Gift biz unwrapped episode 338 Subscription industry is like the most
Speaker:friendly community minded industry.
Speaker:It's unbelievable At Tinton gifters bakers,
Speaker:crafters and makers pursuing your dream can be fun.
Speaker:Whether you have an established business or looking to start one.
Speaker:Now you are in the right place.
Speaker:This is gift to biz unwrapped,
Speaker:helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.
Speaker:Join us for an episode,
Speaker:packed full of invaluable guidance,
Speaker:resources, and the support you need to grow.
Speaker:Your gift biz.
Speaker:Here is your host gift biz gal,
Speaker:Sue moon Heights.
Speaker:Hi there,
Speaker:and welcome to today's show.
Speaker:As I record this,
Speaker:we're still scheduled to travel on vacation in a few days.
Speaker:It seems like forever since Michael and I have been able
Speaker:to be up up in a way on a personal trip
Speaker:together, we're having to jump through hoops for sure with all
Speaker:the medical documentation and the testing requirements,
Speaker:but I'm super excited to travel again,
Speaker:masks and all.
Speaker:If you want to take a peek into where we're going
Speaker:and the highlights along the way,
Speaker:make sure to follow me on Instagram at gift biz on
Speaker:wrapped. One of the things I love to do when I'm
Speaker:in a foreign country is look for interesting ways of doing
Speaker:business. A change of environment and culture always brings out new
Speaker:ideas. And I love sharing this with you.
Speaker:So that's one thing you'll see if you follow my journey
Speaker:and who knows.
Speaker:I may even pop on from time to time,
Speaker:probably some weird hours and internet dependent,
Speaker:but you never know.
Speaker:Okay. Today's topic is subscription boxes.
Speaker:Do you love them as much as I do.
Speaker:I subscribed to some myself,
Speaker:receive them as gifts and discover such fabulous new products as
Speaker:a result.
Speaker:You know what else I've been doing with these boxes?
Speaker:I find it's a great way to build up a backup
Speaker:supply of thank you gifts.
Speaker:Then they're always ready when I need one.
Speaker:I'm even thinking about stocking stuffers as we move into the
Speaker:holidays. Anyway,
Speaker:in today's show,
Speaker:we're talking about subscription boxes from two different angles.
Speaker:The first is on starting a subscription box as your entire
Speaker:business or a portion of your business.
Speaker:And then second,
Speaker:have you ever considered getting your product into somebody else's subscription
Speaker:box? Maybe you have,
Speaker:but are thinking you're too small to be able to do
Speaker:this? Well,
Speaker:think again,
Speaker:there's a lot of subscription box goodness being delivered right now
Speaker:Today. It is my pleasure to introduce you to Eric music.
Speaker:Eric is first and foremost,
Speaker:a proud husband and father of five,
Speaker:beautiful kids,
Speaker:four boys,
Speaker:and one brand new girl.
Speaker:He's the co-founder of Louie and Leah,
Speaker:which is a subscription box for expecting and new moms.
Speaker:All products in the boxes are made from small businesses and
Speaker:local makers.
Speaker:Eric is also the host of the subscription box show,
Speaker:a podcast dedicated to the subscription industry.
Speaker:He interviews the world's top subscription box founders and industry leading
Speaker:tools. Eric,
Speaker:welcome to the gift biz on wrapped podcast.
Speaker:Thanks for having me super excited to be here.
Speaker:Me Too.
Speaker:And I told you a little bit earlier,
Speaker:I do something very traditional as we get started with the
Speaker:show. And that is to have you describe yourself in a
Speaker:little bit of a creative way over and above the intro
Speaker:that we just did.
Speaker:And I'd like you to do that by describing yourself as
Speaker:a motivational candle.
Speaker:So what would that look like by color and quote?
Speaker:Yeah, thanks for asking.
Speaker:I was looking forward to doing this.
Speaker:I've never been asked that before.
Speaker:Maybe it's because I'm a dude and I'm not that much
Speaker:into candles,
Speaker:but we do have a lot of cows around the house.
Speaker:So I scoured the internet for manly scented candles and different
Speaker:things like that.
Speaker:And I found a lot of different,
Speaker:cool things like whiskey candles and leather candles,
Speaker:stable and horse,
Speaker:those kinds of things,
Speaker:but I'm actually from up in Canada.
Speaker:So we were surrounded by a lot of pine trees and
Speaker:forests and evergreens.
Speaker:So I would call mine Northwoods and had had that kind
Speaker:of a Northern li boreal forest cannabis sent to it.
Speaker:Beautiful. And what color would it be Or dark green?
Speaker:Like a dark green mixed with a little bit of maybe
Speaker:black and grays,
Speaker:but definitely a dark green.
Speaker:Love it.
Speaker:And how about a quote on the candle?
Speaker:Yeah, so,
Speaker:so I love action quotes.
Speaker:I believe we can have all the information we need and
Speaker:want, but if you don't take action,
Speaker:nothing happens.
Speaker:So I really love a couple of them,
Speaker:but I'm going to go with,
Speaker:don't be afraid of change.
Speaker:Be afraid of standing still.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:Seriously, because if you stand still,
Speaker:you're never going to get anywhere.
Speaker:So typical with our industry too.
Speaker:We think of all the reasons things aren't going to work
Speaker:and then we freeze that's it Analysis paralysis or whatever,
Speaker:how it goes.
Speaker:Right? Absolutely.
Speaker:How do you get yourself out of standing still?
Speaker:You know what,
Speaker:just making a list and I'm kind of OCD to some
Speaker:degree, but I'm also like very easily distracted.
Speaker:So I think by making a list and only having,
Speaker:not a long list,
Speaker:but maybe narrowing it down to three things,
Speaker:either that's per week or per day,
Speaker:however you need to do it on big jobs,
Speaker:small jobs.
Speaker:But I like to having a list and having just three
Speaker:things I can do and I like to physically check them
Speaker:off. Yeah.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:there's something magical about three.
Speaker:I often talk about three,
Speaker:two, and you know,
Speaker:in designing how they always say uneven,
Speaker:you should always be doing threes.
Speaker:So there's something about three.
Speaker:And certainly you're going to do more than three things probably
Speaker:in a day,
Speaker:but the top three things and just getting those done and
Speaker:checking them off.
Speaker:So excellent.
Speaker:You started off with a great tip,
Speaker:Eric. Perfect.
Speaker:Let's dive into Louie and Leah and talk about how that
Speaker:got started.
Speaker:Sure. So Lewin Lael,
Speaker:like you mentioned,
Speaker:is a subscription box for expecting a new moms,
Speaker:basically what happened.
Speaker:And we have five kids and preparing for baby number four,
Speaker:we kind of lack of prepared for it.
Speaker:So we went to the hospital thinking we're already pros and
Speaker:found out we were super unprepared for even baby number four.
Speaker:So we love a show called Dragon's end up here.
Speaker:It's your equivalent to shark tank.
Speaker:It's very entrepreneurial.
Speaker:And we're always looking for business ideas.
Speaker:And actually me and my wife had been looking to do
Speaker:something together for a while.
Speaker:Just didn't know quite what I had been in a communications
Speaker:job for 15 years.
Speaker:She's a graphic designer for old.
Speaker:Now it's probably almost 20 years.
Speaker:So we're looking for something to do.
Speaker:So we decided to look for a subscription box,
Speaker:something to kind of like we can get something monthly or
Speaker:quarterly to help us prepare the first year of the baby.
Speaker:And there was really nothing out there.
Speaker:There was a lot of pregnancy boxes or toddler boxes,
Speaker:but nothing really for that first year.
Speaker:So together we decided let's do this.
Speaker:We put together some ideas,
Speaker:a business plan.
Speaker:And that's kind of like the birth of Lewin lay is
Speaker:pretty simple.
Speaker:Just came out of something we found that was kind of
Speaker:a hole in a niche that we thought could super exciting
Speaker:to be part of because that's what we live every single
Speaker:day. But also just because it's a niche,
Speaker:there's always there.
Speaker:There's always going to be babies and there's always going to
Speaker:be new moms looking for information.
Speaker:So that's a short version of how Louie and Layla was
Speaker:born. Not to mention that people are willing to spend money
Speaker:for their babies,
Speaker:their new babies.
Speaker:Oh 100%.
Speaker:Yeah. For sure.
Speaker:You guys have such compatible skill sets together.
Speaker:And I love the part that you're saying you were on
Speaker:the lookout for something.
Speaker:So you were kind of scoping.
Speaker:You had the idea that you wanted to start a business
Speaker:together. You didn't know what it was going to be.
Speaker:And so you were both kind of the antennas were up,
Speaker:right. And then finding it as something that feels a need
Speaker:and something that you weren't able to find in your life
Speaker:is an excellent way.
Speaker:And so I want everyone who's listening here to consider that
Speaker:if there's something that you're observing as you're going through your
Speaker:day, that's a whole something missing that you could fill.
Speaker:It's something to consider as a potential business.
Speaker:Yeah. And if your listeners are listening and they maybe want
Speaker:to do something,
Speaker:but they're not quite sure what I was there for 20
Speaker:years. So I'm 39 and I started this venture around 37.
Speaker:So it took a long time and probably like from 17,
Speaker:18, all the way to 37,
Speaker:I knew I wanted to do something for myself and I
Speaker:didn't do it.
Speaker:And if I could go back in time and tell myself,
Speaker:what would you do differently to get that idea faster is
Speaker:just to be super vigilant and being aware of your surroundings,
Speaker:always kind of looking for signs of something I'm not talking
Speaker:about, like woo stuff,
Speaker:just like physical signs.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:you meet someone and get out of your comfort zone.
Speaker:And to really like,
Speaker:I was pushing myself to join masterminds that I was not
Speaker:comfortable being a part of.
Speaker:I'm kind of naturally a little bit,
Speaker:it's hard to believe that a little bit more introverted than
Speaker:extroverted, but getting myself into these masterminds,
Speaker:going to a conference,
Speaker:spending a little bit of money on self-development reading good books,
Speaker:listening to good podcasts.
Speaker:And I think putting yourself in a position to just have
Speaker:new experiences will often get the memory or something going to
Speaker:activate that kind of creative side in you.
Speaker:Yeah. And maybe spark the idea.
Speaker:It could be totally disconnected,
Speaker:but it just does something that triggers the idea.
Speaker:So one of the,
Speaker:two of you had this idea and then did it automatically
Speaker:feel right?
Speaker:Did you both go like,
Speaker:yes, this is it.
Speaker:Or did you have to think about it a little bit?
Speaker:Or what was that decision point that said,
Speaker:yeah, we're going to take action on this idea That,
Speaker:well course Christine,
Speaker:She's the brains of the operation.
Speaker:So of course my wife,
Speaker:Christine, she's the one who came up with the idea and
Speaker:myself. I was like,
Speaker:man, that's a,
Speaker:you know what,
Speaker:I wasn't crazy about the niche just because I'm a guy
Speaker:and like babies and pregnant moms,
Speaker:like what do I know about this?
Speaker:Right. But what I was excited about was being part of
Speaker:something that was reoccurring revenue that I liked the business model
Speaker:behind it.
Speaker:So Christine was at all the ideas with the creative side
Speaker:of things and being part of the head of like,
Speaker:she's a mom of four at the time five now she's
Speaker:can really relate with these moms and really help these expecting
Speaker:moms and myself.
Speaker:I was more on the business side of things.
Speaker:I really love the reoccurring revenue.
Speaker:I love the subscription model.
Speaker:We fell in love with that by watching actually again,
Speaker:Dragon's den and watching Olivia Canlis,
Speaker:she's a Canadian subscription entrepreneur.
Speaker:She owns and founded mailbox.
Speaker:So if you've heard of BarkBox,
Speaker:your dog's mailbox is kind of the biggest one for cats
Speaker:and just fell in love with the model.
Speaker:So I think it's something right.
Speaker:You know what?
Speaker:This is great.
Speaker:I think we're going to be able to really work well
Speaker:together. We both have,
Speaker:like you said,
Speaker:really different strengths,
Speaker:but they work well together.
Speaker:And I think once we kind of figured out that this
Speaker:could be a lot of fun working from home together and
Speaker:doing something like we've always wanted to do as a couple,
Speaker:as a family business,
Speaker:it was a no brainer.
Speaker:That sounds very exciting.
Speaker:Plus, your kids were home.
Speaker:So this way you could work,
Speaker:be home with the family.
Speaker:It sounds like some potentially nice balance balance with boundaries,
Speaker:right? Because if your business is at home,
Speaker:that's a whole different show.
Speaker:Okay. So how in the world do you start a subscription
Speaker:box? What are your first steps?
Speaker:What a great question.
Speaker:If I had a dollar for every person who would ask
Speaker:me that it's unbelievable.
Speaker:It's a really long answer.
Speaker:Like you could expect,
Speaker:it's not a magic potion does not a pill.
Speaker:I want to know how you did it.
Speaker:And then later we're going to talk about how you would
Speaker:suggest to do it or more of the consulting end.
Speaker:But so how did you guys get this box started?
Speaker:Yeah, so we went about it wrong cause you really want
Speaker:to start the prelaunch.
Speaker:And we just thought that our idea was so great that
Speaker:we would just put together some products,
Speaker:curated products,
Speaker:which is the fun part of it.
Speaker:Find some suppliers,
Speaker:order some boxes.
Speaker:And we were really focusing on the wrong things.
Speaker:So we did a lot of mistakes.
Speaker:I can't wait to talk about how to actually do it,
Speaker:but the way we did it,
Speaker:we kind of just jumped two feet both in,
Speaker:and we did a lot of listening of podcasts,
Speaker:watching a lot of shows,
Speaker:reading resources,
Speaker:online, typical market research,
Speaker:finding out about our competitors.
Speaker:So we did do some good things.
Speaker:We ordered our competitors boxes.
Speaker:I use competitors with air quotations because I really,
Speaker:really have an abundance mindset versus a scarcity mindset.
Speaker:I think there's enough business for everyone.
Speaker:Even if you're the 50 boxes in the same niche,
Speaker:I think there's still enough for everyone.
Speaker:And you just got to separate yourself by doing different things,
Speaker:right. But anyways,
Speaker:we ordered some of our competitors and some of the things
Speaker:we loved what they were doing.
Speaker:And we saw holes in their game that we could probably
Speaker:do a little bit better.
Speaker:So without copying them,
Speaker:we just use it as a sounding board to,
Speaker:to see what we would like to do with our company
Speaker:and how we would treat our members differently maybe and how
Speaker:we would do the onboarding experience in a continual engagement with
Speaker:the members.
Speaker:But quite simple,
Speaker:you start by having the idea,
Speaker:you do some market research,
Speaker:you study your competitors and you try to put together an
Speaker:email list,
Speaker:which is huge.
Speaker:The email is a big part of it.
Speaker:So if I start creating some content for that and maybe
Speaker:trying to share the idea with family and friends,
Speaker:cause you really want to,
Speaker:before putting too much money in the idea,
Speaker:you want to make sure that it's validated and that it's
Speaker:something people will want and people would pay for.
Speaker:So part of the pre-launch of course is like finding out
Speaker:how much they would pay for the box.
Speaker:Do they want a quarterly subscription or would they prefer a
Speaker:monthly subscription?
Speaker:Those kinds of things.
Speaker:Interesting. So I want to go back just for a second
Speaker:to the whole idea of scoping out the competitors as part
Speaker:of your research.
Speaker:I don't really think that's a bad idea because to your
Speaker:point about abundance,
Speaker:you're not doing it to copy what they've got going on.
Speaker:You're doing it to see what's already available.
Speaker:What might be a hole that you could fill.
Speaker:So you could add additional value to what's out there by
Speaker:the inclusion in your box.
Speaker:And so it's all kind of discovery.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:look, that's what most companies do anyway.
Speaker:You're always kind of discovering not to copy,
Speaker:but to make yours different.
Speaker:Were you thinking that way when you were buying the boxes
Speaker:or were you feeling like you were being a spy?
Speaker:No, not at all.
Speaker:We always knew like we're never going to be the type
Speaker:of people that would copy an idea and try to plagiarize
Speaker:anything. Whether it's the,
Speaker:for the copy,
Speaker:the look,
Speaker:the design,
Speaker:we just wanted kind of like to see what they were
Speaker:doing. Right.
Speaker:Cause we know just by going on the reviews,
Speaker:some people obviously loved them and you're always going to have
Speaker:some haters too.
Speaker:So a lot of people didn't like what they were doing.
Speaker:So we want to see for ourselves,
Speaker:not go by what maybe that angry mom that day was
Speaker:posting about something or the super happy moms.
Speaker:So we want to have a basis of what we thought
Speaker:about the boxes and it was more than one.
Speaker:We studied a lot of different boxes.
Speaker:It's doing different things,
Speaker:but as more to get like an idea of how to
Speaker:do it,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:how does the subscription flow work from the time you press
Speaker:that order click button and we receive an email right away,
Speaker:he's confirming the order.
Speaker:And then did it give us a timeline when we would
Speaker:receive that order?
Speaker:So just more like the logistics and the whole experience side
Speaker:of things cause a huge part of subscription boxes too,
Speaker:of course is customer experience and some do it really well.
Speaker:And some do it less well.
Speaker:Interesting. So good with competition.
Speaker:I just wanted to make that point for anybody who's listening
Speaker:to that.
Speaker:It's okay to do that.
Speaker:And then I feel like once you know,
Speaker:that portion of your research,
Speaker:then you back off and then you focus on your customer,
Speaker:what your customer wants,
Speaker:fulfilling their needs versus looking at what a competitor is doing.
Speaker:Also part of your research was the process.
Speaker:So completely agree with you in terms of the customer experience,
Speaker:what types of things were you seeing that you knew you
Speaker:wanted to improve upon?
Speaker:Well, there's certain things.
Speaker:Yeah. I think when it comes to like big companies and
Speaker:I think as small makers and that's one of the things,
Speaker:a lot of their products are coming from overseas.
Speaker:We do that because of their margins and what they could
Speaker:offer. So we knew we couldn't compete with that.
Speaker:So what we had to do is figure out a way
Speaker:to still be competitive,
Speaker:what hat brings something new to the table.
Speaker:So we decide to partner with local makers,
Speaker:small businesses,
Speaker:hand crafters,
Speaker:small artisans.
Speaker:And we found them all over Canada,
Speaker:U S through Etsy and through just like literally scouring Instagrams.
Speaker:We knew we could bring a unique take to it.
Speaker:Like you're not going to be getting the cheapest thing.
Speaker:And that's not what we wanted as parents of five.
Speaker:We already know we have too many things in the house.
Speaker:We wanted quality over quantity.
Speaker:And the way we could do that is by helping other
Speaker:small makers as well.
Speaker:And it just happened to be that when we launched the
Speaker:boxes, you know,
Speaker:COVID came around the corner right after a couple of months
Speaker:after. So it was a real emphasis on supporting local as
Speaker:well. So we just really jumped on that as well.
Speaker:And like,
Speaker:this was already what we wanted to do and having the
Speaker:ability to now to support local businesses that have that as
Speaker:part of their flagship statement.
Speaker:Like, you know,
Speaker:when you support Lewin layer,
Speaker:you're also supporting tons of local makers and small craft makers
Speaker:and small businesses across our continent.
Speaker:So I think that was a big part of what we
Speaker:want to do differently.
Speaker:And we were able to do that with also not having
Speaker:as many items in the box.
Speaker:We want to just like two items for baby one for
Speaker:mom. And it was one additional upsell at mama add-on if
Speaker:they wanted additionally.
Speaker:So there wasn't like 10,
Speaker:15 things because if you've ever ordered a subscription box,
Speaker:you would know maybe sewer,
Speaker:your listeners would know sometimes by month,
Speaker:three, four,
Speaker:like holy cow,
Speaker:like I've got too much of this stuff already.
Speaker:Maybe I'll pause my subscription.
Speaker:But when you keep having three,
Speaker:four quality items,
Speaker:it's easy to keep the subscription going.
Speaker:Okay. Makes sense.
Speaker:Let's talk a little bit about the pricing model.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I'm sure a subscription that is an annual subscription is worth,
Speaker:well, I guess it's worth different things.
Speaker:I guess you would want a mix,
Speaker:but let's talk about that a little bit.
Speaker:How did you settle in on pricing and what your offers
Speaker:were going to be for frequency,
Speaker:et cetera?
Speaker:Yeah. So the way subscription models work,
Speaker:you typically have three main offers and these will vary.
Speaker:Some people have for some people love to,
Speaker:but typically you'll see three Eagles have the month,
Speaker:a month,
Speaker:which you want to make as unattractive as possible.
Speaker:And we can get to that in a bit if you
Speaker:want. And then you want the six months.
Speaker:So people also have a three month in their prepaid and
Speaker:then you want the 12 month,
Speaker:we actually offer a three month prepaid in our gift section.
Speaker:But yeah,
Speaker:you have your 12 month,
Speaker:which is your most attractive offer,
Speaker:but you also have your discount there.
Speaker:And then you have your six month,
Speaker:it's still a great offer with a bit of a discount.
Speaker:And then you have your month to month,
Speaker:which you charge basically full price.
Speaker:The only attractive thing to the month to month we have
Speaker:for our,
Speaker:our members is that it does have the option to cancel
Speaker:anytime. But you pay more for that.
Speaker:Yeah. You pay more,
Speaker:I guess the consumer,
Speaker:especially if it's the first time they're having the box and
Speaker:they want to try it,
Speaker:they're paying more,
Speaker:but then it's less risky because they're only doing it one
Speaker:time and then they decide from there.
Speaker:Do you see a lot of people do that?
Speaker:Buy one box and then later come back for the subscription,
Speaker:the whole annual subscription,
Speaker:You know what it's strange in the year and a half
Speaker:or so,
Speaker:like, it's,
Speaker:I don't really see that.
Speaker:I think most people just go for the more attractive six
Speaker:and 12 month offers.
Speaker:And that's great.
Speaker:That's what you want.
Speaker:That's exactly what you want because what happens is you want
Speaker:something called lifetime value LTV.
Speaker:So your customer acquisition costs are different than a traditional e-commerce
Speaker:source. So your listeners that they might have an Etsy shop.
Speaker:It's easy for me to go buy a $15 candle,
Speaker:a one-time thing,
Speaker:but it's quite actually harder to convince or to make it
Speaker:attractive for someone to subscribe to something.
Speaker:And there's something already going on in our industry called subscription
Speaker:fatigue, everything's subscription.
Speaker:You've got a subscription to Netflix,
Speaker:your internet provider,
Speaker:your phone company,
Speaker:just subscriptions everywhere.
Speaker:So when you're trying to tell someone,
Speaker:Hey, subscribe to this thing as well,
Speaker:there is a higher customer acquisition costs.
Speaker:There is a different way to go about it when it
Speaker:comes to marketing and advertising this.
Speaker:So you want to make it as really attractive as possible.
Speaker:And once you do get them to sign up,
Speaker:but you want that lifetime value,
Speaker:you want them to be,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:eight, 12 plus months,
Speaker:not just one or two months,
Speaker:that's a huge part to make the actual subscription work is
Speaker:to have good customer experience,
Speaker:to keep him onboard,
Speaker:having these value,
Speaker:add ons and just so many other things other than the
Speaker:product that goes into a successful subscription box,
Speaker:a community.
Speaker:There's just,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:it's endless,
Speaker:but yeah,
Speaker:you want that lifetime value and that's why,
Speaker:but those kind of three price structures,
Speaker:if you go,
Speaker:for example,
Speaker:to Louie lay.com,
Speaker:you'll see that it's a lot more attractive,
Speaker:a save up to 21% on a 12 month than paying
Speaker:the regular price at 39 99,
Speaker:for example,
Speaker:on a month to month.
Speaker:Yeah, that makes sense.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:subscription, you know,
Speaker:you're saying there's subscription fatigue.
Speaker:I think I was thinking of it is the other way
Speaker:is that we all understand and know subscriptions.
Speaker:It's a way to purchase.
Speaker:That's familiar to us now.
Speaker:So I could see it go both ways,
Speaker:I guess.
Speaker:But for you,
Speaker:when people buy the annual subscription,
Speaker:you're actually making less money off a customer for each individual
Speaker:box, but you're able to actually roll out and understand what
Speaker:your income's going to look,
Speaker:what your revenue is going to look like over the course
Speaker:of the year,
Speaker:because those are then committed sales that are happening A hundred
Speaker:percent and you can forecast a lot better.
Speaker:Yeah. So we can nerd out on like CPAs,
Speaker:which are cost requisitions and lifetime value numbers and how that
Speaker:all works out if you want to.
Speaker:But I don't know if it's going to be too bored
Speaker:for the listeners,
Speaker:but it is a science.
Speaker:And once you really get into the science of subscription,
Speaker:it can also be predictable,
Speaker:which is a good thing.
Speaker:Right? And your annual subscription is paid all at once.
Speaker:Right? Some people do that.
Speaker:We don't,
Speaker:we let them pay month to month and we make sure
Speaker:that they know it's on commitment terms.
Speaker:So does it happen where someone jumps out after six months?
Speaker:For some reason?
Speaker:Yeah. I mean,
Speaker:some people sometimes will do that and you don't want them
Speaker:to, and you remind them that they've committed to 12 months
Speaker:and that's why maybe they got their first box for free
Speaker:and that they're getting 21% off,
Speaker:but things happen and you still have to be flexible.
Speaker:It's sometimes it's just not worth the bad reviews and you
Speaker:part ways early with the customer.
Speaker:But most of the time,
Speaker:people stick around for their subscription.
Speaker:So you're putting the faith in the customer that they're going
Speaker:to honor their commitment with what they had selected in the
Speaker:beginning. Yeah.
Speaker:And there's different things you can test your offers are a
Speaker:big part of it.
Speaker:And with subscription,
Speaker:you have to have a really good offer.
Speaker:And some people will actually put the free box at the
Speaker:end of the subscription.
Speaker:Good friend of ours does this with her subscription.
Speaker:It's she rewards him at the end.
Speaker:Now that's a great thing.
Speaker:You're kind of rewarding them for sticking around for 11 months
Speaker:and on a 12 month,
Speaker:their 12 boxes free.
Speaker:I hope that we're going to renew after that go for
Speaker:another round.
Speaker:Yeah, you would a hundred percent.
Speaker:The only problem with that would be your customer acquisition costs
Speaker:will be a little bit higher.
Speaker:So because the offer is not as attractive as your first
Speaker:box, for whatever reason,
Speaker:it's the same thing.
Speaker:But some people do prefer the first box free offer.
Speaker:And what happens is definitely your customer acquisition cost will be,
Speaker:your offer will be a lot more attractive if it's the
Speaker:first box,
Speaker:but for some reason,
Speaker:that's just the way it is.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:Okay. Let's talk a little bit about how your finding your
Speaker:products. I know they're all local,
Speaker:which, you know,
Speaker:you're playing right into what we're all looking for,
Speaker:supporting small businesses,
Speaker:reducing the footprint,
Speaker:all of that.
Speaker:So what do you look for?
Speaker:What's important for you as you're searching out and then agreeing
Speaker:to having products included in your boxes?
Speaker:Yeah. So I think as long as they're a small business,
Speaker:as long as there's someone like we call them local makers,
Speaker:I know there's different words for things,
Speaker:small artisans,
Speaker:the way we do it,
Speaker:we quite like people refer to the point.
Speaker:Now people actually reach out to us,
Speaker:which is great to me.
Speaker:I'm gonna,
Speaker:we can touch on that later.
Speaker:Instagram's a big one.
Speaker:Pinterest Etsy,
Speaker:Google trade shows past trade shows and looking at who was
Speaker:there, it was kind of things,
Speaker:conferences. Those are kind of the big ones we use,
Speaker:but just using the good old sweat equity and scouring the
Speaker:internet, whether it's Instagram or Googling different things,
Speaker:I think is the way we've done it.
Speaker:Okay. Do you have anybody approach you where it's like,
Speaker:this is not a fit?
Speaker:What are you even thinking?
Speaker:Oh, for sure that happens.
Speaker:But you know what,
Speaker:if you're a small maker listening and you're like,
Speaker:maybe something's triggered in your brain.
Speaker:And you're like,
Speaker:I would love to be part of a subscription,
Speaker:do reach out to subscription companies.
Speaker:You think that would be a fit because oftentimes it is
Speaker:hard to curate 12 boxes.
Speaker:There's so much work that goes into that when people reach
Speaker:out and it's a fit,
Speaker:it's such a blessing for us.
Speaker:And we love it when people reach out because it's not
Speaker:always a fit,
Speaker:but you know,
Speaker:it could be down the road and you're planting a seed
Speaker:for maybe a future box.
Speaker:Or maybe we have a network of subscription box entrepreneurs.
Speaker:Someone reaches out to me.
Speaker:So you know what,
Speaker:that doesn't quite work out.
Speaker:Maybe that would work out next October.
Speaker:But you know,
Speaker:if it's a coffee subscription,
Speaker:for example,
Speaker:local, but you could say,
Speaker:Hey, you know what?
Speaker:This company here,
Speaker:I know they were looking for something they might dig would
Speaker:fit. I'll get you in touch with them.
Speaker:So you can always ask for a referral if it's not
Speaker:a fit as well.
Speaker:And we're more than happy to do that.
Speaker:The subscription industry is like the most friendly community minded industry.
Speaker:It's unbelievable people work and help each other out with like
Speaker:expecting nothing in return.
Speaker:It's just this great kind of a feel with it.
Speaker:So we'd be happy to help the local makers.
Speaker:Well, amazing.
Speaker:Well, we were kind of rolling into,
Speaker:I told you,
Speaker:we weren't going to do this,
Speaker:Eric. And now I triggered it.
Speaker:We were saying,
Speaker:as we were talking in the pre chat that we were
Speaker:going to talk specifically about Louie and Leah,
Speaker:and then we were going to get into more of the
Speaker:subscription box overall,
Speaker:but I've messed the whole thing up.
Speaker:So we're going to keep rolling with it.
Speaker:And then we're going to go back again.
Speaker:But yeah,
Speaker:I think there's opportunity here for people who have subscription boxes
Speaker:or are thinking about starting subscription boxes.
Speaker:And then there's also opportunity for some of our listeners to
Speaker:consider being a participant in a subscription box.
Speaker:So let's talk that angle now as a product maker,
Speaker:is there a certain level I need to get to before
Speaker:I could reach out and see if there are opportunities out
Speaker:there? Or how does that all work?
Speaker:Yeah. It's like the old Japanese saying the best time to
Speaker:plant a tree was 25 years ago.
Speaker:The next best time is now.
Speaker:I say like,
Speaker:now like a year is no good time.
Speaker:Like, you'll find your makers.
Speaker:Here's the thing.
Speaker:I think people go online and they see these subscription companies.
Speaker:They assume they're all have 15,
Speaker:50,000, 10,000
Speaker:members. A lot of them,
Speaker:probably the majority of subscription boxes have between like a hundred
Speaker:to a thousand members.
Speaker:So you'll be a fit for a lot of different boxes
Speaker:and there's no shortages of catalogs and places to find them.
Speaker:And I'd be happy to help them out with that if
Speaker:they need.
Speaker:But yeah,
Speaker:I think you start anytime and just reach out and look
Speaker:for boxes.
Speaker:That would be a fit,
Speaker:certain things you need to know most boxes,
Speaker:especially if it's a monthly box.
Speaker:There's pretty small because we want to save on shipping.
Speaker:You're looking at something of an average of like a nine
Speaker:by six by three inches,
Speaker:kind of as like a standard subscription box.
Speaker:Now, of course there's exceptions.
Speaker:We need bigger boxes.
Speaker:So if you have a large candle company,
Speaker:for example,
Speaker:and the candles are pretty large,
Speaker:you might want to consider making a smaller one,
Speaker:especially for the price point sometimes.
Speaker:And The weight I'm thinking in the wait for shipping too.
Speaker:And the Weight,
Speaker:yes, a hundred percent,
Speaker:but look at it this way as well.
Speaker:So as a subscription box owner,
Speaker:we're going to be paying wholesale for prices.
Speaker:We need to be profitable,
Speaker:but you also need to make money.
Speaker:And sometimes the downfall is that the small maker won't make
Speaker:a ton of money on say,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:the 500 candles or whatnot,
Speaker:but you're going to be getting these candles.
Speaker:And you gotta think about this into the hands of your
Speaker:ideal customer.
Speaker:And this is a thing where you might want to I'll
Speaker:include them with that,
Speaker:a special deal just for those members for those 500 members,
Speaker:maybe it's a card that has a referral or some kind
Speaker:of link that they can go and visit and get it
Speaker:just a discount just because they're members of that particular box.
Speaker:And this is way to get a future sales off of
Speaker:it. But it's also a way to get into the hands
Speaker:that maybe that person won't have it,
Speaker:but it's a sharing thing they can share with a friend
Speaker:or just get really creative on how to add as much
Speaker:value for the members because subscription box entrepreneurs want value,
Speaker:not just product.
Speaker:So are you saying that then we might even label the
Speaker:products a little bit differently or is this promotional material that
Speaker:would go with the candle?
Speaker:Great question sometimes,
Speaker:or you're going to get a no on your actual product.
Speaker:And if you do have a product,
Speaker:I wouldn't say your product has to change the labeling because
Speaker:if it's a subscription box,
Speaker:that's supporting a small maker,
Speaker:they want to highlight that maker.
Speaker:In our cards,
Speaker:we include a special column on a cart just about that
Speaker:company. But sometimes we say no to companies.
Speaker:It's not a fit because maybe our products are all curated
Speaker:for the year.
Speaker:But what we say was we're always looking for a featured
Speaker:company. So we'll have a four by six card.
Speaker:It's just an informational card about a featured company we're going
Speaker:to use in it's.
Speaker:For example,
Speaker:our August pugs feature company happens to be a candle company.
Speaker:It's called colon Canary.
Speaker:It's a local maker here in Canada and they did not
Speaker:fit the requisites to fit in our boxes because of price
Speaker:point and size and weights.
Speaker:But they had a cool four by six card,
Speaker:very well high quality card that had promotional material in there
Speaker:just for the members that they can order and have special
Speaker:discounts for the members.
Speaker:So that would be great for someone who has either a
Speaker:higher price product potentially,
Speaker:or heavier,
Speaker:as you're saying.
Speaker:And then do they pay you to be included in the
Speaker:box? No,
Speaker:they don't Because you're not buying their product.
Speaker:You're including the card Pay for the card.
Speaker:That's the only thing.
Speaker:Yeah. So they would pay for the card and they have
Speaker:a delivered,
Speaker:whether their jeans are printing through a local printer or Vista
Speaker:print, it just gets delivered to our door.
Speaker:We get our cards,
Speaker:we put them in there and then we make sure to
Speaker:cross promote.
Speaker:And what's great about this.
Speaker:You got to think of the other thing is that the
Speaker:subscription box will be promoting this on their social feeds and
Speaker:on their blogs,
Speaker:a lot of subscription box up connections with like Forbes or
Speaker:these different high quality resources for people that read these things.
Speaker:It's another way to just get out there in front of
Speaker:a bigger audience.
Speaker:And sometimes there's backlinks that we'll have involved.
Speaker:So on our website,
Speaker:we might talk about on the blog about this,
Speaker:all the companies,
Speaker:this creates back links,
Speaker:which helps with your long-term SEO.
Speaker:It's endless the benefits of partnering with a subscription box or
Speaker:even starting your own.
Speaker:Okay. So I just want to be clear,
Speaker:make sure I've gotten this right.
Speaker:So if someone was going to send you a card,
Speaker:they're paying for the production of the card,
Speaker:they're getting it to you.
Speaker:You're not charging them at all for it to be included
Speaker:in the box or promoting over all of the box.
Speaker:And for you,
Speaker:that's increasing the value of the boxes because here's another source
Speaker:of product that you're showing,
Speaker:right. But there's a little bit of production cost to that
Speaker:because you've got your whole production line.
Speaker:When you're making the boxes,
Speaker:you're putting it into the box,
Speaker:you're making sure it fits properly,
Speaker:et cetera,
Speaker:et cetera,
Speaker:but they're not being charged for any of that or the
Speaker:promotion overall,
Speaker:is that right?
Speaker:No, that's right.
Speaker:It's just for us,
Speaker:the way we collect.
Speaker:So like for colon Canary to be part of our subscription
Speaker:box, it was great for them because it just costs them
Speaker:whatever. It was a couple hundred bucks in printing costs.
Speaker:And now they're going into hundreds and hundreds of these ideal
Speaker:customer's hands with a specific exclusive.
Speaker:And for us,
Speaker:the pro is that our moms are getting just an exclusive
Speaker:deal just for them.
Speaker:It's tailor made.
Speaker:And we make sure that the card has the code is
Speaker:Louie and Leah 15,
Speaker:if it's 15% off or whatever it looks like.
Speaker:Right. So that it's very exclusive just for them.
Speaker:So these are exclusive benefits for the members.
Speaker:So they feel special about that.
Speaker:And it's great for the company.
Speaker:The only thing I would say is before you start printing
Speaker:the cards,
Speaker:make sure you're communicating with the subscription box owner or whoever's
Speaker:in charge their production team to make sure that the graphic
Speaker:design on the card is a fit.
Speaker:For example,
Speaker:if you're not a graphic designer and you put something that's
Speaker:quote unquote,
Speaker:pretty enough,
Speaker:they might be disappointed and not wanna include that card.
Speaker:So just make sure you're on the same board and some
Speaker:subscription box companies like ourselves.
Speaker:We'll make sure that we'll do all the graphic design work
Speaker:for you.
Speaker:We'll put the car together and we'll send you the vector
Speaker:files or whatever,
Speaker:how it is.
Speaker:And my wife would do all the terms there.
Speaker:She'll send back over the files and then they can get
Speaker:them printed because we want it to have our look,
Speaker:our brand,
Speaker:and that's important for most subscription boxes.
Speaker:So just communicate that through with the owner that you're speaking
Speaker:with Really good point,
Speaker:because you talk about experience too.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:it's not just the experience with emails,
Speaker:but it's the whole experience of when you receive the box
Speaker:and you open it and the aesthetic that you're bringing forward
Speaker:the whole way it looks.
Speaker:So I totally understand what you're talking about with that.
Speaker:I still don't understand Eric,
Speaker:how do I make contact with these people to possibly be
Speaker:part of a box?
Speaker:Where do I find out who they are?
Speaker:Am I going to send them emails?
Speaker:Am I going to direct message them?
Speaker:What's your suggestion here?
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:I love subscription boxes so much.
Speaker:And it's so fun to get the behind the scenes here.
Speaker:Wouldn't it be exciting to see you in a subscription box?
Speaker:Let's check out the potential for that,
Speaker:right after a quick break to hear from our sponsor.
Speaker:Hi, I'm Laurie and I work right beside SU to keep
Speaker:the ribbon print company thriving.
Speaker:I've been here from the start and it's been so fulfilling
Speaker:to watch the growth of the business,
Speaker:not just for us,
Speaker:but for our customers to adding the ability to personalize ribbon
Speaker:has been a game changer for many of our customers.
Speaker:We've been told it's what kept them in business back in
Speaker:2008. And then again,
Speaker:in 2020,
Speaker:as a matter of fact,
Speaker:we're seeing more and more schools and florists inquire about the
Speaker:capabilities. Along with the standard businesses.
Speaker:My can made product creators,
Speaker:promotional, product businesses,
Speaker:and chocolate makers.
Speaker:One of our strengths is it.
Speaker:Sue used this technology when it was first identified to grow
Speaker:her gift basket business way back when she's the only one
Speaker:in the industry to have actually applied it to her business,
Speaker:giving her insight and pricing and marketing others just don't have.
Speaker:This is also why our software along with an exclusive online
Speaker:training program is the industry goals.
Speaker:Nothing else comes close to its reliability,
Speaker:design flexibility,
Speaker:and he's all done with the goal of making you look
Speaker:good as you bring smiles to the faces of your customers,
Speaker:to learn more and see the ribbon printer in action,
Speaker:go to the ribbon print company.com.
Speaker:Yeah. There's some great tips here I have for your listeners.
Speaker:Okay. So first of all,
Speaker:the one thing it's going to be work,
Speaker:you're going to have to do some work.
Speaker:You're going to have to look and scour the internet for
Speaker:potential subscription boxes that are fits.
Speaker:Keep in mind.
Speaker:If you're a smaller maker,
Speaker:the first ones that come up on top of Google will
Speaker:be probably some pretty large ones.
Speaker:So you might want to go to the bottom of page
Speaker:two or something,
Speaker:and you'll really find some niche stuff.
Speaker:My subscription addiction,
Speaker:Cratejoy marketplace have a lot of ideas for boxes.
Speaker:You have a lot of smaller makers there as well,
Speaker:but you're going to find something Instagram can do keyword searches,
Speaker:look for hashtags,
Speaker:subscription boxes,
Speaker:those kinds of things.
Speaker:LinkedIn have a lot of owners,
Speaker:but first thing you want to do is go with what
Speaker:the provide you with in the first place.
Speaker:So email,
Speaker:usually there's a contact us page.
Speaker:If there's an email,
Speaker:hello at Louie and Leah,
Speaker:for example,
Speaker:you want to use that because that's what they gave you.
Speaker:So that's where they probably want you to use first.
Speaker:Now there is something called gatekeepers in most subscription box owners.
Speaker:Sometimes that's just a husband and wife team or a couple
Speaker:of friends that have a box together and that'd be,
Speaker:might be one of them.
Speaker:But nonetheless,
Speaker:you have to get through that first gatekeeper,
Speaker:whoever is going through the emails to get their attention.
Speaker:One of the things you want to make sure that your
Speaker:subject line is something kind of catchy,
Speaker:whether it's something like,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:interested to be partnering with your box and we'll bulk order
Speaker:inquiry, those kinds of things will get the attention,
Speaker:potential partnership,
Speaker:those kinds of things.
Speaker:And the email might or might not get read.
Speaker:Now, if the email is not successful,
Speaker:if you can find another way to get ahold of them,
Speaker:you can try DM on Instagram.
Speaker:Every subscription box has an Instagram account and you can DM
Speaker:there if that doesn't work or it's taking longer than it
Speaker:should. A great tip here is to do a video and
Speaker:you have to get maybe out of your comfort zone for
Speaker:this, but it works.
Speaker:Trust me,
Speaker:because it will separate you from the masses.
Speaker:Just do a simple video,
Speaker:say, Hey,
Speaker:this is Eric from Lewin,
Speaker:Leah. We make candles.
Speaker:And I think we'd be a great fit for your box
Speaker:because, and give them a reason because,
Speaker:so it doesn't look like you're just sending the same message
Speaker:to everyone and tell them why you'd be a great fit
Speaker:and just keep it really short 15,
Speaker:30 seconds,
Speaker:and then thank them in advance.
Speaker:And that's another great tip.
Speaker:Always put thanks in advance.
Speaker:So it has kind of this subconscious open loop that it
Speaker:leaves into the mind of the person reading it,
Speaker:that they want to close that loop.
Speaker:So they want it to fulfill that.
Speaker:Yeah, videos are great on DM.
Speaker:LinkedIn's another great one.
Speaker:A lot of subscription entrepreneurs are on LinkedIn because of networking
Speaker:purposes. And if you can't get through the,
Speaker:let's say the hello at Louie and land,
Speaker:oftentimes just by doing searches on LinkedIn,
Speaker:Google or Instagram,
Speaker:you'll find the name of the owners.
Speaker:We might even have it in their about page.
Speaker:So in our case,
Speaker:it's Eric and Christine.
Speaker:Well guess what?
Speaker:Most subscription blocks entrepreneurs are just like Nene,
Speaker:Christine. So what did we do when we created our website?
Speaker:We have the hello.
Speaker:Yes, but we all have Eric at Louie and Leah,
Speaker:Christine at Luna.
Speaker:So if you find the name of the company and then
Speaker:you can find their owners names,
Speaker:use their name at that company,
Speaker:most likely that's their direct email.
Speaker:And you can bypass all the gatekeepers and just get ahold
Speaker:of them directly.
Speaker:That's a great tip and worst case.
Speaker:It just bounces back to you.
Speaker:So no harm done,
Speaker:no harm,
Speaker:no foul,
Speaker:Exactly a hundred percent.
Speaker:And the last thing would just be again,
Speaker:I just want to emphasize on do not mass email,
Speaker:a hundred different companies.
Speaker:We know when it's a mass email,
Speaker:you know what,
Speaker:when you get a mass email,
Speaker:right? Like everyone knows Because of the wording in the email.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:Well, I'm also thinking you need to be careful because what
Speaker:if you get accepted by a number of different companies,
Speaker:all at the same time for production purposes and all the
Speaker:logistics around it,
Speaker:but getting back to these emails for one second,
Speaker:would you suggest that you say just really quickly what your
Speaker:business is,
Speaker:but then also offer up the specific product that you think
Speaker:you'd like them to consider.
Speaker:So you make their work really easy.
Speaker:Yeah. Quick intro.
Speaker:Don't go into a long story.
Speaker:No Whole resume,
Speaker:huh? No resume,
Speaker:please. Honestly,
Speaker:that like networking,
Speaker:one-on-one like,
Speaker:you want a really quick intro and maybe have a link
Speaker:where they can find out more about you.
Speaker:So if they are interested,
Speaker:let them do it.
Speaker:They don't need to see your whole resume there,
Speaker:but then tell them what would be the fit,
Speaker:why you're reaching out to them and potentially a product you
Speaker:had in mind.
Speaker:But you're open to suggestions.
Speaker:You're someone that's easy to work with.
Speaker:That's the best thing.
Speaker:And because if it's not a fit again,
Speaker:and we'd be happy usually to refer or down the road,
Speaker:come back to you again.
Speaker:Right. So just make it always a great positive experience,
Speaker:no matter what.
Speaker:So on your end,
Speaker:do you map out the different months and what the overall
Speaker:theme of the box is going to be?
Speaker:So if I was bringing you a product,
Speaker:you were referencing this a little bit earlier,
Speaker:you could put it in any box.
Speaker:It makes sense for you.
Speaker:But do you ever share with people what your planned schedule
Speaker:would be?
Speaker:If you have themed months?
Speaker:We definitely theme our months.
Speaker:Like for the summertime,
Speaker:it was very summertime,
Speaker:like bringing,
Speaker:going to the beach,
Speaker:kind of a feel for the moms and also things that
Speaker:they can bring with them on picnics and outings,
Speaker:most boxes have that kind of thing.
Speaker:But yeah,
Speaker:I think it's,
Speaker:we would share that with our clients.
Speaker:We were like,
Speaker:Hey, you know what?
Speaker:Like you're a candle maker and you're thinking,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:Candle scent would be a good one.
Speaker:Well, fall is a great time for algebra candles around Christmas
Speaker:times, we will try to maybe put you in,
Speaker:in the fall box.
Speaker:So right now,
Speaker:if you reach out to them in spring,
Speaker:that might not be a fit.
Speaker:Maybe it is,
Speaker:but we might consider you in the fall.
Speaker:So keep that in mind.
Speaker:So if they say to reach back out to them,
Speaker:put a note on your calendar to reach back out to
Speaker:them whenever they tell you to.
Speaker:And if it's a no,
Speaker:which is okay,
Speaker:because it's nothing personal.
Speaker:I always see this in Anissa was the same with my
Speaker:suppliers. Or if I'm reaching out for someone to come on
Speaker:my podcast,
Speaker:I don't just finish it at a no,
Speaker:I'll keep the conversation going by saying,
Speaker:Hey, no problem,
Speaker:Sue. I understand it's not a fit at this time,
Speaker:but would you mind if I reach out to you in
Speaker:two months and they'll say,
Speaker:I've never had someone say no to be first off.
Speaker:But the only thing I make sure is because you know
Speaker:why they say they don't mind is because most people won't
Speaker:do it.
Speaker:So make sure soon as you say that in that email
Speaker:has been sent and they say,
Speaker:no problem,
Speaker:put in your calendar,
Speaker:put a reminder,
Speaker:a notification that in that two months,
Speaker:you're seeing that email again and reply to that email so
Speaker:that it kind of brings them back to the whole conversation
Speaker:again. Oh my gosh.
Speaker:Excellent. Excellent advice.
Speaker:Cause you're so right.
Speaker:So many people will say that and then never heard from
Speaker:again, Never.
Speaker:They never,
Speaker:they never,
Speaker:so when you actually do it,
Speaker:it blows their mind and I'm telling you,
Speaker:I do it all the time,
Speaker:especially for when I'm reaching out to podcast guests and it
Speaker:blows their mind because they're like,
Speaker:whoa, what?
Speaker:Like he actually came back to me two months.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:Well, and I think also for people who are a little
Speaker:hesitant or uncertain about their product,
Speaker:my guess is Eric,
Speaker:that you appreciate people reaching out because you don't want to
Speaker:always have to be the one that sourcing the product.
Speaker:If great products come to you,
Speaker:that's helped you with what you're supposed to be doing.
Speaker:All the coal lighting.
Speaker:So you're almost giving them a gift by offering up the
Speaker:product, Listen,
Speaker:small makers out there.
Speaker:Okay. We love it when you guys reach out to us.
Speaker:So do it,
Speaker:do it.
Speaker:It's a blessing.
Speaker:Yeah. Just do it.
Speaker:We love it.
Speaker:It just helps us tremendously to curate products.
Speaker:We have so much on our plate already.
Speaker:This is just like a gift.
Speaker:When we get done people reaching out to us with the
Speaker:proper and the right fifth.
Speaker:Okay. So you've accepted my product now what happens?
Speaker:Yeah. So we'll have a contract on how payments.
Speaker:So some subscription boxes will pay after the shipment is done,
Speaker:or once the product has arrived,
Speaker:some people will do 50% now,
Speaker:50% after reception.
Speaker:And then usually you can negotiate on these terms as well.
Speaker:We have like set terms,
Speaker:we'll pay 50% upfront and then 50% after everything's all been
Speaker:completed. And the reason for that,
Speaker:if you're wondering,
Speaker:why do they do that?
Speaker:Well, it's because as subscription box owners,
Speaker:we only get paid once a month.
Speaker:Right? So for us,
Speaker:we get paid on the first of every month.
Speaker:So we tell people we'll pay you after that.
Speaker:So, you know,
Speaker:between the second and the fifth,
Speaker:you'll get your money because it's kind of like a net
Speaker:30 terms basically is what it is.
Speaker:Because once that invoice comes in,
Speaker:that cash flows back into pay our suppliers.
Speaker:So that's what happens.
Speaker:So once those financials are taken care of,
Speaker:which is not a big deal,
Speaker:you want to start talking about deadlines and whatever you say
Speaker:on your deadline,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:always under promise and over-deliver and things happen.
Speaker:I get it.
Speaker:Maybe, you know,
Speaker:your material didn't come in or a certain ingredient wasn't near
Speaker:in time.
Speaker:Be honest and open with them because what happens,
Speaker:this has happened with us.
Speaker:Those, I think a typhoon in China and one of the
Speaker:local makers was waiting on.
Speaker:She was making these hands and something didn't come in time
Speaker:enemies. And she was very honest and were like,
Speaker:thank you for letting us know,
Speaker:we'll move your product to never the month.
Speaker:We'll just do a switch with another one and everything worked
Speaker:out in the end.
Speaker:But if she would have tried to just say,
Speaker:yeah, it'll be here on time.
Speaker:We would have completely botched on center boxes late.
Speaker:So always under promise and over deliver and just be transparent
Speaker:if you can't provide enough candles.
Speaker:For example,
Speaker:let's say they're asking for 1500 candles,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:in your mind,
Speaker:you'll only be able to do 750,
Speaker:then suggest that you know what,
Speaker:that's not a problem.
Speaker:I can still,
Speaker:I have this other friend.
Speaker:She makes candles and we can maybe partner together and make
Speaker:the 1500 as a tandem or whatnot.
Speaker:So just be transparent.
Speaker:Oh, interesting.
Speaker:So you would do that with your box.
Speaker:I'm thinking maybe the larger ones might not where they do
Speaker:similar product,
Speaker:multiple makers in the product.
Speaker:I never thought about that before.
Speaker:Oh, a hundred percent.
Speaker:Like a lot of small makers,
Speaker:maybe can't put together 5,000
Speaker:something or 1500,
Speaker:but just bring the answers to the subscription entrepreneur and tell
Speaker:them that why that would work and why it should be
Speaker:beneficial as well,
Speaker:because you're getting two companies for the price of one almost.
Speaker:Right. Okay.
Speaker:It brings up two things.
Speaker:I want to ask you about first off as a local
Speaker:maker, let's say I'm right in the area.
Speaker:Would it be valuable to you?
Speaker:If I were to say,
Speaker:look, if ever you run into an emergency and you know,
Speaker:you need to fill a box because something's happened with your
Speaker:scheduling or delivery or something,
Speaker:I'm right down the street.
Speaker:You can always use me as a backup.
Speaker:Would that be valuable?
Speaker:Totally. Yeah.
Speaker:We actually have a couple of companies like that,
Speaker:that we use that are always top of mind,
Speaker:if something should happen or we're short,
Speaker:what happened to disorder?
Speaker:It was short again,
Speaker:they maybe they over promised,
Speaker:well then we'll use them to fill up the rest of
Speaker:the quarter or whatnot and something to keep in mind that
Speaker:when reaching out,
Speaker:you don't have to go across country or international.
Speaker:Look in your own city.
Speaker:I know some people are rural,
Speaker:but Eudora is a major city close to you at some
Speaker:point. And just look there just probably dozens and dozens of
Speaker:subscription boxes just in your area.
Speaker:And that you can get attractive to them by being something
Speaker:you're you can deliver yourself.
Speaker:So they save on shipping and just increase their margins and
Speaker:bring better value to them as well.
Speaker:So I think we personally will always,
Speaker:of course you won't be in their box every time,
Speaker:but just think maybe local first and try to start there,
Speaker:get a grasp on how it is that experience with subscription
Speaker:boxes and then Canada go from there.
Speaker:Yeah, no,
Speaker:I think that should be the first step because it's the
Speaker:easiest relationship to establish.
Speaker:And there are additional benefits just by the proximity,
Speaker:for sure.
Speaker:Like, let's say one of the products comes and one of
Speaker:the boxes is completely broken.
Speaker:So even though they sent them right.
Speaker:A number of product,
Speaker:some of it's damaged and they need to backfill for the
Speaker:boxes. So how does your deadline work for production purposes?
Speaker:Do you have a hard stop of the point where you're
Speaker:accepting product,
Speaker:because then you've got to be putting these boxes together.
Speaker:Yeah. And that'll all be discussed in that initial conversation with
Speaker:both the transactions and stuff saying,
Speaker:we need this.
Speaker:And some people will say,
Speaker:especially if it's a smaller box,
Speaker:they might be like,
Speaker:well, we might need 200 products,
Speaker:but we'll for sure need 150.
Speaker:So you can start on those 150.
Speaker:Let's get them ready by the 15th.
Speaker:And then every week I'll give you an update.
Speaker:So it's sometimes like,
Speaker:because their members are growing,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:if it's a new company,
Speaker:so just be transparent,
Speaker:whatever it is,
Speaker:just have that conversation.
Speaker:But there is always a hard stop.
Speaker:So for example,
Speaker:we bill on the first we ship out on the 10th.
Speaker:So we know that our shipping week starts on the third.
Speaker:We start packing from the third to the 10th because on
Speaker:the 10th of the road.
Speaker:So we tell them you haven't until the third,
Speaker:but we'd appreciate it.
Speaker:If that was,
Speaker:at least half of the quarter was done mid month prior.
Speaker:Okay. That makes sense.
Speaker:And so how do you manage that then with new subscription
Speaker:orders coming in,
Speaker:even past your deadline?
Speaker:Yeah. It's just forecasting and what's great about that is that
Speaker:you can just easily put a sold out sign on your
Speaker:website, which causes like big time.
Speaker:So yeah,
Speaker:it happens,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:inventory is honestly one of the hardest things maybe other than
Speaker:shipping to control in subscriptions because your numbers should always be
Speaker:going up.
Speaker:So you have to forecast that,
Speaker:but you'll always have excess inventory.
Speaker:It's great.
Speaker:If it,
Speaker:we have one,
Speaker:we have excess inventory.
Speaker:Cause most subscription companies have a shop.
Speaker:So for us,
Speaker:we'll have past boxes or we'll put together the best of
Speaker:we'll have certain promotions.
Speaker:So that candle that you're making for that box that maybe
Speaker:was in the September box.
Speaker:Well guess what,
Speaker:it's probably going to be also on the website.
Speaker:So you're going to get more exposure there.
Speaker:It's probably going to be going into a past box.
Speaker:It might be going into a future production.
Speaker:If there was like 50 extra candles,
Speaker:you might be going into a free gift offer down the
Speaker:road and still promoting your stuff.
Speaker:It's really,
Speaker:there's more than just that one month.
Speaker:You're going in.
Speaker:Think of it as a long-term relationship and a longterm kind
Speaker:of plan as well.
Speaker:That's something I didn't know about the boxes.
Speaker:That's really interesting.
Speaker:Is there an average churn that you will see?
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:10% is kind of industry you don't want.
Speaker:Well, you're hopefully lower than 10%.
Speaker:10% would be like the standard.
Speaker:If you're higher,
Speaker:if you're churn.
Speaker:And for those who don't know what churn is,
Speaker:that's the people leaving your subscription.
Speaker:So for example,
Speaker:if you're a hundred people are coming in every month,
Speaker:that means 10 are leaving as well.
Speaker:So you've got a net 90 on your memberships every month.
Speaker:So you want to be below 10,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:most good companies have anywhere between three and 6% up to
Speaker:eight, maybe 10 being kind of like you want to be
Speaker:under 10,
Speaker:but not probably at 10.
Speaker:It's a good,
Speaker:safe forecasting number.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Really interesting.
Speaker:Okay. As we're getting closer to the end here,
Speaker:I want to swing back to another important point for,
Speaker:well it's really for both sides,
Speaker:but that is how do you attract the first customers that
Speaker:you're bringing in?
Speaker:So when you first started with Louie and Leah,
Speaker:how do you get the word out?
Speaker:I know you started talking emails,
Speaker:but talk through the whole process there.
Speaker:Yeah. It's all about getting some excitement.
Speaker:So there's two things you want to probably do.
Speaker:There's more than two things,
Speaker:but the two things for sure is Canada,
Speaker:make it fun and gamify it.
Speaker:Someone might win their first three months subscription or a six
Speaker:month subscription,
Speaker:or maybe just their first box,
Speaker:but make it fun,
Speaker:make it attractive for people to want to sign up and
Speaker:have great free resources.
Speaker:So the exchange for that email is going to be a
Speaker:great piece of content you're going to put together or multiple
Speaker:pieces of content and hopefully,
Speaker:but for sure,
Speaker:one great piece of content that's free that somebody would want
Speaker:in that niche.
Speaker:So for us,
Speaker:we had like the ultimate packing checklist to get to the
Speaker:hospital. We had the secret,
Speaker:every new mom needs to know.
Speaker:So these are like kind of great things that they want
Speaker:to know.
Speaker:These things.
Speaker:We know they're looking for them anyways and we're giving it
Speaker:to them for free.
Speaker:The only exchange is the email.
Speaker:And on top of that,
Speaker:when they put that in,
Speaker:they get to that landing page is that they get to
Speaker:maybe potentially also win a subscription.
Speaker:So now they're excited about the content.
Speaker:They're excited about this box.
Speaker:We're exchanging the email and that's kind of how you start
Speaker:this, the little wheel to have subscription boxes.
Speaker:And I'm Thinking you're throwing some money at ads to get
Speaker:out there for people to see this so that you can
Speaker:collect the emails.
Speaker:Yeah. If you address your small maker and you have an
Speaker:existing audience use that first use family and friends as sounding
Speaker:boards as well.
Speaker:The thing is,
Speaker:don't take this wrong,
Speaker:but don't take the family and friends advice too seriously,
Speaker:especially if they're not dry ideal customer.
Speaker:So some people are like,
Speaker:Aw man,
Speaker:all my family and friends really did not like my box
Speaker:idea. Well,
Speaker:are they your ICA,
Speaker:your ideal customer avatar is this who you're wanting to sell
Speaker:to you?
Speaker:If not go to those people for us,
Speaker:we went to birthing centers,
Speaker:went to see doulas,
Speaker:going to see places where moms hang out and just ask
Speaker:them, put together like a fake box,
Speaker:almost like,
Speaker:would you be interested in this?
Speaker:And how much would you be willing to pay for it?
Speaker:So that's part of the market research.
Speaker:We're backtracking there,
Speaker:but you want to start with your family and friends for
Speaker:sure. But don't take that too seriously if you have an
Speaker:existing audience.
Speaker:Great. That's also good.
Speaker:But yeah,
Speaker:paid ads is don't be too intimidated with paid ads.
Speaker:It's not that difficult and you don't need to spend a
Speaker:ton of money.
Speaker:It's just enough to get that creative piece of content into
Speaker:the hands of potential ideal customers.
Speaker:So now you've learned so much,
Speaker:you've started a podcast and now you're starting to help people
Speaker:with their own subscription boxes.
Speaker:Right? Tell me more about that.
Speaker:That's exciting.
Speaker:Well, my passions are of course being a husband and father
Speaker:first and foremost,
Speaker:like you mentioned off the top,
Speaker:but subscriptions is what I do.
Speaker:So the subscription box,
Speaker:Louie and Leah,
Speaker:this is what we do full-time but my other passion is
Speaker:my podcast.
Speaker:This subscription box show.
Speaker:So I started this because like I'd mentioned off the top,
Speaker:I love podcasts and books as a way to learn.
Speaker:But in the beginning there wasn't too much.
Speaker:When it came to subscription only podcast,
Speaker:there's a lot of e-commerce podcasts,
Speaker:business podcasts,
Speaker:but there wasn't nothing really subscription specific.
Speaker:And if there was,
Speaker:it was biased,
Speaker:maybe it was done by an agency.
Speaker:Maybe it was done by a specific someone who had something
Speaker:to profit from.
Speaker:I just wanted to put something together that was unbiased and
Speaker:that anyone could learn from,
Speaker:especially if they're starting or thinking of starting or looking to
Speaker:grow their own subscription box.
Speaker:So the show officially launched in April of 2020,
Speaker:right smack in the middle of COVID and a year.
Speaker:And a bit later here we are,
Speaker:I guess,
Speaker:a year and a half later we've got 178 episodes.
Speaker:We publish two shows a week.
Speaker:One is an interview style where I interview some of the
Speaker:biggest founders of the world's people like my personal hero,
Speaker:Olivia Canlis from yell box.
Speaker:She's been on the show.
Speaker:So that's come full circle.
Speaker:And she's one who inspired me to start my subscription box.
Speaker:Right. But also on,
Speaker:on Fridays I have something called focus Friday,
Speaker:where I focus on a specific,
Speaker:hot something that's current in the industry.
Speaker:So current affairs kind of a show,
Speaker:very short,
Speaker:15 minutes just focused on something that would be beneficial for
Speaker:the listeners.
Speaker:And yeah,
Speaker:so it's just to help other people who want to start.
Speaker:So if you're listening to this as a small maker,
Speaker:and you're thinking about maybe partnering with subscription boxes,
Speaker:or maybe even starting your own,
Speaker:definitely have a listen to this subscription box show.
Speaker:It's going to be a,
Speaker:you're going to love this.
Speaker:It's a lot of fun to do.
Speaker:And it's all about giving back.
Speaker:Love it.
Speaker:Absolutely love it.
Speaker:And I do know a couple of subscription box people who
Speaker:are listeners.
Speaker:So you're going to pick up some listeners for sure.
Speaker:No question about it.
Speaker:What do you see moving forward?
Speaker:What's your vision?
Speaker:And as the months and years progress here.
Speaker:Yeah. So What's happened.
Speaker:Well, the unbiased thing again,
Speaker:what's happened is just the,
Speaker:again, the network in the community subscription boxes is so amazing.
Speaker:I've actually been able to partner and be an affiliate with
Speaker:some courses.
Speaker:So I'm going to continue doing that.
Speaker:So if it's something specific you're getting really serious about starting
Speaker:subscription box,
Speaker:the podcast is the best free resource for sure.
Speaker:But there's also some paid stuff there you can get as
Speaker:well. There's three different courses on the site.
Speaker:If you go to the subscription boxer.com,
Speaker:you can see more there under the programs tab.
Speaker:I'd be happy to answer any questions,
Speaker:pure listeners on those.
Speaker:So I'm going to continue to dabble with courses that I
Speaker:find beneficial and I've taken all of them by the way.
Speaker:So I know what they're all about.
Speaker:So I only promote things I know would help you.
Speaker:And there are ones that wouldn't others that wouldn't.
Speaker:So I always do a free consult call as well.
Speaker:And that's not to sound salesy if you just go and
Speaker:just want the free stuff on this site,
Speaker:go for it.
Speaker:And you listen to the episodes,
Speaker:but if it's at a point where you need some help,
Speaker:there are other resources as well.
Speaker:So we're going to continue to do that.
Speaker:The future of the podcast,
Speaker:I think is bright in that sense,
Speaker:maybe eventually doing some kind of mastermind,
Speaker:I think would be down the road.
Speaker:Something I'd love to do.
Speaker:If you guys have ever been part of a mastermind,
Speaker:you'll know the benefits of those,
Speaker:especially if you're in the right one.
Speaker:And I think there's a great opportunity there for the box.
Speaker:We're just going to continue to grow.
Speaker:I think the goal for every box is to get to
Speaker:a point where you disrupt so much that maybe one of
Speaker:the big companies wants to buy you.
Speaker:I think getting acquired and then maybe starting the process all
Speaker:over again would be great.
Speaker:I think that's kind of the future of the podcast,
Speaker:but Louie and Lee,
Speaker:as well as growing tremendously.
Speaker:And I think it's just such a great niche who knows
Speaker:where the future holds,
Speaker:but when it comes to those things specifically.
Speaker:Yeah. That's where I see it.
Speaker:Yeah. Well,
Speaker:it's exciting.
Speaker:And I can just hear the passion in your voice as
Speaker:you talk about it too.
Speaker:So that's amazing.
Speaker:And you're so generous today because you're offering us up a
Speaker:couple of gifts here,
Speaker:things that we can take advantage of.
Speaker:Well, first off you already were talking about the 15 minute
Speaker:consult, so that's available and then how would they get that
Speaker:15 minute counseled?
Speaker:You know what,
Speaker:so reach out to me,
Speaker:either at Eric at Lewin,
Speaker:leah.com, Louie L O U I S and the N D
Speaker:Lee L E M French Canadian.
Speaker:I don't know if you pick it up in the accent,
Speaker:but Erika
And I'm sure you're gonna have that in your show notes,
Speaker:but very easy to get ahold of me on LinkedIn,
Speaker:as well as Eric music and music is just like,
Speaker:it sounds except at a K at the end.
Speaker:Perfect. So additionally,
Speaker:if you are interested in any of the courses that Eric
Speaker:offers, he will also share with you eight,
Speaker:10% discount on any course,
Speaker:and I'm sure if someone gets to that point,
Speaker:they can also reach out to you and understand how that
Speaker:they would take advantage of that.
Speaker:And then also for any new moms or grandmothers,
Speaker:because I'm sure this is also a big part of your
Speaker:audience. Grandmother's sending boxes.
Speaker:You've also so generously offered a 15% discount off anything in
Speaker:your shop,
Speaker:including the boxes.
Speaker:Yes. A hundred percent yet.
Speaker:Just use the discount code here.
Speaker:I think I put gift biz unwrap that as the discount
Speaker:code. That is amazing.
Speaker:It's very generous.
Speaker:Thank you so much for that one final piece of inspiration
Speaker:from you to anyone who's considering starting or participating in subscription
Speaker:box. Yeah.
Speaker:Just take action.
Speaker:I think just start reaching out.
Speaker:Don't be afraid to take that next step.
Speaker:I think people get caught up in just analyzing to the
Speaker:point of like they get stuck and almost have a self
Speaker:defeatist mindset.
Speaker:Just get out there.
Speaker:And if you're unsure what you want to do,
Speaker:just get into as many things as possible to get the
Speaker:creation flow going.
Speaker:Yeah. Just take some action and reach out.
Speaker:I think,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:if you're just want to dabble from like an outsider's view
Speaker:and just kinda like see from behind the scenes,
Speaker:what's happening,
Speaker:go to Facebook groups.
Speaker:They're fantastic.
Speaker:And there's a ton of subscription.
Speaker:Facebook groups,
Speaker:mine included the subscription box.
Speaker:Will Facebook group find that niche?
Speaker:It doesn't have to be that one.
Speaker:Just find a niche you're into this,
Speaker:give me a subscription box for that.
Speaker:And it's going to be a Facebook group for that.
Speaker:And just kind of like hide in the weeds and kind
Speaker:of see what it's all about.
Speaker:And eventually as your comfort grows and I'll step out and
Speaker:ask questions and don't be afraid to reaching out.
Speaker:People love it.
Speaker:If it's a trade shows,
Speaker:go to them online events,
Speaker:go to them and just really make yourself present.
Speaker:And trust me,
Speaker:we want your products in our boxes.
Speaker:So if you're a creator,
Speaker:a small maker,
Speaker:just find that perfect fit and there's a ton of them
Speaker:out there.
Speaker:It's an amazing opportunity on both ends.
Speaker:Eric, thank you so much for being on the show and
Speaker:sharing all of your insights,
Speaker:experience, learnings,
Speaker:and support for the industry who appreciate you.
Speaker:It's been my pleasure.
Speaker:Thanks you.
Speaker:Thanks for having me.
Speaker:I wish you could see me right now.
Speaker:I am bubbling with excitement about you considering being part of
Speaker:a subscription box.
Speaker:Are you feeling the same way?
Speaker:It's an entirely separate profit center that I bet is untapped
Speaker:for you right now.
Speaker:Seriously. If your product would fit into a box,
Speaker:go research some of the local ones in your area and
Speaker:reach out to them.
Speaker:You have all the information you need to make this happen.
Speaker:It's only up to you to act upon it next week.
Speaker:We'll be hearing from a repeat guest.
Speaker:She's going to share some of the new sales and visibility
Speaker:activities that have come up recently.
Speaker:I specifically wanted to bring her back as an example of
Speaker:how a still relatively young business can expand when you have
Speaker:your eye out and say yes to opportunities.
Speaker:Thanks so much for spending time with me today.
Speaker:If you'd like to show support for the show,
Speaker:please leave a rating and review.
Speaker:That means so much and helps the show get seen by
Speaker:more makers.
Speaker:So it's a great way to pay it forward and now
Speaker:be safe and well.
Speaker:And I'll see you again next week on the gift biz
Speaker:unwrapped podcast.
Speaker:I want to make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook
Speaker:group called gift is free.
Speaker:It's a place where we all gather and our community to
Speaker:support each other.
Speaker:Got a really fun post in there.
Speaker:That's my favorite of the week.
Speaker:I have to say where I invite all of you to
Speaker:share what you're doing to show pictures of your product,
Speaker:to show what you're working on for the week to get
Speaker:reaction from other people and just for fun,
Speaker:because we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody
Speaker:in the community is making my favorite posts every single week,
Speaker:without doubt.
Speaker:Wait, what,
Speaker:aren't you part of the group already,
Speaker:if not make sure to jump over to Facebook and search
Speaker:for the group gift biz breeze don't delay.