Say you hand someone your business card…

…mail them your invitation

…send your thank you note.

What do you imagine they do with it?

If, when you close your eyes, you imagine the last step involved a trash can, you’re not alone.

Maybe you imagine them ooh-ing over your business card, entering the details into their phone, and dumping it in the bin on the way out the door.

Or you see your invitation in a place of prominence, affixed to the refrigerator by a chic magnet from Neiman Marcus. It hangs there gracefully until about a week after your big day, when it joins a few banana peels and an empty hummus container.

Perhaps that thank you note you poured your heart into sits on the desk for a few days, admired and re-read before finding its fate with the week’s junk mail and paid bills.

It’s not a pleasant thought, huh?

Frankly, it’s my worst nightmare.

Getting noticed takes putting in a little more effort than everyone else, but being remembered takes so much more.

That next level is where we like to operate.

It takes brave clients, willing to make bold choices and invest in the experience they give their people. The kind that gives your business card a sacred space in your prospect’s wallet or on her desk.

The kind that gets your invitation frames and hung on their wall.

The kind that puts your thank you note on the bookshelf where it will be seen every day.

Where they’ll remember you and think of you fondly every time they see it.

It isn’t always for the faint of heart. If it were easy, everyone would do it (and no one would be making memorable things). It’s a big step with big payoff.

Because everyone wants to be remembered.

That’s what I call #goals.