While reading Gary Vaynerchuk’s Crush It, I realized that he wasn’t the first to say Brand Yourself. In fact, Tom Peters wrote “The Brand You 50: Fifty Ways to Transform Yourself from an ‘Employee’ into a Brand That Shouts Distinction, Commitment, and Passion!” in 1999. Ten years ago!

Fast Company magazine published Tom Peters article titled The Brand Called You in August 1997 and a follow-up article called Brand You Survival Kit here in 2004.

In addition, Joe Calloway wrote Becoming a Category of One in 2003.

Moreover, Seth Godin has been writing about being unique (a Purple Cow) since 2003.

Seth’s latest book, Linchpin, is about becoming indispensable at the office. To add value and distinction at the workplace so that you can get some pleasure out of your W-2. In a way, that’s about branding yourself too, because you are talking about affecting how others perceive you. And you are thinking about how others perceive you. A brand is the sum total of experiences, thoughts and emotion associated with a person or company.

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CFO’s don’t think 2009 will be the year of recovery – “83 percent predicting we won’t see relief until the first half of 2010 or later,” according to the TechJournalSouth.

Options CFO’s  are considering or using to avoid layoffs include:

1. Redistribution of responsibilities;
2. elimination of bonuses;
3. restructuring;
4. reduced payroll and
5. options to telecommute.”

Reduced payroll can include: shortened work weeks; no overtime; mandatory time off; pay cuts. Although employees get disgruntled with these measures, a frank discussion with employees should help everyone understand that it is far better to take a little less now than to be unemployed altogether.

In reports I am seeing, companies are refraining from touching health benefits but are suspending 401K matches and other monetary benefits.

And here are twenty more from TechRepublic‘s article “Layoff: A Four-Letter Word in Any Economy,” by Steven Martin, president of Profit Professionals of Business Solutions – The Positive Way.

Next week, Jack Brandt of Register.com and I are back at ISPCON to do another session on Marketing. For those that read this blog, here’s a thank you gift – the presentation early.

As many of you know, I don’t use PowerPoint during my sessions, but these are the ideas I will be trying to convey about Marketing, Messaging, and Guerrilla tactics.