Personal Branding
Bret L. Simmons, Ph.D.
Women In
Technology Forum
May 9, 2013
College of Business
Corporate Partners
• Microsoft Licensing
• Intuit
• Arvato Bertlesmann
• Barrick Gold Corp.
• Caesar's
Entertainment
• Electronic Evolution
Technologies
• Employer’s Insurance
• Port of Subs
• Wells Fargo
• Sierra Nevada Corp.
January 24, 2014
Main Points Today
1. Personal branding is a huge
opportunity and responsibility
2. We are all ambassadors of our
increasingly social businesses
3. Differentiate your personal brand by
demonstrating professional discretion
Personal Brand
If people don’t select
you, spread the word
about you, or pay a
premium for your
services, it’s because they
don’t recognize your value.
(Seth Godin)
Value
What you can do uniquely
well to help others
address issues or solve
problems that matter to
them.
Personal Brand
1.Who are you?
2.Who do you want to
help?
3.How do you want to help
them?
New business card
www.bluehost.com
New business card
1. Associate your name and face
with your value
2. Create content and
connections that will get you
indexed and ranked for your
name and value
Be clear, not cute
Social Media
You must be personal and conversant
Lead with value
Wrap the personal around your value
Professionally Personal
Everything you do reflects on your business
Never trust any site to
protect your privacy
• Never post anything, anytime, anywhere
that you would not be comfortable with
anyone seeing.
• If it were posted on the wall of your
office, would it make any of your
colleagues, customers, or employees
uncomfortable? If so, don’t post it online
Operational Privacy
Operational Privacy
• The sooner you behave as if you
have no privacy online, the more
effective you will be
• Use your personal brand online to
build bridges, not walls
Professional Discretion
Just because you can
post, comment, share, like, etc.
does not mean that you should.
Brand: Name, Picture, Purpose
• E-mail
• Linkedin
• Blog
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Other (Pinterest)
Bret.simmons@gmail.com
bret@bretlsimmons.com
We don’t need Facebook to
authenticate our lives
Summary
• Social business is here to stay.
• Strategic imperative to immerse
yourself in the process
• Start now, don’t quit
• Taking control of your online brand is
good for your career and your
company
Questions?
Bret L. Simmons, Ph.D.
www.bretlsimmons.com
Bret.simmons@gmail.com
(775) 336-9576

Branding Women in Technology Forum