At SQLBits 2020 on Saturday, October 3 at 11:10AM Eastern, 8:10AM Pacific (calendar), I’m presenting a session called 500-Level Career Guide: Building Your Brand. Here’s the abstract:
If you want to work for yourself, you need to be able to sell yourself. I know, I hate it too – it feels gross when I write it that way. I’m Brent Ozar. You recognize my name, that’s why you wanna learn this from me.
Doesn’t that sound terrible? It sounds cocky. Arrogant. American.
But if you’re going to sell your services, you’re going to have a much easier time if people recognize you by name – and even better, seek you out by name. Just as customers seek out brands like Lego, Adidas, and Coke, you want them to seek you out by name too.
You’ll learn my 3-word exercise for building your brand, and then learn how to become known for that brand in our industry without spending any money on advertising. If you use this exercise and then stay true to it in your blog posts, tweets, and presentations, you’ll have customers pouring in without having to make a single phone call or email.
To attend, register here for free for SQLBits. Saturday is a completely free day packed with sessions from Bob Ward, Buck Woody, Paul Randal, and much more. The conference is in UK time, though, and my session’s actually in the last slot of the day. If you miss it, though, good news: SQLBits records their Saturday sessions and makes ’em publicly available for free later.
Here are the session resources:
My online bookmarks at Pinboard – especially the bookmarks tagged business, career, inspiration, management, marketing, presenting, startup, streaming, and writing.
Books I recommend, in order:
- Getting Things Done by David Allen
- Permission Marketing by Seth Godin
- The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
- Blue Ocean Strategy by Mauborgne & Kim
- ProBlogger by Garrett & Rowse
- The Secrets of Consulting by Gerald Weinberg
- 50 Management Ideas by Russell-Walling
- The Cluetrain Manifesto, Theses 1-40
- Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow
People who have done it and shared:
- JonathanStark.com/free
- Steve Kamb: Level Up Your Life, NerdFitness
- Mike Taber & Rob Walling: Startups for the Rest of Us
- Brennan Dunn: Double Your Freelancing Rate
See you in the webcast. Don’t forget to register!
