…or, how to get a customer for life (without even really trying).

so i’ve wanted my own meyer lemon tree for a while. but i’ve put it off for a number of reasons; we aren’t living in our own place yet, for one, and since i’d rather plant the tree than have it potted, there’s that. plus, the boyfriend’s mom has one in her yard and she’s always said i could have some of her lemons whenever they finally mature.

last year, though, she didn’t have any lemons at all. the year before that (the year the tree was new) she had all of one. i was getting a little desperate and actually broke down and bought a two-pound bag of ’em a couple of weeks ago. damn things were $5.95, and i treated them like gold. then lo and behold, his mom called and said, “by the way, there’s a few lemons on the tree this year…” so at thanksgiving, i ventured out in the back yard to have a look.

“a few” qualifies for understatement of the year. the tree was positively pregnant with the most beautiful crop of meyer lemons i’ve ever seen. they were everywhere. virtually exploding off of the tree! i had intended to take three or four – maybe a half dozen. but as she and i assessed the sitch, she sent the boyfriend in to get me a bag. i tried not to sound too golum-like as i carefully picked and chose my bounty – ending up with a whopping 17 of those bad boys.

and here’s the thing – i might have taken about a quarter of them. i’m telling you, that tree has gone stark-raving-mad!

i was bragging about my good fortune on twitter (like i do) a couple nights later – i’d gone out to buy me a crap-load of ice cube trays for the juices and was getting ready to zest my lovelies before freezing it all – when i decided to shoot a quick pic of them and post it. i didn’t think too much about it, a couple of people responded appreciatively, but then, something funny happened.

the next afternoon, i got a tweet back out of the blue from the dandy fresh produce company (also known as duda farm fresh):

it seems that they’d seen my tweets about my bumper crop of meyers, and thoughtfully decided to send me some helpful information about my golden harvest – including how to use ’em, store ’em, recipes and nutritional value.

now i know this sounds like i’m totally kissing their ass. and maybe i am, just a little. but you should know a little something before you rush to judge me: 1) they didn’t ask me to, 2) they did this for me without my even asking them.

you see, boys and girls, this is what scott stratten (and me, lol) has been telling you people in general, and companies in particular, to do if you want more customers. unmarket. don’t try to sell me something every time you talk to me. connect with me. don’t interrupt me. interact with me.

my bounty of meyers wasn’t from dandy. it wasn’t even store-bought. and i didn’t even follow dandy on twitter (before now). i don’t follow hardly any companies at all, come to that. but the kind people/person over at dandy that monitors their twitter feed was thoughtful enough to offer me some free information i could most likely put to good use, based on a tweet that wasn’t even directed at them and had only the most tenuous of connections to them – that of fruit.

and what, pray tell, will that get them? it made me like them. it made me write this post. it made me tweet about this post – so subsequently about them. it makes me want to seek out their products at the grocery store. it ensures i’ll tell all my friends and family to do the same. in short, it gets them my devotion to their brand.

that, my friends, is good marketing.

update: today (12/9) dandy asked me to share a recipe for my meyer lemon cranberry muffins; so here you go.