It is a little late in the morning, but I just finished my second cup of coffee. You see, my son finally convinced me to go to CrossFit with him today. For those of you who are not familiar with this phenomenon, it seems to be sweeping the nation. Very athletic individuals teach you how to create much pain and discomfort in the name of getting physically fit. All complaining aside, it was a great experience and I will go back. But the workout got me thinking about marketing and how CrossFit principles may be applied.

Get warmed up – the idea is to get your muscles ready for the coming workout. How are you warming up to market your business?

Pay attention to form – what are you communicating with your brand?

Don’t put the stress of the weight on your back – are you promoting with the most vulnerable method?

Push yourself – are you exploring additional tools and markets?

Stretch and cool down appropriately – how are you managing customer relationships?

While this is just a brief overview of the total marketing experience in how it relates to CrossFit, it’s still a fun exploration. If the things you are doing have a goal, state it. If the things you are doing aren’t contributing to that goal, change them. If you haven’t defined your goal, time to go back to the beginning.

The key to success – and to keep from getting hurt – is doing it the right way from the beginning. Develop your strategy and follow it. Make adjustments where necessary and continue to reinforce the brand. You will eventually start to see the benefits. But, like CrossFit – it takes time.