Marketing has come up several times in my work with clients lately, the need to market a practice, increase sales, get more clients, etc. There are a lot of marketing courses one can take, books to read and so on. Yet, the first step starts at home.

When solving a problem with a client, one exercise I like to do is to ask them to throw all the facts on the wall. Italians test the readiness of the spaghetti by throwing it on the wall, if it sticks it’s ready. I like the analogy. Throw all thoughts about the situation on the wall. Be wild, bold. Download your brain, thoughts, emotions, feelings, considerations, etc. Throw anything that comes up on the wall, no holding back, no organized lists, just the wall. My walls have been white boards, black boards, post it notes on plain walls… anything as long as it is a wall and it is free flowing.

When you least expect it, the wall begins to talk to you. Try it. What is it saying?

I am listening …