As a subscription box owner, you spend so much time working to gain new subscribers. But how much time and energy do you put into retaining your current subscribers? Cancellations are a reality of the subscription box industry. No matter how amazing your subscription box is and no matter how much time and effort you put into creating an outstanding subscriber experience, some subscribers will cancel. That doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do to reduce the number of cancellations and retain more subscribers. Even a small increase in retention rate can make a big difference. Let’s talk about six things you can do to retain more subscribers. Keep Things Trendy or Seasonal How often do you change up the lineup of items in your box? I’m always researching new trends and thinking ahead to what holidays or seasons are coming up. Keep things fresh and fun to keep subscribers excited about what’s coming next month! Ask Your Subscribers What They Want Simply including your audience in the decision-making process can make a huge difference. Send out questionnaires and surveys or poll them on social media. Getting their input creates buy-in and a greater feeling of community. Engage With Your Subscribers During your monthly LIVE unboxing, engage directly with subscribers. Are you using SMS messaging? Text subscribers, asking what their favorite item was and asking for pics of them using or wearing something from the box. With their permission, use those pictures for social proof and to make subscribers feel even more a part of your community. People love to feel included! Create Added Value Your subscribers are the VIPs of your business. Make sure they feel that way. Send subscriber-only emails or surprise them with a coupon in their box good toward something in your shop. Need more ideas? Grab my resource - 10 Ways to Surprise and Delight Your Subscribers. Offer a Lower-Priced Tier in Your Subscription Box The number one reason people cancel their subscriptions is financial. Offering a lower-priced tier at the point of cancellation is one way to retain them. Some subscribers will love this option and may even move back up to the higher tier when their budget allows. Billing and Follow Up It’s not fun or exciting, but keeping track of billing issues and missed payments can make a huge difference in managing subscriber turnover. Payments are missed because of card changes or changes in addresses and sometimes subscribers forget to update their info. Reminders and personal follow-up can eliminate so much of that. Track your retention rate every month. If it starts to slip and fall below 80%, you have an issue that needs to be addressed quickly. Put time and effort every day into retaining subscribers. Join me for this episode for quick tips on boosting subscriber retention. Simple changes can make a big difference—tune in now! 10 Ways to Surprise and Delight Your Subscribers. Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast platform and leave a 5-star rating and a review! Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today! 

Have you been sitting on the sidelines, listening, watching, and waiting to launch your subscription box?  You have an idea, and you’ve taken some steps toward turning those dreams into reality, but something is holding you back.  What if you could test your subscription box idea with your target audience without committing to a full-blown launch? Now is the perfect time to validate your subscription box concept with a carefully curated one-time box.  Retail and e-commerce businesses will see high consumer spending over the next four months. Most will bring in 50% of their total year’s revenue during the next four months. That makes now the best time to test your idea.  During the holidays people are more likely to spend on items for others. They’re looking for something fun and unique, something special that stands out from all the other gifts under the tree.  Your one-time holiday box can be the perfect, thoughtful gift. The ultimate goal is to start, launch, and grow a thriving subscription box business. And a one-time box can be the perfect first step. A one-time box has a lower commitment for customers. It allows you to bring them into your business and then nurture them into being a subscriber.  Your one-time box should be similar to your subscription box idea, appealing to the same ideal customer.  Think about whether the recipients will receive the box before the holidays or as a holiday gift. This determines whether it can be holiday-themed or needs to be an everyday theme.  I do a one-time holiday box every year. My audience loves it, it sells out early every year, and it brings a nice punch of revenue into my business in the 4th quarter. Since it’s intended to be given as a holiday gift (although a lot of my customers buy it as a gift to themselves), the contents of my holiday box do not have a holiday theme. Instead, it contains items similar to those found in my Monogram Box.  A one-time box is your opportunity to get it right. To put together a curated experience that will wow your ideal customer and give them a feel for what they could expect if they became a subscriber.  Now that you’ve curated your one-time holiday box, it’s time to sell it.  Continue the audience building you’ve already been working on. Engage your audience in the process and get their buy-in with polls, behind-the-scenes, and other interactive content.  Plan a launch following the Launch Strategy with socials, lives, emails, and ads. Go all in. To be successful, you need to market your one-time box with a launch.  Create urgency, scarcity, and exclusivity by selling one-time boxes as pre-orders.  Analyze what’s working and what isn’t and adapt.  This process is great for new subscription box owners since you’ll go through a launch, curate a box, market the box, and fulfill the box. You’ll learn a ton about the launch process just by launching a one-time box and be ready to apply that knowledge to launch your subscription box.  Many of my students shifted their entire businesses from successful one-time box offers to subscriptions….because they had proof of concept before turning it into a subscription box. I’ve got a great, free new resource to help you curate a box experience for your subscribers. Join me for this episode as I talk about validating your subscription box idea with a one-time holiday box. Now is the perfect time to get your subscription box dreams off the ground!  Kristy’s Interview - Episode 45 - Journey from One-Time Boxes to a Thriving Monthly Subscription  Nicole’s Interview - Episode 13 - A Passion for Animals Turns into 500 Monthly Subscribers Curating a Box Experience for Your Subscribers  Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!

Have you considered starting with a one-thing of the month subscription? You should. Why do I say that? Well, my one-thing of the month subscription is easier to manage and more profitable than my fully curated subscription box. And my one-thing of the month subscription has almost double the number of subscribers as my larger, more expensive box.  When people start thinking about starting a subscription box, they think about a fully curated box. They dream about the experience they’ll provide their subscribers with all the little touches and a box filled with items that complement each other.  But soon, overwhelm sets in. Creating that fully curated experience with all the little touches takes a LOT of work. And all that work and all that overwhelm can turn into not making progress.  Instead of starting with a fully curated box, think about starting with one thing. There are several benefits to starting a one-thing of the month subscription. A one-thing of the month subscription:  Has the lowest barrier to getting started. Fewer vendors to work with. Lower start-up funds. Packaging that is simple and the same each month!  Is easier to fulfill and ship.  Has the potential for higher profit margins.  Brainstorm what your one item could be by asking yourself:   What is your best-selling item?  What do people repeatedly buy?  What do people constantly ask you for more of?  Your one-thing of the month could be:  Something fun - a no-frills way for subscribers to treat themselves.  Something consumable - subscribers never run out! So many Launch Your Box members have wildly successful one-thing of the month subscriptions. Some of the “one things” their happy subscribers receive include:  T-shirts Candles Pizzelles Nail polish Earrings Door hangers Washi tape Start brainstorming what you can turn into a one-thing of the month subscription and move one step closer to launching your subscription.   How does a subscription that’s easier to manage and more profitable sound? Join me for this episode to learn more about why you should consider starting a one-thing of the month subscription.    Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website    Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today! 

You’ve curated a beautiful subscription box. Your website is nearly ready. But there’s one decision holding you back from actually launching. And it’s all about shipping. Should you offer free shipping or charge for shipping?  Of course, “free shipping” isn’t free. If you offer free shipping to your customers, you will adjust the prices of the items you sell to absorb those shipping costs and protect your profit margins.  In this episode, I go deep on all things shipping. The truth is, there’s no easy answer to the free shipping or charging for shipping question. There is no one-size fits all strategy when it comes to shipping charges. There may even be more than one answer for your business.  Think about your own buying behavior. What matters more to you when you’re shopping online? What matters to your customers?  Shippo, a shipping software company, conducted a survey where they found: 49% of customers prefer to pay a lower price for items and pay for shipping.  40% of customers want free shipping.  11% of customers want their items fast and are willing to pay expedited shipping charges.   Another report showed:  People prefer paying for low-cost shipping when purchasing lower-priced items.  93% of shoppers will add to their carts to reach a certain threshold to receive free shipping if it’s offered.  For one-off online sales, offering free shipping once a customer reaches a purchase threshold is smart for a few reasons.  It can increase your average order value.  It incentivizes customers to order more items at once instead of placing multiple one-item orders, reducing your overall shipping charges.  It allows for lower pricing of items because you don’t have to account for as much of the cost of shipping in the price of each item.  Answering this question for your subscription box is more difficult. Do you only ship or do you offer local pickup as well? Does the perceived value of your subscription box allow you to include shipping in the cost of the box or would that make the price “too high?” Don’t be afraid to test options with your audience to help you make this decision.  Join me for this episode as I talk about what you need to consider when deciding whether to charge for shipping or offer free shipping to your customers and why you may end up choosing one strategy for your one-off sales and the other for your subscription box.    Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website    Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

I’m so excited to have Dana Bowling of Show Up on Video join me today to talk about practical strategies to create content in a way that is doable and effective as well as ways to conquer feelings around showing up on video.  Dana brings her background as a casting director and acting coach to her current business where she helps ambitious entrepreneurs learn how to own being the face of their businesses. Dana is a speaker, a coach, and a podcast host. Her podcast, Show Up on Video, helps motivate business owners to create valuable content and share it with their audiences. As she likes to say, “It’s all content.”  Content creation is all about showing up and serving your audience. Don’t be afraid of giving too much away. Serving your audience by sharing valuable content with them builds your authority and your know/like/trust factor. In other words, when they’re ready to buy, you’ve made yourself the obvious choice.  Dana took me through her content creation framework which could work for any subscription box owner. This framework starts with brainstorming content ideas and puts you where you belong - at the center.  Identify four content pillars. For example, if I used this framework, my pillars might be:  Subscription boxes  Crazy, busy mom life Monograms Behind the scenes  Instead of focusing on the outcome, focus on the process  Identify three content ideas for each pillar. Face to camera Time-lapse Trending sound  For each idea, come up with 1-2 ways you can talk about it. Yes, one of those ways to talk about your content is face to camera. Dana knows just like I know that this causes anxiety in so many of you. So she has three great tips to make being on camera easier.  Get more comfortable talking on camera when the purpose is not to create content.  Send video messages to friends or customers.  Create social media stories - they only last for 24 hours! Hop on video chats with friends.  Record without the intention to post. This takes the pressure off and sometimes you’ll surprise yourself by coming up with something good!   Good lighting, hair, makeup, clothes you feel good in, even using a subtle filter.  Do whatever makes you feel better about being on camera.  Think about who you serve and how your content can help them have a better day.  Remember that your audience is much more interested in and worried about themselves than about you!  Join me for this episode as Dana shares valuable strategies for creating content and feeling more comfortable showing up on video. Don’t miss this chance to learn how to serve your audience and your business with your content.    Find and follow Dana:  Dana Bowling on Instagram Show Up on Video Podcast   Dana Bowling’s Website   Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website    Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sit around a table, geeking out about your business with other people who just “get it?” Have you dreamed of digging in and talking about the parts of being an entrepreneur that are hard? And the parts that are amazing? And all the in-between parts, too? It is incredibly valuable to spend time with like-minded people in person and get real - get personal even - about what it takes to keep growing as a business and as a business owner. In this episode, I’m sharing what a Mastermind is and what it can do for you and your business. I wouldn’t be where I am today without being challenged, nurtured, and held accountable… and that’s what a Mastermind is all about.   Masterminds can seem mysterious - like they’re an exclusive group of people getting together and having top secret conversations. But that’s not what they’re meant to be, and it’s certainly not what any Mastermind I’ve been involved with has been. Good Masterminds are about connection, accountability, implementation, scaling, and creating the life you want. All with like minded people and a facilitator you align with.  I’ve been a part of Masterminds for five years. I’ve gotten so much from those experiences - and given so much to them as well. It’s important to realize that being an active participant in a Mastermind means you’re giving just as much as you’re getting. That’s where the connections and relationships are formed. Through sharing, encouraging, supporting, and challenging each other in a safe, supportive space.  After being a part of Masterminds and guest teaching in Masterminds, it finally struck me that it was time for me to have my own Mastermind for my community.  I started with a weekend. And it was incredible. We went to the beach (my official happy place) and spent two days going deep with 16 incredible subscription box owners. The weekend changed each of them and their businesses and it changed me, too. I went from wondering if a Mastermind was something I wanted to offer to deciding I was 100% in on creating a year-long Mastermind of my own - the Elevate Mastermind. This Mastermind is for people in my community - people who have subscription boxes, memberships, or product based businesses. A Mastermind is not for someone just getting started. It might be for you if you’re ready to scale your business and dig into how to make that happen.  Join me for this episode as I share my Mastermind experiences, my vision for my Elevate Mastermind, and how to know when you’re ready for a Mastermind.    Email me if you're interested in applying for or learning more about my Elevate Mastermind at sarah@framedbysarah.com. Spots are going fast!    Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website    Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

“Hire the help.” - Tiffany Hill  I’m so excited to have Launch Your Box member Tiffany Hill of Queen of My Castle Designs join me for today’s episode to share her journey from Registered Nurse to successful subscription box owner.  A dedicated RN, Tiffany started painting door hangers as a hobby more than a decade ago. What started as something to satisfy her crafty side grew into a business that allowed her to work less hours as a nurse and spend more time at home with her husband and their three sons. Earlier this year, Tiffany made the decision to retire from nursing altogether and focus solely on her family and her business. Tiffany has two digital teaching subscriptions and an Etsy shop where she sells one-off products, but it was her monthly door hanger subscription that gave her the confidence and peace of mind to “retire” from nursing, and never look back.  Handmade subscription boxes like Tiffany’s come with their own set of challenges. Planning for her launch, Tiffany decided to limit the number of subscribers to 30 because she wanted to make sure she didn’t outsell what she was capable of making. When those spots sold out in mere hours, Tiffany had not only launched strong, she had also created scarcity, exclusivity, and urgency. There were a lot more than 30 members of her audience who wanted to join her door hanger of the month subscription.  Tiffany knew the only way she could grow and scale her business was by hiring help. She hired carefully and well, slowly building a small team who is as dedicated to producing quality products as she is. With careful planning and the help of her amazing team, Tiffany’s monthly subscription has grown steadily to where it is now at 175 subscribers.  Join me for this episode as Tiffany shares what she learned as she grew her Door Hanger of the Month subscription and why growing and scaling a handmade business is not possible without building a team.    Find and follow Tiffany:  Queen of My Castle on Instagram Queen of My Castle on Facebook  Queen of My Castle Website   Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website    Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

Launch Your Box member Amanda Stucky of Mandy Lynn Plans joined me for today’s episode to catch us up on what’s been happening since her last visit almost exactly one year ago. You might remember Amanda from episode 33 where we talked about audience building and the incredible response she had to her launch despite having a small audience of only 600 people. Amanda has gone from strength to strength over this past year and continues to grow.  Amanda’s early success was due in no small part to her dedication to serving her audience. She went deep into the planner niche, producing stickers and planner accessories for the specific planner she loves using, the Hobonichi. She found an audience of people just like her, connected with them, and sold them one-off products. Soon, they were begging her for a subscription box. That’s right, they asked her to add a subscription box to her business. Amanda continues to focus on the needs and wants of her audience, expanding her product lines and adding a one-thing-of-the-month box to her offerings.  Another exciting development came when Amanda’s husband was able to quit his full-time job to work full-time in Mandy Lynn Plans. He brings tech skills that allow Amanda to produce more designs and a larger variety of designs quickly. This arrangement also means more family time with their young children.  As a subscription box business grows, at some point every subscription box owner needs to hire. This can be a big hurdle, worrying about who to hire and what to have them do. Amanda was no different. When she did hire, she started with one part-time employee and slowly added to her team as needed. She learned lessons along the way that all subscription box owners can learn from:  Start with one job/responsibility and let your team member (and you) get comfortable with that before adding more.  Don’t worry about keeping them busy - you’ll find more than enough tasks they can help with.  Hiring takes things off your plate that hinder your creativity. Adding team members allows for time and space to create which results in a better product.  The first hire more than doubles what you can produce.  Hiring team members, bringing her husband home to work in the business, maintaining her connection to her audience, and focusing on serving them have led to a year of significant growth in subscription numbers and one-time sales. I can’t wait to see what the next year brings!  Join me for this episode as Amanda shares what happens in the year after the launch of a subscription box. She talks about serving her audience, giving them what they want, and how hiring team members has helped her business - and her creativity - grow.  Important Links:  Launch Your Box Podcast Episode 33 - Small Audience, No Problem! How Amanda Built 100+ Subscribers from an Audience of 600 Find and follow Amanda:  Mandy Lynn Plans on YouTube Mandy Lynn Plans on Instagram Mandy Lynn Plans on Facebook  Mandy Lynn Plan Website   Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website    Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

“If you’ve been thinking about starting a podcast, now is the perfect time.” - Sarah Heeter.  My podcast editor, Sarah Heeter, joined me for today’s episode to talk about all things podcast. We talked about the benefits of podcasting and why starting a niche-specific podcast could be a valuable part of your audience-building strategy. Sarah knows a LOT about podcasts. After all, she helped me start this podcast and grow it to more than 200,000 downloads in 18 months and a ranking in the top 1.5% of podcasts globally. She’s also a member of Launch Your Box.  If you’re wondering if podcasts can be a valuable part of an audience-building strategy for subscription box owners, the answer is yes! I mentioned I have more than 200,000 episode downloads in only 18 months. Compare that to my social media audience. It has taken me years to grow my Facebook and IG followers to a combined 20,000. And if you’re wondering if there’s room for another podcast - for your podcast - the answer is also yes. Studies show more than half of people over 12 listen to podcasts and, on average, each listens to 7 podcasts!  There are several benefits to podcasts when it comes to connecting with your audience.  Podcasts meet people where they are. They lend themselves to being interrupted - it’s easy to stop a podcast when needed and get right back to where you left off.  Podcasts allow listeners to multitask. They listen while driving, cleaning, exercising, and more.  A podcast mimics the intimacy of a phone call - you’re talking to your audience for 25-40 minutes per week.  Unlike social media posts, reels, and videos, podcast episodes live forever!  It can be daunting to think about what you would talk to your audience about each week. Many people worry they’ll run out of things to say. If you’re serving your niche, and know your audience well, that shouldn’t be a problem. Sarah suggests brainstorming a list of possible topics by asking yourself:  What keeps my ideal customer up at night?  What answers are they searching for on Google?  What is their support system like?  What is their value system?  What are their highest priorities?  Use what you learned about your ideal customer in my FREE 6 in 60 Workshop to help you get started.  Join me for this episode as Sarah shares so much knowledge about why subscription box owners should consider starting a podcast, how to decide what to talk about, and why it’s very possible to DIY your podcast.  Important Links:  6 in 60 Workshop Find and follow Sarah Heeter:  Sarah Heeter on Instagram Sarah Heeter’s Website   Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website    Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

“Listen to your people.” - Damon Oates  Damon Oates of DecoExchange joined me for today’s episode. Damon serves people who make and sell decorative wreaths, so his customers are themselves businesspeople. Damon started a subscription box several years ago and hated it. He found it to be incredibly stressful and had difficulty planning the boxes and getting the needed supplies each month. That was before he met me! LOL    Damon’s first subscription had as many as 900 subscribers, but he had let it dwindle down to just over 300 when he came into my world. After we talked about what he didn’t like about his subscription box, a few things became clear, the biggest of which was Damon and his business partner needed to learn how to plan. After joining Launch Your Box and gaining that knowledge and more, they decided to launch another subscription box with some changes.  During the pre-launch period, Damon leaned into what he does best - building and engaging with his audience. He asked them what they wanted, which it turns out wasn’t what he thought they wanted or what he wanted to give them. But he listened. He also spent that time building a waitlist. By consistently posting, texting, and going LIVE with a CTA to join the waitlist, Damon grew a list of more than 3,000 people in less than two months. That waitlist currently has 14,000 people on it!  The launch of the new subscription box resulted in 350 subscribers. That number continued to grow each month for the next 1 ½ years at which point there were 3,200 subscribers. They decided to hold steady at 3,200 for now and the only way to become a subscriber is to get on the waitlist and hope for someone to cancel. Damon has generated major FOMO by employing three things I teach every subscription box owner to create - scarcity, urgency, and exclusivity.  Damon shared his advice for other subscription box owners whether you’re new to the game or looking to grow.  Listen to your people and give them what they want.  Start with 10-20 boxes or even a one-time box to try it out and see what works.  Pick one social media platform, be consistent, and show up. (You’ll find Damon on Facebook!) Pick your niche and go deep.  Serve before you sell.  Join me for this episode as Damon shares how he went from hoping his subscription box business would die off to nurturing an excited, vibrant community of more than 3,200 monthly subscribers with thousands more waiting to get in.  Important Links:  Find and follow Damon:  DecoExchange on Facebook DecoExchange on Instagram DecoExchange Website   Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website    Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

“Social media is a place to find our people, gather them up, and then focus only on them.” - Susan Bradley.  My biz bestie Susan Bradley of The Social Sales Girls joined me for today’s episode to talk all things video view ads. Susan shared how using video and supplementing the organic reach you get with video with some ad dollars is the fastest, most effective way to grow a great big, warm audience of people without spending a lot of money.   Facebook and Instagram ads don’t work like they used to. Costs have gone up and the ROI has changed. The way you use Facebook and Instagram ads needs to change, too. Instead of running ads to directly sell, you need to run ads to collect people to retarget and nurture them. Then you’ll sell to them.  Videos, especially short videos, are how we reach “non-followers,” those people who would be interested in what we offer but who aren’t yet part of our world. With video ads, you’re taking what’s already working for you on Instagram and Facebook and amplifying it by putting a few dollars a day of ad spend behind it.  Join me for this episode as Susan shares so much valuable information about why and how to use video view ads to grow a warm audience and the two things you need to measure to determine if those ads are working. There has never been a better opportunity to find our people and Susan is here to show us how.  Susan’s Ads Made Easy Coaching Week starts August 21st! Sign up HERE.  Important Links:  Find and follow Susan:  The Social Sales Girls on Instagram The Social Sales Girls on Facebook The Social Sales Girls Website   Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website    Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

“Lean into what your people are loving and asking for. And if there’s a digital option, go for it!” - Stacey Collins Subscriptions aren’t always physical items showing up on your doorstep. Think Netflix, Disney +, or an online newspaper. After today’s episode, you’ll also think about Stacey Collins and her Printable Club.  Stacey is a member of Launch Your Box and a self-proclaimed lover of all things decorating, crafting, and shopping. She has spent years building a wildly loyal audience through her blog and social media. Stacey is creative, energetic, and FUN! She’s also a very smart businesswoman.  Stacey serves her audience. She served them for a long time before selling to them. When 2020 hit and we were all stuck at home, looking for things to do and people to connect with, Stacey went online and served her audience by crafting with them a LOT. She was coming up with new ideas for crafts to meet the demand and got the idea to craft using her custom-designed printables. Her audience LOVED it and asked for more. And more. And more.  Stacey’s Printable Club was born. The first launch brought in 800 subscribers! And it has continued to grow. Now, two years in, Stacey has more than 2,000 monthly subscribers. And the best part - other than more than $20,000 in monthly recurring revenue - is this subscription requires no packing or shipping. It’s 100% digital. She’s not sending anything physical. Instead, her subscribers use digital items to create something physical.  Stacey’s subscription came out of a desire to serve her audience by offering them what they wanted in a way that saved them money.  Join me for this episode as we dive into digital subscriptions. We’ll talk about the ways they’re different from physical subscriptions and the ways they’re the same. You might even discover a digital subscription would work for your business!  Important Links:  Find and follow Stacey:  Wilshire Collections on Instagram Wilshire Collections on Facebook Wilshire Collections Website   Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website    Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

Audience building should always be on your to-do list. Whether you already have a subscription box or you’re just getting started, consistently work to reach and engage new people.  One audience building strategy I teach inside Launch Your Box is to run a giveaway on social media. I use a free, easy-to-use software called Kingsumo to run my giveaways a couple of times a year. My last giveaway added 1500 people to my email list!   When you run a giveaway, follow four simple steps    Determine your goal - why are you running a giveaway?  To grow your following. To build your email or text list.   To gauge interest in your potential box.  All of the above!   Determine your prize. Your prize needs to be “worth it” - what would make you enter a contest?  Consider offering a box or a 3-6 month subscription.    Create your timeline. Your giveaway should run for 7-14 days.  Share, share, share! Send an email to your list - remember, some of them may not follow you on social media yet.  Social posts - videos, stories, etc.  Keep talking about it throughout the 7-14 days to keep the excitement going.  There are rules for running giveaways on social media. You need to be aware of these rules and follow them.  The contest must be free to enter - it cannot be combined with a purchase.  The winner must be chosen randomly.  The winner must be announced publicly.  You must state clearly (in posts and your contest rules) that your giveaway has no affiliation with the platform.  Every week inside Launch Your Box, members are setting up and running giveaways. It’s one of the best things you can do to jump-start your audience building no matter where you are in your subscription box journey.  Join me for this episode as I talk about why you should run a giveaway as part of your audience building strategy, the steps to follow to make it a success, and the important rules you need to follow!  Important Links:  6 in 60 Workshop - Sarah’s Method for Curating 6 Subscription Boxes in 60 Minutes Kingsumo Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website    Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today! 

When you’re just getting started on your subscription box journey, it can be hard to imagine yourself successfully managing a thriving subscription. That’s when you need to seek inspiration from someone just a few steps ahead of you. Kathy Strahs from The Awayday Box is just that person.   Kathy was inspired to provide moms like her - burnt out and depleted from all the past few years have thrown at them - with a truly special, self-care experience. She had no subscription box experience and no audience. What she did have was passion, determination, and - thanks to Launch Your Box - a roadmap to follow to get her where she wanted to be.  Kathy dug into the training inside Launch Your Box and implemented what she learned. And when she ran into something that threatened to stop her progress - hello, tech - she got the help she needed and kept moving forward.  After 90 days of building her audience and getting all the things ready behind the scenes, Kathy was ready to launch. She sold out on day one of her launch with 46 subscribers - an amazing result considering she truly started from scratch!  Kathy didn’t have subscription box experience, but like all of us, she had a lot of other work and life experience. And as she started working toward launching her subscription box, she found out just how valuable all of that experience was. Kathy had:  Retail experience - high school job at a Hallmark store.  Business knowledge and experience - MBA from Stanford.  Marketing - work in affiliate and partnership marketing.  Social media and content creation - experience as a blogger and early adopter of social media platforms.  Publishing - author of four cookbooks.  Kathy drew from all of her work and life experiences to bring her subscription box to her subscribers. From a part-time high school job to business school to publishing cookbooks - it all applied. And Kathy is her own ideal customer - so everything about her life applied!  What experiences do you have that you can bring to your subscription box business? Past jobs, educational experiences, life experiences… look for what you’ve learned that you can bring to your subscription box business. And get ready to be surprised by how much you already know!  Join me for this episode as Kathy takes us through her journey from absolute subscription box newbie to selling out on day one of her launch!  Find and follow Kathy:  Awayday on Instagram Awayday on Facebook  Awayday Website Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join today! 

What if you were launching your subscription box in 30 days?  Maybe you’re launching for the first time or you could be operating under a closed model and you’re launching to new subscribers. In order to be ready to launch - and for your audience to be ready for you to launch - there are five things you need to be doing or start doing right now.  Before I go through those five things, I do want to say I’m recommending you launch in 30 days only if you’ve already spent time building an audience and you’ve got your tech figured out and in place. If not, you’ll need longer than 30 days. But if you’ve been audience building and you’ve got your tech ready to go, I want you to plan to launch in the next 30 days.  Will it be perfect? No. Will it seem messy? Yes. Will putting it off make your launch more perfect or less messy when it finally does happen? No. Putting it off will simply delay you from taking the next step toward subscription box success.  Back to those five things I want you to start doing right now:    Set the date - be specific. Email your list more frequently.    Unboxings Subscriber shares Different ways to use items in your box Sneak peeks for your upcoming launch  Behind the scenes Talk about your why   Increase video views. Drive people to your waitlist and start emailing them right away.  Generate leads with opt-ins.   The truth is you should be doing all of these things all year long in order to continuously feed the top of your funnel. So even if you’re not launching in 30 days, start focusing on these five areas now. That way, the next time you plan a launch - whether it’s your first or your fifth - you’ll be ready!  Join me for this episode as I talk about why you should consider launching in the next 30 days and the five things you need to start doing right now to help make your launch a success.  Important Links:  Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website    Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

What would an extra $1000 every month mean to you and your family?   Inflation. Waiting for a raise that might not happen. So many people are looking for ways to earn extra income right now. Today I’m talking about how a subscription box side hustle could bring an extra $1000 a month to your family - with only 50 subscribers.  A subscription box business can be a full-time business. But it doesn’t have to be. Many members of Launch Your Box have full-time, 9-5 style jobs and successful subscription box side hustles. They are nurse practitioners, teachers, certified registered nurse anesthetists, hair stylists, realtors, dentists, and more. They’re also subscription box owners who bring in additional income with their side hustles.  You can, too! Let’s do the math. If you have 50 subscribers and make $20 of profit per box, that’s an extra $1000 going into your bank account every month.  Of course, it’s going to take time and effort to get there. But following these six steps will have you well on your way to a successful subscription box side hustle.    Identify what you like or have an interest in.   Make sure it’s something you’re good at or have expertise in.  You have to be passionate about the subject matter or it won’t last!  Don’t try to be like anyone else - YOU will set your subscription box apart.     Ask yourself if there are other people around you with the same interest.    That’s the audience you need to build!  Where can you find more of those people?  Where do they hang out online?    Start a social media account(s) on the platforms where your people hang out.   Start sharing videos, posts, etc.  Ask your friends to like your page and share it with their friends.  Make sure you’re speaking the language of the person you are trying to attract. Messaging matters!    Run a giveaway.   Use Kingsumo (it’s FREE!)  The prize needs to be a box just like what you want to sell.  Capture emails for those who enter your giveaway and start building your email list.    Introduce the idea for the box to your audience.   Get their feedback and have them help you make decisions.   You want their buy-in to validate your concept.  Niche down if needed.    Set a launch date and a goal.    Create excitement and generate buzz.  Get your new audience excited about the upcoming box!  Engaging your audience is key at every stage of your subscription box journey, whether it’s your full-time gig or a side hustle. Continue to ask for feedback as you grow. Maintain an ongoing focus on audience building and keep serving your audience!  Join me for this episode as I talk about why a subscription box side hustle might be right for you and the six steps you need to take in order to make yours a success. The kind of success that means significant additional income - every month!  Important Links:  6 in 60 Workshop - Sarah’s Method for Curating 6 Subscription Boxes in 60 Minutes Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website    Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

In today’s episode, I’m talking about things you can do to make your subscription box business recession ready.  While it’s not possible to “recession-proof” your business, it is possible to be recession ready. Now is not a time to panic. If we made it through a pandemic, we can make it through economic uncertainty. There are practical, actionable steps you can take to make managing this time less stressful. I walk you through seven of them in today’s episode.  Get control of your inventory. It’s time to change your buying habits away from the panic buying we all practiced during the pandemic. I shifted my own buying behavior away from buying deep (fewer products in greater quantities) to buying wide (more products in lower quantities).  Understand your cash flow. In order to build a long-term, sustainable business, you have to know and understand your numbers. Decreasing your inventory will increase your cash flow, but you still need to have products to sell. Understanding your rate of revenue vs. your rate of expenses allows you to make adjustments where necessary.  Overhead Software Packaging & shipping Opportunities to buy in bulk  Trim your expenses. Dig into your P&L to identify your biggest expenses and any you don’t realize you’re even paying for. Look for areas where you can trim costs.  Try a new platform.  Use email and SMS marketing to get in their text messages and inboxes.  Experiment with your posts/videos to make things new, fresh, and fun!  Get in front of new people. Now is not the time to pull back on your marketing efforts. How are you serving your audience? Focus on organic, free ways to attract new people.  Create additional revenue streams. If you don’t yet have a subscription box as part of your product-based business, start one. If you have a subscription box, consider what complementary products you can offer your customers? Don’t forget to consider digital products!  Offer customization and convenience for a premium price. What can you offer those customers who want the ultimate experience and are willing to pay for it?    Wow your customers. There is so much you can do that won’t cost you much at all. Make exceptional customer service the standard. Say thank you and show appreciation to your customers. Look for ways to surprise and delight your subscribers.    Get my resource “10 Ways to Surprise & Delight Your Subscribers” by texting SURPRISE to 940-204-0023.    Don’t be afraid to serve and to sell during these uncertain economic times. Realize people want to buy what you have to offer. Now is the time to gain a deeper understanding of the financials of your business and make educated decisions.    Join me for this episode as I talk about seven things you can start doing now to get your business recession ready. This is an episode to listen to with your notebook close by. You’re going to want to take a lot of notes!  Important Links:  10 Ways to Surprise & Delight Your Subscribers - Text SURPRISE to 940-204-0023 Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website    Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

On today’s episode, I’m joined by Launch Your Box member and dog mom times eight, Rhonda Conces.  Yes, I said eight! A true, dedicated lover of all things dog, Rhonda has eight pups of her own who help inspire her subscription box every month.  Rhonda is the CEO and Founder of Monogramme No. 29. Her business was not initially focused on dogs. In fact, her first career was as a labor and delivery nurse. When an injury sidelined Rhonda, she turned to her love of crafting and soon found herself selling monogrammed items. Monogrammed pajamas became her best seller, especially with brides and bridal parties.  When 2020 hit and the bridal industry shut down, Rhonda needed to pivot. She decided to focus on another customer favorite - personalized dog bandanas. Rhonda loved making them, her customers loved buying them, and their dogs looked too cute for words in them. Soon, Rhonda decided to offer her bandanas as a monthly subscription and Posh Puppies was born.  Rhonda found and joined Launch Your Box a couple months after she launched her subscription and quickly soaked in as much knowledge as possible. She is a fantastic student and makes sure she does all the things in order to grow her business.  Rhonda launched with 40 members in February of 2021 and now has 330 monthly subscribers! The recurring revenue her subscription brings into her business has changed her business and her life. So much is possible for Rhonda now, all because she leaned into one thing.  Join me for this episode as Rhonda and I talk about why you should consider leaning into what your customers love and the many benefits of offering a one thing of the month subscription. Important Links:  Find and follow Tamara:  Monogramme No. 29 on Instagram Monogramme No. 29 on Facebook  Monogramme No. 29 Website   Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website    Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

On today’s episode, I’m joined by Tamara Bennett, one of my biz besties who also happens to be a member of Launch Your Box!  Tamara is the founder and CEO of Southern A-Door-nments Decor where she teaches women how to paint door hangers. Her business has grown over the years thanks in no small part to Tamara’s dedication to creating connections with her audience.  Tamara and I met at Stu McLaren’s Mastermind more than four years ago and hit it off right away. We talk all the time about all the things, including business. We had many discussions about her adding a subscription box to her business. So, when Tamara said she was joining Launch Your Box, I asked her why. She knew she could call me anytime to get answers to any questions she had.  In true Tamara fashion, she had a ready answer. Because she knew me and my business so well, Tamara knew how much training was inside my membership. She also knew how amazing the Launch Your Box community is. Her reason for joining was simple - she didn’t want to miss out!  Tamara is an excellent student who followed my instructions for having a successful launch to the letter. And it paid off. She launched her Big Box of Blanks and sold out all 200 spots in only 8 days! And she has plans to grow.  Join me for this episode as Tamara and I talk about the importance of audience building and connecting with that audience, why Tamara was a very early adopter of Facebook Lives, and what she did to go from 0-200 subscribers in only eight days! Important Links:  Find and follow Tamara:  Southern A-Door-nments Decor on Tik Tok Southern A-Door-nments Decor on Facebook Southern A-Door-nments Decor Website   Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website    Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

“When people are part of the process, they buy in.” - Britney Brown  I’m so excited to introduce you to Britney Brown, Launch Your Box member and founder, CEO, and all the things of Imperfect Inspiration. Britney’s story and the incredible growth she’s seen in her company and her subscription box are actually perfectly inspirational!  In 2020, Britney was a full-time photographer and mom of five. When the pandemic hit, the photography industry shut down. Britney turned to Tik Tok to document her life during this time and also to document her new ADHD diagnosis. During this time, by sharing her experience, she built a large following on Tik Tok. Over 700,000 followers large!  Britney’s online business started with a planner she designed to meet the needs of ADHD humans like her. The planner was a HUGE success and led to additional products. That then led to a subscription box. As Britney put it, “It turns out people were into it.”  “Into it” is a bit of an understatement. Britney launched and sold out 150 boxes almost immediately. She quickly figured out just how many boxes she could get products for and reopened for three days. Her first box shipped to 466 subscribers! The following month she opened to new subscribers again and closed with 1,111! She plans to open again to new subscribers in July and already has 8,000 people on her waitlist.  What is the secret to Britney’s astonishing success? She listens to her audience. She built a community before she built her products. Britney believes in the absolute power of people feeling seen and heard. She carefully and intentionally built a community to let people know they are not the only one. Britney knows and truly understands that when people feel part of the process, they buy in.  Join me for this episode as Britney and I talk about what it means to truly serve your audience and how you just might succeed beyond your wildest dreams by building a community first, one that feels seen and heard.  Important Links:  Find and follow Britney:  Imperfect Inspiration on Tik Tok Imperfect Inspiration on Facebook Imperfect Inspiration Website   Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website    Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

“Start with what you have and build up to what you want.”  Welcome to my first on-location podcast episode! Launch Your Box member Rachel Duguay joined me live onstage at SubSummit, the first and only conference exclusively for the subscription box industry.  Rachel and I met at last year’s SubSummit and she quickly became a member of Launch Your Box. At that time, Rachel and her husband’s business, MicroPuzzles, sold miniature puzzles as one-time purchases.  In business since 2018, MicroPuzzles took off in 2020 when the entire world turned to puzzles as a way to pass the time together. MicroPuzzles are 4”x6” when complete and are adorably packaged in test tubes. Demand for their puzzles went through the roof and customers clamored for more designs.  Rachel decided adding a subscription box to the business was the answer to giving her customers what they wanted. They launched what Rachel calls the 1.0 version and continued to improve and grow. A year later, they have 425 monthly subscribers and both she and her husband have turned a part-time side hustle into a full-time career.  Rachel doesn’t just put MicroPuzzles in her own subscription boxes, she partners with other subscription box owners, too. Many members of Launch Your Box have featured Rachel’s tiny puzzles in their own subscription boxes, customized to their themes and their audiences!  Part of Rachel’s success is due to her creative marketing, including an emphasis on product seeding. You’ll rarely find her without a stash of tiny puzzles on hand to use as “business cards.” She also does a fantastic job of building genuine connections with her audience which has contributed to her success.  Join me for this episode as Rachel and I talk about the importance of doing something before it’s perfect, the rapid growth of her subscription box, and what led to a cross-country move that included getting the keys to a 3,000-square-foot warehouse. Find out, too, what makes Brian in shipping their most talked about employee.     Important Links:  Find and follow Rachel:  MicroPuzzles on Facebook MicroPuzzles on Instagram MicroPuzzles Website   Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website    Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

  Welcome to the last episode in my eight-part series on the podcast called, “Ask Sarah.” Each week, I’ve answered a question from inside my Launch Your Box coaching membership.  This week Beth Eaton of The Ruffled Daisy is here to talk about something we’re all facing right now. How to retain subscribers in a world where costs are rising.  Beth started her business 10 years ago selling completed home decor pieces. Soon, people wanted to learn how to make these pieces themselves and they wanted Beth to teach them. Beth started selling kits and building a community of crafters. She tried launching a subscription box a few years ago and it just didn’t stick with her community. When COVID struck and we all found ourselves at home, Beth tried again. This time her community was ready! She started with 23 subscribers and two years later has 330 monthly subscribers.  Beth came to me with a question that a lot of my members have right now. With the challenges the world is facing right now and the increasing cost of absolutely everything, Beth wanted to know what she can do to retain her subscribers when her box isn’t seen as a need.  The first question I asked Beth was about her retention rate. While she didn’t know the exact number (she was going to figure it out as soon as our interview ended), she did have valuable information. Beth knew the point in the life of their subscription at which many of her subscribers canceled.  Knowing when you start to lose subscribers allows you to put some things in place to keep them on track. Beth and I talked about what she can do to recapture the sense of togetherness inside her community and help subscribers consume the contents of her box.  We also talked about six important facets of the subscriber experience and identified some things Beth can do to make improvements.  Reducing the length of time between payment and box in hand.  Consistently communicating with subscribers.  Having a cancellation survey in place and paying attention to the results.  Getting personal - don’t just rely on automations.  Focusing on customer service response time.  Making customer reviews visible.  Join me for this episode as Beth and I talk about the challenges subscription box owners face right now and the practical, actionable things she can do to improve her subscriber experience, retain more subscribers and continue to grow.    Important Links:  Find and follow Beth:  The Ruffled Daisy on Facebook The Ruffled Daisy on Instagram The Ruffled Daisy Website   Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today! Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

Welcome to episode seven of my eight-part series on the podcast called, “Ask Sarah.” Each week, I answer a question from inside my Launch Your Box coaching membership.  This week Alivia Key of Light of the Lamb is here to talk about how to handle increasing the price of her subscription and whether it’s time to move from an open to a closed cart model. Alivia has been a member of Launch Your Box for two years. During that time she has launched and grown two subscriptions - a monthly t-shirt subscription and a quarterly subscription box.  Like all business owners right now, Alivia has seen her cost of goods sold increase significantly this year which means her subscriptions aren’t as profitable as they were.  That increase in costs and decrease in profits led to Alivia bringing two related questions to me. The first is how to handle a price increase with her audience and the second is whether to move from an open to a closed subscription model.  Alivia and I talked through the reasons for the price increase. I reminded her that in order to continue to serve her subscribers, her business needs to stay strong. And that means staying profitable.  Moving to a closed cart is a perfect time to announce an upcoming price increase.  It gives people a reason to BUY NOW!  The upcoming price increase drives marketing for the closed cart - people need to get in now to be locked in at the current price.  It creates urgency, scarcity, and FOMO!  The next question is when and how to move to a closed cart. I recommended Alivia identify a two-week period when she can go all-in on the closed cart launch. Her social posts, LIVES, and emails need to stay focused on the launch. In her content, she needs to:  Be transparent. Explain to her audience why she’s raising prices and closing her cart.    Bring members onto her LIVES. Host “Girl Talk” and talk about why her subscription is more than just a t-shirt to them.  Have fun with ads. Shake things up and get creative. Send emails with links to her LIVES and explain the what and why behind the changes.  During LIVES, show off past designs.  Create a variety of ads and posts - some silly, some serious, some inspirational.   I recommended Alivia go into full launch mode for two weeks instead of the usual 4-5 days. This is because she’s making a big change and needs to give her audience time to see what she’s posting and react to it.  Join me for this episode as Alivia and I talk about making necessary changes to keep our businesses healthy and profitable. If you’re wondering how to handle a price increase or move to a closed cart subscription model, don’t miss this episode!   Important Links:  Find and follow Alivia:  Light of the Lamb on Facebook Light of the Lamb on Instagram Light of the Lamb Website   Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website    Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

Welcome to episode six of my eight-part series on the podcast called, “Ask Sarah.” Each week, I answer a question from inside my Launch Your Box coaching membership.  This week BreeAnna Holden of Holden Keepsakes is here to talk about how to introduce her subscription box to the audience she has built for her online product-based business.  BreeAnna is an OG member of Launch Your Box. That means she has been inside my coaching membership for almost two years. But, she hasn’t launched her subscription box yet. She’s stuck.  When she started her glitter tumbler business three years ago (and you HAVE to see the gorgeous tumblers she makes), BreeAnna was looking for a way to keep busy while her husband worked nights and to make a little extra income for her family. BreeAnna has dreamed of adding a subscription box for two years. She knows it will provide consistent, recurring revenue and allow her to plan her workload more effectively, allowing for more family time.  So what’s standing in BreeAnna’s way? She has a great product that her customers love. As an OG member of Launch Your Box, she has learned all the things. She has seen so many others start, launch, and grow their own subscription boxes. So why hasn’t BreeAnna taken action on her subscription box dreams? Self-doubt, indecision, and social media.  BreeAnna, like SO MANY women I talk to inside and outside my membership, struggles with self-doubt. She doubts herself and her ability to make this subscription box dream a reality. It’s important to realize that nearly everyone feels like this sometimes. I know I did.  BreeAnna is also stuck, unable to decide what kind of box to offer her audience. She keeps going back and forth between a one item of the month box and a curated box.  Social media engagement is a challenge for BreeAnna. She struggles to be consistent on social media and isn’t getting the engagement she needs. Without an actual box to share, she’s unsure how she should introduce the idea of a subscription box to her audience.  BreeAnna and I talked through the things that have been holding her back. After talking through her mindset issues, I got practical and gave BreeAnna practical solutions to:  Re-engage her audience.    Plan six months' worth of boxes.  Choose a launch date and create a pre-launch plan.  Once we talked through everything and BreeAnna had a plan for moving forward, I could hear the lightness in her voice. She committed to a launch date of July 14th and has a plan to get there with an engaged, excited audience.   Join me for this episode as BreeAnna and I talk about what holds so many of us back from taking action - self-doubt. I know you’ll relate to BreeAnna’s story and take away inspiration and practical advice to help you take action toward achieving your own subscription box dreams.  Important Links:  Find and follow BreeAnna:  Holden Keepsakes on Facebook Holden Keepsakes on Instagram Holden Keepsakes Etsy Shop   Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website    Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

What if you could level out your revenue, create consistency, and put an end to the feast-and-famine cycle of one-time product sales? What if you could add stability to your business that allowed you to cover payroll and overhead expenses? What if you knew the inventory you were buying was already sold?  Let’s talk about the life of a product-based business owner. Before I started my subscription box, this was my life, too.  Spending a LOT of money ordering and manufacturing products.  Waiting for products to come in.  Creating content, going LIVE, sending emails.  Hoping the products sell…  Every day. One day you might make 20 sales. Another day, crickets. The uncertainty affects everything… your mood, energy, finances, and stress levels.  But what if things could be different? Picture this…  Spending a lot of money ordering or manufacturing product for your subscription box.  Waiting for the product to come in.  Payments hitting your back account automatically.  Packing and shipping your subscription boxes.  Creating content, going LIVE, sending emails.  Gaining new subscribers each month.  Rinsing and repeating.   What’s missing? Uncertainty and stress!  Adding a subscription box to your product-based business can reduce the stress of your business. A great way to go deeper with this and flesh out your ideas is to take my FREE 6 in 60 workshop. In it, I guide you through planning 6 months of boxes based on your ideal customer. Once you can visualize this for yourself, you’ll be ready to start taking action. What would your business look like a year from now if you had 100 subscribers, 500 subscribers, or even 1000 subscribers?  Join me for this episode and learn why adding a subscription box to your product-based business could change everything! FREE 6 in 60 Workshop Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join today! 

Welcome to episode five of my eight-part series on the podcast called, “Ask Sarah.” Each week, I answer a question from inside my Launch Your Box coaching membership.  This week Maria Riebe of Sunflower & Scout is here to talk about how to handle variations and personalization for her subscription box.  Like so many entrepreneurs, the pandemic forced Maria to pivot. A true antique-lover, she had been producing an outdoor vintage market, Rustapalooza. She had experienced a great deal of success and national recognition for this show. Covid caused the cancellation of the show and, after a time, Maria’s heart started pointing her in a new direction.  Maria is a member of an impassioned group of leather bag lovers - and they all love straps! So she decided to start an online shop focused specifically on bag straps and accessories. While setting up her online shop, Maria discovered Launch Your Box. She loved the idea of curating a monthly box for her customers that included a bag strap, as well as some kind of accessory, tee, or multiple items.  Maria wants to include some type of personalized item in her subscription box but is stumped by the tech it would involve. With a launch date of August 1st, it’s time to figure out these details!  Maria knows my team handles all kinds of variations and personalization - from six different sizes in my t-shirt subscriptions to the monogrammed items that go in the Monogram Box every month.  We talked through the challenges involved and I told Maria what she needs to do in order to successfully manage variations and personalization.   Be prepared to scale. Realize that what can be done with 50 subscribers will need to be done with 500 subscribers.   Outsource personalization as you grow or hire in-house help.  Put systems and processes in place to manage subscriber details. Now that we talked through what Maria needs to get in place to feel comfortable offering variations and personalization to her future subscribers, she is moving toward that August 1st launch date with confidence.  Join me for this episode as Maria and I talk about the systems and processes every subscription box owner needs to have in place, and why they are so important when your box includes variations and personalization.  Important Links:  Find and follow Maria:  Sunflower & Scout Website    Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website    Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

Welcome to episode four of my eight-part series on the podcast called, “Ask Sarah.” Each week, I’ll be answering a question from inside my Launch Your Box coaching membership.  This week Traci Gibson of Print Cut Craft and I tackled the question of how to grow a subscription past a plateau.  Traci started her business ten years ago, selling printables and teaching classes at scrapbooking conferences. When she (and her family) got tired of all the weekend travel, Traci took her scrapbook kits online. She pivoted and her business evolved as she listened to what her customers wanted and served their needs. In 2020, Traci started teaching LIVE workshops online and selling craft kits to go with them. This has been a huge boost to her business and led to a membership where members craft with Traci each month using their Cricut machines and her svg files.  Traci thought about starting a subscription box for a while. She joined Launch Your Box and watched and learned. When she decided to take action and launched her box, her membership was the perfect audience for her subscription, and it grew quickly. For a while. Then came the plateau. Traci’s growth slowed and then stopped. She has hit a plateau and reached out for my help to get past it.   We talked through some possible reasons Traci’s subscription box growth has slowed and recommended some steps for Traci to take to jumpstart her growth. She needs to:  Shake things up - make it new and fresh for her audience.  Reduce churn by increasing retention and decreasing involuntary churn.  Up the exclusivity factor of her subscription.  Get in front of new audiences.  With a clear plan and specific action steps to take, Traci feels confident her subscription will start to grow again. I can’t wait to hear about the growth she sees as a result of making these changes.    Join me for this episode as Traci and I talk about something nearly every subscription owner experiences - hitting a plateau. A plateau is a reminder that we need to constantly be learning and growing as subscription box owners. And that sometimes we need to change what we’re doing in order to continue to grow.  Important Links:  Find and follow Traci:  Print Cut Craft Boutique on Facebook Print Cut Craft on Instagram Print Cut Craft Website    Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today! Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

Welcome to the third installment of my eight-part series on the podcast called, “Ask Sarah.” Each week, I’ll be answering a question from inside my Launch Your Box coaching membership.  This week Lexie Haubert of The Crafty Lady Boutique and I tackled the question of how to get people to engage with her content on social media.  Lexie’s online business came about when she was unable to find bridal party gifts she liked while planning her own wedding and instead created her own. When she received incredibly positive feedback about her creations, she decided to take them online. The result? Her Etsy store ranks in the top 1% of all bridal sellers in the world! In addition to one-time boxes and individual gifts, Lexie offers a monthly subscription box for brides who are planning a wedding.  Like all wedding-related businesses, The Crafty Lady Boutique was greatly impacted by the pandemic. Things are on a definite upswing and Lexie is focusing her efforts on regaining and further growing her business. But the lack of social media engagement is holding her back.  When someone is struggling to get engagement on social media, I am usually able to identify the cause easily. The problem might be:  Lack of followers Lack of consistency  An issue with the quality of photos or videos An issue with the product itself  In Lexie’s case, NONE of these is the problem. She has a good number of followers. She has been posting consistently for the past several months. Her images and videos are GREAT. And her products? Well, let’s just say there’s a reason she’s in the top 1% of her category!  So what is the issue? Why aren’t Lexie’s followers engaging with her content?  No one is seeing her stuff. She’s not getting in front of the RIGHT people - brides. When people don’t engage with your content, it hurts the algorithm and even fewer people see it. Lexie needs to find more of the right people. She needs to find more brides.  I asked more questions and came up with an action plan for Lexie that includes:  Picking a day and time to go LIVE each week.  Teasing something that’s coming up on the LIVE in a post and an email.  Getting her friends to show up to her LIVES to ask questions that generate conversations.  Boosting one post per week.  Finding more brides by holding quarterly giveaways and getting active inside bridal groups.   Serving her audience by creating content that establishes her as a wedding authority.  With this new plan in place, Lexie knows what she needs to do to find new brides and attract more of the right people. And once they discover the great products she’s offering, the rest will take care of itself!   Join me for this episode as Lexie and I dig deep into what really drives engagement on social media. It’s more than having pretty pictures of great products. Discover easy-to-implement strategies to attract the right followers and increase your engagement, too.   Important Links:  Find and follow Lexie:  Crafty Lady Boutique on Facebook Crafty Lady Boutique on Instagram Crafty Lady Boutique Website    Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website    Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

“Messy Action is better than no action.” - Sarah Williams Welcome to the second in my new eight-part series on the podcast called, “Ask Sarah.” Each week, I’ll be answering a question from inside my Launch Your Box coaching membership.  This week’s question came from Gina Rich of Serendipity Lane. Gina’s question was simple. “Why am I stuck?”  Gina had a brick-and-mortar scrapbooking and card-making business for 15 years. She still runs occasional classes and scrapbooking retreats out of the space, but moved the majority of her business online due to the pandemic. Gina offered one-time “Happy Boxes” as products and also had a small, very casual card “subscription” with about 20 subscribers.  Gina found Launch Your Box and realized a card subscription box was what she wanted to do. She has a proven concept. She knows just what she wants to include and the experience she wants to provide her subscriber. But… she hasn’t launched. She’s not even close to launching yet. Why? What’s holding her back?  Gina’s first issue is shared by SO MANY people who want to start subscription boxes. She wants everything to be perfect before she starts.  The hard truth? Nothing will ever be perfect. And messy action is always better than no action. It’s time for Gina to give herself permission to not be perfect and commit to taking messy action. Every day.   Gina is also stuck because she can’t decide how to price her box. She wants to provide value to her subscribers but finds it takes a lot of her time to fulfill the box she wants to offer. I took Gina through the research I did on similar boxes that are already on the market. We discussed whether the price she had in mind was a good one and brainstormed ideas to add value that won’t require more of her time.  The last thing that has Gina stuck is social media. She’s not getting engagement because she’s not consistent. Gina needs to be consistent in order to build an audience to launch to! I gave her homework to complete and will be checking in 30 days from now.   Join me for this episode as Gina and I talk through what’s holding her back and how she can get unstuck and start making progress toward launching her box. I know you’ll learn as much as she did from this interview.     Important Links:  Find and follow Gina:  Serendipity Lane on Facebook Serendipity Lane Website    Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today! Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

“How do you balance everything?”   I’m kicking off a new six-part series on the podcast called, “Ask Sarah.” Each week, I’ll be answering a question from inside my Launch Your Box coaching membership.  This week’s question came from Mar. And when Mar told me all about her business and the many different roles she plays in her life, I understood exactly where the question came from.  Mar and her family run Windborne Farms where they raise bees, along with other animals and crops. Mar’s love for the bees turned into a side business when she discovered a passion for beeswax candles. And that passion grew further into a subscription box, the Bee Still Box.  In addition to being a business owner, Mar is a beekeeper, farmer, partner, and homeschooling mom of young children. Her question to me was, “How do you balance everything?”  The short answer - I don’t. None of us can. The idea that it’s possible for anyone, especially a woman, to keep the various parts of her life in balance is kind of ridiculous. But… there are things I’ve learned during my nine years as a business owner and five years as a subscription box owner that help me keep my life in better balance. Those are the things I shared with Mar - and with you.  When it comes to the actual logistics of juggling the kid stuff and the house stuff and the business stuff and the self stuff, I learned that I need systems and I need help. Some of my strategies included:  Hiring help - and recognizing it’s okay.  Asking my family members for help and delegating some tasks.  Scheduling time with friends and family.  Taking breaks when I need them.  Creating structure in my days, weeks, and months.  Removing distractions.  Join me for this episode as Mar shares her fascinating subscription box journey and we talk mom to mom and business owner to business owner about finding balance and juggling all the things.      Important Links:  Find and follow Mar:  Windborne Candles on Facebook Windborne Candles on Instagram   Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

5 years. 60 boxes. Countless lessons learned.  Earlier this year, I celebrated the five-year anniversary of the subscription box side of my business. That’s 60 boxes! 60 boxes I poured my heart into to create amazing experiences for my subscribers.  The journey my business and I have been on over these five years has come with lots of failures (I like to call them lessons learned), wins, and personal growth. My business grew from five figures to six figures to where we are now - a multi-million dollar subscription box business with thousands of subscribers.  As my team and I get ready to ship out our 61st curated box, I’m reflecting on what it took to get here. Year one was all about excitement and uncertainty as I decided to start something new. I was nervous and wondered if it would actually work. There were ups in the form of a successful launch and growth beyond what I’d hoped for several months in a row. There were downs, like when my growth stopped. It stayed static for a few months and when my numbers started moving again, they were going in the wrong direction.  These years have been filled with learning and implementing that learning - over and over again. That learning and that implementation helped me discover what changes I needed to make to start growing again. And I did - I grew and grew to where I am now - 3000 subscribers strong.  It can be easy to look at someone who is already succeeding at what you are trying to do and not see all that came before. But all that came before matters - it’s what leads to growth and success.  Join me for this episode as I take you through the first five years of my subscription box business and the lessons I learned along the way. Lessons you can learn from and apply to your own subscription box business. I hope you’ll be inspired and encouraged by my journey!      Important Links:    Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

A subscription box is so much more than just “stuff in a box.”  I teach this inside Launch Your Box every day. I’ve talked about it on this very podcast. And I LOVE watching subscription box owners take what they’ve learned and turn it into amazing experiences for their subscribers.  I invited Katie onto the podcast to talk about her subscription box journey and what inspired her to curate a truly incredible experience for the book-loving subscribers of her Literary Book Club Box.    The Literary Book Club Box is not Katie’s first subscription box. She came to Launch Your Box to learn how to launch a monthly box related to her eCommerce stationery and sticker business. Katie soaked up all the training, launched, and grew that subscription box to 100 subscribers. In other words, it was a success!   But it wasn’t her passion. Books - classic books specifically - are Katie’s passion. Because she was curious and because she’s a self-proclaimed “book nerd,” Katie started ordering book subscription boxes. And every time one arrived, she was disappointed. Inside she would find a book and some “cheap junk” that kind of related to the book. Nothing about those boxes was special. Katie knew she could do it better. A LOT better. And it turns out… Katie was right. She niched down to classic books - because like I always say, the riches are in the niches. Katie carefully selects the books for her boxes - beautifully bound, collectible-quality editions of classic books.  But Katie doesn’t just send her subscribers a beautiful book. The book is just the beginning. Katie’s subscription box guides her subscribers through the actual reading of the book. She curates special “gifts” for her subscribers to open at certain points in the book. These gifts are beautifully packaged and make the reading of the book a true experience.  Katie’s subscribers LOVE what she’s doing and her subscription box continues to grow. She currently has more than 230 subscribers anxiously waiting for their next box!  Join me for this episode as Katie takes us through her subscription box journey, talking about turning a passion project into a successful business and why creating an incredible experience for your subscribers matters.      Important Links:  Find and follow Katie:  The Literary Book Club on Facebook The Literary Book Club on Instagram The Literary Book Club Website    Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't – you're right.” - Henry Ford.   You’ve dreamed about starting a subscription box and now you’re ready to take action and start making those dreams come true. So where should you start?    It’s easy to get caught up in the fun parts - products and packaging. And you absolutely need those in place, but spending too much time designing custom boxes or sourcing products for future boxes takes time away from what you need to be doing right now.    If you’re just getting started, make sure to go through my FREE 6 in 60 Workshop where you’ll curate six months' worth of boxes for your ideal customer. This workshop guides you through getting clear about who your ideal customer is and the type of experience you want to provide for them.    Then it’s time to move on to the four areas where you need to focus your time and energy now.   Audience building - soooo important.  Start yesterday! Serve before selling - Listen to episodes 33 and 45!! Not easy, but necessary! Create awareness of who you are and what you sell.  Emails, texts, posts, stories, short videos, LIVES, paid Ads Marketing Website Payment processor Shipping software CRM - email platform Tech - you need four things in place.  We tell ourselves we can’t do something more often than we tell ourselves we can.  Believe in abundance.  Embrace your imperfections.  Operate with a glass-half-full mentality.  Mindset - the MOST important!   Are you ready to get started on turning your subscription box dreams into reality? In today’s episode, I talk about the four areas you need to focus your time and energy FIRST. Now is the time to “think you can!” Come listen!   Important Links:  6 in 60 Workshop Launch Your Box Podcast Episode 33 Launch Your Box Podcast Episode 45 Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

Your subscription box business isn’t growing like you want it to. You’re not gaining subscribers at the rate you’d planned for and hoped for and you’re not sure what to do.    If you start looking around for advice, you’re likely to find people telling you the answer to your problem is Facebook Ads. I have a different opinion.    Facebook Ads will NOT grow your subscription box for you. Yep, I said it. I know this might be an unpopular opinion, but it’s one I feel very strongly about. Let’s dig in and talk about why.    It is rare in life that throwing money at a problem solves it. And it turns out, a subscription box business is a lot like life.    Facebook Ads are ONE tool in your multi-channel marketing plan. They aren’t the main tool and shouldn’t be weighted more heavily than the rest of your tools.  You have to have so many things dialed in with your business and your ideal customer BEFORE you start paying for Facebook Ads. If you don’t, you may bring people in by spending a lot of money on Facebook Ads, but they won’t stay. If you haven’t spent the time and effort building connections with your subscribers, building that incredibly important know/like/trust factor, they will not stay. They are not invested in you or in your business.    Facebook Ads can be incredibly effective as PART of an overall marketing strategy – not as a standalone strategy.    So, if it’s not Facebook Ads, what will make the biggest difference when it comes to growing your subscriber base?  Clearly defining your niche: consider whether you can niche down further.  Making sure your copy – all of it – is clear and conversational.  Making sure you have an effective way to capture people once they get to your website: do you have a high converting pop-up or opt-in?    I also want you to think about other organic ways to drive traffic and get new subscribers. This is traffic you do not have to pay for!  Pinterest – start using this FREE search engine/social media platform that is my #2 source of traffic!  Blog on your website – write posts regularly (monthly, biweekly, weekly). YouTube TikTok   Are you counting on Facebook Ads alone to grow your subscriber base? In today’s episode, I talk about the negative sides of putting all your eggs in the Facebook Ads basket and what you need to do instead. Want to grow your subscription box? Come listen!   Important Links:  Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

Imagine what you could do with the time you saved if someone else handled the fulfillment of your subscription box.  As your subscription box business grows, you find yourself spending more and more time actually fulfilling those subscriptions. Packing and shipping the boxes takes time. Time you could be spending ON your business. Is there another option?  Ryan Culver of Lessgistics joined me for today’s episode to answer that question. Ryan is a wealth of information and did an amazing job explaining what a fulfillment center is, the costs involved, and whether a fulfillment center could be the right choice for your subscription box business.  Benefits of using a fulfillment center include: Getting time back - allowing you to work on your business instead of in your business.  Not being responsible for managing a team - the people packing your boxes are managed by the fulfillment center.  Not having to be there when shipments arrive - the fulfillment center receives shipments from your vendors.  Taking advantage of the fulfillment center’s access to deeply discounted shipping charges - the money you’ll save on shipping offsets the cost of fulfillment.  Someone else does the actual packing!  At Lessgistics, Ryan and his team work with subscription box owners as partners. A subscription box owner himself, Ryan understands the importance of providing your subscribers with a well-thought-out experience. He is dedicated to partnering and communicating closely with his subscription box owner clients. As he says, “You want someone you know and trust to touch your baby.”   Ryan and I talked about the costs of renting your own warehouse space vs. using a fulfillment center and the pros and cons of each. He walked me through the costs involved and what factors you should consider when deciding if a fulfillment center is right for your subscription box business.  Join me for this episode as Ryan guides us through the process of working with a fulfillment center and the surprising ways you can save money while letting someone else handle the packing and shipping each month!       Important Links:  Find and follow Lessgistics:  Lessgistics on Facebook Lessgistics Website    Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  6 in 60 Workshop  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

Once a year, thousands of people join me for a one-of-a-kind subscription box coaching experience. Subscription Box Week is coming soon… and I can’t wait!    Several years ago, I had started my coaching membership Launch Your Box and it was growing. Slowly. I wanted to put some gas on it and grow more rapidly. A conversation with my mentor, Stu McLaren, led to the realization that letting people spend a week with me as a teacher and coach was the best way to show them what I offer and why it’s right for them.  Subscription Box Coaching Week came out of that casual conversation. I launched it for the first time in the fall of 2020. Thousands of people signed up - which blew me away and kind of freaked me out. 🙂 The first night I went LIVE I had more than 1,000 people with me!  That week was incredible. I showed up, served (overserved, actually), and engaged. At the end of that week, 43% of the people who joined me for Subscription Box Coaching Week signed up for Launch Your Box. 43%!  I’ve been doing it ever since. Every year, thousands of people join me for Subscription Box Week (formerly called Coaching Week). It’s the best way to showcase who I am as a coach, the knowledge I have, and what it’s like inside my incredible Launch Your Box community.  It’s happening again - in just a couple of weeks! And it’s FULL of so much great content, including:  The Post-It Note Challenge - where you’ll plan six months of boxes.  Brand New Training - How to Curate an Experience for Your Subscribers - because it’s not about the “stuff,” it’s about how you make your subscribers feel.  Member Box Openings - where I open members’ subscription boxes for the first time and offer feedback.  Special LIVE Q&A - where you can get ALL your questions answered.  A chance to be part of the subscription box community:  Get to know my members who are at all stages and sizes of business.  Get to know my team as they work around the clock to answer questions and provide resources.  Interact with me LIVE every day.  Understand what’s possible when I interview my students - get ready to be inspired!  My team and I have packed a month’s worth of content into one week for this special event!  For only $15, get this jam-packed week that’s all about subscription boxes!  Are you brand new and thinking about starting a subscription box - this week is for you.  Are you already selling products and ready to build recurring revenue into your business - this week is for you.  Do you already have a subscription box but feel like you don’t know what you don’t know to grow your business - this week is for you.  I do this every day - manage a multi-million dollar subscription box business. And I share it all with you during Subscription Box Week.  If you’ve been thinking about starting a subscription box, but you’ve been putting it off or feeling stuck, this is your special invitation to join me at SubscriptionBoxWeek.com starting June 23rd for one amazing week!  What if one week could change everything? Join me for this episode and learn all about Subscription Week. It’s one week filled with endless possibilities.  SubscriptionBoxWeek.com  Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join today! 

It’s important to know yourself. To know what you love, what lights you up inside, what sets you apart. Ask Launch Your Box member Stephanie Russell of Bling Owl Creations what sets her apart and she’ll tell you… she’s extra!  See, Stephanie was a pageant mom. She’s also a baseball mom. You may think those two roles don’t have much in common. You’d be wrong. Because Stephanie isn’t your average baseball mom. She’s extra. She brings the bling she LOVES so much to the ballfield… every practice and every game.  It’s that love for bling AND baseball that led Stephanie to start a subscription box for baseball moms. Moms like her who want to show their love for their children and the sport they play with some seriously blinged-out baseball wear!  Stephanie joined me for today’s episode to talk about her journey to launching and growing her subscription box.  When I first met Stephanie inside my Coaching Week, her idea for a subscription box was broad. She knew her box would be for women and that it would be all about the bling. But she was hesitant to get more specific with her ideal customer.  We talked through that hesitation. I asked Stephanie the same three questions I ask so many new subscription box owners.  What are you known for?  What are you experienced with?  What do you love?  The answers to those questions led Stephanie to realize that combining her loves for bling and being a baseball mom was the answer. That was her niche. And like I always say, the riches are in the niches. The fact that Stephanie realized success she didn’t even know was possible in the first year of having her subscription box proves just how true that is.  Stephanie and I talked about some things she can do to continue to grow her business. We talked about Facebook Ads - narrowing down her targets and running a different kind of ad, and how writing a blog can provide nearly endless opportunities for generating content and organic traffic.   Join me for this episode as Stephanie takes us through her subscription box journey. Get ready to find out what it takes to go from idea to launch to two successful, growing subscription boxes. And how much more fun everything can be when you add bling!       Important Links:  Find and follow Stephanie:  Bling Owl Creations on Facebook Bling Owl Creations on Instagram Bling Owl Creations Website    Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  6 in 60 Workshop  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

Imagine a box of incredibly delicious baked goods arriving on your doorstep every month. Baked goods that are the stuff of dreams… That’s the experience Jonica Thompson provides to her subscribers. Carefully curated, impeccably packed and shipped, and OMG so, so good baked goods! Jonica sent me one of her boxes for a recent Box Opening inside Launch Your Box and let’s just say my Warehouse team and I were in heaven.  I invited Jonica to join me on the podcast to do more than just talk about mouthwatering baked goods. Rather, I wanted her to share her story and to be a source not only of inspiration but of information to you. We get a LOT of questions inside Launch Your Box about shipping perishable goods.  Our interview ended up being even more fantastic than I thought it would be. Jonica shared the story of her bakery. Her current bakery is not her first attempt at starting a bakery business. And it’s not her second attempt. No, Jonica faced adversity, life challenges, and self-doubt.  Jonica didn’t let setbacks put an end to her dreams. Instead, she kept baking and waited until the time was right. She has a thriving bakery business and now also has a growing subscription box.  When it was time to add a subscription box to her business, Jonica knew she could provide an outstanding product and an outstanding experience. The one thing she didn’t know was how to pack and ship her products so they would arrive fresh and undamaged.  Jonica did research. A LOT of research. And she conducted tests. The kind of tests where she shipped boxes around the country using various types of packing materials.  The result?  A subscription box that arrives on the doorsteps of her subscribers filled with fresh, undamaged, absolutely scrumptious baked goods.  If you’ve ever thought about including perishable items in your subscription box or if you’ve found yourself needing to start over, this is a can’t-miss episode.  Join me for this episode as Jonica takes us through her journey from self-doubt to thriving bakery and subscription box owner. Get ready to find out the answers to more questions than you’ve ever thought to ask about shipping perishable goods, and learn the value of research and testing, testing, testing when trying something new!       Important Links:  Find and follow Jonica:  Jonica’s Bakery on Facebook Jonica’s Bakery on Instagram Jonica’s Bakery Website    Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

If you could create one piece of content that you could use at least six different ways, would you?    This question came up inside my high-level membership, Scale Your Box. We had a mini-mastermind and dug into all the things subscription box owners face when scaling their subscription box businesses. Many members admitted to struggling with “what to say” when it came to creating content.    My copywriter and I sat down with the group and talked about email marketing and the importance of nurturing your audience before and after they become subscribers.    Then, the conversation turned to blogs.    At first, my members were not excited about the idea of adding a blog to their websites or blogging regularly. But, when we started talking about how they could put one blog to work for them, they started listening. Pretty soon, heads were nodding and questions started coming quickly.    A blog can act as what we call your “hero piece of content.” That means it’s the main piece. Once you have that written, it’s all about repurposing and pulling pieces out to be used in all kinds of different ways inside your marketing strategy.    Here are six different pieces of content you can create from one hero piece of content:  Emails LIVES Social media posts  Pinterest pins Podcast episodes IG reels/TikTok videos   I challenged my members, and I challenge you, to start blogging if you haven’t. Start with one blog post a month. Once that’s going well, add a second.   Did you know a blog can help your subscription box business? In today’s episode, I walk you through creating a piece of hero content you can then repurpose in many different ways. Work smarter not harder at content creation and learn how to put your blog to work for you. Come listen!   Important Links:  Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

“Don’t let the tech stop you like it stopped me for a long time.” - Sarah  I knew I wanted to start a subscription box. I dreamed about it every night. I planned out all the boxes, knowing exactly what I’d give my subscribers. And exactly how much they’d love it. Yet, it took me 18 months before I launched my subscription box. What held me back? The tech.  Tech holds SO MANY of us back. It’s the number one stumbling block for members inside Launch Your Box. And I get it. But I want to help you get past that roadblock. The best way to do that? Knowledge!  I brought Nicole onto the podcast today to talk to us about what you need from a tech standpoint to start your subscription box. Nicole is one of our tech gurus inside Launch Your Box. She does SUCH a great job breaking things down and making them simple. Today, Nicole is talking to us about Shopify.  Shopify is an e-commerce platform specifically created for selling products online. Shopify is Nicole’s number one choice for new subscription box owners for three reasons.  It allows you to have your own platform - this means it will work for you NOW, when you’re new, and LATER when you’ve grown and are ready to scale.  Shopify is built for e-commerce. You don’t have to patch things together or design workarounds. Shopify is already set up to do what you need it to do.  Shopify integrates with subscription boxes with easy-to-use apps.  You will need to add an app to Shopify in order to run recurring payments. Nicole recommends Paywhirl. She raved about their customer service and new features that make it even easier to use.  Shopify is a budget-friendly option at only $29/month and is truly user-friendly. Many members of Launch Your Box have successfully created their subscription box websites using Shopify.  Because she believes in Shopify so strongly and is so dedicated to the members of Launch Your Box, Nicole developed a training course specifically for us called Shopify Simplified. This self-paced course guides you through everything you need to get the tech side of your subscription box up and running in only eight weeks. Note: you can - and people do - work through it faster!  Nicole and I also talked briefly about two other pieces of tech to have in place. You need a CRM or customer relationship management system. We recommend Klaviyo - it is the BEST for managing email lists and maintaining connections with your audience. Klaviyo also now offers SMS which allows you to take full advantage of all the benefits of text marketing. And for shipping? It’s Shipstation all the way. They make it sooo easy. My shipping process is streamlined and efficient. With one push of a button, all my shipping labels print out.   Join me for this episode as Nicole takes the fear and mystery out of tech. This is a part of your business that is too important not to pay attention to. And your subscription box dreams are too important to let tech slow you down or stop you from moving ahead. Nicole is here to help. Grab a notebook and get ready to learn!       Important Links:  Shopify Website Paywhirl Subscriptions Website Klaviyo Website Shipstation Website    Find and follow Nicole:  GPig Box on Facebook GPig Box on Instagram GPig Box Website  Shopify Simplified Course   Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams

Every month, I go LIVE inside my coaching membership, Launch Your Box, to open members’ subscription boxes and provide feedback. Last month, I opened some incredible boxes. I was so impressed with the creativity and care these members put into curating an experience for their subscribers, just like I taught them. What I wasn’t impressed with was how low their subscriber numbers were. With boxes that good, their numbers should have been much higher.    It was time to dig into what was holding them back. So I asked a question. And it got my members squirming. It wasn’t a difficult question, but it was an important one.    I asked them to look back at the past month and count how many times they’d talked about their subscription boxes on social media. Then, I gave them a grade based on their responses. The bad news? Many of them failed!    I know you may feel like you’re talking about your subscription box all the time, but I’m willing to bet you’re not talking about it enough. I want you to talk about it at least 2-3 times a week – 4-5 times a week is even better.    Does that sound like too much? It’s not. Trust me. Does this mean you’re posting the same post or sharing the same picture or saying the same thing 4-5 times a week? Of course not!    Here are five different posts you can create to generate excitement about your box:  Sneak Peek Picture of the box with all the items inside Individual picture of each item by itself (3-5 pics) Individual picture of each item in a lifestyle image (used in its natural setting, i.e. desk, kitchen, closet, etc) Benefits of your product, what problem does it solve   And we’re just getting started. I want to see you posting style guides, reviews & testimonials, behind the scenes (your audience will love the chance to see what goes into getting a subscription box out the door), and past boxes (hello, FOMO!).    Then there’s video – short videos and going LIVE. It all needs to be part of your monthly marketing plan to get the word out about your subscription.    Are you talking about your subscription box enough? Odds are you aren’t. But how much is enough? In today’s episode, I walk you through how much you should be posting about your box and give you lots of examples to get you started. Come listen!   Important Links:  Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

“Part-time work will get you part-time results.”  There’s nothing quite like sitting and talking business with someone who just “gets it.” And just gets you.  For this episode, I sat down with one of my biz besties, Susan Bradley. Susan is the founder of The Social Sales Girls as well as the past and current owner of successful online retail businesses.  Susan and I are at different stages in our businesses right now and we talked about the issues, challenges, and feelings that come with each of those stages. My business is established after years of working in it and on it full-time. Susan is in the early stages of her newest business and is only able to devote part-time hours to its growth.  We went deep. We got real. And we talked about five things we want all new entrepreneurs to know. Things you need to understand and get comfortable with in order to succeed.    Manage your expectations. It takes time to build a profitable, sustainable business. You have to give it time.  Part-time work will give you part-time results.  The hockey stick effect - there is a point where you’ll pass the curve to catch up. (Susan is Canadian - there had to be a hockey reference in there somewhere).   Find a friend who understands. Trust us on this one.  I always learn from my conversations with Susan. And I always laugh during them. I know you’ll learn from listening to us talk and I have a feeling you’ll get a laugh or two when we share our recent misadventures in California.  This episode is for any entrepreneur, including subscription box owners, who is starting, launching, or growing a business.    Find and follow Susan:  The Social Sales Girls Podcast The Social Sales Girls on Instagram The Social Sales Girls on Facebook The Social Sales Girls Website  Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

“Stand tall and own your buying power.”  Is this going to be the year you find new sources for products? Have you been curious about how to order products from overseas manufacturers? Are you wondering what Alibaba is and why so many subscription box owners use it to order products at great prices?  If any of those sound like you, this episode is for you. Marissa Sayers joined me to take us through the process of ordering products through Alibaba.  Marissa has a lot of experience sourcing products overseas and actually handles sourcing for my business. She does an incredible job because she is very detail-oriented and knows this process backward and forward.   Marissa gave us a detailed outline of the steps of sourcing products directly from a manufacturer.  Search Alibaba.com for products Narrow your search  Further filter your search based on delivery options (find out why you should ONLY accept DDP shipping) Talk to several manufacturer representatives Order samples (they cost more than you think they should) Place order Receive shipment  Realize this process takes time. Plan for 90-120 days to work through it from start to finish. In other words - Alibaba is not for panic buying!  It’s important to remember that at the same time you’re vetting a manufacturer, they are vetting you. Coming to them from a place of knowledge will give you confidence.  Marissa also talked about how you can work with her if you need help sourcing products. She has limited spots available to work with her and gives priority to my people. Make sure you let her know if you’re a podcast listener or member of Launch Your Box.    As a subscription box owner, you order large quantities of products every month. When you decide to step into this world of overseas sourcing, stand tall and own your buying power!  Join me for this episode as Marissa takes us through her process of sourcing products through Alibaba, step by step. You’ll learn what to look for, what to ask for, and what to never, ever compromise on. If you’re ready to source products from overseas, this is a can’t-miss episode. Grab a notebook and pen - you’re going to take a LOT of notes.      Learn how to bypass the middlemen and wholesalers by sourcing on Alibaba! Sourcing Courses 101 & 201 - https://marissa-sayers.mykajabi.com/a/2147542513/F2huURQN Important Links:  Alibaba Website Ali Express Website   Find and follow Marissa:  Marissa Mae Sayers on Facebook Marissa Mae Sayers on Instagram Sayers Imports Website Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!

“This subscription has turned into so much more than a subscription to me.” - Jenny Hines Jenny Hines designs gorgeous floral arrangements. Seriously beautiful bouquets anyone would love to give or receive.  It turns out Jenny’s talent for creating supportive communities just might be even greater than her talent for creating eye-popping bouquets.  Jenny took over the family floral business from her parents in 2018 and from the start, a subscription was something she wanted to do. She jumped right in and started the Celebration Subscription, where men chose three dates throughout the year to send flowers to their ladies and Jenny sent them on those dates. She describes that first experience in two words. Night Mare. Well, one word actually, but Jenny gives it enough weight to make it two!  Jenny put the idea of a subscription on the back burner for a while. And then COVID hit and she found herself needing to pivot. Jenny jumped in with both feet, figuring out how to run a subscription business and managing the complexities of shipping flowers.  A few months into her subscription business, Jenny found Launch Your Box and learned the way to greater growth was to move from an open to a closed subscription.  Jenny now has 86 subscribers - busy moms who forget to do something special for themselves to celebrate the small wins and beauty in their everyday lives.  But Jenny has so much more than a subscription. She has created a community of women who encourage each other, pray for each other, and walk through life together - the highs and the lows. It’s that community that is Jenny’s favorite part of her subscription box business.   Join me for this episode as Jenny takes us through the ups and downs of her subscription box journey, the time the color purple almost caused her to throw in the towel, and how building a truly special community led to a $10,000 flower order AND a family vacation when one of her members couldn’t imagine having anyone else do the flowers for her wedding.      Important Links:  Find and follow Jenny:  The Flower Momma on Facebook The Flower Momma on Instagram The Flower Momma Website The Flower Momma Podcast Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

Let’s start this year with a better plan, a plan to help you move forward because… It’s Time to Start Your Subscription Box!    Now is the time to get started the right way.    See, it’s hard to take steps forward with starting your subscription box if you can’t visualize who that box is for - your ideal customer. And if you already have a subscription box and you’re struggling with marketing, gaining subscribers, or retaining the subscribers you do have, take a closer look at your ideal customer.    I want you to describe your ideal customer in 3-5 words.  Are they a man or a woman?  Are they an adult or a child?  How old are they?  Where do they live?  Do they belong to a certain profession or faith group?  Do they have a specific hobby or love for something?    Answering these questions allows you to visualize that person. My ideal customer for my monogram box is a “Southern Busy Mom.” Can you picture her? I can! I curate subscription boxes for her every month.    Ask yourself what your ideal customer is thinking, feeling, and doing each month of the year. It’s this knowledge that will help you plan themes for your boxes before you ever start looking for products.    Once you’re able to visualize your ideal customer, it’s time to decide what kind of box to create. You have choices:  Monthly Quarterly Bimonthly One Thing of the Month   There are pros and cons to each type of box. Monthly boxes are easier to market and bring in regular, recurring revenue. They are also a LOT more work. Quarterly boxes can make marketing challenging but give you time to catch your breath between boxes and may allow you to curate a more expensive, luxurious box.    A “One Thing of the Month” box is a great place to start! You’re simply providing one item each month. I have members inside Launch Your Box who have been very successful with their “one things.” T-shirts, candles, beef jerky, washi tape, door hangers, and more.   Once you’ve decided who your ideal customer is and the type of box you’re going to offer, it’s time to curate some boxes! Join me for my FREE 6 in 60 Workshop where we’ll plan six months’ worth of subscription boxes in only an hour!    Join me for this episode as I talk about how now IS the time to start your subscription box and go over the first TWO steps forward, helping you discover who your box is for and what kind of subscription box is the best choice for your business.  Important Links:  6 in 60 Workshop   Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today! 

I heard a twist on the old saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” and thought it was perfect for subscription box business owners. It goes like this:    When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Then sell the lemonade. With the profits, buy more lemons and make more lemonade. Sell that, too. Then buy a bigger lemonade stand!    Why am I talking about lemons and lemonade on today’s podcast episode?    I’m not, actually. The point is, as a business owner, you need to reinvest in your business. This doesn’t have to mean spending thousands of dollars. It does mean making smart purchases that will allow you to grow your business.   Reinvest some of your holiday profits in one (or more) of these four areas:  Marketing - Consider paid ads, an affiliate program, or paying an influencer or blogger to review or promote your subscription box.  Technology - Is it time to upgrade your website? An improved customer experience will deliver a big ROI!  People - Hire your first VA or in-person help. Get someone to help with social media posts or give a deserved raise to a current employee.  Equipment - My Rollo printer saves me SO MUCH time and money! From an industrial printer to a t-shirt folder, any equipment purchase that helps you gain efficiency and save time delivers major ROI.    Remember, we’re talking about reinvesting profits. After you’ve paid all your expenses AND paid yourself, take what’s left and invest it back into your business. A bonus? Any asset you buy also reduces the amount of tax you’ll pay!    Join me for this episode as I talk about how reinvesting in your subscription box business makes the GROW stage in Start, Launch, and Grow your Subscription Box possible - and how using “subscription box math” helps you figure out how much to invest.  Important Links:  Links to Subscription Box Equipment:  Rollo Printer Industrial Printer T-shirt Folder    Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

Do you get excited thinking about starting a subscription box but worry about what it will cost to get started? A subscription box is an eCommerce business which means there are start-up costs involved just like with any other online business. These costs can vary depending on what you want to do.  You can be profitable from month one, but you have to understand your costs. Understanding them helps you:  Price your subscription box Market your subscription box Stay on budget Stay profitable from  What are these costs?  There are five categories of costs you need to consider.  1 - Product Costs -  Product cost is the actual expense of goods for each item you will put in your subscription box each month. Whether you make the items yourself, buy them wholesale, or source them from overseas, these costs will make up the highest percentage of your box costs.  When calculating product costs, make sure to include the shipping costs to you. This can have a big impact on your overall product cost and needs to be tracked and planned for. 2 - Packaging Costs - There are so many variables when it comes to packaging costs. You can ship your subscription box in a basic box, custom box, or go without a box and use a poly mailer. Packaging isn’t just about the outside of the box. You also need to consider the cost of stickers, shreds, tissue paper, inserts, tape, etc. - anything you use to get your boxes ready to ship. 3 - Fulfillment Costs - Your fulfillment costs are made up of packing and shipping costs. Both can be difficult to figure out when you’re first starting out. Packing costs include the labor it takes to package each subscription box. Third-party fulfillment companies pack and ship your boxes for you.  Shipping makes up the other part of your fulfillment costs. Shipping can be VERY expensive and shipping costs vary widely depending on the destination. 4 - Tech Costs - A subscription box is an eCommerce business. In other words, you need tech in order to run your business. Before you can even get your subscription box up and running, there are several tech pieces you need to have in place. Website Payment Processor Shipping Software  Email CRM  5 - Advertising Costs - I always want you to focus on generating organic traffic, but there comes a time when you’ll want to add paid advertising to your marketing plan. Advertising costs range from printed flyers to online ads. These costs need to be factored into your initial and ongoing costs for your subscription box business. Start simple. Scale gradually. Manage your costs. You can start a subscription box and stay profitable… from the beginning.  Wondering about the costs of starting a subscription box? Join me for this episode to learn about the 5 main categories so you can confidently price your box and be profitable in month one.  Episode 61 - What Can a Fulfillment Center Do for My Subscription Box Business? Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join today! 

“You can’t just put it out there and expect it to work.” - Pam Rogers    This is a special episode. It’s our 50th episode and we’re celebrating reaching and passing 80,000 downloads! Thank you to all of you who’ve listened and shared - and special thanks for all your 5 Star Reviews! It means so much to me!    I compiled the top ten episodes for the year and found something interesting. All ten of them had a common theme - audience building.    Each of the top ten episodes - and so many others - shows us just how important audience building is. You can’t start your subscription box without an audience. And you can’t grow your subscription box business without continually growing your audience.    On today’s episode, I revisit these top ten episodes and review 5 ways my guests built their audiences.  Episode 3 - The Riches are in the Niches: Anne went specific when she created a subscription box for women dentists. She knew her ideal customer because she was her ideal customer.  Episode 14 - 4 Ways to Build Your Audience: Tiffany ran a giveaway, posted on social media consistently, made connections, and partnered with an influencer to build her audience.  Episode 31 - From an Audience of Zero to 100 Subscribers in 60 Days: Claudia posted consistently on Facebook and Instagram, created IG reels and stories, and added an early bird bonus.  Episode 33 - Small Audience, No Problem! How Amanda Built 100+ Subscribers from an Audience of 600: Amanda went very specific and served her audience before she sold.  Episode 38 - From Nurse Practitioner to Subscription Box Owner: Pam set up social media accounts, followed colleagues, and did some very creative in-person marketing when she attended a conference.    Join me for this special episode as I revisit these top ten episodes and these wonderful subscription box owners. Each of these women shared her inspiring subscription box journey with us. Each of them also shared actionable tips and strategies - things they did to grow their audiences which in turn helped them grow their businesses.  Important Links:  Links to Top-Ten episodes:  Episode 3 - The Riches are in the Niches - How one LYB Member Hit $10K Monthly with Her Subscription Box Business  Episode 5 - Who Will Buy My Box and How Do I Find Them? - Subscription Box Strategies with Damon Oates Episode 7 - Get Started Right Away with Fast and Messy Action Episode 9 - Why am I Scared to Show Up Live? | Build an Audience for Your Subscription Box Episode 14 - 4 Ways to Build Your Audience with Tiffany LeBaron Episode 39 - Launch Tips with The Lettering Box Episode 38 - From Nurse Practitioner to Subscription Box Owner Episode 31 - From an Audience of Zero to 100 Subscribers in 60 Days Episode 33 - Small Audience, No Problem! How Amanda Built 100+ Subscribers from an Audience of 600 Episode 42 - Consistency Pays Off with Jamie Shahan of CRNA Swag   Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

I LOVE talking about all things subscription box. It’s what I do here on the podcast every week and all day every day inside my Launch Your Box membership. But today… today is special.    Today I got to sit down and talk to my friend Paul Chambers, the co-founder and CEO of SUBTA, the Subscription Trade Association. Not only does Paul bring 20+ years of subscription box knowledge and experience with him, he’s also a super nice guy who just happens to be a big fan of Launch Your Box.    I invited him to the podcast to share his predictions about what we can expect in the subscription box industry in 2022 as well as some subscription box best practices.    Paul’s subscription box journey started when he became a partner in Gentlemen's Box, a monthly subscription that provided accessories for well-dressed, professional men who lacked the time to shop for themselves. Paul learned valuable lessons along the way, grew the subscription into an extremely successful business, and then sold it.    It was during this time that Paul and his partners were seeking out knowledge and community within the subscription industry. To their surprise, they found there were no conferences or other large networking and learning opportunities. This led to the founding of the Subscription Trade Association (SUBTA) in 2017.    Paul shared his predictions for 2022. He expects to see continued growth in subscriptions as the need that drove incredible growth in 2020 settles into new habits driven by consumers’ ongoing desire for convenience and accessibility. He also wants us to keep our eyes on new trends in tech. Rather than being intimidated by technology, Paul encourages small business owners to consider the possibilities and look for opportunities to expand subscribers’ experiences.    For 2022 - and beyond - Paul encourages subscription box owners to:  Add opt-in text messages as part of the customer journey. Take advantage of Tik Tok’s popularity to market your subscription.  Use new technology for churn, upselling, data, and more.  Establish strategic partnerships.  Use first-party data to better understand your consumers’ behavior.  Optimize your content creation.  Use your data to personalize your subscription offering.  Give more power to your consumers when it comes to managing their subscriptions.  Focus on retaining your current subscribers.  We also talked expansion revenue and strategies to capitalize on current subscribers as a source of additional revenue. Your engaged audience has an appetite for more from you. Give it to them!  Consider:   Creating limited edition or one-time boxes.  Add an option to add complimentary pieces to a current subscription.  Curate Mystery Boxes.    In June of 2022, Sub Summit - the incredible conference put on by Paul and the rest of the SUBTA team - is coming to Disneyworld! I’ll be there along with so many of my Launch Your Box members. I’d love to see you there! Learn more and register HERE.    There is so much to learn in this episode. Hear what works and what to expect from a true leader in the world of subscriptions. Grab a notebook and a pen and get ready to soak up what happens when two people who LOVE talking subscriptions share inside knowledge and tips that will help you continue to grow your own subscription box business.    Important Links:  Find and follow Paul:  SUBTA Website Sub Summit Website Facebook Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order

When you don’t know where to start, it’s easy to start in the wrong place.    You have an idea. A dream. You want to start a subscription box. But you don’t know how. So you do what everyone does. You google. It. And you find out there are all kinds of people wanting to sell you all kinds of things to help you run your subscription box business. Software, packaging, marketing tools, and more.    In the beginning, before you even get started, you don’t need any of those things. What you need is to Start The Right Way!    If you’re just starting your subscription box journey, this episode is for you! Avoid the overwhelm and start where you need to start… the beginning.    I call this first stage The Hopeful Entrepreneur because you’re full of hopes and dreams… and so many questions. There are things you need to do during this stage to start your subscription box journey off right.    Complete the 6 in 60 Workshop (Post-It Note Challenge) - identify your ideal customer and plan out your first six boxes.  Contact your local Small Business Adminstration Office - fulfill local requirements to legally set up your business.  Establish social media pages for your business - focus audience building efforts on one platform to start.  Secure a domain for your website - this will be your url.  Explore options for your website - we recommend Shopify or WordPress/WooCommerce.    Getting your subscription box business off the ground takes a lot of work. Following a step-by-step process helps you stay on track.    Join me for this episode as I walk you through this first stage of your subscription box journey, sharing tips, strategies, and resources to help you get a strong start. Don’t miss my tips about naming your business - and your subscription box. It matters!    Important Links:  Subscription Box Blueprint eBook  FREE 6 in 60 Workshop   Join me in all the places:  Facebook Instagram Launch Your Box with Sarah Website  Are you ready for Launch Your Box? Our complete training program walks you step by step through how to start, launch, and grow your subscription box business. Join the waitlist today!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order