Maybe I think too much. Like most people, I have business cards. Like some people, my company has stickers. I give my business card to anyone who asks. In reality, I’d much rather give people a sticker so that they can promote my company’s brand.

You may find this hard to believe, but I hesitate to give people a sticker because there is an underlying imposition: I am asking them to promote my company’s brand and, worst case, “deface” what they put the sticker on. One day between tweets, emails, and posts, I came up with (what I consider) a brilliant idea: Why not make a business card that’s also a sticker or a sticker that’s also a business card?

I sent an email to my buddy, John Fischer, who runs StickerGiant and asked him (a) Is it possible to print on the back of a sticker? and (b) Has anyone ever asked for this before? His answers were, respectively, (a) Yes and (b) No. Voila, a few weeks later, I have perhaps the first “stickercard” that is, a business card and sticker combination. You can see how it works here.

Psychologically, a stickercard is a powerful concept. By applying the teachings of Robert Cialdini, I hope that it engenders reciprocation and consistency. That is, since you’ve given someone a cool sticker, the person feels like they should reciprocate by sticking it somewhere visible. (Did you donate money to Hare Krishna because one of its followers gave you a flower?)

Then, once the stickercard is stuck, the person is more committed to the company, product, or service. That stickercard on laptop is a declaration to the world that they like the what it stands for. To be consistent, they must stick to their positive opinion of your company, product, or service.

I told you that I think too much.

It seems to me that any company with a decent stickers should create business cards for its employees in the same way. Who wouldn’t like to get a stickercard from someone who works for Nike, Audi, Breitling, Starbucks, and other popular brands? However, not everyone can pull it off (pun intended):

Apple. Apple would create the coolest stickercards, but it would have to approve where you stuck them. The approval process would take a week to ten days, and Apple’s adhesive would only last a day before it needed recharging.

Microsoft. The Microsoft sticker would have no design to it, use an eight-point sans serif font, and removing the backing would take ten steps and a certification class. However, once you applied it, it would never come off.

Twitter. The Twitter stickercard would zoom to great popularity. However, ten percent of the time you’d peel off the back and find that there was a picture of a whale but no adhesive.

Facebook. Kids would love the Facebook stickercard, but as soon as it became popular, Mark Zuckerberg’s old roommates would claim they thought of the sticker first and sue you for using it.

AT&T. AT&T would announce a nationwide distribution of stickercards (“More stickercards in more places”), but only print 100 to fill demand. Simultaneously, Apple would announce that only these stickercards are iPhone compatible.

Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin would print one side of the stickercard but then quit before the second side is done. The Republican National Committee, however, would declare that this shows how decisive she is and proof that she is well suited for the highest political office.

Associated Press. The Associated Press would claim that one of its photographers once shot a picture of a business card next to a sticker, so that it owns the idea, and it will seek compensation from any company that prints stickercards.

Assuming that you’re not working for one of these organizations and you have a cool logo, you should consider getting a stickercard to provide both your contact information and a branding device. Click here to order. One can never think too much.