“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 to...
Jun 15, 2022•22 min•Season 1Ep. 74
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...
Jun 08, 2022•31 min•Season 1Ep. 73
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 subsc...
Jun 01, 2022•33 min•Season 1Ep. 72
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 subscript...
May 25, 2022•29 min•Season 1Ep. 71
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...
May 18, 2022•30 min•Season 1Ep. 70
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 onlin...
May 11, 2022•31 min•Season 1Ep. 69
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 i...
May 04, 2022•25 min•Season 1Ep. 68
“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...
Apr 27, 2022•35 min•Season 1Ep. 67
“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 b...
Apr 20, 2022•33 min•Season 1Ep. 66
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 do...
Apr 13, 2022•41 min•Season 1Ep. 65
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 Boo...
Apr 06, 2022•27 min•Season 1Ep. 64
“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...
Mar 30, 2022•25 min•Season 1Ep. 63
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...
Mar 23, 2022•19 min•Season 1Ep. 62
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 explai...
Mar 16, 2022•31 min•Season 1Ep. 61
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 ...
Mar 09, 2022•38 min•Season 1Ep. 60
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 mouth...
Mar 02, 2022•28 min•Season 1Ep. 59
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 y...
Feb 23, 2022•25 min•Season 1Ep. 58
“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...
Feb 16, 2022•29 min•Season 1Ep. 57
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 b...
Feb 09, 2022•31 min•Season 1Ep. 56
“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 th...
Feb 02, 2022•30 min•Season 1Ep. 55
“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 ...
Jan 26, 2022•37 min•Season 1Ep. 54
“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...
Jan 19, 2022•46 min•Season 1Ep. 53
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 w...
Jan 12, 2022•29 min•Season 1Ep. 52
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 busines...
Jan 05, 2022•17 min•Season 1Ep. 51
“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 ...
Dec 29, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 50
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 t...
Dec 22, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 49
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 Star...
Dec 15, 2021•27 min•Season 1Ep. 48
“When you try selling everything to everyone, you sell to no one.” Today I’m excited to introduce you to Becca Slye, Launch Your Box member and co-owner of Isle Candle Co. I hope Becca’s story inspires you to keep going even when things get hard and to see mistakes and challenges as opportunities for growth. Isle Candle Co. is a family business started by Becca’s parents. They sell specialized soy candles that transform into incredibly nourishing lotions as they burn. How cool, right? Becca’s pa...
Dec 08, 2021•46 min•Season 1Ep. 47
What if I told you writing six simple emails once could bring ongoing revenue into your subscription box business? There are three email automations (also called flows or sequences)every subscription box owner needs to have in place. Write these once and they’ll work for you for a long time. If you’ve listened to my podcast, seen me on social media, or read my blog, you know I like to keep things simple but effective. That’s why I recommend that each automation needs to be only two emails. The t...
Dec 01, 2021•23 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Have you ever wondered what would happen if you served your audience first? Today I’m excited to introduce you to Kristy Bottle, Scale Your Box member and owner of Kristy’s Craft Room. I hope Kristy’s story inspires you to get creative, serve your audience with a generous heart, and have the courage to take chances. Kristy is a dedicated crafter who decided to take the crafting parties she hosted in her home and move them online. The Kristy’s Craft Room page on Facebook was born and Kristy start...
Nov 24, 2021•36 min•Season 1Ep. 45
