What makes prospective clients remember us? It’s our excellent work, right? That’s what I used to think. But there are individuals that are good at their jobs everywhere. That isn’t exactly in and of itself memorable. So what can help us become memorable? I think in addition to excellent work, we all need a hook too.

The name of my company is Red Zone Marketing. When you have a color in the name of your company, you are almost required to wear that color, right? Well, I didn’t think of that when I selected the name. I named the company in the spirit of my grandmother who taught me all about football. Red Zone is a football term.

After my company started back in the 1990’s, I got the advice that I should wear red when I was speaking publicly. But I didn’t own anything red and didn’t much like the color. I know it seems ridiculously common sense, but I didn’t name my company because of the color! However, I respected the advice, bought a few red suits, and began wearing them when I was speaking.

The marketing genius (that I didn’t consider) was that the color tied to my company name and my story and caused it all to be more memorable. And frankly, there is not a lot about my name otherwise that is particularly memorable. My name is Maribeth Kuzmeski. You can’t spell either, pronounce or Google search my last name ever, and probably never remember it. I guess I had to hope someone had photographic memory to be able to call up my name months after hearing me. That sounds like a bad recipe for being memorable.

But I learned that when I wear red while I tell a story about the philosophy of Red Zone Marketing, there is a memorable connection. The most searched name for my firm after I speak publicly is not Kuzmeski or even Red Zone Marketing. It is “Red Zone Lady.” And frankly, I don’t care how people remember me, I want them to hopefully think of me again.

What’s your hook?