Launching a one-time holiday box in the 4th quarter is good business. Doing it without running ads isn’t. That’s why I brought my friend and colleague Josh Coffy of The Ecommerce Alley to talk with us. Listen to episode 169 for more about why YOU should consider a one-time holiday box. Do you need to run Facebook Ads? You should always be building your audience organically. And you should get your audience excited about your one-time holiday boxes organically. But, if you want to maximize the sa...
Oct 02, 2024•47 min•Season 1Ep. 172
Audience building is the key to a successful subscription box launch. It’s also the key to the growth and sustainability of your subscription box business. In today’s episode, we’re talking about 5 ways to build an audience for each stage of the subscription box journey. A reality of a subscription box is that each month will also bring cancellations. They’re simply a part of doing business. And the only way to continue to grow your subscription box business is to continue to grow your audience,...
Sep 25, 2024•26 min
Taking action. That’s something my guest today is great at. She joined my Subscription Box Week in June and within 30 days had launched her subscription (to more than 100 subscribers) and started generating recurring revenue. She’s been inspiring members inside Launch Your Box and I know she’ll inspire you, too! Serving Before Selling Tracey Phillips of Mindless Crafting started her business from a place of service. She’s a paper crafter and card maker who loves sharing her gifts with others. Th...
Sep 18, 2024•42 min•Season 1Ep. 170
“Email marketing needs to be part of your audience building strategy.” - Sarah Williams You know social media is an important part of audience building. You’re showing up consistently, creating engaging posts and reels, connecting with your followers. But… How often are you sending emails to your email list? Just as important as your social media (and maybe even more important) is your email list. You own your email list. Unlike your social media accounts, you can’t get locked out or hacked. You...
Sep 11, 2024•32 min
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 mo...
Sep 04, 2024•28 min
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 ...
Aug 28, 2024•24 min•Season 1Ep. 169
Katie did something I didn’t think was possible. She silenced a large group of creative women - subscription box entrepreneurs - with one statement. I posed a question to my SubSummit workshop attendees about ad spend. Katie’s drop the mic response was that she reached 6-figures in subscription box revenue with a $300 marketing budget. Katie Sager of Huckleberry Gems is a member of Launch Your Box, Scale Your Box, and my Mastermind. Katie set up shop in the back of her husband’s business. She ma...
Aug 21, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 168
One of the most important aspects of our subscription box is the products we put inside it. Whether you’re brand new to business or an experienced subscription box owner, finding the right products at the right prices can be challenging. Where do you start? What about when you begin to grow? How do you buy in bulk? Before you start shopping, you will need your sales tax permit and resellers certificate. File for your sales tax permit first and then you’ll be able to get your resellers certificat...
Aug 14, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 167
Three launches in three months to three different audiences. Yep, I did that. As always, there were lessons to be learned from each launch. What surprised me is that three of those lessons were the same for all three launches! That’s a lot of “3”s! So let me break it down. In late April and early May, I launched The Monogram Box™, my curated subscription box. In June, I launched Subscription Box Week, my SLO into my Launch Your Box membership. And in July, I launched my Tees 4 Teachers subscript...
Aug 07, 2024•28 min•Season 1Ep. 166
How many different ways do you do an unboxing for your subscription box every month? Would it surprise you to learn there are FIVE different ways you can do an unboxing… every month? My box opening checklist makes it easy! Building connections. Creating excitement and FOMO. Growing your waitlist. Gaining new subscribers. There are so many reasons you need to make a monthly unboxing part of your subscription box marketing strategy. You know the why, let’s talk about the how. How can you do a mont...
Jul 31, 2024•30 min
“20% of your customer base generates 80% of your revenue.” - Sarah Williams Identifying your ideal customer is not something you do once. It’s something you need to tweak and get clearer about in your business on a daily basis. In this episode, I’m talking about how to figure out who the 20% of your customers are who are responsible for 80% of your revenue and why you should focus all of your efforts on them. Oh… and one other thing. Stop trying to please everyone! When you try to please everyon...
Jul 24, 2024•29 min
In this episode, I’m going deeper into lead magnets and showing you how to build a lead magnet funnel. Top of the funnel -this is the largest part of the funnel. Your goal is to collect as many leads as possible. Start with a free offer, giving your audience something of value. Freebie or low-dollar lead magnet. Ads to targeted interests going to cold and warm audiences. Make sure your lead magnet is niched down so you don’t waste time and money on unqualified leads. The goal is to capture leads...
Jul 17, 2024•27 min
Two busy moms with six kids between them became best friends, bought a Cricut machine to start making custom t-shirts, and now have more than 800 monthly subscribers to their T-Shirt Club. Of course, there’s a little more to the story than that! If you’re feeling stuck in your subscription box journey, this episode will inspire you. Andrea and Whitney became friends in 2018, decided they needed a hobby and bought that Cricut machine, and in 2019, Cotton Chaos was born. The business was a side hu...
Jul 10, 2024•23 min•Season 1Ep. 165
Last week I hosted our annual Subscription Box Week and it was so so good! Part of the week features interviews with subscription box owners who have various types and sizes of businesses. This year, I interviewed 4 subscription box owners at once - all of whom have some type of bakery box. Each serves a different niche and each followed a different journey. All are SO inspiring! Lauren is the “celebrity” of the group! You might have seen her on Food Network’s Christmas Cookie Challenge . Lauren...
Jul 03, 2024•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 164
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 th...
Jun 26, 2024•21 min
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 au...
Jun 19, 2024•41 min
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 ...
Jun 12, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 163
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 righ...
Jun 05, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 162
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 W...
May 29, 2024•26 min•Season 1Ep. 161
You can turn on the news and see what’s happening with our economy. Big box retailers are closing, small businesses are shutting their doors. Yet I’m here to tell you NOW is the right time to start a subscription box. Why? The answer is simple. People are buying. I see it every day in my own business. I saw it during my recent very successful launch. And I have the honor of working every day with subscription box owners who are launching and growing their subscription box businesses. Adding a re...
May 22, 2024•17 min•Season 1Ep. 160
Do you have a product-based business? Are you selling products via an Etsy store, in a pop-up shop or a retail store? Are you selling one-off products online? Adding a subscription box to your existing business is a no-brainer and can offer you so many benefits! Adding a subscription box provides: A stable, predictable revenue stream - recurring payments benefit your business in so many ways, including stabilizing your cash flow. Customer loyalty - subscribers have committed to regularly purchas...
May 15, 2024•28 min•Season 1Ep. 159
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...
May 08, 2024•29 min
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...
May 01, 2024•27 min
Do you think you’re too old to start a business? Do you worry it’s too late to pivot and do something you’re truly passionate about? Something that could make a huge difference in the lives of you and your family? It’s not too late. It’s never too late. I say it often, but sometimes it takes hearing it from somebody else before it really sinks in. Get ready to be inspired as I introduce you to Bev Schweigert, owner of Blessed Be Boutique and member of Launch Your Box. Bev “retired” more than six...
Apr 24, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 158
Can anyone start a subscription box business? Yes. I truly believe this. I say it all of the time - I’m not special. And no, that doesn’t mean I don’t think I’m great or suffer from a lack of confidence. It just means I don’t have anything you don’t have. I’m an ordinary person who doesn’t give up. And it’s that “not giving up” piece that matters. That’s the thing you need to have if you’re going to not just start a subscription box, but launch and grow one into a successful, sustainable busines...
Apr 17, 2024•16 min•Season 1Ep. 157
On March 5th at about 10:00 in the morning, Facebook went down. Instagram went down, too. The outage didn’t last long, but it had an impact on so many business owners, especially those who rely heavily on social media. That day, Meta was only down for a short while, but what if it was down for the day? The week? The month? What if it went away for good? Do you have systems in place to reach your audience outside of social media? Be ready for the next social media outage - and it’s a near certain...
Apr 10, 2024•18 min•Season 1Ep. 156
Today’s episode was inspired by a question from a member of Launch Your Box - and a former guest on the podcast. Betsy Goodman shared her sold-out launch story in episode 93. Betsy is a maker and a teacher - she teaches lettering and wax seal techniques. Her work is beautiful and her question is a common one among subscription box owners who make or teach as part of their subscription. Betsy’s question? How to balance what she gives away for free and what she reserves for her paid subscribers. I...
Apr 03, 2024•19 min
One of the biggest benefits of a subscription box business is recurring revenue. You can build ANOTHER recurring revenue stream in your business by adding a membership to your subscription box business. In episode 145 of this podcast, I interviewed three of my Mastermind students, all of whom hit $1 million in revenue last year! They have different businesses and followed different paths to where they are now, but one thing they have in common - they all have both a physical subscription and a d...
Mar 27, 2024•40 min•Season 1Ep. 155
Starting a Facebook business page from scratch is hard. Even growing an existing page can feel hard. But it’s a critical part of audience building. You create great content your ideal customer will love. And you want your ideal customer - lots of your ideal customers - to see it. That means gaining more followers. When I started my page, How to Start a Subscription Box, in early 2020. I knew who my ideal customer was. What I didn’t know was how I was going to get them to like my page. I spent si...
Mar 20, 2024•27 min•Season 1Ep. 154
Does it feel like you are making good sales, but nothing is left in your bank account at the end of each month? Are you bringing in enough revenue to cover your overhead and pay your employees but can’t pay yourself? I’ve been there. If you’re a small business owner, you’ve been there, too. It’s time to change how we think about sales and profitability. And I’ve brought the perfect person to the podcast to help us do just that. In this episode, Ciara Stockeland, fractional CFO and inventory geni...
Mar 13, 2024•36 min•Season 1Ep. 153
