“You’re the guy with that cool blue and silver business card, aren’t you?”
A couple of weeks ago, I was at a networking event, chatting with someone I hadn’t seen in years. He looked me in the eye and said, “Ah, I know where I remember you from!”
He couldn’t remember my name, but what he could remember, bizarrely, was my business card. That blue and silver one with the foil logo. He even had a pretty good idea of what I do.
I was genuinely surprised. After all, it had been over two years. But that small detail stuck with him.
To be fair, I’ve gained a bit of a reputation for that business card. I often get comments on it. And yet, there’s nothing particularly fancy about it. Just a deep navy background with my silver foil logo. I didn’t overthink it. I just wanted something that looked a bit different and stood out.
That conversation got me thinking about branding and how we often underestimate the power of small things like colour choices or business cards. But when you step back and look at every part of your business, all of these elements add up.
I like the concept of touchpoints. Every little interaction someone has with your business matters. On their own, they don’t seem that important. After all, a nice business card isn’t going to transform your entire business. But if you improve every touchpoint, little by little, you will start to stand out.
Daniel Priestley talks about something called a Touchpoint Review, which I really like. He suggests writing down every single way someone comes into contact with your business, whether online or in person, and giving each one a score out of 10. The aim is to get every touchpoint as close to a 10 as possible. This is a simple but powerful way to build a more remarkable business.
Then there’s the question of being memorable. The key here is consistency.
Branding can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. I recommend starting with three colours and three fonts. Choose one main colour and one main font and use them across everything you do.
And it’s not just about how things look. Consistency in your messaging is just as important. Say the same things, in the same way. Be clear about what you stand for and make it easy for people to understand. That’s how people remember you and start to trust you. Messaging is a big topic in itself and one I’ll cover in another article.
But for now, here’s a question for you.
If you carried out a touchpoint audit on your business today, how would you score?