The dotcoms have come and gone, and we're no longer the golden chidlren, able to waltz in and command the salaries and positions we like. Brilliant programmers are a commodity. Business has stopped being about spending 20 years on the payroll. Projects and entire companies coalesce, do a job, and disband. How do you make sure you're the one who gets the jobs and projects? Brand yourself.
Every one of us is a brand, a unique identity. Think especially of our open source leaders. Larry. Damian. Randal. Simon. Pudge. Gnat. Allison. Each is a unique brand that they've built around themselves, consciously or not.
The Brand You 50 is about managing that brand, not in the scummy marketing sense, but in making sure that you never grow stale, that you're unique and immediately identifiable.