FORMER "American Idol" star Justin Guarini told the Daily News last week that he's working on his brand. What I want to know is, whatever happened to musicians just making music?

Or writers just writing their columns?

Or manicurists just doing nails?

These days, it's not good enough to just do whatever it is that you do. You also have to build up your personal brand. That's right. You need to treat your skills as a commodity and market them as if they were a tube of toothpaste or a can of soup.

"We're in desperately competitive times," noted Marian Salzman, a nationally recognized trend spotter who helped popularize the term metrosexual. "Everything is about who am I? What do I have to sell? And who's going to buy me at the best possible price?

"A lot of people are going to become free agents," added Salzman, chief marketing officer for Porter Novelli. "We all need to be thinking of ourselves as the best product you need to be."

Peter Madden, founder and president of the Philly-based Agile Cat advertising firm, said branding is about differentiating yourself from the competition.

"Maybe you're an accountant, but how are you an accountant?" Madden asked. "What makes you that special kind of accountant? That can be tough for people to do. We're taught to be humble."

So, it's official for me now. No longer am I merely Jenice Armstrong, columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News. I am now Brand Jenice Armstrong, packaged and on the shelf.

Yes, I drank the Kool-Aid.

But these are scary times.

You've read about what the newspaper industry is going through. My parents held their teaching jobs for decades with never even a threat of layoffs or salary givebacks. I, like a whole lot of other folks, may not get that luxury.

And if you believe the gazillion branding experts out there, you're nothing without your own brand. You don't even exist. And you never existed. OK, so maybe I'm poking a fun at the concept, but there's no arguing that practically everyone needs to have at least some online presence when a prospective employer or client Googles them.

Recently, I arranged for Karen Taylor Bass, author of "You Want Caviar But Have Money for Chitterlings: A Smart Do-It Yourself PR Guide for Those on a Budget," to work her branding magic on a Philadelphia manicurist who'd contacted me looking to expand her business.

Shawna Coffee envisions herself as one day owning a nail salon, having a T-shirt line and doing nails for celebrities and other high-end clientele. But for the moment, she's filing calloused heels in neighborhood salons as an independent contractor.

"What we want to do is position and brand you as a premier experience as it relates to nail care and nail quality, and that you're available for all sorts of opportunities, eventually to having your own line of nail color," Taylor told Coffee during a sit-down at the Daily News. "Do you have a Web site? We need a Web site."

Taylor continued, "Are you blogging? We are going to create a blog. The blog is where you are going to talk about yourself, your love of nails. You are going to update it twice a week. Do you have a bio? You'll need a bio."

Taylor also directed Coffee to get on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter, a new micro-blogging network. Taylor started talking with Coffee about doing Internet podcasts and radio interviews, and hosting charity functions to raise her visibility and increase her circle of contacts. Coffee, who'd shown up with some papers and her Bible, looked overwhelmed.

"The Lord wants you to have this amazing business," Taylor reassured Coffee.

With a little branding, she may get there.
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