Sima Dahl
Sima Dahl Speaker Biography
When Sima Dahl graduated from the University of Illinois and started climbing the ladder at a Fortune 500 company she soon learned a hard lesson not often taught in schools – the importance of a strong personal brand and professional network. Throughout her 20-year career in business-to-business marketing and sales, she worked hard to develop these invaluable corporate skills. Today she is known as America’s Personal Branding Champion and one of the most sought-after thought-leaders in the industry.
In 2008 Sima founded Sway Factory, Inc., a Chicago-based consulting and training firm to help business professionals harness the power of social media to build brands and generate sales. Through her keynotes, corporate training and workshops, Sima has helped thousands of sales teams, business owners, entrepreneurs and career-driven staff develop their personal brand and amplify their digital footprint on LinkedIn and other social platforms.
Sima has shared the Sway Factor™ system, her effective and time-efficient approach to social networking and social selling with clients including Motorola, USG, Jones Lang LaSalle, Mesirow Financial, Orbitz, Cisco, ADP, PepsiCo, United Airlines, Microsoft, Abbott, Society of Financial Services Professionals, United Benefit Advisors, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
Prior to hanging out her single shingle Sima was a senior corporate marketer, working for global enterprises and start-ups alike, where she was best known for her ability to wrangle complex business-to-business brands and develop messaging to generate leads. Sima still does this today, but for personal brands that mean business.
Sima is the co-author of two anthologies and regularly writes about personal branding and social selling for the American Marketing Association and similar journals. She has served for more than 12 years on the boards of the American Marketing Association and Business Marketing Association; is Faculty at Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, and is a member of the National Speakers Association where she is on track to earn her Certified Speaking Professional designation in 2016. She earned her BA in Communications from the University of Illinois in Champaign and her MBA in Management with distinction from DePaul University in Chicago.
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Speech Topics
Retain Top Talent:
Honor Diversity & Inclusion
Invest in diverse talent. When you teach your employees how to manage their career and market themselves within your organization, everyone wins.
Key Takeaways:
- You’re the CEO of your career.
- No one can manage it for you.
- There’s always room for growth, even in “flat” organizations.
- Go-getters never stop networking.
- Get connected inside your organization to get ahead.
- You’re more than your job title.
- Be prepared to articulate your value.
- Communication is everything.
- Speak up to stand out.
Generate Referrals & Drive Sales
Sales leaders who practice social selling generate more referrals and close more business than those who don’t. Period.
Key Takeaways:
- First impressions often happen online, so take care of your digital footprint.
- We are 2-3 degrees of separation from one another.
- Almost everyone knows someone who needs what you do.
- People buy from people they know, like and trust. Your online profiles should convey likeability and trustworthiness.
- You have to earn the right to connect and converse online.
- Being a subject matter expert and staying top of mind is just a status update away.
Create Sticky Employer Brands to Win the War on Talent
It’s time for HR leaders to think like marketers and act like salespeople. Fill your talent funnel faster by upping your online game and turning your employees into talent-magnets.
Key Takeaways:
- Employer Brands are more important than ever: Figure out yours.
- Top talent wants to work with other top talent.
- Your employee’s digital footprint can attract staff or deter them.
- Decent salaries and benefits are table stakes: Tell online job prospects what they need to hear quickly, before they bounce.
- Leverage your current staff and 10x your talent pool.
- We tell candidates to clean up their social media accounts. It’s time hiring companies did too.
Raise Brand Awareness with Content
Transform sales leaders and staff into brand ambassadors by enrolling them into your online content marketing team, then watch your Return on Marketing Investment grow.
Key Takeaways:
- Content is still king. Whether or not your staff know how to share content is up to you.
- If you want the sales team to help build the brand and attract opportunity, teach them social selling.
- Sharing your marketing assets with staff inside your organization needn’t be hard or expensive. It just needs to happen.
- Raw, unfiltered content works as well, if not better, than the shiny stuff your ad agency is trying to sell you.
- Personal content marketing works for FINRA and SEC-regulated employees too.
