SYRACUSE - Syracuse University student Pete Kistler is one of five finalists nationwide for the Entrepreneur Magazine College Entrepreneur of 2009 award.
Kistler is the CEO of Brand-Yourself.com, a startup company focusing on a way for users to manage their online reputations from a single Web site.
It's not just about ensuring a potential employer stays away from incriminating party photos, Kistler says. The company is trying to help job seekers and others establish visibility in the right places, credibility, and involvement in the right niches.
Based on what users enter about their online activity, their industry, and their profession, the Web site grades them in different areas of their Internet life and offers suggestions about what they should be doing to improve their online rep.
The idea is to help users leave a trail of "digital breadcrumbs" so when prospective employers or others search for a user's name online, plenty of good, valuable information comes up.
Brand-Yourself.com is one of five companies currently participating in The Tech Garden's Student Sandbox program, an initiative designed to help student entrepreneurs get their businesses off the ground.
Kistler launched the company with SU alumnus Robert Sherman and current SU students Trace Cohen and Evan Watson.
Anyone can vote for Kistler and Brand-Yourself.com at www.entrepreneur.com/e2009college/. The finalist receiving the most votes will receive a 25-point bonus during final selection of the winner by a panel of judges.
Voting runs through Oct. 12.
The winner will get $5,000, a $500 gift certificate for products and services at the UPS Store, an Entrepreneur Press books and magazine subscription, and coverage in two issues of Entrepreneur magazine.
For more on the Student Sandbox, see Friday's issue of The Central New York Business Journal.

Contact Tampone at ktampone@cnybj.com

By: Kevin Tampone

07/14/09 11:15 AM