The Brand You 50

Tom Peters presents the Reinventing Work series!

Technology is driving a business revolution. Those who survive will have to adapt and reinvent themselves — quickly. In these important books, Tom explains what's happening, provides the tools you need to meet the challenge, and inspires you to… go for it!. It's your future and these are your books.

In THE BRAND YOU50

In In today's wild wired world, you're distinct… or extinct. Survice, thrive, triumph by becoming Brand You!

The fundamental unit in today's economy is the individual, a.k.a. YOU! Jobs are performed by temporary networks that disband when the project is done. So to succeed you have to think of yourself as a freelance contractor-Brand You! Someone who is savvy, informed, always learning and growing, who does know how to sell herself, and — most important — does work that matters.

THE BRAND YOU50 lays it all out! From designing your business card to landing jobs, from building your Rolodex to crafting an image, from transforming your skill portfolio to delivering WOW! results every time. In 50 easy-to-digest sections featuring over 200 Things To Do, Tom Peters shows you how to create a unique, fabulous, high-performance (and highly paid) Brand You.

1. Coping rests on your shoulders. Forget "they". This is your life. Period.
   1. When was the last time you asked: WHAT DO I WANT TO BE?
2. You have no option: THE WHITE COLLAR REVOLUTION IS ABOUT TO SWALLOW ME/YOU/US!
3. The Answer: Becoming "Brand You"
4. What if we each had "market cap" — free-market evaluation of our economic worth, like ballplayers and actors more or less do?
   1. We need a snapshot: What does Brand You "look" like? "Feel" like? For starters: Consider Icon Woman. (And hear her roar!)
5. Forget "tasks". The new Brand You currency: WOW Projects!
   1. Commit yourself fully to The Project Life. Pursue Mastery.
6. You — Brand You — are a "package"
7. "Inc." yourself. Mindset: I AM A COMPANY
8. Speak out! BRAND YOU IS ABOUT WHAT YOU VALUE!
9. No walk in the park: Brand You demands a rich, diverse portfolio of skills
   1. Brand You Warriors wear at least Eight Hats… from sales to accounting to product development.
10. Learn to play The Great Game of Business. You must master the Brand You Economic Basics
11. Paint a compelling, technicolor word picture of who you are
12. OBSESS ON YOUR… JOB TITLE. (Yes it is that important)
13. Brand You: WALK THE TALK. (We must become the change we want to see in the world — Gandhi)
14. Brand Yous embrace the real-world Politics of Implementation. (Or else!)
15. Turn your crummy little tasks into Hopelessly Cool Projects. (IT CAN — ALWAYS — BE DONE)
    1. Work with what you've got! Make it a masterpiece!
16. Master "bootstrapping". LEARN TO SCROUNGE RESOURCES!
17. YOU ARE YOUR PORTFOLIO: Think Quality of Project Portfolio.
    1. You are the WOW-ness of every project. So: Score WOW-ness!
18. FOCUS!
19. You are your Clients I: BRAND YOU IS DEFINED BY HER (HIS) CLIENTS. Who they are. Who they aren't.
20. You are your Clients II: SO… LISTEN TO'EM CONNECT WITH'EM!
21. You are your saleable competencies: Brand You must be… stunningly good at something of value to clients.
22. You are your Rolodex I: BRAND YOU IS A TEAM SPORT
    1. Loyalty: More important than ever! New — Brand You — Loyalty = Rolodex Loyalty. (Not "logo" loyalty)
23. You are your Rolodex II: Breadth counts! Collect Freaks!
24. DESIGN MATTERS… A LOT… TO BRAND YOU! You are your "signage": phone skills, report writing style, letterhead, etc.
25. Consider your "product line". Add to your product line… regularly. (OR ELSE!)
26. Thing B-i-g. As in, Big Ideas. "Did it make me gasp when I first saw it?" — adman David Ogilvy's WOW Test.
27. Me Inc./Brand You Mantra: DARE… DAILY.
28. SUBMIT TO THE PERFORMANCE! Brand You is a performing art.
29. Bosses: YOU GOTTA — damn well oughta — LOVE BRAND YOU! (It's all about turning "employees" into Performance Maniacs)
30. Identity = Most cherished Asset. Brand You  Learn to think like Gillette or Saturn.
31. A brand is a "trust mark": Brand You rests upon bedrock called Credibility.
32. It may sound small. IT AIN'T. Calling Cards tell a Large Tale. (First Things First.)
33. BUILD A WEB SITE THAT WOWS. NOW.
34. You are your own P.R. agency. For starters: Join Toastmaster's.
35. Work on your Optimism. (Spreaders of doom + gloom rarely attract followers!)
36. Renewal = Job 1 for Brand You. Period.
37. A must: FORMAL RENEWAL INVESTMENT PLAN.
38. Learn from… anyone. Anywhere. Any time. BECOME A SPONGE… for Cool Stuff. (Work on exposing yourself to cool stuff.)
    1. Love the Plateau! Learning — the essence of Brand You — is not a smooth ride. (You get stuck at times.)
39. YOU — Brand You — NEED A TERRIFIC BOARD OF DIRECTORS. (No kidding.)
40. YOU — Brand You — NEED A "FRONT LINE UNIVERSITY". Message; stay in close touch with "real people".
41. Hunt for Cool Dudes-Dudettes. All Brand Yous — youngest to oldest — are perpetually in the Talent Scout Mode.
42. Create your own, cool organization… Me & Co… even if you are young, "unempowered" and on someone's payroll. (You are always a Builder! If you're smart.)
43. Leadership is me… as Brand You… at all times. (Leadership" is independent of formal position. Period.)
44. POWER MATTERS. Stuff that matters — that gets done — demands superb political skills.
45. YOU — Brand You — NEED A FORMAL MARKETING PLAN
    1. Think hard: DO I REALLY HAVE A "PRODUCT"? (This is no easy "test" to pass.)
46. Think: ONE WOMAN (MAN) GLOBAL POWERHOUSE. (Seriously.)
47. Sell: SELL. SELL!!!
48. You — Brand You — GOTTA BE A "CLOSER". (Learn to "Ask for the business".)
49. Effective Brand Yous Are dis-loyal! (I.e., on a Crusade that transcends "the corporation".)
50. WELCOME TO FREE AGENT NATION!

• The Movement
• Recommended Reading

NO! I did it again, fell for a book by Peters by browsing it at the bookstore. Pure crap when you begin reading the fine print. I suppose some career hungry idiots could benefit from it though.