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

Have you been struggling with your business this year? Maybe you’re not reaching your revenue goals or you haven’t launched that new idea, product, or subscription box yet. Many times, our businesses need one little tweak - a change in process, strategy, or just mindset - to change everything. In this episode, I’m sharing 10 truth bombs that will have you looking at your business differently. Take the time to sit with and think about each of these to see how they might apply to you and your business. 20% of your customer base generates 80% of your revenue! Protect your peace and energy at all costs. Fad marketing strategies are like fad diets. They will not last. Companies that have heavily relied on paid traffic only will shift to more organic traffic. Systems and processes will serve you. Revenue does not mean profit. Cheap is not creating value. It’s more profitable to retain your subscribers than to constantly acquire new ones. What gets you started may not get you to scale. If you don’t challenge yourself, you won’t change yourself. We focused all of the training this year inside Launch Your Box on these 10 things. I’m here to help you understand these 10 things and make progress with each of them. Remember, you are on a subscription box journey. This journey never ends. It’s always a work in progress. Just keep making progress! 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! Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams

Are your subscriber numbers dwindling? Do you need to do something to keep your numbers up but don’t have the capacity to do a full-blown launch?  I found myself in this exact situation. My subscriber numbers for my “baby” subscription, Tees 4 Teachers, had been decreasing since the beginning of the year. I knew I needed to do something, but when I looked at my year, this is what I saw:  April - Monogram Box Launch  May - SubSummit  June - Big Coaching Week Launch for Launch Your Box  August - Launching a New Course September - Launching a New Membership  That left July. July is right before back to school, making it the perfect time to launch Tees 4 Teachers. I knew I did not have the bandwidth to show up in a launch the way I’d need to. But I didn’t want to not launch.  What could I do? Was there a way I could launch and make it EASY and less taxing on me?  I knew I could drive a lot of traffic and sales through paid ads. (Listen to episode 130 to hear about how paid ads helped me have my biggest launch ever earlier this year). If I could use ads effectively to sell my teacher tee subscription, that would eliminate the need to do a lot of LIVEs, send a ton of emails, and do all my usual launch activities.  So, what exactly would this “lazy launch” look like? I needed a plan.  Instead of an intense launch, I decided to run a two-week lazy launch.  I created an Early Bird Bonus/Launch Bonus but made it good for the entire two weeks.  Week One Started ads and made an announcement post Posted once a day.  Week Two Did 1 LIVE Sent 2 emails Posted for the last 4 days  My results? I closed cart with 201 subscribers. I doubled my subscription with minimal effort!  What did it take to double my subscriber count?  Launch Bonus New, Cute T-Shirt Design Ad Spend - $2000 When I looked at the data - and you should ALWAYS look at the data, I discovered some interesting things:  92% of the traffic I sent to the sales page came from Facebook Ads.  78% of all my new subscribers came directly from Facebook Ads.  For 82% of my subscribers, this was their first purchase from me.  The biggest eye-opener for me? On average, I get 200-300 views on my Tees 4 Teachers sales page. When I ran paid ads for this “lazy launch,” I 10X’d those views and my conversion rate was the same - 3%.  3% of 300 views is 9 new members.  3% of 3000 views is 90 new members.  My advice for you, especially if you’re facing a subscription with dwindling numbers? When you NEED to launch, launch!  Figure out what you have the capacity for and make it work.  It doesn’t have to be perfect, but you do need to take action.  Don’t just wing it - create a plan and work that plan!  Join me for this episode as I walk you through how I doubled my dwindling subscription with a lazy launch!  Want to learn more about paid ads? There is so much more inside Launch Your Box. We’ve got several different trainings, including a brand new training this month on how to set up a Page Like Ad so you can start growing your following. Look for it in the Training Library under Building Your Audience. I also cover my subscription box ads strategy in a brand new bonus lesson inside the Launch Your Box training library. You’ll go behind the scenes of my launch and see what I did, what I spent, and the actual ads I was running for that launch. Of course, I break down all my results in detail. Are you ready to join Launch Your Box? Text me the word LAUNCH to 940-204-0023 and I’ll send you a special invitation!  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! Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams

“If you don’t have an ads budget, you still have a hobby business.” - Sarah Williams Are paid ads part of your subscription box marketing strategy? If not, why not? You might be wondering if paid ads are worth it. Or you might be where I was in the early days of my business, worried about where you’re spending money and not understanding the value of running paid ads.  Subscription box owners - especially new subscription box owners - hesitate to use paid ads for many reasons.  They don’t understand the ROI from paid ads. Successful ads don’t always result in sales.  They lack the knowledge to set up and run an ad campaign.  They’re focusing only on organic growth strategies like SEO, content, and word of mouth.  They fear failure - they may be uncertain of their goals or not know how to measure results.  I first used paid ads when I realized I needed to do something else to grow outside of my local area. Organic traffic wasn’t enough. I had a great local business and my subscription box had grown - to a point. But almost all of my business came from local customers. In order to grow, I needed to run ads. Within just six months, the 3,000 followers it had taken me 4-5 years to gain had grown to 7,000 and I was getting subscribers from all over the country.  Paid ads are such an important part of launching and growing a subscription box business. If you want to grow, you need to continue to drive traffic - new traffic - to your content.  I’m challenging you to consider running paid ads. And I’m sharing actual data from my three recent launches and paid ads strategy to help you understand why you need to run paid ads.  It’s time to take action.  1. Determine your budget. No matter how small, you have to start somewhere! If you’re currently selling products or services, use the 8-10% rule.   If you’re not selling products and are on a limited budget, start with $150/month ($5/day) and increase it as you start selling products.  2. Create an Ads Strategy Drive traffic to your site? Convert to subscribers? Build your list? Build your following? You should have a solid ad strategy for the different stages and seasons of business you are in. 3. Test and Try  Join me for this episode as we talk all about paid ads. Are they worth it? Do they really make a difference? I answer those questions and share my paid ads results from my recent launches. There’s a lot to talk about in this episode. Grab your earbuds and come join me! Want to learn more about paid ads? There is so much more inside Launch Your Box. We’ve got several different trainings, including a brand new training this month on how to set up a Page Like Ad so you can start growing your following. And I cover my subscription box ads strategy in a brand new bonus lesson inside the Launch Your Box training library. You’ll go behind the scenes of my launch and see what I did, what I spent, and the actual ads I was running for that launch. Of course, I break down all my results in detail. Are you ready to join Launch Your Box? Text me the word LAUNCH to 940-204-0023 and I’ll send you a special invitation!  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!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams

“You have to have one subscriber before you can have ten.” - Amy Green I’m excited to bring you this interview with a member of my Mastermind, Amy Green of Amy and Art. Amy’s journey to subscription box success has many twists and turns, wins and losses, and lessons learned. By never giving up, being open to trying new things, and finding the right coach and community to support her, Amy found the courage to do it her way.   Amy Green is many things, among them a wife and special needs mom, a former teacher, and a lifelong entrepreneur. Amy’s past businesses included a seriously successful food blog with 190,000 social media followers and a dog-walking business with more than 400 clients! She also partnered with her husband to start a construction business. Amy knows how to get things done.  Her oldest son’s special needs meant Amy needed to build a business that worked for her family. She turned to her love of art for the answer. Armed with a new laser cutter and an idea, Amy started a business creating wood cut-outs and tier tray decor. She sold them on Etsy until she realized Etsy didn’t let her do one very important thing - build her own email list. Amy had a large following from her days as a blogger. The problem? They weren’t the right followers for her new business. So, Amy moved her business over to Shopify and got serious about list building.  When Amy decided to add a subscription box to her business, she found Launch Your Box and then also joined my Mastermind. She soaked in all the trainings and knew exactly how I teach my students to launch. There was only one problem… Amy simply didn’t have the capacity to do a launch exactly the way I teach it. Her family life didn’t allow for it.  After we talked it through, Amy decided to launch anyway - to do what she could. What matters is getting it out there. Don’t wait for things to be perfect. Be willing to launch messy and then clean it up as you go. That’s what Amy did. That first launch she focused on sending emails and posting on social media. She wasn’t sure she could fit in going LIVE - but she did. Those LIVEs were short and sweet because that’s what she could do, but they allowed her to connect with her audience.  That first launch - the one where Amy hoped for 10 subscribers - ended with 32 subscribers. The next time she launched, a few months later, Amy was able to put more of the launch pieces in place. That launch ended with 100 subscribers!  Not only does Amy provide her subscribers with a curated DIY tier-tray box every month, she also provides them with a community to belong to. Amy’s community of subscribers allows them to feel seen, heard, and valued. It surprised Amy how much that means to them - and how much it has come to mean to her.  Amy got out of her own way, launched her subscription box, and continues to grow. She did this by:  Taking actionable, measurable steps Finding support and accountability inside Launch Your Box & my Mastermind Focusing on list-building and audience-building efforts Collaborating with other subscription box owners Join me for this episode and let Amy’s story of doing things her way and building a true community of 100 subscribers inspire you to get out of your own way and take the next big step in your subscription box business journey.  Find and follow Amy:  Amy and Art on Instagram Amy and Art on Facebook  Amy and Art on TikTok Amy and Art 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! Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams

Have you thought about adding affiliate marketing to your subscription box business but you’re not sure where to start? Are you wondering where to find good affiliates and how to manage them on the back end? This episode is for you!  Today we’re diving into all things affiliate marketing for your subscription box business. I’ll explain how affiliate marketing can significantly boost your revenue, expand your customer base, and strengthen your subscription box brand.  Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing strategy where brands reward individuals (affiliates) for marketing or driving traffic and sales to their services or products, including subscription boxes. This type of marketing is a win/win for both the brand and the affiliate.  Wondering how affiliate marketing works?  A subscription box owner creates an incentive (one-time or recurring) and generates specific links or codes for each affiliate to allow for accurate tracking. Each affiliate promotes that subscription box owner’s box on their own platforms to their own audiences. For every action taken (i.e., subscribing) the affiliate is paid the incentive.  To get started:  Identify what makes a good affiliate for your brand Clearly define your ideal customer and niche and use affiliates who have the same person in their audience.  Make sure any potential affiliate aligns with your beliefs and morals.  Finding potential affiliates Start with your subscribers - do any of them already have a following?  Look at influencers who have the same ideal customer - bloggers, YouTubers, TikTokers, other content creators.  Follow them, like and comment on their content, start building a relationship before approaching them about being an affiliate.  Build an affiliate program that is a win/win for both parties Define your commission structure. Options include:  Recurring revenue share - what % of your profit?  One time payment upon sign up.  Set up affiliate software - I use Affiliately - and set up a payment schedule.  Create assets for affiliates - make it easy for them to promote! Email swipe files Graphics with different formats Social media captions Schedules and timelines Send links regularly Affiliate marketing is an important part of my subscription box marketing strategy. In fact, in my recent launch (which happens to be my biggest launch ever), 22% of all sales came from my 5 affiliates!  Join me for this episode as I walk you through how to use affiliate marketing in your subscription box business. Whether you’re a new subscription box entrepreneur or a seasoned pro, I have actionable takeaways for you!  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! Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams

Have you thought about adding affiliate marketing to your subscription box business but you’re not sure where to start? Are you wondering where to find good affiliates and how to manage them on the back end? This episode is for you!  Today we’re diving into all things affiliate marketing for your subscription box business. I’ll explain how affiliate marketing can significantly boost your revenue, expand your customer base, and strengthen your subscription box brand.  Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing strategy where brands reward individuals (affiliates) for marketing or driving traffic and sales to their services or products, including subscription boxes. This type of marketing is a win/win for both the brand and the affiliate.  Wondering how affiliate marketing works?  A subscription box owner creates an incentive (one-time or recurring) and generates specific links or codes for each affiliate to allow for accurate tracking. Each affiliate promotes that subscription box owner’s box on their own platforms to their own audiences. For every action taken (i.e., subscribing) the affiliate is paid the incentive.  To get started:  Identify what makes a good affiliate for your brand Clearly define your ideal customer and niche and use affiliates who have the same person in their audience.  Make sure any potential affiliate aligns with your beliefs and morals.  Finding potential affiliates Start with your subscribers - do any of them already have a following?  Look at influencers who have the same ideal customer - bloggers, YouTubers, TikTokers, other content creators.  Follow them, like and comment on their content, start building a relationship before approaching them about being an affiliate.  Build an affiliate program that is a win/win for both parties Define your commission structure. Options include:  Recurring revenue share - what % of your profit?  One time payment upon sign up.  Set up affiliate software - I use Affiliately - and set up a payment schedule.  Create assets for affiliates - make it easy for them to promote! Email swipe files Graphics with different formats Social media captions Schedules and timelines Send links regularly Affiliate marketing is an important part of my subscription box marketing strategy. In fact, in my recent launch (which happens to be my biggest launch ever), 22% of all sales came from my 5 affiliates!  Join me for this episode as I walk you through how to use affiliate marketing in your subscription box business. Whether you’re a new subscription box entrepreneur or a seasoned pro, I have actionable takeaways for you!  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! Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams

I’m excited to bring you this interview with my good friend Cindy Manly of Art Shattered. Cindy has a successful membership with over 1200 members and has been selling one-time art supply kits for the past few years. If you’ve been selling one-time boxes and are wondering if a subscription is for you, you’re going to want to hear Cindy’s story!  Cindy is an artist who specializes in glass and resin art. She makes beautiful, unique pieces of 3-D art that her followers LOVE. She also teaches her followers how to create their own art through her online membership. Cindy started her membership in 2018 and now has over 1200 members.  When some of Cindy’s members started asking where to get the supplies they needed to create the pieces she was teaching - and others mentioned they were having a hard time finding the right supplies - she started selling one-off kits. Every time she offered up a kit for sale, she sold out. When she offered kits during her membership pre-launch, she sold 800 full kits and 500 partial kits.  Cindy and I have been friends for several years and I’ve been telling her almost that long that she needed to start a subscription box. She resisted the idea for a long time. But after selling 1300 kits during her pre-launch, she was convinced.  Armed with the launch plan she learned inside Launch Your Box and as a member of my Mastermind and backed by her audience of raving fans, Cindy launched her subscription box in June.  The result? She sold out of all 500 available spots in her quarterly subscription! And she used four strategies to do it.  Urgency - Cindy opened the subscription only to her online membership for 48 hours.  Waitlist - Cindy then opened up to members of the waitlist she’d been growing for three weeks leading up to the launch.  Early Bird Bonus Engaging her audience - on her last LIVE, Cindy added names on post-it notes to her wall of subscribers.  Cindy originally wanted to only plan for 200 boxes, but I convinced her she could absolutely do more. And she did! She’s also an absolute genius who packed her subscription boxes ahead of time and had them ready to ship BEFORE she launched! That meant when she was exhausted from her launch - and if you do it right, you will be exhausted - Cindy headed straight to the beach!  500 subscribers means additional financial security for Cindy, the satisfaction of knowing she is serving her loyal audience in yet another way, and steady employment for her team. I can’t wait to watch Cindy’s subscription box continue to grow.  Join me for this episode as Cindy walks us through her journey of moving from offering one-time boxes to launching a subscription box and welcoming 500 new subscribers.   Find and follow Cindy:  Art Shattered on Instagram Art Shattered on Facebook  Art Shattered 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!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams

Today’s episode is a little different. Instead of interviewing a subscription box owner from Launch Your Box or sharing tactics and strategies to help you make progress in your own subscription box business, I’m sharing a different kind of journey. The journey of becoming an author.  I never dreamed of writing a book. It wasn’t something that was on my bucket list. It really wasn’t something I’d ever given any thought to. So imagine my surprise when I found myself in the middle of a conversation with high-level people in the online entrepreneur space and best-selling authors telling me I should write a book. And then being offered a book deal by the CEO of a major publishing company.  I often tell my coaching students how important it is to put yourself in the room. To quiet self-doubt and believe they are worthy of opportunities. I still have to tell myself this. I did before walking into that room full of people more successful than I am. And I sure did have to tell myself this - over and over again - during the process of writing this book.  Writing a book isn’t easy. It’s actually really, really hard. Starting with putting together a solid book proposal all the way through working with the publisher’s art department to design a book cover I loved. All of it was hard.  This book isn’t about me. Not really. Instead, it’s a book about my business and my students. Because a book about starting a subscription box business wouldn’t be complete without the stories of my amazing students.  Each chapter focuses on a certain aspect of starting, launching, or growing a subscription box business. And each chapter has three parts:  My story  An action you need to take  One of my student’s stories  I didn’t write this book alone. I had a team supporting me and guiding me through this totally new world. Writers, editors, artists. We all worked together to produce a book I am SO proud of.  One Box at a Time is about building a business you can be proud of. And it’s scheduled to be published on November 14th.  I can’t wait to share it with you soon.  Join me for this episode as I walk you through all that went into writing my first book and why I’m so excited to share it with all of you.  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! Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams

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 monthly unboxing FIVE different ways every month? Simply follow this checklist.  Live Unboxing - this is a MUST. Turn on the camera, invite your followers and subscribers, and take them through the box. Don’t overcomplicate it:  Set the date Set the stage State your hook Encourage engagement early Tell the story of the box (your curation process) Show each piece and how it ties to the next  Give the audience a call to action (subscribe, join the waitlist, grab one of the extra pieces)  Email Unboxing - using the same content you just created for the LIVE.  Blog Unboxing - turn the email unboxing into a blog post.  Short Video Unboxing - while taking pictures for social media, the blog, and the email, shoot a boxing or unboxing video  Use on Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Pinterest, etc.  Story Slide Unboxing - create three-five slides to use in picture stories.  If you’re not currently doing a monthly unboxing, don’t try to start doing all five. Instead, start with one or two - but the LIVE is a must do! If you are already doing a monthly LIVE unboxing, start layering in a couple more unboxings until you work your way up to doing all five. It’s not about being overwhelmed, it’s about making progress.  And when you do these monthly unboxings, I have three tips for you to keep in mind:  Always invite your subscribers - specifically to your LIVE unboxings.  It’s a connection point.  They provide instant social proof.  They’ll love to show up with you and share their excitement!  Always give a sneak peek of the next month’s box.  Create excitement and anticipation.  Give subscribers a reason to show up to the LIVE.  Always have a call to action.  Join now.  Get on the waitlist.  Join me for this episode as I walk you through five ways you can do a monthly unboxing - and connect with your audience - every month.  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!  Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams

During this special episode, you’ll meet and be inspired by Launch Your Box member Michon Shaw. It’s not only her journey to starting and launching a subscription box that inspires, but her positive outlook and joy-filled dedication to her community.  Michon has built a successful career around her passion for American Sign Language (ASL). She is an ASL interpreter herself as well as a professor who teaches ASL students to become interpreters. In addition to working a full-time corporate job, Michon also started a company dedicated to providing interpreting services and celebrating ASL interpreters: Interpret Educate Serve (IES).  Michon has a special passion for increasing the number of underrepresented interpreters and celebrating Black and Brown ASL interpreters. This passion led to her designing her first t-shirt, which she brought to the National Black Deaf Advocates Conference. She sold out her stock in just five minutes.  This experience opened Michon’s eyes to the fact that this niche was not being served. And that she could serve them by supporting and celebrating them. She added apparel and merchandise as the second part of her business.  It was during Coaching Week of 2021 that Michon first saw the possibility of adding a subscription box to her business. She wanted to provide a special experience for ASL interpreters with items for them to use and wear to increase awareness of and celebrate their profession.  Michon joined Launch Your Box, dug into the training, took what she learned, and implemented it. She launched with 12 subscribers and has slowly and steadily built her subscriber base. She added the TerpTee-shirt club and also offers a box specifically for interpreting students.  Michon’s biggest challenge to growing her subscription box business is TIME. She is a seriously busy woman! But her passion for the community she serves means she makes the time.  Join me for this episode to meet Michon and be inspired by her energy, passion, and positivity. Learn how she took her passion and turned it into a business and how you can, too.  Find and follow Michon:  The Interpreter Box on Instagram The Interpreter Box on Facebook  The Interpreter Box 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! Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams