Launch Your Box Podcast with Sarah Williams | Start, Launch, and Grow Your Subscription Box

Latest Episodes:

120: Adding Value and Increasing LTV with Paul Chambers May 03, 2023

Show notes

What are you doing to add value to your subscription box and increase the lifetime value of your subscribers? By thinking creatively and strategically - in other words, thinking outside of the box - you can uplevel your subscribers’ experience and bring more revenue and higher profit margins into your business.

In this episode, I catch up with Paul Chamber, co-founder of the Gentleman’s Box, on ways they added value and increased LTV with their subscription box. Paul is also the co-founder of Subsummit and one of my favorite people to talk with about all things subscription box.

Paul took us through the journey of The Gentleman’s Box and the decisions they made along the way - good and bad - that helped them increase the value of their subscribers by layering in more value. He also talks about the importance of choosing the right price and how a price that’s too low had a negative impact on one of their subscription options.

We also talked about using price as a retention tactic. This is something I do with my subscriptions. When it’s time for a price increase, I grandfather in all current subscribers at the current price for the lifetime of their subscription. If they cancel and later want to come back, they’ll come back at the new, higher price. This is a very effective retention strategy.

Other ways to add value and increase LTV:

Including a gift with purchase - i.e., Early Bird Bonus
Offering an “add-on” option to subscriptions.
Layering in additional subscriptions.
Adding a gift at the time when most cancellations happen.
Offering additional products that go with items in the box.
Including a membership with or separate from your subscription.
Giving subscribers the opportunity to choose which items come in their box.

Paul and I also talked about SubSummit and what attendees can expect this year. SubSummit launched in 2016 with the goal of bringing subscription box owners together to learn from and connect with one another. I’ve partnered with them for the past few years and can’t wait to see so many of my Launch Your Box members at SubSummit again this year.

Launch Your Box members - check inside the group for a special LYB-only SubSummit link.

Join me for this episode as Paul and I talk through ways you can add value to your subscription box and increase the lifetime value of your subscribers. We cover a LOT of topics during this interview. Come join us for a really fun episode!

Find and follow Paul:

Join me in all the places:

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!

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

119: Facebook Group Yay or Nay? Apr 26, 2023

Show notes

This episode answers two questions I get asked a LOT. Should your subscription box be on a separate page from the rest of your business? Should you create a private Facebook Group for your subscribers? The answer to both questions is, “It depends.”

Whether you need a separate page for your subscription box is determined by your answer to the question, “Is your subscription box for the same ideal customer as your regular business page?”

If yes, there’s no need for a separate page. When you make your subscription box part of your main business page, you:

Avoid doing double work.
Don’t have to build an audience from scratch.
Are able to sell multiple things to your audience - it’s not one thing or the other, it can be both.

However, if your subscription box is for a completely different audience, you will need a separate page.

The next question you might be asking yourself is whether or not to have a private Facebook Group for your subscribers. In order to determine this for your business, you need to answer two questions:

Are you delivering content outside of the products in your box?
Teaching
Tutorials
Book clubs
Accountability groups
Etc.
Do you need a private community in order for your subscribers to feel comfortable sharing? This is particularly important for topic-focused subscriptions like:
Health issues
Relationship issues
Marriage and/or kids
Other sensitive or highly personal topics

If you answer yes to either of these questions, you may need to have a private Facebook Group. It is important to understand the pros and cons of managing a private Facebook Group.

Pros:

It allows you to create a sense of community and engagement that takes the experience beyond just the box. Subscribers feel more connected to you and each other.
Private groups are great for research and development. Get subscriber buy-in, get their help with processes, etc.
It creates a sense of exclusivity. Subscribers feel special knowing they’re part of a select group.

Cons:

It’s time consuming. You will need to dedicate resources to moderating the group, creating engagement, responding to questions, and addressing any issues that come up.
There is the potential for negative feedback.
You may end up doing too much behind closed doors and not enough front facing. Front facing is necessary for audience building and you always need to be building your audience!

Join me for this episode as I talk about how to decide whether a private Facebook Group is right for your subscription box business.

Important Links:

6 in 60 Workshop

Join me in all the places:

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 Launch Your Box 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

118: Public Facing Content vs. Private Group Content: How to Share Content Publicly Without Giving Away Paid Content Apr 19, 2023

Show notes

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. If your subscription box includes any type of teaching component, you probably struggle with that same push and pull. You want to share enough content to create interest and excitement but don’t want to give away the valuable content your paying subscribers receive.

The goal is to have balance. Give your audience a taste of what it’s like to be a subscriber, but provide value and exclusivity to your subscribers.

These strategies can help you keep your public content engaging while still protecting your paid content.

Share the what - not the how.

Publicly share the box opening and what your subscribers are receiving. This is also a great time to show what can be made from supplies in the box, but not how to do it.
Potential subscribers can see the value.
They still need to join the subscription to learn how.
Do this in a LIVE unboxing or an unboxing post, posts of finished products with supplies laying next to them.

Give them “incomplete” information - they need/want to know more.

Share small sections of the how, but don’t put it all together for them.
Use sped-up videos so people can see the process but not the exact techniques and how-tos.
Share smaller projects that can be made with the same supplies - acts as a bonus for subscribers, too!

Connect, don’t teach.

Go LIVE and use items from the box to create the projects. But… instead of teaching, simply talk to and connect with your audience as you create.
As questions come up, explain what you’re doing and that subscribers have access to the instructional video that takes them through the project step-by-step.
Your audience will see the value of your products, connect with you on a personal level, and see just how much they will get by subscribing.

Find a balance. If you hide all your content behind closed doors, nobody other than your subscribers sees what you’re giving. You lose the opportunity to nurture your audience and show them what it’s like to be a subscriber.

Doing more public-facing content creates more engagement from your subscribers - and drives more interest from those people who aren’t yet subscribers.

Join me for this episode as I talk about why it’s so important to share content publicly and how to balance public-facing and subscriber-only content.

Important Links:

Join me in all the places:

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 Launch Your Box 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

117: Bounced Payments & Personal Follow-Up Apr 12, 2023

Show notes

Are you relying solely on automations to recover failed payments? If so, you are losing money and experiencing unnecessary churn in your subscription box business. Business is personal. Recovering failed payments needs more than just automation - it needs a personal touch. Your personal touch.

Think about how much time, energy, and money you spend getting new subscribers. How much time and energy are you willing to spend to keep them? In my subscription business, we use a combination of automations and personal outreach to follow up on failed payments. The result? Each month we recoup 98% of our bounced payments.

Keep in mind, most failed payments are not due to subscribers wanting to cancel or intentionally not paying. Credit cards expire and need to be updated. Other things happen that unintentionally cause payments to fail. Assume subscribers want to stay with you and just need help updating their info.

Every subscription box business should have a failed payment automation set up. You can do this directly in your subscription platform or CRM. The goal is to recover as many payments as possible through automation, reducing the time spent manually recouping payments via personal outreach.

The automation process we use in my subscription box business is set up like this:

Payment Run #1 - failed payment
Email #1 sent - something like “There was an error processing your payment for XXX subscription. If you need to update your card, please do so at this link. Your payment will run again in 12 hours.”
We aren’t accusing them of anything. We blame the error on ourselves and direct them to update the payment if they need to.
We create urgency by letting them know the payment will run again in 12 hours.
Payment Run #2 - failed payment
Email #2 is very similar to Email #1 - they may not have seen the first email yet.
Payment will retry in 24 hours.
Payment #3 - failed payment
Email #3 - 36 hours after initial payment has run. They’ve likely seen one of the first two emails.
The first two emails are text only, this email includes an image.
“Hi Subscriber. We are busy personalizing and packing all our subscriptions and want to make sure you get yours on time. If you need to update your card, please do so at this link. If you need help with that or have an issue, please hit reply and let us know how we can help.”
This email includes a picture of the team packing a box.
Payment runs again in 48 hours - they have time to reach out to customer service before the payment runs again.

At this point, we start working through the list of remaining failed payments with personal touch points.

Personal email
Personal text

Now we’re ready to run one last automation.

Email #4 - on day five of failed payment
Last chance email “Boxes are shipping and we want to make sure you get a Monogram Box this month. Please let me know how I can help.”

We follow this plan every month. And every month, we recoup 98% of our failed payments.

Business is personal. Don’t forget the importance of a personal connection point when working to retain your customers. Business is also business. Don’t leave money on the table. Following up on bounced payments reduces involuntary churn and retains more recurring revenue.

Join me for this episode as I talk you through the automations combined with personal touches process I use to recoup 98% of bounced payments every month.

Important Links:

6 in 60 Workshop

Join me in all the places:

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 Launch Your Box 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

116: 5 Ways to Increase Perceived Value in Your Subscription Box without Blowing Your Budget Apr 05, 2023

Show notes

Is your subscription box missing something that would increase its value in the eyes of your subscribers? Maybe things are feeling a little monotonous or routine. Or maybe some months you feel like you need “a little something extra” to make your subscription box feel like the complete experience you want it to be. But, how can you add value without blowing your budget? Remember, you need to stay profitable to stay in business.

In today’s episode, we’re talking about increasing the perceived value of your box. Perceived value is simply a subscriber’s perception of the merit or desirability of a product. There are five things you can do to increase the perceived value of your subscription box for little or no cost.

Customization

Style - i.e, home decor - farmhouse or modern.
Size - i.e., clothing or wearables.
Type - i.e., breed of dog.
Teachers - i.e., grade level or type of school.

YOU - Your Personal Connection

Remember, being “ME” is free marketing.
Include a handwritten note.
Put a birthday card in their box the month of their birthday.

Surprise & Delight - include a gift in the box periodically (not every month)

Coupon to your store or “bonus bucks.”
The “Golden Ticket” - a special gift included in only select boxes.
Anniversary gifts - on the anniversary of them becoming a subscriber.
Early bird bonuses during launches.

Exclusive Content or Collectibles

First access.
Digital bonuses.
Tutorial or training access.
Exclusive meet-ups.
Zoom parties.

Bundle Items

One thing by itself can seem too small, but bundle two or three of an item and tie a ribbon around it or put it in an organza bag to make it look special.
Hair clips
Chapstick
Sticker sheets
Dog treats

Join me for this episode as I talk about five ways you can increase the perceived value of your subscription box and stay within your budget.

Important Links:

6 in 60 Workshop

Join me in all the places:

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

115: Building an Audience in 90 Days and Selling out on Her First Launch with The AwayDay Box Mar 29, 2023

Show notes

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:

Join me in all the places:

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!

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

114: Building a Lead Magnet Funnel Mar 22, 2023

Show notes

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 and get them on your email list.

Opt-in -the lead has given you their email and now they move to the middle of the funnel.

When someone submits their email address, they are sent to a thank you page. Include an upsell offer along with the link to get their freebie.
This upsell should be an inexpensive offer that gives them even more value than the freebie.
The goal at this stage in the funnel is to get them to make a purchase.

Once someone has reached the middle of your funnel, they’ve received value from you, they’ve made a small purchase, and now the goal shifts to getting them to purchase your main offer. For subscription box owners, this means our recurring revenue product, our subscription boxes.

Now it’s time to put email marketing to work for you. Set up an email automation that is kicked off when someone opts in. Keep it simple or more detailed - the choice is yours.

Simple sequence - everyone gets the same sequence with all roads leading to becoming a subscriber.
Detailed sequence - create two sequences - one for those who purchased the upsell and one for those who did not.

Let’s walk through a simple email sequence.

Email #1 - deliver the freebie and introduce your subscription box.
Email #2 - remind them to download the freebie and share the “why” behind your box with them.
Email #3 - is all about the box. Share social proof and pictures of past boxes.

You can extend this sequence to five emails by including an email that offers a low dollar offer and adding an email with an additional offer to join at the end.

If someone subscribes at any point during this email flow, the sequence stops and they’ll continue to get nurtured in your weekly email campaigns.

You need to do FIVE things to create an effective lead magnet funnel.

Create the lead magnet.
Create images for social media and ads.
Create two landing pages - one for the opt-in and one for the thank you/upsell page.
Create an embed form for the opt-in.
Write your emails and set up the sequences.

Join me for this episode as I talk about the importance of having lead magnets continuously bringing leads into your business and the steps you need to take to build out a lead magnet funnel.

Important Links:

6 in 60 Workshop

Join me in all the places:

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 Launch Your Box 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

113: How Cotton Chaos 5X Their Subscribers with a Strategic Launch Plan Mar 15, 2023

Show notes

Have you ever set a really big goal for your business? A goal that made you feel a little dizzy at the thought of trying to reach it, but you got brave and made it anyway? That’s what Whitney and Andrea, the dynamic duo behind Cotton Chaos did at the beginning of 2022.

Cotton Chaos is a graphic t-shirt business that sells retail and wholesale tees. They also have a t-shirt subscription that launched in January 2021 with 35 subscribers. After that initial launch, they found Launch Your Box and launched again in what they call “Sarah’s Way,” and grew to 100 subscribers. But they weren’t done yet.

That big goal? Whitney and Andrea decided that in 2022 they were going to reach the 500 subscriber mark. Yep, they made a goal to increase their subscriber count by 500%!

Part of their plan to reach that goal included joining me inside my signature course, Scale Your Box. They were dream students, soaking up all the knowledge and implementing what they learned.

By the end of 2022, they had done it. Their T-Shirt Club had hit 500 subscribers! So how did they do it?

They ran a promotion for a free shirt for new subscribers (current members got one, too).
They brought on affiliates for the club - people who sold other things but whose audiences contained Whitney and Andrea’s ideal customers.
After the first 2022 launch, they went to a closed cart model to create FOMO.
Every month, they ran a 48-hour promo email series to their waitlist.
They ran a “get in before the price increase” promo at the end of the year.

Whitney and Andrea launched again in February of this year. They ran a four-day launch and gained 155 new subscribers!

The ladies of Cotton Chaos reached their BIG goal and I couldn’t be more proud! They’re back in Scale Your Box again and this time focusing on adding expansion revenue into their business as they continue to grow.

Join me for this episode as Whitney and Andrea take us through their journey from 100 to 500 subscribers in just one year and all the lessons they put into practice to help get them there!

Find and follow Cotton Chaos:

Join me in all the places:

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!

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

112: How I Built My 2nd Business From Scratch to Over $100K MRR in One Year Mar 08, 2023

Show notes

Are you struggling to build your audience or find the right people for your offer? Do you have a plan in place to get some traction and start making progress toward starting and growing a successful, sustainable subscription box business?

Inside Launch Your Box, I work with thousands of subscription box owners. Many of them are starting their businesses from scratch. And so many of them come to me not knowing where or how to start.

I know exactly how they feel. When I started my second business - Launch Your Box - I was starting from scratch. Sure, I had a successful product-based business, but this was a brand-new offer to a brand-new audience in a totally different industry.

In the fall of 2019, I had a plan. I knew what the offer looked like, what I would deliver, what I would charge, all the things. What I didn’t have was customers or a following. I was starting from scratch. So I got to work.

I DM-ed people who had reached out to me to ask questions about my subscription box business. 19 of those people became my beta group.
I worked with my beta members for 2 months, seeing what worked and what could be improved to meet their needs better.
I started my social media accounts and consistently produced content that created value. And yes, it grew very slowly.
I created an eBook as my first lead magnet which became my first self-liquidating offer (SLO). Sales from that eBook funded paid ads designed to attract my ideal person.
I added a freebie lead magnet.
3-months later I opened cart again and tried out another paid lead magnet - Subscription Box Coaching Week.

I had 1900 members when I didn’t even have 1900 followers on social media. What I did have was almost 15,000 people on my email list - and they’d gotten there because of 3 lead magnet funnels I created in the first year.

How did I go from zero followers to 1900 members so quickly?

I leveraged social media to build my email list to then build my monthly recurring revenue.
I created lead magnets and offers that were niched down to attract exactly the right person for my offer.
I knew it took money to make money and invested in paid ads.
I placed the offer in front of my audience 30-45 days before my launch to keep it fresh in their minds.
I nurtured my leads with content that served.
I focused on what was working and went all in.

What have you done to build your list before you launch?

Are you relying on social media to convert followers to subscribers?
Are you growing your email list year-round?
Are you tracking how many leads you get each month?
How are you getting in front of new people?

What lead magnets do you have in your business?

Are they the right lead magnets?
Are they attracting the right people?
What would make someone give you their email? What would help them?

It’s time to stop waiting for people to find YOU. Go out and find them!

Join me for this episode as I share exactly how I started my second business from scratch and how you can put the lessons I learned to work for you as you start your subscription box business.

Important Links:

6 in 60 Workshop

Join me in all the places:

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 Launch Your Box 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

111: Raising Prices and Achieving Long-Term Sustainability Mar 01, 2023

Show notes

“It takes money to grow.” - Sarah Williams

Is it time to raise your prices? After all, costs are up on absolutely everything. Your costs are up - on products, packaging, shipping, and more. Your costs going up means your profit margins are going down.

If you don’t raise your prices, you’ll keep chipping away at your profit margin - and your business won’t be sustainable long term. It takes money to grow your business. A lower profit margin means less money to invest back into your business which means less growth.

I recently had to do something about increased shipping costs in my business. My “free” shipping was costing me more and more of my profit on every order. I had to make a change. I went from free shipping on everything to a flat rate of $6.99 or free shipping on orders over $100.

I worried about what would happen. Would my customers not buy without free shipping? Would my revenues go down? No. Instead:

My average order value increased by 38% - from $48 to $65.
Last month saw a 74% increase in sales year over year.
Not only are my customers still buying, they’re buying MORE to meet the free shipping threshold.

When you decide it’s the right time to increase the price of your subscription, you have two options:

Raise the price across the board for everyone.

Understand and accept that you may have some attrition - but fewer subscribers at a higher price will make you more profitable in the long run.
Run a full marketing campaign notifying subscribers the price is going up and when the increase is effective.
Be transparent about the reasons for the increase. Your subscribers know the price of everything is going up. Make it clear that you want to be around to continue giving them great products in their subscription boxes.

Grandfather in your existing subscribers at their current price and increase for any new subscriber.

This makes for a GREAT launch campaign. “Get in now before prices go up.”
Older subscribers at the lower rate will go away over time.

You have to raise your prices as your costs rise. You can not sustain your business long term without raising your prices.

Join me for this episode as we talk about profit margins, what the increased cost of absolutely everything means for your business, and the right way to increase the price of your subscription box.

What’s the profit margin on your subscription box?

Text “budget” to 940-204-0023 and I’ll send you my box budget calculator.

Join me in all the places:

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

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