From Who? to Oh, You! Being Sticky Matters.
Let me tell you a story. (Yes, again. You know I love a good story.)
A couple of years ago, I moved to Noosa. It’s beautiful, it’s coastal, and it’s an amazing place to live for a growing number of people.
But it’s still a small town.
The kind of place where you’ll bump into the same people at Woolies, your morning coffee run, and that business event you forgot you RSVP’d to.
So I have started seeing familiar faces again and again. But one in particular stood out. Not because we hit it off immediately. No, no. Quite the opposite.
I saw this woman everywhere. She was a regular on the Noosa networking circuit.
And every single time we crossed paths, I’d go up to her and reintroduce myself… and she’d blink at me like we’d never met.
Not once.
Not twice.
But a solid three or four times. 🤦♀️
It was starting to feel like some sort of social Groundhog Day.
Until one day, something shifted.
We crossed paths at an event in a different context – something more community-focused.
And for once, she remembered me!
Not only that, she was curious, animated, interested. She wanted to know why I was there. What I was involved in. Who I knew. All of a sudden, I went from “just another name tag” to “someone worth talking to.”
I went home that night and said to my husband, “What on earth just happened?”
Sticky moments > repeated introductions
Fast forward to the next event and I spot her again.
This time, I don’t make the first move. I’ve paid my networking dues with this woman, thank you very much.
But then? She makes a beeline for me. She’s excited, chatty, remembering things about me. (A plot twist I did not see coming.)
And here’s the kicker: the only thing that changed between “forgettable me” and “memorable me” was one small mention of a local community organisation.
That was it. Something clicked. Something stuck.
The marketing parallel you didn’t know you needed
Here’s where the business lightbulb flickers on.
Your brand is probably rubbing shoulders with a dozen others offering more or less the same thing. Most people can’t tell the difference at first glance. You all sort of blend into one.
And when that happens, you become just another face at the networking event. A blur. A “what was their name again?” moment.
Unless… you’ve got something sticky.
It could be a niche you serve. A visual style. A turn of phrase. A cause you’re passionate about. Even something as small as your “thing”, that one quirky detail people latch onto.
(Are you the one with the cute sausage dog who wears bowties? Because I remember you.)
Be the brand they remember when the time is right
You don’t need a billboard or a viral moment. You just need one clear, memorable detail that makes people go, “Oh yeah, that’s the one.”
So, what’s your sticky thing?
Because when the time comes (and it always does) you want to be the business they remember, not the one they almost recalled.