Maybe I’m busy and my brain is on overload. That’s my charitable assessment.

It could be that I’m just stupid (more likely).

Here’s the deal. About two months ago, I hired a law student to do some writing for our website. She did a good job and delivered her excellent work product after about four weeks (right on time).

One of my associates just gave me an idea for another article. I’d like to hire the law student again. I bet she’d like the work (and the money).

The problem?

For the life of me, I can’t remember her name. If I could remember, I’d type it into Gmail and be off and running. Instead, I’m stuck, and this project will go on my to-do list until I get a chance to dig her name out of my notes.

How to Avoid the Out of Sight, Out of Mind Syndrome

What could she have done to stay “top of mind?” What could she have done to embed her name in my memory?

Here are some ideas:

• She could connect with me on LinkedIn. Once we connected, she could have started recommending my articles on LinkedIn. As much as I hate to admit it, my ego gets fed when people do that. It pops up on my phone, and I get endorphins or something.
• She can do the same thing on Twitter. Retweeting me helps me remember people. I’ve got a bunch of folks who get referrals from me because they retweet my stuff. I’m easy.
• Same for Facebook if she wants.
• Google+ too.
• She could have e-mailed me an article of interest, and she could have commented when we put her article up on our site.
• She could e-mail me about having lunch or coffee. She knows where I hang out, and she could have popped in to one of the coffee shops I frequent.
• She could have sent me a thank you note when we paid her. She could have sent me a gift (we paid her $1,000—maybe some cookies?).

How Memorable Do You Think You Are?

Now, let’s turn this to you. You had lunch with your referral source once. You gave her a business card. You had a nice talk.

Does she remember your name?

Are you on crack? Seriously, I found my young law student. I met with her. We e-mailed back and forth. She did work for me. I paid her. And I still can’t remember her name.

Do you really think your prospective referral source remembers you?

What are you going to do—today—to get remembered?