Last fall, while home alone on a Saturday afternoon, I did what any married man would do. I drove 45 minutes each way to buy two apple pies.
I could have driven to a dozen bakeries near me in half the time, but they don’t have what this place has.
A few years ago, someone brought an apple pie into work from some place off the freeway. They left it in kitchen, offering it up to anyone who wanted an afternoon snack.
I didn’t think much of it. An apple pie is an apple pie is an apple pie. I’ve had a hundred different apple pies, each enjoyable, but nothing to trample someone over. Pie is almost a commodity in America. It’s one of the only foods that is weaponized. There will never be a shortage of pie in this country.
I cut myself a piece of the apple pie and *poof* my world was shattered.
Everything I knew about apple pie changed.
With each bite of the carmel apple pie, I heard a choir of angels rejoicing in the heavenly creation. This pie could not have been made by mortals. It was impossible to multitask while eating the pie, it was so good it commanded my full attention, begging me to analyze its greatness. I had to find the origin of the pie, which is how I started making yearly trips to Jim’s Apple Farm.
The place was busy when I visited, kids obviously excited to be in Minnesota’s largest candy store.
Jim’s Apple Farm fascinates me.
To make it as a business in this world, they say you need a website, post on Facebook, and update update update!
Jim’s Apple Farm has none of that.
It’s tough to find any information about them. No website, no Facbeook, no nothing online. I’m sure they’d make more money with a website, but they’re content with the business they have.
“Be so good they can’t ignore you.” – Steve Martin
The yellow barn off the highway catches your attention. Once inside, it’s something you have to talk about. There’s every type of candy you imagine, hundreds of flavors of root beer, and the best apple pie I’ve ever had.
There are two times when marketing happens: when the product/service is being created and after it has been created.
It’s best to do both, but the less you focus on marketing while the product is being created, the harder you have to work afterward. If Jim’s Apple Farm was turning out average pies for average people, this blog post wouldn’t exist. But the pies are so good, I couldn’t not tell people.
It’s very hard to ignore amazing products and experiences, keeping them to yourself. People love to share amazing things because it gives them social currency, making them look good to others. If you want people to talk about a product, the easiest way to do that is to make the product itself worth talking about.
More on Jim’s Apple Farm:
