computing market. According to the latest forecast, the public cloud market will likely grow 6.4% in 2020 to reach $242.7 billion. Software as a service (SaaS) is particularly strong, accounting for $104.7 billion of that total.
In a 2020 Information survey, IT leaders estimated that 42% of their cloud-related budgets are going to SaaS initiatives. According to research, it was found that nearly all enterprises and small businesses are using some form of cloud computing. Around 96% were using public cloud services and 76% use a private cloud.
As cloud computing has become the norm, the trend has given birth to a huge number of startups that rely on the cloud. Cloud-based companies have challenged older, more established firms by finding new ways to do things more efficiently and cost-effectively than ever before. And these exciting new business models have attracted a lot of investment, in many cases in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Best Cloud Computing Startups in India
In hyper-connected businesses, it is hard to imagine a world immune to cyber-attacks and data breaches. For a modern-day business organization, a robust resourceful IT infrastructure is the need of the hour. Developing the uncompromised infrastructure and maintain, involves a huge investment and this is one of the major reasons where businesses lag.
Top Cloud Service Providers
Despite possessing trained and skilled resources, Re-innovating the infrastructure underlying cloud applications has taken immense steps in recent years and is believed to be the next wave of innovation.
In order to meet the growing demands, all organizations need to adapt and scale well. This stage is where the role of a cloud start-up comes into the picture. These start-ups are transforming the business and simplifying enterprise application delivery.
CSQ Global Solutions
CSQ Global Solutions, founded in 2013, is a provider of technology-enabled solutions across the Cloud such as eLearning, PaaS, SaaS and also offers an array of services in Application Servers, Data Centers, Developing Environments, Analytics, Mobility, Digitalization, Testing also including the Test Environments and SOA based Business Services.
BackupGuru
The Cloud Computing startup called Backupuru provides affordable and secure cloud solutions for businesses and new entrepreneurs.
BrowserStack
BrowserStack is a cloud web and mobile testing platform that enables developers to test their websites and mobile applications across on-demand browsers, operating systems and real-time devices.
Infilect
Infilect is a startup that specializes in deriving intelligence by parsing large-scale visual content using proprietary deep learning and artificial intelligence technology.
RightCloudz
RightCloudz empowers and enables their cloud customers to make the right vendor choices when buying cloud-based assets and services.
CtrlS
CtrlS, founded in 2007 is a provider of cost-effective best-in-breed IT Infrastructure Solutions and a host of outsourced business solutions like Private cloud-on-demand, cloud hosting Disaster Recovery on demand and Managed services.
ShareNSearch
ShareNSearch, founded in 2012, is an interest-based provider on social media platforms with categorization that enables users to store content on the cloud and share it with like-minded people while empowering advertisers to reach precise targets.
Vaultize
Vaultize which was founded in 2010 is a provider for enterprise file sync & share (EFSS), mobile collaboration, digital rights management (DRM), mobile content management (MCM), VPN-free secures anywhere access to corporate data repositories, data access control, data privacy, end-to-end encryption and continuous data protection.
Hello2hosting
Fastest growing data center, hosting services, dedicated hosting, cloud hosting, VPS hosting, business email solutions, Dedicated Servers, rack space, colocations, cloud computing and end-to-end Managed IT services to clients.
CloudCodes
The startup was founded in 2011 and is a provider of cloud-based products for Google Apps focused on bridging the gap between an enterprise expectation and Google Apps and building business applications leveraging Google cloud technologies.
The Final Note
The Cloud computing business is evolving every day as new startups come up with more innovative and unique use cases. Every Business is trying its best to set a benchmark. But at the same time, things can go awful easily in the business which is why there’s immense pressure on these startups to not just come up with new smart business decisions.
Often big companies and celebrities are seen with their own personal brands. It’s “personal branding” and it refers mostly to establishing and promoting what you stand for. If it’s your personal brand then it has to be sure the unique combination of skills and experiences that enhances it even more. There has to be the best way to do personal branding so that your work promotes your brand.
Personal Branding is a way of establishing and promoting what you actually stand for, who you are, the values you embrace, and the way in which you express those values. Because, if it’s your personal brand then it has to be sure the unique combination of skills and experiences that enhances it even more. This type of effective branding can make you different from other professionals in your sector.
Apple challenged the world to “Think Different.” Nike encouraged people, regardless of age, gender, or physical fitness level, to “Just Do It.” Dunkin’ Donuts persuaded busy professionals that “America Runs on Dunkin’.”
If we do a quick search to observe how individuals around the world are actually using new tools to craft personal brands. And, so we can see that is what attracts countless people to their websites and big social media profiles.
Now, it’s crystal clear that the biggest tactic is to know exactly where to spend your time to get the results you’ve been chasing for.
Personal Brand
Why Personal Branding Matters?
Some people dismiss the whole process of branding themselves, as being time-consuming, or not that efficient. When it comes to building a personal brand, you have to devote time and energy to personal branding. Your personal brand should highlight your strengths, establish a reputation, build trust among employees, and communicate the unique attributes that you bring to your current industry.
“More than half of employers won’t hire potential candidates without some sort of online presence today.” – CARRIER BUILDERS
Whatever your age or professional achievements maybe, someone is always screening you online. What they observe can have major implications for your professional and well being. So, if you aren’t properly managing your online reputation, then you are actively losing out on upcoming business opportunities. Never lose out on an interview because that’s something you can control- like your personal brand.
Someone is always screening you online.
What Could A Brand Be Nowadays Like?
If someone asks you about a popular brand, then it’s obvious that you are going to say a popular brand like Apple, Samsung, or McDonald. A brand can be anything nowadays, so even as an individual, you have a personal brand.
What’s your personal brand going to be like or you have a brand that exists online and offline both, but isn’t performing that well. Fortunately, there are a lot of best tools and resources that might help you with the whole process of personal branding. While the specific unavoidable circumstances and goals vary person-to-person. But, the overall concepts and processes are still relevant to everyone.
How to build your Personal Brand?
The idea of personal branding makes most people uncomfortable due to a lot of hard-work involved both online and offline. But, if you don’t take control of your personal brand online, then you are obviously going to miss out on opportunities and let others control your narrative.
Building a personal brand might sound like a challenging task, and it is for sure, but there are incremental steps you can take to build credibility in your field. Below there are personal branding tips that are going to help you create an authentic personal brand- and catalyze your career in the process.
Best Ways To Personal Branding To Break Through A Crowded Space
1. Find Your Niche
The basic step to build a personal brand is to make it one that truly reflects your personal and professional identity. Pick something specific that you can do better than 90% of the world. Or, it can go like:
In which areas do I perform better?
What motivates me?
What characteristics others have that complimented me on?
Which role seems to drain my energy?
Which projects can I spend hours on without feeling nauseous or overwhelmed?
These questions can definitely give you a great deal of help because that’s what describes the different facets of your personality.
The niche selection process is really important! You don’t want to spend all the time and energy necessary to link your brand to a niche that’s not growing.
2. Inject Your Personality Into Your Personal Brand
Always think about what you are actually known for because the personal brand is more than the reflection of you are today. This method is what you personally bring to the table. It’s about you and ‘your ideas’ which will help you differentiate you from everyone else who is from your field.
Personal Branding Strategy
It’s good understanding your already existing skill-set and competencies but it will be best if you assess your strengths and weaknesses timely as they relate to your industry and career. By doing this, you’re going to unleash the latent skills and traits that make you unique.
3. Define Your Audience
Determining who you’re trying to reach is the crucial step. Is it an individual in particular? Recruiters? Entrepreneurs? Is it another industry thought leaders? The sooner you define your audience, the easier it will be to craft the brand.
For instance, if your goal is to reach out to recruiters, then you have to start with updating the Linkedin profile. Why? It’s so because 87% of recruiters use Linkedin to find high-quality candidates and 92% of recruiters use social media as their basis.
The design of your website should be impeccable because that’s what people go back and look at. Websites are the only one that tells everything real fast and what they notice should be unique. One thing to be noticed should be that they each have custom sites, beautiful photographs, and even their logo are eye-catching.
And for a shock why am I emphasizing the design and logo? Because according to one academic study, 94 percent of the first impressions were only based on design, and it only takes 50 milliseconds for that split-seconds actual decisions to get made.
There are some crowdsources which might help you with special tools to make logos and design. Professional designs are often what separates the ‘real’ experts from everyone else in the market.
A small piece of advice here would be that start small (in terms of funds) with a logo to establish that working relationship with a designer you like because when it comes to redesigning the website, it’s going to be worth their weight in gold.
5. Grow Your Online Presence
One of the most important aspects of personal branding is about making sure your online presence is a lot engaging to hire managers, co-workers, and employees. In the era of digitalization it’s important you realize that your story should match all platforms. Beware of separating your personal social media by adjusting the privacy settings, so that potential employees don’t stumble upon any information that could harm your opportunities of landing a job. Linkedin, Twitter, and many social media tools are of great help to define your brand if you manage these key points effectively:
Focus on key industrial skills because recruiters search for the roles they’re trying to fit in.
Quantify your accomplishments
Complete your profile with a professional photo
Highlight and build upon your industry expertise
Incorporate your personal brand in your bio and for the feed use hashtags
6. Ask For Informational Interviews
When there’s a list of companies you have always aspired to work for and leaders you admire from the industry, always consider reaching out to these professionals to ask for an informational interview. When you meet these high-profile individuals, then ask them specific questions that help you garner new insights about your field, for instance:
How do you see your industry evolving?
How did you break into the idea of industrializing your brand?
How do you stay up-to-date with the upcoming trends in the industry?
How are you going to transform your brand all over again?
Are there any trade or professional associations, I should join?
Informational Interviews like this not only adds to your knowledge but also help you to envision the ideal candidate to build a personal brand in the industry.
7. Embrace And Enhance Your Networking
It is so very important to network regularly and effectively to grow your professional circle. Connect with industry thought leaders and your peers from formal to informal networking events. Because it’s the whole of a chain, the more connections you make – the more value you provide to your interactions – the more is your personal brand is going to be recognized.
At these events, don’t be shy to fellow attendees to reschedule a meeting again for an informational interview or a casual meet. And if by chance, you weren’t able to attend the event, then just reach out via email and spark a conversation there.
First of all, there’s no such thing as a “self-made” successful person, and that too in a field like branding yourselves. They had had help from someone, somewhere, at some time in their life. You are obviously in the need of other big names from the industries to recognize your brand and ‘you as an expert’. According to a survey, 80% of CEOs in one study said they had a mentor by their side to help them early in their careers.
Even Tiger Woods, the most successful golfer of all time, has worked with a swing coach for almost his entire career. Almost all successful entrepreneurs have had mentors, to help them and they surely became the recognized experts, they are today.
In the process of becoming the recognized expert in your industry isn’t an overnight proposition to be made. It’s obviously going to take a lot of hard work and effort to reach the top. As the digital era changes transform, so does your career evolves, and as a result, your personal brand will shine like a star. You, surely, have to invest the time, money, and work to slowly break through a crowded industry.
And in the whole process, Never ever forget to reinvent your personal brand as you grow.
Personal Branding – FAQs
What is personal branding?
Personal Branding is a way of establishing and promoting what you actually stand for, who you are, the values you embrace, and the way in which you express those values.
What are the three keys to personal branding?
Authenticity Consistency Harmonic
What is the strategy for personal branding?
A personal branding strategy is a plan to take your reputation and career from relative obscurity to high visibility. It describes where you stand today and what level of visibility you want to achieve in the future.
Work, assignments, and stress. These three words take up significant time in a millennial’s day. And it’s only going to get more hectic. As a result, most of us and not just the millennials yearn for that much needed break. A long trip to Goa or visiting monuments usually does the job of shedding some stress. This itself begs for an answer to how one could reach their destination. How does one avoid trip agents who make profits from your travel plans, leaving with you a lighter wallet?
Luckily, Deep Kalra, an alumnus of the prestigious Indian Institute of Management has made planning trips easier using his brilliance and ingenuity—MakeMyTrip.
Deep Kalra is an Indian businessman and Founder of MakeMyTrip. An ambitious and talented man, who has over 27 years of work experience in e-commerce, sales, marketing, corporate banking, financial analysis and senior management roles.
“Tough times teach you the most,” he says
Deep Kalra – Founder, MakeMyTrip
He tells budding entrepreneurs to consider life as a marathon. An idol both on and off field, Deep’s life is all about hard work and determination. Deep has been instrumental in making MakeMyTrip India’s number one trip advisor.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, India, and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India.
Deep Kalra – Initial Struggles
Deep started with ABN Amro Bank. After serving for three years, he decided to start his own venture, and brought AMF bowling. This was an attempt to launch the ten pin bowling revolution in India, but couldn’t take off. Deep had to go back to the corporate sector and joined GE capital. His work with AMF bowling wasn’t successful because his boss who used to live in the United States did not provide any sort of mentorship. Even after opening 200 lanes, bowling couldn’t strike the right chords with the Indian crowd.
The internet sector was on the rise during the mid-90s and web sites like Yahoo! and Google were touching new heights. Deep Kalra decided to use the internet as a catalyst for a new business.
Deep Kalra’s MakeMyTrip Ideation
MakeMyTrip Logo
Deep’s wish was to kick out nosy and stingy travel agents and streamline the travel and holiday planning industry so that travelers found it easier to plan cost effective trips. After a backing of 2 million USD from eVentures and co-founders like Keyur Joshi, Rajesh Magow and Sachin Bhatia, he launched one of the most popular websites in today’s time—MakeMyTrip.
Exploration and wanderlust are on every person’s bucket list. The thrill and excitement of venturing beyond one’s nest is what nearly each one of us longs for. With the introduction of MakeMyTrip, these yearnings have become a reality. Initially the MakeMyTrip team chose to serve only India-United States trips. But destiny had other plans as the dotcom bubble burst two days after MakeMyTrip began operations; the team lost its funding in entirety. The situation was so bad that Deep had to cut down his team size by half and reduce the renumeration of executives in his company by half as well.
MakeMyTrip was one of the few companies to survive the bubble bust. Later, there was a steady rise in the marketing value of MakeMyTrip. Deep and MakeMyTrip’s breakthrough came after IRCTC enabled online booking of tickets. This meant MakeMyTrip’s business model concurring with IRCTC’s plans. The outcome from this new way of business raked in profits for the company, and Deep decided to widen his portfolio and his brand began to offer trip services across India. The tie-up with IRCTC worked wonders.
This boosted the company’s popularity and the number of daily visitors accessing MakeMyTrip’s website increased dramatically. Every 1 in 12 flight tickets was now booked from MakeMyTrip! With an army of 2,000,000 customers, they crossed the 1000 crore INR mark in the year 2008. In the same year, the company recorded profits of 5 million USD. A major turnover for a company that had faced the wrath of the dotcom crash. This established Deep Kalra and his team as entrepreneurs.
Perhaps, MakeMyTrip’s biggest achievement was its listing in NASDAQ in 2010. This blew off its competitors and made it a top gun.
Under Deep’s leadership, the bridge between the Indian and the U.S. stock exchange narrowed. This is no easy feat and commends respect!
His company (MakeMyTrip) was recognized as the “Best Travel Portal India” by World Travel Awards in 2013 and 2014.
Listed as “The Best Companies to Work For” by Great Place to Work Institute during 2010, 2011, 2012,2013.
Deep Kalra is also a member of CII’s sub tourism committee.
He is the chairperson of NASSCOM Internet Working Group.
Deep Kalra’s net worth is estimated around $136 Million as of 2020
Deep Kalra as An Inspiration
Deep Karla shows how to navigate through tough times. His education credentials coupled with his achievements have established him as a success story who brought a change in India. Recovering from any drastic event at a global scale is no piece of cake, requiring meticulous planning, strategy, execution and some luck. MakeMyTrip was able to do it. After IRCTC brought the online services, Deep made the best out of the opportunity at hand. MakeMyTrip has a current market cap of more than 2 billion USD. Deep Kalra’s name shall be embellished in gold on the list of India’s prominent entrepreneurs!
The franchiseIndian Premiere Leaguecricket competition, it is being held with inside the United Arab Emirates (UAE), began out on 19th September with the Chennai Super Kings defeating defending champions the Mumbai Indians. The IPL viewership worldwide numbers had been initially placed out via Board of Control for Cricket (BBCI) secretary Jay Shah, who cited figures from television monitoring employer Broadcast Audience Research Council. The purpose marketplace has become later confirmed via the IPL because the first-class with inside the competition’s history. The beginning healthy of the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL) season observed a record ipl total viewership 100 million traffic in on television and digital platforms.
TheDisney-owned media corporation has sold on the rights ineffective territories in which the in shape is popular, which encompass Australia and the UK. In the UK, pay-TV broadcaster Sky Sports has a three-year cope with the competition, signed in February this year. The IPL final is due to the reality of being held on the 10th of November. 269 million ipl average viewership and web page traffic was observed during IPL 2020 with inside the primary week . Moreover, The starting week of the 13th model of the Indian Premier League (IPL) being playing withinside the United Arab Emirates (UAE) turn out to be watched via way of technique of 269 million site visitors, 11 million extra according to in form as in evaluation to the like length of very last year’s model.
According to a BARC-Nielsen report titled ‘Television Viewership and Advertising Consumption of IPL-13 2020’, the entire week of the persevering with IPL model .The establishing week of IPL 2020 witnessed an increase in ipl viewership demographics with common impressions in accordance with shape compared to the 2019 version of the cash-wealthy league, notwithstanding protecting one in shape a great deal less and less channels displaying the league than in 2019. The match, with inside the primary week, registered 60.6 billion ipl viewership 2020 at some point of seven fits and 21 channels.
IPL Title sponsorship fee per year
As in accordance to the report, the match opener among protecting champions Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings on September 19 attracted a viewership of fifty-two million impressions (that is 29 % better than in 2019) and become watched with the resource of using 158 million visitors (21 % better than in 2019). BCCI Secretary Jay Shah had on September 22 stated that the CSK-MI in shape performed on the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi become watched with the resource of using 20 crore human beings. As in accordance with BARC, a remarkable 20 crore human beings tuned in to appearance at the in shape. Highest ever establishing day ipl viewership for any carrying league in any country- shah also tweeted that no ipl ever has been as large as this
According to the report, suits 2 to 7 garnered greater than 34 million impressions and have been watched with the resource of using over one hundred million visitors in shape on in shape (the best being the only among CSK and MI, which become watched with the resource of using 158 million visitors). It moreover said that one out of 3 television site visitors watched IPL 13 live with inside the setting up week, with a cumulative achievement of 60.6 billion ipl viewership. The advertising and marketing and its quantity additionally noticed a spike all through the whole week of IPL 13. As in accordance with the data, the overall advertising and marketing and its quantity for the whole was better than the 2019 establishing week.
The increase in the ipl viewership numbers witnessed in advertising and marketing volumes throughout all of the suits, besides in shape No. 7, which noticed a decline compared to the remaining year’s 7th IPL in shape.OTT structures all through the whole week of this season witnessed growth in person base over the preceding week, often pushed with the resource of using the large profits visible in Disney+Hotstar. Smartphone usage moreover witnessed a sharp increase to some degree withinside the hollow week of IPL 2020 .Massive income have been seen withinside the purpose marketplace base for Hotstar, Sports Apps, and Fantasy Sports, stated the report.
After months of prolonged lull due to the truth of the COVID-19 pandemic, sports activities sports channels fashion has been given some cheer with IPL fits with inside the UAE as each ipl viewership and advertisers grew, the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) said on Thursday thus adding 269 million site visitors watched IPL 2020’s starting week and there was a growth in ipl viewership as closer to the 2019 model of the cricket fixtures to 60.6 billion viewing minutes.The TV company’s standard weekly viewing minutes had been given right here on September 25 for 1,037 billion minutes. over the 1,266 billion minutes in the pre-COVID-19 period but lower than the quarantine pinnacle of 1,266 billion ipl viewership.
It also can moreover additionally be stated that social distancing issues had precipitated no sporting fixtures being held at some degree withinside the lockdown, forcing broadcasters to air. The company has become eagerly looking beforehand to the IPL for the equal. The first IPL wholesome the various Mumbai Indians team and Chennai Super Kings on September 19 have become into watched by 158 million site visitors and garnered a growth in viewing minutes at 11.2 billion minutes and the equal have become sustained withinside the second wholesome as well, BARC said. The business enterprise said a third of the TV site visitors watched IPL live an 44% of the TV households watched the fits.
Growth in woman site ipl viewrship has become into higher the guys by 30%.Advertising volumes extended 15 % at some degree withinside the number one week of the cutting-edge year’s.It said massive income have been seen in purpose marketplace base for Disney Hotstar, the app broadcasting the IPL viewership fits, and moreover delusion sports activities.
The State of Growth of Shopping App Marketing 2020 reports that a mobile marketing analytics and attribution platform, notes that India witnessed about a 250% increase in non-organic growth of shopping apps install during the strict lockdown period running from March. It shows that generally people prefer to go to the shopping stores but the scenario is change where all the Indians prefer to shop on an online platform. According to AppsFlyer, among non-gaming apps, the biggest winners were News apps (+189%), Health & Fitness (+107%), Music (+93%), and Shopping (+30%). There is a +178% ad spend on growth of shopping apps on iOS.
Touch-Free Shopping
Before this pandemic, a big part of shopping was in hands-on experience, Eating samples at the grocery store and swiping a credit card on a long-desired purchase.
Also in this lockdown period, people are more give attention to computerized applications. Also it has been showing that there is a hike in application installations in India during the COVID-19. And the people became more preference for digital. Malls were in difficult situations as due to strict lockdown people spent more time in online shopping.
In the holiday season, there is more use growth of shopping apps as compared to other days. Also in 2020 all the work becomes digitalized. And in 2020 all the business saw a shift in business. The app-shopping activity is skyrocketed in this Covid-19 pandemic duration. Also, we can predict that in the upcoming holiday season in 2020 there will be more shopping activity. A study found that users are more excited about shopping from apps, completing registration in shopping apps within 16 minutes of downloading a shopping app.
In October there will be running a big sale like Flipkart gives Big Billion sale and Amazon gives Great Indian festival. During these sales, these shopping apps offer a great discount on the products and people will also do in app-shopping activity across India. Also Going forward marketers prepare for the festive season. As the most exciting IPL is also running therefore more shopping activity will be performing. In India majority of B2C e-Commerce retailers draw customers of by providing many advantages like heavy discounts, free delivery, buy one get one free, and exchange offers. Many times online shoppers face difficulty in product delivery timelines and customer service that’s why they give more attention on this part.
India is a fast becoming mobile-first economyand the most important is the awesome infrastructure and very fast performance in the apps also with great responsibility which increases more users on these apps day by day.
Experts in this field predict that the need for brands and marketers provides a super strategy and provides smooth functions to engage more customers. The Data shows that in the last holiday season saws more consumers in APAC preferring more traditional shopping apps, buying gifts and goods from familiar e-commerce apps, rather than from going to marketplace exchanges. APAC also showed that there is a 40% growth in app-sessions of all shopping apps, which clearly show an accelerating mobile-first economy.
Online Shopping
In app-sessions growth in shopping tells that there is more interest in APAC consumers, using them more often to buy products or to window-shop. This B2C spike in India e-Commerce sites is due to existing online shoppers stocking up on essentials given the coronavirus outbreak and the lockdown imposed by the Government.
Some Key Points of Growth of Shopping Apps
If we look at the positions of India for the initial half of 2020, India is in the third position after the USA and Brazil for the non-organic application installations, and if we consider organic application installations India is in the second position after the USA.
There was a 580% spike in retargeting transformations or repeat clients on shopping applications in India after the nation had started opening up.
Also, it is shown that there is an 85% higher number of purchasing clients on shopping applications in India during the period May-June as compared to March-April. This is due to the strict lockdown in India till May.
But what is more interesting is the increase in Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), with an increase of 104% seen in fashion apps between March and May 2020.
The most amazing part of this lockdown period is there are 2.7 billion gaming applications downloads in India, which is highest in the world.
As per reports, there is a recovery of internet shopping was huge by style items. As online shopping picked up in the pandemic period there is a 104% jump in revenue per user for fashion e-commerce applications in India from March to May in 2020.
There are 36% e-Commerce app installs when the lockdown was eased in April and July 2020.
The region also saw a 55% surge in Android revenue and a 40% increase in revenue for iOS during April 2020.
“As India is gearing up to embrace the much-awaited IPL season, marketers would also need to focus on messaging that delivers a sense of empathy and rekindles the holiday and festival spirit during troubled times,” said Sanjay Trisal, country manager, AppsFlyer India.
The nice recovery in shopping applications in India indicates that there is a larger trend in industries that are trying to recovering their business as the country opens-up slowly and reconciles with the new normal within the COVID-19 pandemic.
As from the above graphs, it is visible that there is a huge increase in spent time on apps. The average user is spending approximately 4 hours and 20 minutes per day on their smartphones.
There is one interesting news i.e. one food Startup company Zomato claimed that the industry was rebounding after a prolonged lull, with Delhi and Mumbai made a 95% recovery of their pre-COVID levels of business, while other metro cities like Kolkata and Chennai were at 80%.
Amazon – one of the leading e-commerce players in the country, and the world, has announced on its site that the customers are relying on them like never before in their social distancing and self-quarantine efforts.
With the growing market, you can also start thinking about starting your own. If you are an active social media user, you can utilize this opportunity. You can turn your usage into a business. You can seek for the best social media business ideas. These ideas can turn you into an entrepreneur if you are willing to.’
Social media is very common among netizens. Almost all people with smartphones are part of social media. Also, people are utilizing the lock-down period up to the brim. They have started doing business through social media. Social media ensure a vast reach and helps you to filter your target audience easily. If you think you have the potential to convince people to buy your product or service, go through the best social media business ideas.
The wellness industry and educational organizations that operate all around the world, provides online assistance too. This includes online counselling on many fields that includes academics, business guidance, fitness, beauty, mental health and so on.
You can provide sessions online through Whatsapp and Facebook and even YouTube. You can also arrange live streams where you can interact with a mass at a time. However, if you charge for every session you take, from every individual as their registration fees, then it might be one of the best social media business ideas that you can opt for.
Affiliate Marketing
An affiliate business permits you to exchange items purchased from makers to clients. The affiliate outsource plan of action is reasonable, making it an incredible choice as one of the best social media business ideas. As an affiliate, what you do is basically act as a broker between the producer and clients.
Best social media business ideas – Affiliate marketing
People take their social media handles, mostly Whatsapp, Facebook and Instagram mainly. There they advertise and display the products that are available. They also put influencing captions and discounts to attract people that they are mainly familiar with.
Social Media Management
Social media management is a digital way of advertising any product or service. A decent online media administrator can support the perception of an organization. It is done by making powerful social media campaign and publicizing strategies. A social media marketer produces limited time content. It can be any deals done with an organization’s online media presence, by doing survey and research.
You should have to stay aware of the the recent trends. It is because you may be dealing with more than one social media stages. You also need to recognize which trend may influence your customer. It also depicts the negative effects and positive effects too. This is one of the best social media business ideas that can earn you a lot, considering you work with a good strategy.
Social Media Business Tips
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing business is a type of online media advertising. It includes endorsements and product placements from the influencers, individuals and associations. The involvement needs to be done with implied expertise in the field of information or social impact in their field.
An influencer is an individual possessing the ability to influence the buying choices of others. They have a certain power to convey the information to their crowd. There is a particular niche that they talk about.
Social media marketing – Influencer marketing
Influencer marketing centers around utilizing key pioneers to drive your brand’s image to the bigger market. Instead of advertising legitimately to the mass, you rather hire influencers to speak the words for you.
The influencers charge money on the basis of promotion they make. They can also get free samples of the product if they don’t want direct money.
Webinar Business
A webinar is essentially an online workshop. Rather it can be called a seminar being taken online. A workshop is a simultaneous occasion that includes both preparation and discussion. Also, it need to be equipped with some kind of association and commitment. It’s a route for you to enamor and connect with a large mass.
The most immediate approach to make money from online classes is to charge an admission cost for people who are interested to join the webinar you organize. Individuals will pay a to find out about explicit subjects from professionals and experts.
Social Media Event Promoter
All around the world, various events are happening online. It is not possible to reach everywhere on earth whenever we will feel like. Especially during the pandemic, we can’t even reach our neighbors.
Social media marketing- Social media event organizer
Through social media, it has become possible to meet various people. To make things more formal and accessible to the mass. So you can be the organizer. You need to keep a track of all the events happening online. Approach to the authorities of the event and show your work interest. With a proper strategy, you can get the responsibility and the money. This is why social media event promotion is one of the best social media business ideas.
Open A Podcast
A podcast or conventionally netcast is one of the best social media business ideas. It is more like listening to experts about their life choices. This can be considered as one of the best social media business ideas since it involves generic earning from your production.
A podcast can be on anything and everything. There are many motivational speakers who generally share their experience of struggle and build up. You can get yourself registered with various social media platforms. In this way, you can get a portion as your income.
Meme Marketer
Meme-making is one of the very common names you will get to hear if you are an active social media user. Memes are generally a joke or sarcasm thrown at someone or something randomly. It is humorous and is made for fun. Memes can also be very relatable to life.
Social media marketing ideas – Meme marketing
If you can successfully make memes out of anything, and make it suitable enough for a large mass, then you can opt meme marketing put of all the best social media business ideas. It is very engaging and profitable if you reach out to your target audience properly.
The best social media business needs you to have good public relations. Most importantly, you need to have contacts from various field. You have to be very vocal and keep in mind what people want. If you can generate something that engages most of the people, then it is absolutely a thing for you.
The world is currently facing the largest health crisis since the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918 and unfortunately, there seems to be no clear end in sight. Countless lives have been disrupted and businesses are likewise suffering as a direct result. While even some of the largest companies have already declared bankruptcy, we need to remember that every cloud has a silver lining. In this case, this lining involves the growing presence of online businesses as a direct result of current circumstances. What are some of the reasons why the virtual community is expected to benefit from the current COVID-19 outbreak and how can traditional enterprises learn to adapt?
Doing Away with “Business as Usual”
Of course, it only stands to reason that specific online industries will fare better than others. Some notable categories include:
Social media platforms
Massive online retailers including Amazon and eBay
The mobile application development sector
The main takeaway point here is that these industries have already developed a strong foothold within the digital community. Furthermore, websites related to gaming and entertainment should perform exceedingly well as countless individuals require distractions from the current social situation.
We are also seeing a new swathe of small start-up businesses come into the equation, and for good reason. It makes little sense to take a venture into the physical business community when we take into account the rather uncertain future that it is now facing. Starting an online business requires comparatively less capital, nearly any product can be marketed and it is now possible to reach a global audience. As an increasing number of consumers turn to the digital community to purchase everyday goods and services, it stands to reason that online businesses will continue to perform well.
However, what do the trends above signify for average businesses which still rely heavily upon traditional sales and marketing techniques? If anything, they clearly signal that new approaches need to be adopted sooner as opposed to later. The good news is that many businesses can easily create a digital footprint within the online community thanks to the presence of user-friendly e-commerce solutions.
Furthermore, this online presence can be used to address their loyal customers and to keep them up to date during times of hardship such as these. An effective marketing strategy may even be able to create a new client base. These clients can then be tapped into once restrictive measures begin to ease in the future (and they inevitably will).
The bottom line is that the majority of businesses around the world are facing tough times. However, it is always important to remember that the online community is able to offer a wealth of opportunities for those who are keen to leverage the associated resources. This is why it will indeed be interesting to see how the entire business landscape continues to evolve during the coming weeks and months.
Niku Mandal
