The original steps that I have followed come from this site: http://jeremywaldrop.wordpress.com/2008/10/28/how-to-build-a-windows-2008-vmware-esx-vm-template/
Although there are a few minor differences to the steps where I prefer the original ones I found, I somewhat prefer the more condensed version without screenshots here: http://www.jasonsamuel.com/2010/05/07/how-to-build-a-vmware-vsphere-vm-template-for-windows-server-2008-r2/
Jesse's Blog 