1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,060 Matt: Hello and welcome to the eCommerce Podcast with 2 00:00:03,060 --> 00:00:04,690 me, your host, Matt Edmundson. 3 00:00:04,710 --> 00:00:11,065 Now the eCommerce podcast It is a show all about helping you deliver eCommerce wow. 4 00:00:11,305 --> 00:00:15,645 And to help us do just that, we have a very special guest today, Sarah Williams, 5 00:00:15,655 --> 00:00:19,594 all the way from the other side of the water all the way from launch your box. 6 00:00:19,644 --> 00:00:23,594 We're going to be talking about everything to do with subscription businesses. 7 00:00:23,714 --> 00:00:26,074 Oh yes, and Sarah knows everything there is to know about it. 8 00:00:26,074 --> 00:00:28,024 No pressure, Sarah, but the stakes are high. 9 00:00:28,654 --> 00:00:32,134 Before we get into that though, let me just tell you welcome to the show. 10 00:00:32,184 --> 00:00:34,314 If this is your first time with us, great to have you. 11 00:00:34,354 --> 00:00:35,184 Great that you could join us. 12 00:00:35,184 --> 00:00:38,404 If you haven't done so already, check out the website ecommercepodcast. 13 00:00:39,244 --> 00:00:44,924 net where coincidentally you can sign up to the newsletter and all of the notes 14 00:00:44,964 --> 00:00:48,904 and the links from our amazing guests like Sarah come straight to your inbox. 15 00:00:49,454 --> 00:00:50,014 Automagically. 16 00:00:50,024 --> 00:00:50,814 Yes, they do. 17 00:00:51,094 --> 00:00:52,784 And you can click through, you can connect with them. 18 00:00:52,934 --> 00:00:53,814 You can see what they're up to. 19 00:00:53,814 --> 00:00:54,454 It's awesome. 20 00:00:54,474 --> 00:00:55,574 So check it out, ecommercepodcast. 21 00:00:56,244 --> 00:00:56,664 net. 22 00:00:57,254 --> 00:01:01,334 And of course, this show is brought to you by the wonderful eCommerce Cohort. 23 00:01:02,034 --> 00:01:07,094 eCommerce Cohort is a monthly eCommerce membership group that you could be 24 00:01:07,094 --> 00:01:09,234 a part of if you're not already. 25 00:01:09,484 --> 00:01:10,794 Why not come and join us? 26 00:01:10,854 --> 00:01:11,934 There's some great stuff in there. 27 00:01:11,954 --> 00:01:16,154 We have expert workshops delivered every month by eCommerce experts. 28 00:01:16,204 --> 00:01:17,944 Plus, that's not enough. 29 00:01:18,624 --> 00:01:21,044 You get to join in the live recordings of this podcast. 30 00:01:21,084 --> 00:01:24,384 Oh yes, so you can ask questions direct to the guests yourself. 31 00:01:24,964 --> 00:01:27,244 Ah, come check it out, eCommercecohort. 32 00:01:27,984 --> 00:01:29,844 com, be great to see you in there. 33 00:01:30,274 --> 00:01:33,644 And before we get into it, let me give a big shout out to Subsummit, 34 00:01:33,664 --> 00:01:37,364 which is where Sarah and I collided for want of a better expression. 35 00:01:37,364 --> 00:01:39,684 If you haven't checked it out already, check out Subsummit. 36 00:01:39,724 --> 00:01:42,834 com, Subsummit24, I will be there. 37 00:01:42,864 --> 00:01:44,254 It's a great place. 38 00:01:44,294 --> 00:01:45,164 Are you going to be there, Sarah? 39 00:01:45,739 --> 00:01:46,929 Sarah: I am going to be there. 40 00:01:47,394 --> 00:01:48,984 Matt: That was a yes, I should have put a sound up, sorry. 41 00:01:49,194 --> 00:01:49,964 Yeah, she said yes. 42 00:01:50,594 --> 00:01:50,804 Ha. 43 00:01:51,094 --> 00:01:51,724 Schoolboy era. 44 00:01:51,864 --> 00:01:53,604 Ask a question, make sure you turn up the volume. 45 00:01:54,024 --> 00:01:55,944 Now, let's talk about Sarah. 46 00:01:56,304 --> 00:02:00,674 Starting with a quaint brick and mortar store, Sarah quickly pivoted 47 00:02:00,694 --> 00:02:07,164 to revolutionize the subscription box world in 2017 with Launch Your Box. 48 00:02:07,164 --> 00:02:11,404 Her dedication to exceptional customer experiences has turned her venture 49 00:02:11,424 --> 00:02:13,754 into a multi million dollar success. 50 00:02:14,369 --> 00:02:19,209 Beyond running her thriving business, Sarah empowers other entrepreneurs through 51 00:02:19,209 --> 00:02:24,329 her programs and shares her journey through her debut book, One Box at a Time. 52 00:02:24,329 --> 00:02:25,229 We're going to get into that. 53 00:02:25,509 --> 00:02:28,699 And actually, Sarah, it's also fair to say you have your own podcast. 54 00:02:28,719 --> 00:02:30,479 You are a seasoned podcaster, aren't you? 55 00:02:30,479 --> 00:02:31,949 With your Launcher Box podcast. 56 00:02:32,589 --> 00:02:33,959 Sarah: Yes, I love the podcast. 57 00:02:35,099 --> 00:02:35,979 Matt: Did you enjoy doing it? 58 00:02:35,999 --> 00:02:38,209 Do you enjoy getting the guests on and chatting away? 59 00:02:39,049 --> 00:02:41,799 Sarah: It's one of my favorite things that I get to do, the podcast. 60 00:02:41,839 --> 00:02:43,079 I love it. 61 00:02:43,894 --> 00:02:44,844 Matt: yeah, I'm with you. 62 00:02:45,034 --> 00:02:48,004 You just get to speak to some incredible people, don't you, and you just have some 63 00:02:48,004 --> 00:02:51,924 fun doing it and learn a lot along the way and you don't necessarily have reasons 64 00:02:51,924 --> 00:02:55,014 for it, it's just that I enjoy chatting to people and it's a wonderful thing to do. 65 00:02:55,034 --> 00:02:56,124 Thank you for joining us. 66 00:02:56,504 --> 00:02:57,494 Thank you for being here. 67 00:02:58,019 --> 00:03:00,179 Sarah: I'm really excited to be here today with you guys. 68 00:03:00,444 --> 00:03:03,534 Matt: Yeah, in the midst of, because at the time of recording, let's just say 69 00:03:03,585 --> 00:03:06,145 It's a busy time of the year, isn't it? 70 00:03:06,155 --> 00:03:11,705 Sarah: It's slightly busy in the fall, just a tad. 71 00:03:11,705 --> 00:03:16,855 If I were to pan this screen over and you were to look at my warehouse 72 00:03:16,885 --> 00:03:18,415 right now, it would be a shocker. 73 00:03:18,690 --> 00:03:22,000 Matt: Yeah, mayhem and chaos would be the the order of the 74 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:23,180 day, no, which is fair enough. 75 00:03:23,260 --> 00:03:23,780 It's fair enough. 76 00:03:24,190 --> 00:03:27,440 Tell us about the subscription business that you've got, The Frame 77 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:28,880 by Sarah what's going on with that? 78 00:03:28,890 --> 00:03:30,580 Just to give us some fram framework. 79 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:35,970 Sarah: Yeah, so I started the business as a kind of a add on 80 00:03:35,970 --> 00:03:37,510 to my brick and mortar business. 81 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:41,510 So I had a personalized gift shop that was just a local brick and mortar shop. 82 00:03:41,980 --> 00:03:46,770 And in 2017, I decided I wanted to have a subscription box as a way 83 00:03:46,770 --> 00:03:50,460 to take that local customer and make them the VIP of my business. 84 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:52,890 And so I started this subscription box. 85 00:03:52,890 --> 00:03:56,030 It's called the Monogram Box because my brick and mortar, 86 00:03:56,060 --> 00:03:57,690 we personalize everything. 87 00:03:57,980 --> 00:04:01,030 So we do the same thing in the subscription box, which you 88 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:03,590 could say is a little challenging because every single box that 89 00:04:03,590 --> 00:04:05,060 goes out this floor is customized. 90 00:04:05,670 --> 00:04:09,870 And so that's what makes our subscription unique and special is that it's customized 91 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:11,900 for the subscriber every single month. 92 00:04:11,930 --> 00:04:13,104 And we pride ourselves on that. 93 00:04:13,285 --> 00:04:13,705 Than that. 94 00:04:13,705 --> 00:04:14,545 We love that. 95 00:04:14,545 --> 00:04:16,505 And our subscribers really love it. 96 00:04:16,505 --> 00:04:20,415 So we started that in 2017 with 44 subscribers. 97 00:04:20,755 --> 00:04:24,145 And we ship out thousands of boxes every single month now. 98 00:04:24,515 --> 00:04:26,315 And it's just been a great journey. 99 00:04:26,345 --> 00:04:27,185 It's been a great journey. 100 00:04:27,430 --> 00:04:28,240 Matt: Fantastic. 101 00:04:28,500 --> 00:04:31,740 So you basically thought, I want to start a subscription business. 102 00:04:31,790 --> 00:04:35,130 What is the single way to make it way more complicated and 103 00:04:35,130 --> 00:04:36,520 way more difficult to myself? 104 00:04:36,770 --> 00:04:37,660 Let's do that. 105 00:04:38,405 --> 00:04:39,305 Sarah: Absolutely. 106 00:04:39,435 --> 00:04:45,085 If I can go back and tell myself, till 2017, Sarah, what I know now, 107 00:04:45,085 --> 00:04:47,065 I would say Stop it right now. 108 00:04:47,065 --> 00:04:47,815 You, that is not. 109 00:04:48,205 --> 00:04:48,975 Scalable. 110 00:04:49,185 --> 00:04:50,345 What are you doing? 111 00:04:50,345 --> 00:04:52,635 You're going to kill yourself through this process. 112 00:04:53,035 --> 00:04:55,355 But no, I just took it as a challenge. 113 00:04:55,355 --> 00:05:00,075 Cause in my mind, I didn't think I was going to have this multimillion dollar 114 00:05:00,075 --> 00:05:02,895 subscription box business in mind. 115 00:05:02,945 --> 00:05:06,385 I really just would really love a hundred subscribers because at 116 00:05:06,385 --> 00:05:09,245 that time, a hundred subscribers. 117 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:13,140 Would have paid my monthly overhead for my brick and mortar. 118 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:15,430 And that was the goal. 119 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:16,510 That was like my big goal. 120 00:05:16,510 --> 00:05:19,880 If I got a hundred subscribers, my rent, my utilities, and my 121 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:21,680 one employee would be paid for. 122 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:23,940 And then everything I made in the brick and mortar, all the 123 00:05:23,940 --> 00:05:26,800 profit I made in the brick and mortar would just be extra on top. 124 00:05:27,070 --> 00:05:29,930 So the goal, when I started this subscription box was just to bring some 125 00:05:29,930 --> 00:05:32,970 stability into my overhead expenses. 126 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:38,210 And and I never imagined that it was going to explode to what it is today. 127 00:05:38,590 --> 00:05:41,340 Matt: So does, is the Brick and Mortar business still running 128 00:05:41,340 --> 00:05:42,980 or is it purely online now? 129 00:05:42,980 --> 00:05:45,334 Sure. 130 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:51,790 Sarah: So in December of 2020 after COVID showed me that I didn't need 131 00:05:51,790 --> 00:05:54,140 the brick and mortar to be successful. 132 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:57,000 I went all, I went online in 2020. 133 00:05:57,030 --> 00:06:00,400 The only thing I really had online before was my subscription box. 134 00:06:00,410 --> 00:06:01,820 I was still very local. 135 00:06:02,315 --> 00:06:07,255 When COVID shut down my brick and mortar store, I pivoted and put everything online 136 00:06:07,275 --> 00:06:09,735 in that panic of what am I going to do? 137 00:06:10,245 --> 00:06:14,865 And that showed me that I could reach a lot more people. 138 00:06:15,235 --> 00:06:18,035 And that my local customer base, cause it was huge. 139 00:06:18,085 --> 00:06:21,205 It was probably at that time 70 percent of my business was my local cover 140 00:06:21,755 --> 00:06:24,545 customer base And it was also about 70 percent of my subscriber base, 141 00:06:24,545 --> 00:06:28,875 too So I felt like to be relevant to those people I still needed to have my 142 00:06:28,875 --> 00:06:34,045 local brick and mortar store But when I got shut down and we went online. 143 00:06:34,435 --> 00:06:40,290 Everything exploded and I no longer fit that brick and mortar, 144 00:06:40,380 --> 00:06:44,470 like I needed bigger space, I needed more shipping capabilities. 145 00:06:44,710 --> 00:06:46,540 I needed more fulfillment capabilities. 146 00:06:46,540 --> 00:06:49,840 I could no longer do this in the back room of my brick and mortar store. 147 00:06:50,170 --> 00:06:54,490 So in December of that year, we moved to a warehouse with the intention 148 00:06:54,490 --> 00:06:55,900 that I was gonna go all online. 149 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:59,770 I shut down the brick and mortar store and we were just going to focus online. 150 00:07:00,190 --> 00:07:05,530 But during that transition, something kept tugging at me, this local customer 151 00:07:05,530 --> 00:07:09,400 base that I had hundreds of people walking around my town in the same t 152 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:10,840 shirt that I've designed for the month. 153 00:07:11,380 --> 00:07:15,760 And it was almost like this disconnect for me. 154 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:20,440 To not be able to see them, to not be able to help them in person, to not be 155 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:24,790 able to get their feedback that I had all gotten from my brick and mortar. 156 00:07:25,110 --> 00:07:29,840 So when we opened our warehouse and closed the brick and mortar, we took the 157 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:35,080 front 12 feet all the way across of our warehouse and we made a faux retail store. 158 00:07:35,670 --> 00:07:39,235 So that our customer Could walk into our warehouse. 159 00:07:39,265 --> 00:07:42,025 It feels like a boutique in the front. 160 00:07:42,385 --> 00:07:45,595 And we are able, they're able to shop and pick up orders and 161 00:07:45,595 --> 00:07:49,315 pick up their subscription boxes and have interaction with us. 162 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:52,885 Now we are only open during our warehouse hours, so we aren't 163 00:07:52,885 --> 00:07:54,805 keeping boutique hours anymore. 164 00:07:55,175 --> 00:07:56,430 But it was the hybrid. 165 00:07:56,435 --> 00:07:56,910 It was. 166 00:07:57,655 --> 00:08:00,395 Still have a personal connection with our local subscribers. 167 00:08:00,415 --> 00:08:03,135 They can still feel like they can come in and see us and talk to us. 168 00:08:03,525 --> 00:08:07,235 And, but yet we're in a warehouse environment so that we can 169 00:08:07,235 --> 00:08:11,415 continue to fulfill and ship in the capacity that we needed to. 170 00:08:12,105 --> 00:08:12,975 Matt: That's really interesting. 171 00:08:12,975 --> 00:08:14,385 I've seen this actually a lot. 172 00:08:14,595 --> 00:08:19,985 More, certainly more recently where businesses went pure warehouse the 173 00:08:19,985 --> 00:08:23,615 dingy warehouse, but actually some of the warehouse locations are quite. 174 00:08:23,990 --> 00:08:25,025 Are quite handy, aren't they? 175 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:26,060 They can be quite helpful. 176 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:29,810 And so I've now seen a lot of warehouses, put stores in shop fronts. 177 00:08:29,860 --> 00:08:33,035 There's actually a big chain in the UK called Screw Fix, which build an entire 178 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:34,715 business out of this like a DIY store. 179 00:08:34,715 --> 00:08:36,545 So there's no shop to go shopping around. 180 00:08:36,545 --> 00:08:38,555 You buy everything through a catalog, you go pick it up. 181 00:08:39,255 --> 00:08:42,875 But a friend of mine who runs an online tool business has done the 182 00:08:42,875 --> 00:08:46,505 same thing, massive warehouse selling power tools, which is just beautiful. 183 00:08:46,595 --> 00:08:47,525 I love to walk around it. 184 00:08:47,925 --> 00:08:50,635 But he has this amazing sort of store at the front and you would 185 00:08:50,635 --> 00:08:52,565 never know what's behind that wall. 186 00:08:53,435 --> 00:08:54,575 And so I'm really intrigued. 187 00:08:54,575 --> 00:08:56,315 The hybrid model seems to be working. 188 00:08:56,795 --> 00:08:58,865 'cause you've got the warehouse space, right? 189 00:08:58,985 --> 00:09:00,065 The staff are already there. 190 00:09:00,065 --> 00:09:03,245 So the staff can be doing picking and packing and customer service inquiries. 191 00:09:04,350 --> 00:09:07,910 I suppose you've got to fit it out, but is there any real massive extra overhead? 192 00:09:07,950 --> 00:09:10,700 I doubt there probably is really, so is it working well for you? 193 00:09:11,285 --> 00:09:15,415 Sarah: It's working very well and we can see say, subscriber pickup day, 194 00:09:15,455 --> 00:09:18,685 like when we have our boxes ready to ship out and we send out a text for 195 00:09:18,685 --> 00:09:23,745 our local subscribers and it's pickup day you're going to see a huge increase 196 00:09:23,765 --> 00:09:26,045 in sales of in store sales that day. 197 00:09:26,345 --> 00:09:30,365 They're coming through your front door, they're walking by all those display 198 00:09:30,365 --> 00:09:35,175 pieces that you have out, the mannequins, the sale tables, whatever you have out. 199 00:09:35,585 --> 00:09:39,145 They may have seen me on a Facebook Live selling a cardigan that goes 200 00:09:39,145 --> 00:09:40,455 with the t shirt that's in the box. 201 00:09:40,755 --> 00:09:42,685 And they're like, I want to see that cardigan that Sarah 202 00:09:42,685 --> 00:09:43,825 was showing us the other day. 203 00:09:44,025 --> 00:09:44,525 They're here. 204 00:09:44,525 --> 00:09:45,405 They can try it on. 205 00:09:45,645 --> 00:09:49,305 And they're leaving with more purchases than just their monogram 206 00:09:49,305 --> 00:09:50,565 box that they came to pick up. 207 00:09:50,905 --> 00:09:54,375 So it's, it's like It's not like Walmart pickup, they bring it to your car, 208 00:09:54,375 --> 00:09:58,645 you're never walking by the aisles, but you're going to pick things up if you 209 00:09:58,645 --> 00:10:00,385 do go walk in and pick up your items. 210 00:10:00,385 --> 00:10:04,375 And that's really what we've done here is we've created kind of the impulse 211 00:10:04,425 --> 00:10:07,255 when people are picking up their orders, but it also gives them the 212 00:10:07,555 --> 00:10:10,265 ability to connect with us in person. 213 00:10:10,595 --> 00:10:12,365 And that is so important. 214 00:10:12,725 --> 00:10:14,235 And that's what people miss. 215 00:10:15,090 --> 00:10:19,250 When they go from having a brick and mortar to all online, they're 216 00:10:19,250 --> 00:10:23,390 missing that connection, which makes our customers super loyal to us. 217 00:10:23,860 --> 00:10:24,250 Matt: Yeah. 218 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:25,240 No, it's very clever. 219 00:10:25,370 --> 00:10:26,120 Very smart idea. 220 00:10:26,540 --> 00:10:28,760 But a thing that you mentioned there, Sarah, that I want to pick up 221 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:32,800 on is you do the subscription box, the, the personalized stuff in the 222 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:37,530 subscription box, but you just said are we, they may have seen me on a 223 00:10:37,530 --> 00:10:40,320 Facebook live selling a cardigan, which will go with the t shirt in. 224 00:10:40,330 --> 00:10:43,550 So it's there's more to this story than just putting stuff 225 00:10:43,550 --> 00:10:44,970 in a box and shipping out. 226 00:10:44,970 --> 00:10:45,470 It sounds 227 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:46,290 Sarah: absolutely. 228 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:47,140 Absolutely. 229 00:10:47,140 --> 00:10:50,680 And these are just, I call it expansion revenue. 230 00:10:51,020 --> 00:10:57,530 So we have a solid revenue structure with our subscription box and it is 75 percent 231 00:10:57,570 --> 00:11:00,090 of our overall revenue, our subscriptions. 232 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:03,440 Which is amazing because we can count on that every single month. 233 00:11:03,830 --> 00:11:06,000 It's not like we have to show up and sell to pay the bills. 234 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:08,820 We know 75 percent of our revenue is reoccurring. 235 00:11:08,830 --> 00:11:10,900 It's going to hit our bank account every single month. 236 00:11:11,290 --> 00:11:16,600 So the other 25 percent is our expansion revenue on our subscriber 237 00:11:16,610 --> 00:11:18,390 base, on our subscription base. 238 00:11:18,730 --> 00:11:24,605 So when I curate a box, I'm also curating pieces that could be great 239 00:11:24,705 --> 00:11:26,925 add ons to the products in this box. 240 00:11:27,295 --> 00:11:30,585 Example, there's a t shirt in every one of my subscriptions. 241 00:11:30,805 --> 00:11:33,555 What are we going to wear with the t shirt every single month? 242 00:11:33,835 --> 00:11:35,485 In the winter, we're going to wear cardigans. 243 00:11:35,505 --> 00:11:37,115 In the summer, we're going to wear kimonos. 244 00:11:37,135 --> 00:11:40,805 We might wear, earrings and hats and shorts and whatever 245 00:11:40,845 --> 00:11:42,315 else that we want to curate. 246 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:47,160 That'll go with the subscription box because these are just ways that are 247 00:11:47,230 --> 00:11:51,100 easily expandable on the current revenue that we're already have when I order 248 00:11:51,100 --> 00:11:52,780 the stuff for the subscription boxes. 249 00:11:53,170 --> 00:11:56,090 I don't have to worry too much about how much to order. 250 00:11:56,090 --> 00:11:57,060 Is it going to sell? 251 00:11:57,060 --> 00:11:58,150 Will I have to mark it down? 252 00:11:58,160 --> 00:11:59,660 That stuff's already sold. 253 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:02,480 So when you think about a subscription box business, and I'm 254 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:06,145 ordering 100, 000 of this today, I already know that's going to sell. 255 00:12:06,255 --> 00:12:06,685 sell. 256 00:12:06,695 --> 00:12:08,805 There's no risk involved in it for me. 257 00:12:08,975 --> 00:12:11,805 It's already sold whether I'm going to sell it next month or three 258 00:12:11,805 --> 00:12:13,585 months from now, I'm ordering it. 259 00:12:13,595 --> 00:12:14,315 It's sold. 260 00:12:14,555 --> 00:12:18,365 So then I can add on to that with the stuff, but I don't have to be as 261 00:12:18,365 --> 00:12:22,095 risky with it because I know all these subscribers are going to have this shirt. 262 00:12:22,890 --> 00:12:26,300 And it's cold, so they're not going to want to wear a t shirt by 263 00:12:26,300 --> 00:12:28,200 themselves in the month of December. 264 00:12:28,500 --> 00:12:30,600 What can I'm going to order a navy cardigan, because I've 265 00:12:30,610 --> 00:12:32,070 got navy ink on this shirt. 266 00:12:32,340 --> 00:12:35,410 They're going, I'm going to pair it, I'm going to show up live, I'm going 267 00:12:35,410 --> 00:12:38,600 to show them my navy earrings, I'm going to show them my navy cardigan, 268 00:12:38,900 --> 00:12:41,990 I might have a cute crossbody purse that I have with this outfit. 269 00:12:42,290 --> 00:12:46,700 Now I'm giving them the complete look, and they can choose whether they want more 270 00:12:46,700 --> 00:12:48,540 than what they've got in their box or not. 271 00:12:48,865 --> 00:12:52,255 So it's, what can I use to compliment the pieces that are 272 00:12:52,255 --> 00:12:54,525 already sold and things like that. 273 00:12:54,535 --> 00:12:55,735 So that's what I look at. 274 00:12:55,735 --> 00:13:00,815 And when we're curating out a year's worth of boxes ahead of time, I can easily cure, 275 00:13:00,875 --> 00:13:04,915 curate the collections that I want to sell in addition to that box that month. 276 00:13:05,900 --> 00:13:06,920 Matt: that's really powerful. 277 00:13:07,090 --> 00:13:08,010 And it's interesting. 278 00:13:08,010 --> 00:13:11,670 You, you, the stat that you gave 75 percent of your 279 00:13:11,670 --> 00:13:12,840 income is from subscription. 280 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:15,560 25 percent is this expansion revenue. 281 00:13:15,560 --> 00:13:16,930 You called it, which is a great phrase. 282 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:19,210 And that is, I think that's quite. 283 00:13:19,830 --> 00:13:20,310 Typical. 284 00:13:20,310 --> 00:13:23,760 Normally a sort of 70 30 ratio is what you can, is normally what with 285 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:25,530 companies that have core hero products. 286 00:13:25,530 --> 00:13:30,090 And you go you can boost 30% by just by adding some cleverly chosen add-ons 287 00:13:30,095 --> 00:13:31,920 and upsells to this single product. 288 00:13:32,490 --> 00:13:33,720 And it seems that you are doing that. 289 00:13:34,140 --> 00:13:37,530 So another thing I appreciate you are just talking and I'm just thinking, wow. 290 00:13:37,530 --> 00:13:41,430 And I'm listening and I'm going, you mentioned Facebook Live now. 291 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:46,120 Let's talk about this a second because you're obviously doing what is fast 292 00:13:46,130 --> 00:13:49,400 becoming nicknamed live shopping, right? 293 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:54,870 And big in Asia not so massive here in the UK or in the States 294 00:13:55,070 --> 00:13:58,680 It's getting bigger certainly when you're doing apparel it seems What's 295 00:13:58,680 --> 00:14:01,470 your experience with live shopping? 296 00:14:02,345 --> 00:14:06,535 Sarah: So this is what happened when I decided to go online. 297 00:14:06,955 --> 00:14:12,865 I was so local, Matt, that I was really having trouble connecting 298 00:14:12,865 --> 00:14:16,535 with these now online customers that didn't know me, right? 299 00:14:16,815 --> 00:14:19,675 So when someone walks into my shop, and especially in the beginning, 300 00:14:19,755 --> 00:14:21,545 I was the person checking you out. 301 00:14:21,575 --> 00:14:23,755 I was the person packing your box. 302 00:14:23,765 --> 00:14:26,955 I was the person steaming the clothes to put on the racks. 303 00:14:26,955 --> 00:14:27,495 That was me. 304 00:14:28,865 --> 00:14:31,355 Call me and I got to know you that way. 305 00:14:31,415 --> 00:14:32,805 So someone came into my shop. 306 00:14:33,155 --> 00:14:34,385 I was the one greeting you. 307 00:14:34,415 --> 00:14:35,935 I was the one checking you out. 308 00:14:35,975 --> 00:14:41,205 I was the one asking about your family or whoever and that's how I got to know 309 00:14:41,445 --> 00:14:46,895 my customers and that became such this I had this cult like following because 310 00:14:46,895 --> 00:14:50,315 they knew if they came in the store, they were gonna see me and so they come in 311 00:14:50,315 --> 00:14:52,685 to talk with me and look what I had new. 312 00:14:52,995 --> 00:14:58,635 So when I went online, there was a disconnect of how could I connect 313 00:14:58,635 --> 00:15:01,855 with all these people that didn't live in my town, that didn't know me. 314 00:15:02,275 --> 00:15:06,245 And that, the realization for me was like, I need to go live. 315 00:15:06,655 --> 00:15:11,125 I'm, I need them to get to know me the same way my local customers 316 00:15:11,125 --> 00:15:14,545 got to know me, because that's what's driving my business. 317 00:15:14,725 --> 00:15:17,815 It's that return customer, it's that loyalty factor. 318 00:15:17,815 --> 00:15:21,805 It's that no lis no and trust factor, and people on the 319 00:15:21,810 --> 00:15:23,545 internet don't even know who I am. 320 00:15:23,545 --> 00:15:24,805 And why would they come back? 321 00:15:24,805 --> 00:15:25,106 Why would they? 322 00:15:25,610 --> 00:15:28,570 Why would they shop with me when there's a million places to shop? 323 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:32,510 So I had to differentiate myself and I did that with live selling. 324 00:15:32,900 --> 00:15:36,370 And I was very uncomfortable with it in the beginning. 325 00:15:36,690 --> 00:15:37,750 I didn't want to do it. 326 00:15:37,750 --> 00:15:38,980 I fought it at every turn. 327 00:15:38,980 --> 00:15:39,890 I tried everything else. 328 00:15:39,890 --> 00:15:42,360 I spent a lot of money on ads so I wouldn't have to do it. 329 00:15:42,630 --> 00:15:44,960 I was like, I'll just do more ad dollars. 330 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:45,800 I'll just do this. 331 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:48,630 And I finally just realized like, okay, suck it up. 332 00:15:49,380 --> 00:15:52,130 You're going to have to do this if you want to grow your business. 333 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:55,210 So we have to make a plan for this because I'm a structured person. 334 00:15:55,220 --> 00:15:59,470 If I can make a plan with some structure that all I have to do is just keep 335 00:15:59,490 --> 00:16:02,990 implementing, like I'm more likely to do it than just spontaneously. 336 00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:06,680 So created a live structure, showed up live. 337 00:16:07,030 --> 00:16:08,390 Very uncomfortable. 338 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:09,820 No one was there. 339 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:13,870 I begged my three friends to come live and ask me questions, ask me about the shirt 340 00:16:13,870 --> 00:16:17,020 I'm wearing, ask me about the earrings, ask me how you can be a subscriber. 341 00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:20,660 It's because I needed some kind of conversation because it was just me 342 00:16:20,660 --> 00:16:22,380 and the screen and nobody was there. 343 00:16:22,900 --> 00:16:24,240 And I did that for weeks. 344 00:16:25,115 --> 00:16:27,075 And I just got better at it and better at it. 345 00:16:27,085 --> 00:16:31,425 So once a week I would go live and then there was this one Saturday that 346 00:16:31,425 --> 00:16:34,755 I went live and I was like, people that I didn't know watching, I was 347 00:16:34,755 --> 00:16:39,165 like, Oh, there's people other than my mom and my friends watching me. 348 00:16:39,505 --> 00:16:42,695 And then all of a sudden I could see there was a hundred viewers and 349 00:16:42,695 --> 00:16:45,235 I panicked and I finished my life. 350 00:16:45,705 --> 00:16:47,685 I was like, there's a hundred people watching me right now. 351 00:16:47,685 --> 00:16:48,445 What is happening? 352 00:16:48,815 --> 00:16:53,215 And so I panicked and I turned off the live, but I went again. 353 00:16:53,235 --> 00:16:54,435 I went live again the next week. 354 00:16:54,455 --> 00:16:59,995 And then I started having people buy that I didn't know that weren't from my town. 355 00:17:00,025 --> 00:17:01,625 And I was like, all right, this is working. 356 00:17:01,845 --> 00:17:03,155 We're going to keep showing up. 357 00:17:03,185 --> 00:17:06,075 We're going to keep just being me because they're relating to me. 358 00:17:06,915 --> 00:17:09,115 I would pick five or six things around the shop. 359 00:17:09,365 --> 00:17:10,895 These are my favorite things of the week. 360 00:17:10,895 --> 00:17:12,695 Let me show you this tumbler. 361 00:17:12,695 --> 00:17:14,015 Let me show you these earrings. 362 00:17:14,015 --> 00:17:15,165 Let me show you this bracelet. 363 00:17:15,165 --> 00:17:18,375 Let me show you how you can pair these together with a cute sweatshirt. 364 00:17:18,575 --> 00:17:19,765 Whatever it was. 365 00:17:20,075 --> 00:17:24,335 And I would talk, I would tell little stories about my kids, or my day, or how 366 00:17:24,335 --> 00:17:28,415 I spilt coffee all over myself on the way to work, or just things that were 367 00:17:28,445 --> 00:17:33,395 relatable to the moms and the wives and the women that were watching me, and 368 00:17:33,415 --> 00:17:38,275 that's how the business grew up, and it really, you could see these pockets of 369 00:17:38,275 --> 00:17:42,625 subscribers, so I would have I remember it vividly, I had like my first subscriber 370 00:17:42,625 --> 00:17:46,575 that wasn't in my town, she was from Colorado Springs, And I was like, I 371 00:17:46,575 --> 00:17:49,765 have a brand new subscriber from another state and I was so excited about it. 372 00:17:50,065 --> 00:17:52,885 And then there were like four subscribers all in the same town. 373 00:17:52,885 --> 00:17:54,765 I'm like, she's sharing this with people. 374 00:17:54,935 --> 00:17:57,995 Like she's telling people where, and then I saw it in Utah. 375 00:17:58,005 --> 00:18:00,795 I saw this little pocket of people in Utah in the same town. 376 00:18:01,125 --> 00:18:03,085 And then it just started to build and build. 377 00:18:03,375 --> 00:18:06,175 And that's when things started to really explode. 378 00:18:06,205 --> 00:18:07,615 But I just kept showing up. 379 00:18:07,935 --> 00:18:09,435 I kept being myself. 380 00:18:09,705 --> 00:18:14,290 I kept just Talking about my products and my subscription boxes and people 381 00:18:14,290 --> 00:18:18,810 got to know me the same way That they did when they walked into my store? 382 00:18:19,345 --> 00:18:20,425 Matt: Super powerful. 383 00:18:20,575 --> 00:18:20,955 Super powerful. 384 00:18:21,275 --> 00:18:24,245 And do you just do that on Facebook or is it Facebook and Instagram? 385 00:18:24,245 --> 00:18:26,245 Do you stream to multiple places? 386 00:18:26,570 --> 00:18:30,380 Sarah: Right now it's, I just do that on Facebook because I get 387 00:18:30,380 --> 00:18:33,950 nervous when there's too many things going on and I have the ADHD 388 00:18:33,950 --> 00:18:35,470 and so I just do it on Facebook. 389 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:37,910 I send the replay out in the email. 390 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:41,180 Sometimes I'll take snippets and throw them on Instagram reels, but 391 00:18:41,510 --> 00:18:43,370 I just, I'm just a simple person. 392 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:46,880 I like to focus on one thing and my audience is on Facebook. 393 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:49,700 If we're going to be 85 percent of my social. 394 00:18:49,945 --> 00:18:51,315 Traffic comes from Facebook. 395 00:18:51,375 --> 00:18:52,805 So I just focus on them. 396 00:18:53,325 --> 00:18:57,565 And if I can repurpose that in any way and get some other views, then I do that too. 397 00:18:57,565 --> 00:18:59,475 But I just focus on what's working 398 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:01,650 Matt: Facebook Lives, are you still doing them? 399 00:19:02,315 --> 00:19:03,065 Sarah: every week. 400 00:19:03,145 --> 00:19:04,885 And right now I've been doing them every day. 401 00:19:04,885 --> 00:19:06,505 Cause it's the 12 days of Christmas. 402 00:19:06,535 --> 00:19:09,725 So I've been live every single day for the last, this is day seven. 403 00:19:10,045 --> 00:19:12,835 We're promoting, we have a special promotion every day for 12 days. 404 00:19:12,885 --> 00:19:16,585 Cause this is December 7th that we are recording this, but I do it. 405 00:19:16,885 --> 00:19:18,325 A couple times a week now. 406 00:19:18,355 --> 00:19:20,435 I also do it for my coaching business now. 407 00:19:20,445 --> 00:19:26,465 It was so successful in my eCommerce business that I do a live every 408 00:19:26,465 --> 00:19:30,505 Monday on my coaching page and it's just, how can I serve them? 409 00:19:30,745 --> 00:19:31,935 It's called Monday Momentum. 410 00:19:32,165 --> 00:19:35,325 How do I get you started on your Monday as a small business owner? 411 00:19:35,705 --> 00:19:36,475 Here's a tip for this week. 412 00:19:36,655 --> 00:19:39,195 Here's an email marketing campaign I want you to send this week. 413 00:19:39,455 --> 00:19:42,675 Here's something I want you to do on your socials this week. 414 00:19:42,905 --> 00:19:46,495 Here's a little tip to get you out of your head, whatever you're struggling with. 415 00:19:46,675 --> 00:19:50,625 Like I just do a little 20 minute kind of pep talk every Monday and 416 00:19:50,625 --> 00:19:54,725 give them one actionable thing to focus on to get them motivated for 417 00:19:54,725 --> 00:19:56,185 the week to work on their businesses. 418 00:19:56,690 --> 00:19:57,040 Matt: Wow. 419 00:19:57,920 --> 00:19:59,420 So you're you're getting right into it then. 420 00:19:59,650 --> 00:20:02,580 We're not just once, we're twice a week now we're across multiple things 421 00:20:02,580 --> 00:20:03,760 we're doing Facebook all the time. 422 00:20:04,310 --> 00:20:05,050 I'm intrigued. 423 00:20:05,530 --> 00:20:08,480 Sarah: my coaching, I am streaming on YouTube as well, because I do 424 00:20:08,490 --> 00:20:11,910 have an audience there, so I can stream in multiple places at once. 425 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:15,440 So I stream on, I stream in my paid group, I stream on my free 426 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:18,730 page, and I stream on YouTube all at the same time on the Mondays. 427 00:20:20,070 --> 00:20:22,850 Matt: Sound, it sounds Sarah, like you've got a lot going on, right? 428 00:20:22,850 --> 00:20:24,940 So what was a simple subscription business? 429 00:20:25,460 --> 00:20:28,410 I say simple because you made it complex, but you have this subscription 430 00:20:28,410 --> 00:20:32,750 business, which you've then done the expansion stuff for, which has grown 431 00:20:32,750 --> 00:20:35,170 that, and you've got a coaching business. 432 00:20:35,170 --> 00:20:35,200 Yeah. 433 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:35,230 Yeah. 434 00:20:36,230 --> 00:20:39,090 And you thought, I know what I'll do, I'm not busy enough, so I'm 435 00:20:39,090 --> 00:20:40,210 going to write a book, right? 436 00:20:40,270 --> 00:20:42,030 And so tell me about the book. 437 00:20:42,945 --> 00:20:47,605 Sarah: So the book is the book deal happened very unexpectedly. 438 00:20:47,655 --> 00:20:51,035 I didn't, Matt, I didn't say, Oh, I really want to write a book someday. 439 00:20:51,045 --> 00:20:52,235 That's what was on my bucket list. 440 00:20:52,235 --> 00:20:54,595 I'm going to write a book proposal and I'm going to really, I'm 441 00:20:54,605 --> 00:20:55,555 going to try to get a book deal. 442 00:20:55,825 --> 00:20:57,985 That wasn't on my radar at all. 443 00:20:57,985 --> 00:20:59,565 I thought you, you just said it. 444 00:20:59,575 --> 00:21:00,055 I'm busy. 445 00:21:00,055 --> 00:21:00,955 I ain't got time for all that. 446 00:21:01,425 --> 00:21:06,125 But I was at an event where I was speaking and it was a charity event. 447 00:21:06,185 --> 00:21:08,435 And in return for our time to. 448 00:21:09,890 --> 00:21:13,370 We've got a Mastermind Day with each other, and the host of the charity 449 00:21:13,370 --> 00:21:15,530 event facilitated this Mastermind Day. 450 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:19,730 And the CEO of Hay House Publishing was in that room with me. 451 00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:22,760 And we were, it was my turn for my hot seat. 452 00:21:22,830 --> 00:21:25,720 I'm talking about my business and I'm having to give them a little bit of a 453 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:29,920 backstory of who I am and what I do so they understand what my question is. 454 00:21:30,370 --> 00:21:34,240 And right on the spot, he offered me a book deal in that meeting. 455 00:21:34,340 --> 00:21:40,300 This is how my little book, One Box at a Time, came to fruition. 456 00:21:40,330 --> 00:21:42,930 So I spent the next year writing my book. 457 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:44,650 I had to submit a book proposal. 458 00:21:44,650 --> 00:21:46,990 He didn't just give me a book deal, I had to do the work. 459 00:21:46,990 --> 00:21:53,315 But I wrote a book proposal and so I put together, like, All the things, it's a 460 00:21:53,315 --> 00:21:59,455 personal story wrapped into the business strategies and tactics along the way. 461 00:21:59,455 --> 00:22:01,445 So this is how I built my audience. 462 00:22:01,515 --> 00:22:02,945 This is how you're going to do it. 463 00:22:02,975 --> 00:22:05,005 This is how we're work on fulfillment. 464 00:22:05,045 --> 00:22:06,555 This is where the logistics come in. 465 00:22:06,565 --> 00:22:10,255 This is where we started to scale and this is how you're going to do it. 466 00:22:10,255 --> 00:22:13,255 And so every chapter is my journey. 467 00:22:13,255 --> 00:22:13,735 Like you're going to. 468 00:22:13,750 --> 00:22:17,880 You can see my whole business journey along the way in this book but then 469 00:22:17,910 --> 00:22:22,650 every chapter has the strategies that I implemented that I line out for you so 470 00:22:22,650 --> 00:22:24,460 that you can do the exact same thing. 471 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:29,480 And then also every chapter has one or two stories of my students that 472 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:34,200 I feature in each chapter of how they did that particular chapter in 473 00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:35,650 a way that is unique and different. 474 00:22:35,660 --> 00:22:38,840 So if you don't see yourself in me, you can probably see 475 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:39,970 yourself in one of my stories. 476 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:45,080 We have hundreds of success stories of people that have gone from scratch 477 00:22:45,370 --> 00:22:49,610 to million dollar businesses using my strategies the same way I did, 478 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:50,950 and I put that all in the book. 479 00:22:51,645 --> 00:22:52,365 Matt: Fantastic. 480 00:22:52,415 --> 00:22:54,945 I'm looking forward to reading it, because it's a fair, it's a fair, it's fair to 481 00:22:54,945 --> 00:22:56,755 say it's a fairly New Publish, isn't it? 482 00:22:57,090 --> 00:23:02,160 Sarah: Less than a month it's been out and we've hit the top Amazon charts for women 483 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:07,300 in business for, I've hit the entrepreneur number five on the entrepreneur charts. 484 00:23:07,650 --> 00:23:11,530 So we, we've hit some top charts over there and we've got lots 485 00:23:11,530 --> 00:23:12,770 of great reviews on the book. 486 00:23:12,770 --> 00:23:13,680 So I'm really excited. 487 00:23:14,275 --> 00:23:14,865 Matt: Check it out. 488 00:23:14,865 --> 00:23:16,625 One box at a time. 489 00:23:16,635 --> 00:23:19,445 So let's dig into some of the contents of the book. 490 00:23:19,915 --> 00:23:20,805 Some of the strategies. 491 00:23:21,465 --> 00:23:23,565 Chris George was on the podcast. 492 00:23:23,575 --> 00:23:23,795 Yeah. 493 00:23:23,795 --> 00:23:24,975 Chris from Sub Summit, right? 494 00:23:25,035 --> 00:23:26,155 What a legend that man is. 495 00:23:26,165 --> 00:23:29,065 He basically said if he was starting out any business in eCommerce, 496 00:23:29,065 --> 00:23:30,175 he just wouldn't do eCommerce. 497 00:23:30,175 --> 00:23:31,515 He'd just do everything on subscription. 498 00:23:31,555 --> 00:23:33,275 Just the way he, just how his brain works. 499 00:23:33,275 --> 00:23:36,004 I'm just going to do subscription now, isn't it? 500 00:23:36,385 --> 00:23:40,255 I'm I get where he's coming from I'm probably a little bit more hybrid in my 501 00:23:40,255 --> 00:23:45,995 thinking, but if I'm thinking of starting like a subscription business you get 502 00:23:46,005 --> 00:23:49,815 this question asked a lot, and I'm sure the answer is, I don't know where would 503 00:23:49,825 --> 00:23:53,545 someone start if they think, I like the idea of the subscription box model. 504 00:23:53,545 --> 00:23:54,485 Where would you start? 505 00:23:55,575 --> 00:23:59,915 Sarah: I think anyone, whether that's eCommerce or a subscription box model, 506 00:24:00,255 --> 00:24:02,265 they have to start building an audience. 507 00:24:02,795 --> 00:24:06,465 And I think that is probably the most overlooked thing. 508 00:24:06,835 --> 00:24:10,965 We have to start, we, you got to identify who the customer you 509 00:24:10,965 --> 00:24:13,935 want to sell to, no matter if it's one off products or subscription. 510 00:24:14,235 --> 00:24:18,465 And then we have to start building content and building a following for that person. 511 00:24:18,845 --> 00:24:23,165 If you want to start with a subscription box, it's really understanding that person 512 00:24:23,565 --> 00:24:25,885 who that person is so that you can curate. 513 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:29,000 You have to have a good understanding of what is being made. 514 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:30,190 It's not about the stuff. 515 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:34,360 A lot of people going into a subscription box think it's, Oh, if I just get the 516 00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:37,010 best stuff, I'll have the best box. 517 00:24:37,050 --> 00:24:40,030 It's about the experience that you're creating for them. 518 00:24:40,500 --> 00:24:43,770 You can have a box and there's, high name boxes and I'm not 519 00:24:43,770 --> 00:24:44,780 going to call anybody out. 520 00:24:44,980 --> 00:24:46,180 It's full of stuff. 521 00:24:46,580 --> 00:24:48,420 It's full of brand name stuff. 522 00:24:48,660 --> 00:24:49,840 It's so random. 523 00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:50,530 There's no expression. 524 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:52,490 Experience to go along with it. 525 00:24:52,790 --> 00:24:55,450 And that's our superpower as small business owners. 526 00:24:55,450 --> 00:24:59,870 We have the ability to curate an entire experience every single 527 00:24:59,870 --> 00:25:01,680 month with each box that we have. 528 00:25:01,940 --> 00:25:03,830 It's not about putting random stuff in there. 529 00:25:04,070 --> 00:25:09,190 It's about thinking about what that ideal customer is thinking, feeling, and doing. 530 00:25:09,355 --> 00:25:13,975 Every single month of the year as a mom, as a busy Southern 531 00:25:13,975 --> 00:25:15,795 mom, that is my ideal customer. 532 00:25:15,995 --> 00:25:20,025 What are they thinking, feeling, and doing in the month of January? 533 00:25:20,215 --> 00:25:24,495 I know exactly what they're doing and I can curate a box exactly for that 534 00:25:24,495 --> 00:25:29,335 person so that when they open it, they're like, Sarah made this just for me. 535 00:25:29,745 --> 00:25:30,805 And I get that comment. 536 00:25:31,045 --> 00:25:33,945 So much like Sarah made this just for me. 537 00:25:34,245 --> 00:25:35,955 And that's where you should start. 538 00:25:35,975 --> 00:25:39,315 That's how we have to start our subscription box business off. 539 00:25:39,315 --> 00:25:44,105 Like really understanding who we want to sell to so we can get in their head 540 00:25:44,125 --> 00:25:45,745 and curate an experience for them. 541 00:25:46,365 --> 00:25:47,185 Matt: Super powerful. 542 00:25:47,265 --> 00:25:49,905 It's interesting in your own story, you started, you said you started off 543 00:25:49,905 --> 00:25:53,545 with 44 subscribers, so it wasn't like you just blew up overnight, right? 544 00:25:53,545 --> 00:25:55,115 It's taking you a few years. 545 00:25:56,255 --> 00:25:59,685 Sarah: everyone starts from scratch and I didn't have venture capital and I 546 00:25:59,685 --> 00:26:04,535 didn't have investors and I didn't have a trust fund to start a business with. 547 00:26:04,535 --> 00:26:09,955 Like I'm just a regular person and I just thought I can do this. 548 00:26:11,295 --> 00:26:13,305 I want to do this for my customers. 549 00:26:13,305 --> 00:26:15,215 I want them to feel special. 550 00:26:15,215 --> 00:26:18,515 That was the whole premise around starting the subscription box. 551 00:26:18,775 --> 00:26:22,405 How could I make that customer that was coming into my brick and mortar about 552 00:26:22,405 --> 00:26:25,945 once a month, that loyal customer, they would come in and buy something 553 00:26:25,945 --> 00:26:28,855 for themselves or they would come in and buy a gift for somebody else. 554 00:26:29,245 --> 00:26:32,525 How could I make them the VIP of my business? 555 00:26:32,535 --> 00:26:36,495 That loyal customer that I saw on a regular basis, I would 556 00:26:36,495 --> 00:26:38,385 make it exclusive just for them. 557 00:26:38,705 --> 00:26:39,429 I would make it special. 558 00:26:39,500 --> 00:26:40,160 Special. 559 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:41,520 I would personalize it. 560 00:26:41,540 --> 00:26:45,210 It would feel like a gift for them every single month. 561 00:26:45,530 --> 00:26:48,990 That's what I wanted to curate when I started my subscription box. 562 00:26:49,310 --> 00:26:52,480 And I told you my big goal was to have a hundred subscribers. 563 00:26:52,750 --> 00:26:55,360 And that's why I thought the personalization wasn't a big 564 00:26:55,360 --> 00:26:57,280 deal because I can whip that out. 565 00:26:57,975 --> 00:27:02,785 Little did I know that thousands and thousands of monograms later that I 566 00:27:02,785 --> 00:27:04,495 would be doing this on a larger scale. 567 00:27:04,495 --> 00:27:09,325 And I went through a lot of like ups and downs, figuring that out as I was scaling. 568 00:27:09,325 --> 00:27:11,115 I was scaling very quickly. 569 00:27:11,375 --> 00:27:14,275 I didn't have the equipment to scale that quickly. 570 00:27:14,525 --> 00:27:18,315 I tried outsourcing it for a while and that just became a 571 00:27:18,315 --> 00:27:20,095 disaster after the disaster. 572 00:27:20,355 --> 00:27:22,795 And I thought, okay, I either need to do this. 573 00:27:23,550 --> 00:27:27,130 And do it right and I need to bring it all in house and I need to be able to 574 00:27:27,130 --> 00:27:31,810 control and manage the outcome of this or I need to stop doing the personalization 575 00:27:31,810 --> 00:27:33,850 because it is a train wreck right now. 576 00:27:34,230 --> 00:27:39,500 And so that decision came probably about 800 subscribers in. 577 00:27:39,755 --> 00:27:40,145 Matt: Okay. 578 00:27:40,765 --> 00:27:44,495 Sarah: I, and I was literally still the one sitting behind the machine 579 00:27:44,505 --> 00:27:46,625 monogramming for 10 hours a day. 580 00:27:47,055 --> 00:27:49,615 And I thought this is madness. 581 00:27:49,825 --> 00:27:51,635 I cannot keep up doing this. 582 00:27:51,635 --> 00:27:54,725 My, my business was like, my marketing wasn't getting done because I'm 583 00:27:54,725 --> 00:27:55,775 the one running the embroidery. 584 00:27:55,855 --> 00:27:58,755 I was the only one in the building that knew how to run the embroidery machines. 585 00:27:58,755 --> 00:28:01,845 Like I had people doing all the other things, but I hadn't. 586 00:28:02,265 --> 00:28:03,855 Hired someone to do that. 587 00:28:03,865 --> 00:28:07,005 So every month and I would get done and I would be exhausted. 588 00:28:07,005 --> 00:28:11,145 I'm like, crap, I got to start again next week cause we got a hundred more boxes 589 00:28:11,165 --> 00:28:15,275 to get out next week, and so it was just like, alright, I got to figure this out. 590 00:28:15,275 --> 00:28:16,245 Tried outsourcing it. 591 00:28:16,625 --> 00:28:17,655 That was a disaster. 592 00:28:17,985 --> 00:28:21,165 And I said, okay, if we're going to continue to personalize. 593 00:28:21,605 --> 00:28:22,625 We have to do it right. 594 00:28:23,015 --> 00:28:27,575 I don't want this janky personalization that was happening by outsourcing it. 595 00:28:27,875 --> 00:28:30,975 And so I bought the equipment, I hired the people, we moved into the 596 00:28:30,975 --> 00:28:34,365 warehouse, we had the space to have all the equipment that we needed. 597 00:28:34,555 --> 00:28:39,325 It was a big investment, but it was either I was gonna continue to scale 598 00:28:39,505 --> 00:28:44,115 to pay for that investment or I was gonna need to pull back the option. 599 00:28:44,860 --> 00:28:50,050 And I made the decision to scale and that's when we hit 1, 500, 3, 000. 600 00:28:50,070 --> 00:28:52,440 That's when we started to really go. 601 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:55,610 And as we continue to grow, we continue to buy more machines and 602 00:28:55,610 --> 00:28:59,270 we continue to train more people to run the machines and we continue to 603 00:28:59,270 --> 00:29:01,510 personalize in more ways than embroidery. 604 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:05,750 We, we do printing, we do Engraving, we do embroidery. 605 00:29:05,970 --> 00:29:09,720 So any different month there might be, something different in your box. 606 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:12,770 It's not always embroidered, like we might do embroidery this month and then we're 607 00:29:12,770 --> 00:29:16,730 going to move to DTF printing next month and we're going to have that on an item in 608 00:29:16,730 --> 00:29:19,120 it, and so it's different ways that we're. 609 00:29:19,540 --> 00:29:25,240 Now able to monogram items because of the decision to scale and it's 610 00:29:25,250 --> 00:29:29,740 profitable and we have it all in house now, so we have the control over it. 611 00:29:30,255 --> 00:29:31,535 Matt: Which is incredible, really. 612 00:29:31,565 --> 00:29:35,125 And I'm listening to you talk and I'm thinking part of me thinks 613 00:29:35,165 --> 00:29:39,065 actually having a warehouse full of all those machines will just be fun. 614 00:29:39,475 --> 00:29:41,615 It just sounds like there's a lot of fun. 615 00:29:41,915 --> 00:29:44,995 Sounds like it's very hard work at times, and I'm sure it is. 616 00:29:45,325 --> 00:29:47,365 But it sounds like actually you. 617 00:29:48,070 --> 00:29:50,710 It comes across in your voice, Sarah, that actually you're you 618 00:29:50,710 --> 00:29:52,200 deeply care about this business. 619 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:53,860 You're obviously, very passionate about it. 620 00:29:53,860 --> 00:29:58,800 And I think that's probably the secret in a lot of ways to the success. 621 00:29:58,850 --> 00:30:02,320 It's nice all the other trips and, and stuff that we can do in 622 00:30:02,330 --> 00:30:05,490 scaling, but I think if you've not got that passion, I don't know 623 00:30:05,490 --> 00:30:07,000 how you do it for the long haul. 624 00:30:07,100 --> 00:30:09,350 I I think you give up quick, right? 625 00:30:09,550 --> 00:30:10,040 Sarah: You do. 626 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:13,340 And that's what I tell a lot of my students, Matt, because when they're 627 00:30:13,350 --> 00:30:16,060 picking something, when they're picking their niche or they're picking 628 00:30:16,060 --> 00:30:19,170 their customer base and they're just getting started, I tell them, I 629 00:30:19,210 --> 00:30:20,510 need you to be passionate about it. 630 00:30:20,550 --> 00:30:23,040 I need you to be able to talk about it every day. 631 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:23,920 I need you to get excited. 632 00:30:23,940 --> 00:30:28,930 Excited about it because if not this E-commerce rat race that we're on is a 633 00:30:28,930 --> 00:30:34,170 roller coaster, and if we don't love what we do, we're gonna burn out really fast. 634 00:30:34,170 --> 00:30:36,605 There are gonna be hard days and you're like, why am I even doing this? 635 00:30:36,610 --> 00:30:37,985 I don't even like what I'm doing. 636 00:30:38,405 --> 00:30:40,265 We have to love what I we're doing. 637 00:30:40,270 --> 00:30:42,515 We have to love the customer that we're serving. 638 00:30:42,785 --> 00:30:44,615 It's not transactional. 639 00:30:44,875 --> 00:30:46,480 I know that a lot of our brains. 640 00:30:46,855 --> 00:30:49,425 Think of things as transactional because we want to be profitable. 641 00:30:49,425 --> 00:30:50,165 We want to make money. 642 00:30:50,165 --> 00:30:50,915 That's why we're doing this. 643 00:30:50,915 --> 00:30:51,895 We're not doing this for fun. 644 00:30:52,125 --> 00:30:55,515 I'm not out here packing 3000 boxes a day for fun. 645 00:30:55,975 --> 00:30:59,935 I'm doing it because it's building my livelihood, but I also deeply 646 00:30:59,935 --> 00:31:03,685 care about my customers and I deeply care about the outcome of 647 00:31:03,685 --> 00:31:05,585 this box that goes out every month. 648 00:31:05,885 --> 00:31:09,900 And if we don't have that passion behind what we're doing, Our business 649 00:31:09,900 --> 00:31:15,060 won't be long term like to I'm about to be 11 years old in business, okay? 650 00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:17,860 And in small business years, that's like dog years. 651 00:31:17,870 --> 00:31:21,710 Like I feel like I'm You know what I mean? 652 00:31:21,710 --> 00:31:27,935 Like one small business year is like dog years because so many businesses 653 00:31:27,945 --> 00:31:30,025 don't make it to the one year mark. 654 00:31:30,075 --> 00:31:33,805 So many businesses don't make it five year mark to make it to 10 years 655 00:31:33,815 --> 00:31:35,045 of being a small business owners. 656 00:31:35,045 --> 00:31:36,145 That's a big feat. 657 00:31:36,395 --> 00:31:38,035 That's 27 dog years for me. 658 00:31:38,035 --> 00:31:39,285 And I feel every one of those. 659 00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:42,660 Matt: I feel them to my bones, man. 660 00:31:43,270 --> 00:31:47,230 No I've been in business since 1998 yeah I definitely am feeling them. 661 00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:50,610 Let's go back a little bit Sarah, if I can, and just pick 662 00:31:50,610 --> 00:31:53,000 up on the, on this idea, right? 663 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:55,100 Where you start is you build an audience, right? 664 00:31:55,100 --> 00:31:55,870 This is what you do. 665 00:31:55,900 --> 00:31:56,820 How do you. 666 00:31:56,870 --> 00:31:59,750 What are some of the things, I mean you've talked about doing Facebook lives, but 667 00:31:59,750 --> 00:32:04,840 what are some of the things that people should be thinking about if they, and in 668 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:08,900 a lot of ways I'm quite fortunate because if I started something for a niche, we've 669 00:32:08,900 --> 00:32:13,130 got probably that niche, I've got, a hundred thousand emails, I've got that 670 00:32:13,150 --> 00:32:16,980 audience to start something in if I'm not already doing that subscription business, 671 00:32:16,980 --> 00:32:18,930 but let's assume I haven't, right? 672 00:32:18,980 --> 00:32:23,165 And I'm starting with very relatively minor skills. 673 00:32:23,625 --> 00:32:24,815 What's your advice? 674 00:32:25,995 --> 00:32:28,895 Sarah: So we got to build our following and we've got to build our list. 675 00:32:28,925 --> 00:32:32,325 And those are the two places that we really have to hone in on. 676 00:32:32,755 --> 00:32:36,585 And we do that by serving before we sell. 677 00:32:36,715 --> 00:32:37,125 Okay. 678 00:32:37,125 --> 00:32:39,580 So that's, Something that I teach a lot. 679 00:32:39,580 --> 00:32:42,980 We've got to serve our audience before we ask them to buy something from us. 680 00:32:42,980 --> 00:32:46,890 And that's how we create these really loyal customers. 681 00:32:46,890 --> 00:32:49,450 So in what way can you serve your audience? 682 00:32:49,460 --> 00:32:51,820 So if I think about somebody wanting to start something in a 683 00:32:51,820 --> 00:32:54,700 pet industry what pet is that? 684 00:32:54,710 --> 00:32:56,880 Like we have a amazing box in our community. 685 00:32:56,880 --> 00:32:57,900 It's a guinea pig box. 686 00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:00,620 And she has tons of subscribers, but it's for guinea pigs. 687 00:33:00,930 --> 00:33:03,580 So how could you serve the guinea pig community? 688 00:33:03,795 --> 00:33:06,345 For you show up and start selling them a subscription box. 689 00:33:06,695 --> 00:33:09,585 It's like, how often should I clean my guinea pig cage? 690 00:33:09,755 --> 00:33:11,995 What does it mean when my guinea pig's not eating? 691 00:33:12,005 --> 00:33:16,435 Like, how are we going to serve these people so they'll start to follow us? 692 00:33:16,465 --> 00:33:18,555 And so that's what we have to put out first. 693 00:33:18,765 --> 00:33:21,285 It's that content that gets us noted. 694 00:33:21,590 --> 00:33:23,490 As the guinea pig expert, right? 695 00:33:23,740 --> 00:33:25,580 So that could be some opt ins. 696 00:33:25,810 --> 00:33:27,080 That's going to be building our list. 697 00:33:27,090 --> 00:33:30,300 That could be, your 10 point checklist on how to care for your guinea pigs. 698 00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:30,520 Okay. 699 00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:31,870 That's a great opt in. 700 00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:36,670 We know everyone opting into that is a guinea pig owner, and then we're 701 00:33:36,670 --> 00:33:38,110 going to sell them a guinea pig box. 702 00:33:38,180 --> 00:33:38,550 Okay. 703 00:33:38,550 --> 00:33:43,800 So it's finding that niche and then how can you serve that niche? 704 00:33:43,860 --> 00:33:44,370 Okay. 705 00:33:44,370 --> 00:33:47,000 And so for me, I have more of a. 706 00:33:47,345 --> 00:33:48,845 Want based subscription. 707 00:33:48,845 --> 00:33:49,575 It's just fun. 708 00:33:49,575 --> 00:33:50,215 It's just cute. 709 00:33:50,215 --> 00:33:50,915 It's just pretty. 710 00:33:50,915 --> 00:33:52,175 Like it's just a girly thing. 711 00:33:52,475 --> 00:33:57,985 So one opt in that works really well for me and my business are phone wallpapers. 712 00:33:58,425 --> 00:34:01,335 And Matt, if you're not familiar with it, it's just this cute little 713 00:34:01,335 --> 00:34:03,045 design that's on your phone screen. 714 00:34:03,385 --> 00:34:07,915 And I make them their, that's my t shirt design for the month. 715 00:34:08,005 --> 00:34:12,015 So if they like this little wallpaper enough to give me their email address 716 00:34:12,025 --> 00:34:15,265 so they can download it to their phone for free, they're probably gonna like 717 00:34:15,265 --> 00:34:18,655 my t shirt design because it's the exact same design that's on my t shirt. 718 00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:22,770 And now I can sell them into my t shirt subscription through an automation. 719 00:34:23,030 --> 00:34:27,050 So I'm building the list first, I'm building my following. 720 00:34:27,050 --> 00:34:28,980 And the ways that we can build our following is publishing 721 00:34:28,980 --> 00:34:30,120 content that's serving. 722 00:34:30,350 --> 00:34:32,600 I also love to do page like ads. 723 00:34:33,010 --> 00:34:35,160 Those build a following really well. 724 00:34:35,580 --> 00:34:38,760 We can typically get a page like for under 50 cents right now. 725 00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:42,800 So if you could start to build, a thousand followers from a page like 726 00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:45,890 ad right in the beginning stage of your business, then you're going 727 00:34:45,890 --> 00:34:47,240 to have somebody to market to. 728 00:34:47,240 --> 00:34:51,690 That's one of the biggest issues we have as small business owners is we get ready, 729 00:34:51,690 --> 00:34:53,510 we built this great subscription box. 730 00:34:53,510 --> 00:34:55,620 It's going to be wonderful, but we don't have anybody to sell it to 731 00:34:55,620 --> 00:34:57,980 because we haven't built our list and we haven't built our following. 732 00:34:58,485 --> 00:35:01,075 But a page like ad could just be me. 733 00:35:01,225 --> 00:35:02,545 We got to have that connection point. 734 00:35:02,645 --> 00:35:04,025 I want to see your face. 735 00:35:04,075 --> 00:35:05,975 That's our superpower with small businesses. 736 00:35:05,985 --> 00:35:07,355 We're not a brand, we're a person. 737 00:35:08,025 --> 00:35:12,145 And I could be wearing a monogrammed pullover, have my monogram on it. 738 00:35:12,425 --> 00:35:16,145 And I could have a bag that has my monogram on it, on my arm. 739 00:35:16,195 --> 00:35:16,535 Okay. 740 00:35:16,535 --> 00:35:18,695 So this is what I do. 741 00:35:19,025 --> 00:35:22,345 If you like the fact that I have monograms on my outfit. 742 00:35:22,645 --> 00:35:24,675 You're going to stop your scroll and you're going to read 743 00:35:24,675 --> 00:35:26,405 my page like, Hey, I'm Sarah. 744 00:35:26,585 --> 00:35:28,035 I'm from a small town in Texas. 745 00:35:28,035 --> 00:35:29,335 I'm a mom of two teenagers. 746 00:35:29,365 --> 00:35:30,965 I love tacos and margaritas. 747 00:35:31,235 --> 00:35:33,635 And around here, we personalize everything. 748 00:35:33,635 --> 00:35:36,145 If it's not moving, we monogram it. 749 00:35:36,185 --> 00:35:40,045 And if somebody Love is a monogram. 750 00:35:40,685 --> 00:35:44,365 They're going to like what I'm wearing or holding and they're and it's a 751 00:35:44,575 --> 00:35:47,265 page like ad, so it has the button, the little thumb buttons on Facebook 752 00:35:47,525 --> 00:35:49,545 so I can instantly like her page. 753 00:35:49,865 --> 00:35:51,685 Now they're going to start to see my content. 754 00:35:51,975 --> 00:35:54,205 Now that hopefully they're going to start to interact with me. 755 00:35:54,470 --> 00:35:58,250 Now when I go live, I have someone new that I can get to know and trust me. 756 00:35:58,490 --> 00:36:00,790 And that's how I'm continuing to build my audience. 757 00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:02,210 And that's how you can do it in the beginning. 758 00:36:02,420 --> 00:36:05,830 And I still run a page like ad every single month of all year long. 759 00:36:05,850 --> 00:36:09,050 I run a page like to cold audiences because I have to 760 00:36:09,050 --> 00:36:10,480 continue to grow my following. 761 00:36:10,690 --> 00:36:14,930 I have to continue to grow my list, or I'm going to keep showing up and selling to 762 00:36:14,930 --> 00:36:17,360 the exact same person every single month. 763 00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:18,750 And I'm never going to grow. 764 00:36:18,990 --> 00:36:21,740 I'm going to have cancellations every month in my subscription. 765 00:36:21,900 --> 00:36:22,820 It's a guarantee. 766 00:36:23,145 --> 00:36:24,225 It is a guarantee. 767 00:36:24,575 --> 00:36:28,685 If I don't go after a new audience every month, that number is going 768 00:36:28,685 --> 00:36:32,865 to dwindle and dwindle because I don't have anyone new to sell to. 769 00:36:33,235 --> 00:36:36,505 And so we have to do that every single month as eCommerce businesses. 770 00:36:37,365 --> 00:36:38,065 Matt: I love that. 771 00:36:38,425 --> 00:36:41,465 You know what you remind me of, Sari, as you were talking there is 772 00:36:41,465 --> 00:36:43,565 do you remember at Sub Summit 2023? 773 00:36:43,605 --> 00:36:46,605 Going back in time, all that distance in our memories Neil, 774 00:36:46,615 --> 00:36:48,105 did you hear Neil Hoyne speak? 775 00:36:48,295 --> 00:36:50,225 The Google strategist guy? 776 00:36:50,825 --> 00:36:54,995 He was one of the main speakers at the, on the stage and I, he's 777 00:36:54,995 --> 00:36:57,975 been on the podcast, actually, as we speak, his episode is out live. 778 00:36:58,465 --> 00:36:59,785 Really fascinating chap. 779 00:36:59,815 --> 00:37:03,425 And he was talking about, data and Google strategy and all this sort of stuff. 780 00:37:03,455 --> 00:37:04,345 And it was fascinating. 781 00:37:05,425 --> 00:37:09,055 And he was talking about the personas that marketing people have which 782 00:37:09,055 --> 00:37:10,335 I thought was really fascinating. 783 00:37:10,435 --> 00:37:13,125 So the actual marketers themselves have these sort of personas. 784 00:37:13,125 --> 00:37:19,675 And the first one he talked about, Was the bar persona and the bar persona. 785 00:37:19,675 --> 00:37:20,935 He said, picture the scene. 786 00:37:21,465 --> 00:37:24,435 There's a chap obviously my language here, he's not English. 787 00:37:24,535 --> 00:37:29,135 There's a chap walks into a bar and he basically goes up to 788 00:37:29,135 --> 00:37:32,525 every woman in the bar and says you marry me just straight away. 789 00:37:32,525 --> 00:37:33,935 And of course most of 'em are gonna say no. 790 00:37:33,935 --> 00:37:35,070 And he said, this is what. 791 00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:38,570 The Bar Persona marketer is they just literally, they show up and they're 792 00:37:38,570 --> 00:37:40,160 like, buy my stuff straight away. 793 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:41,730 There's no courtship. 794 00:37:41,770 --> 00:37:44,060 There's no there's no drawing you in. 795 00:37:44,060 --> 00:37:48,040 And I thought it was a really good analogy of what we try and 796 00:37:48,040 --> 00:37:49,500 do sometimes with our marketing. 797 00:37:49,510 --> 00:37:50,970 It's just here, boom, buy it. 798 00:37:51,430 --> 00:37:53,740 Rather than, hey, let's get to know each other a little bit. 799 00:37:53,740 --> 00:37:54,770 Which is what he talked about. 800 00:37:54,770 --> 00:37:55,810 And so this is why. 801 00:37:56,315 --> 00:38:00,345 Your page like strategy and just delivering value to people before 802 00:38:00,655 --> 00:38:03,155 serve them before you sell them I think is a really good thing. 803 00:38:03,165 --> 00:38:03,825 Are you all right there? 804 00:38:03,825 --> 00:38:05,105 Yeah, you seem to be coughing a 805 00:38:07,425 --> 00:38:08,665 Sarah: I'm trying not to cough on the podcast. 806 00:38:11,145 --> 00:38:13,805 Matt: The trouble is the more you hold it in the worse it gets right 807 00:38:13,865 --> 00:38:14,475 Sarah: Exactly. 808 00:38:14,555 --> 00:38:14,935 Exactly. 809 00:38:15,655 --> 00:38:16,055 Matt: Been there. 810 00:38:16,525 --> 00:38:20,825 So yes, sorry all of that said It just connects me back to what Neil 811 00:38:20,825 --> 00:38:24,830 Horne was talking about And so you're still doing the same strategy. 812 00:38:24,830 --> 00:38:27,550 Sarah: This point in my business, it works. 813 00:38:27,920 --> 00:38:33,290 And this is what I think as we get, Later in business, as we get more established, 814 00:38:33,290 --> 00:38:36,560 more polished in business, we think we have to keep jumping through hoops 815 00:38:36,560 --> 00:38:38,620 and trying all these new fun things. 816 00:38:39,150 --> 00:38:42,790 But when we just go back to the basics, what built our business and just 817 00:38:43,010 --> 00:38:46,280 re energize them, the basics work. 818 00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:48,280 We just have to keep working them. 819 00:38:49,340 --> 00:38:55,420 Matt: do you let's say I am going to do a subscription box where my key 820 00:38:55,420 --> 00:38:59,590 target audience is probably more, say, Instagram based rather than 821 00:38:59,590 --> 00:39:04,280 Facebook based, are you still doing the page like ads because Facebook is 822 00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:08,430 so big that at least some part of your audience will be on Facebook or are 823 00:39:08,430 --> 00:39:10,210 you doing something entirely different? 824 00:39:11,695 --> 00:39:15,455 Sarah: think if you are focused only on Instagram, you're leaving 825 00:39:15,455 --> 00:39:16,855 money on the table with Facebook. 826 00:39:17,465 --> 00:39:19,405 And I can see it with my own students. 827 00:39:19,415 --> 00:39:23,725 Some of them are very big on Instagram and it's very different from the way I am 828 00:39:23,725 --> 00:39:25,625 because my audience is mostly on Facebook. 829 00:39:26,055 --> 00:39:30,465 But when I challenge them to lean into Facebook a little bit more, 830 00:39:30,765 --> 00:39:32,855 they are amazed at the result. 831 00:39:33,110 --> 00:39:38,310 Because they've focused on Instagram so much, they didn't see Facebook 832 00:39:38,310 --> 00:39:42,080 as being viable, and they didn't see their audience being viable. 833 00:39:42,420 --> 00:39:47,300 But what's happening is, they've missed a whole section of people 834 00:39:47,570 --> 00:39:49,360 that now they're tapping into. 835 00:39:49,605 --> 00:39:55,045 And it's incredible to see their results on Facebook when their Instagram 836 00:39:55,045 --> 00:39:59,715 could have 30, 000 followers and their Facebook could have 300 followers because 837 00:39:59,715 --> 00:40:01,125 they don't put any attention to it. 838 00:40:01,405 --> 00:40:05,635 And when I challenged them for a month, focus on Facebook for a month, and they're 839 00:40:05,635 --> 00:40:09,515 getting, they're going live on Facebook and they're getting sales instantly. 840 00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:14,510 They're shocked by it so I would tell our Instagrammers not to count 841 00:40:14,510 --> 00:40:19,180 Facebook out because it's still very viable for a lot of businesses. 842 00:40:20,155 --> 00:40:21,905 Matt: Yeah, I love that. 843 00:40:21,945 --> 00:40:26,225 I still see whenever we do live streams, we're with YouTube. 844 00:40:26,225 --> 00:40:28,505 We have a different company that does podcast productions. 845 00:40:28,505 --> 00:40:31,205 And so we see the live streams going out, whether it's Facebook 846 00:40:31,845 --> 00:40:35,685 YouTube, even Instagram lives in a lot of ways, by far the most 847 00:40:35,685 --> 00:40:37,275 engagement you get is on Facebook. 848 00:40:37,725 --> 00:40:41,665 It's really quite fascinating, even still today, the comments, because you can reply 849 00:40:41,665 --> 00:40:44,835 under comments and that can start little conversations, you can't really do that 850 00:40:44,835 --> 00:40:50,115 on YouTube, it's just all very linear it's still, and the ability to instantly 851 00:40:50,115 --> 00:40:53,705 share that live onto your Facebook feed. 852 00:40:54,280 --> 00:40:55,730 Without really thinking about it. 853 00:40:55,760 --> 00:40:58,810 Whereas if I want to show you a YouTube live stream where am I sharing that to? 854 00:40:58,810 --> 00:41:02,050 I now have to open up Facebook to share it because it's, do you see what I mean? 855 00:41:02,050 --> 00:41:03,450 There's no feed to share it to. 856 00:41:04,060 --> 00:41:07,730 And so all these things means to me, like Facebook's not going away 857 00:41:07,730 --> 00:41:11,350 and the engagement still, it's still out does everything else, and we've 858 00:41:11,370 --> 00:41:14,760 tried them all and it just fascinates me that it's it's just there. 859 00:41:14,770 --> 00:41:16,010 It's just not going anywhere. 860 00:41:16,010 --> 00:41:16,300 Is it? 861 00:41:16,300 --> 00:41:17,590 It intrigues me. 862 00:41:18,240 --> 00:41:18,580 Sarah: Yeah. 863 00:41:18,890 --> 00:41:21,210 And people are like Facebook is dead. 864 00:41:21,430 --> 00:41:23,510 If Facebook's dead, it's cause you're not using it. 865 00:41:24,130 --> 00:41:28,790 And that's what I, that's what I tell them because Facebook is very much still. 866 00:41:29,190 --> 00:41:34,360 And if you look at Facebook users right now, they're the ones that have the money. 867 00:41:34,740 --> 00:41:39,870 They're in that age range where they have expendable income. 868 00:41:39,880 --> 00:41:44,750 They have they have the extra income to spend on the things, the luxury 869 00:41:44,780 --> 00:41:48,090 items or the additional items, the, not the needs, but the wants. 870 00:41:48,460 --> 00:41:52,360 And so you're not tapping into that audience you're leaving 871 00:41:52,360 --> 00:41:53,430 a lot of money on the table. 872 00:41:53,840 --> 00:41:54,210 Matt: Brilliant. 873 00:41:54,820 --> 00:41:56,310 So the strategy then is simple, isn't it? 874 00:41:56,310 --> 00:41:59,180 Grow your audience don't count out Facebook, have a look on Facebook, 875 00:41:59,180 --> 00:42:03,000 serve your audience, deliver content, be constant, show up, do the live streams, 876 00:42:03,030 --> 00:42:07,410 even if you really don't want to do the live streams and someone always says to me 877 00:42:07,410 --> 00:42:10,885 whenever I say this about live shopping, I'm actually I'm going to ask you, 878 00:42:10,895 --> 00:42:15,285 Sarah, because I get this asked a lot, but I've only got one, one, two, three, 879 00:42:15,285 --> 00:42:16,745 four products, a handful of products. 880 00:42:17,265 --> 00:42:19,575 It's not like I can turn up to every live stream and do something 881 00:42:19,575 --> 00:42:21,165 different or model some new clothing. 882 00:42:21,635 --> 00:42:22,845 How would you respond to that? 883 00:42:24,335 --> 00:42:28,595 Sarah: would respond with, you've got to make it entertainment. 884 00:42:28,865 --> 00:42:29,175 Okay. 885 00:42:29,175 --> 00:42:32,095 So if you only have a handful of products and those are your core products and 886 00:42:32,095 --> 00:42:35,935 that's what you sell all the time, you've got to show benefits of these. 887 00:42:35,935 --> 00:42:38,795 You've got to show different ways people are using your products. 888 00:42:39,085 --> 00:42:42,125 You also just need to give some entertainment factor. 889 00:42:42,125 --> 00:42:47,240 It's not always about buy buy, but it's like, What are you doing for the day? 890 00:42:47,300 --> 00:42:48,150 What are you into? 891 00:42:48,170 --> 00:42:49,760 You could be making something in your kitchen. 892 00:42:49,760 --> 00:42:55,820 If you're, if your audience is a woman of my age, which my audience is, 893 00:42:55,890 --> 00:42:59,830 they're going to watch me put together broccoli soup in my crock pot today. 894 00:42:59,850 --> 00:43:02,677 And that's an entertainment factor for them. 895 00:43:02,677 --> 00:43:04,960 That's why people are on social media. 896 00:43:05,430 --> 00:43:06,900 They're not on social media to buy. 897 00:43:06,950 --> 00:43:08,630 They're on social media for entertainment. 898 00:43:08,900 --> 00:43:13,000 So if you don't have anything that, if you feel like you've, All four of your 899 00:43:13,000 --> 00:43:15,190 products this week do something different. 900 00:43:15,190 --> 00:43:18,680 Maybe you're using something in your everyday life that is your product and 901 00:43:18,680 --> 00:43:20,450 you can show them how you're using it. 902 00:43:20,450 --> 00:43:22,050 You're not selling them anything. 903 00:43:22,060 --> 00:43:22,470 You're just. 904 00:43:22,850 --> 00:43:24,360 You're just serving them. 905 00:43:24,690 --> 00:43:25,850 Who's your customer? 906 00:43:25,850 --> 00:43:29,130 My customer needs a crockpot meal for tonight because they got kids 907 00:43:29,150 --> 00:43:31,420 to feed and they've been working all day and they are tired. 908 00:43:31,640 --> 00:43:34,880 They're gonna tune in and they're gonna see what I'm cooking in the 909 00:43:34,880 --> 00:43:36,970 kitchen and they're gonna relate to me. 910 00:43:37,260 --> 00:43:40,940 And then when they see that cute monogram bag in their feed from one 911 00:43:40,940 --> 00:43:45,130 of my ads or one of my posts, they're gonna be like, oh, yeah, I love Sarah's 912 00:43:45,130 --> 00:43:47,680 stuff because I'm a person to them. 913 00:43:48,090 --> 00:43:51,255 So don't worry so much about live selling all the time. 914 00:43:51,975 --> 00:43:55,485 How can we be entertaining to people in our audience and how 915 00:43:55,485 --> 00:43:57,045 could we attract more people? 916 00:43:57,265 --> 00:44:00,385 If someone then shares my broccoli soup that I'm making in the crock 917 00:44:00,385 --> 00:44:03,825 pot on their Facebook feed, I'm sure other moms are going to go look at 918 00:44:03,825 --> 00:44:07,395 that and I might have a potential of having a new customer see my stuff. 919 00:44:08,005 --> 00:44:12,475 So you don't have to worry about having these perfectly polished branded 920 00:44:12,685 --> 00:44:14,875 Instagram pages and Facebook pages. 921 00:44:15,255 --> 00:44:17,265 We just want to be real. 922 00:44:17,615 --> 00:44:20,705 Like people just want to engage with real people. 923 00:44:20,925 --> 00:44:22,445 They want to be entertained. 924 00:44:22,455 --> 00:44:23,845 They want to be lifted up. 925 00:44:23,855 --> 00:44:26,735 They want to feel like they're part of something bigger than themselves. 926 00:44:27,005 --> 00:44:29,005 That's all social media is. 927 00:44:29,230 --> 00:44:30,880 Matt: Yeah, that's super powerful. 928 00:44:31,190 --> 00:44:32,320 It's why I love podcasting. 929 00:44:32,850 --> 00:44:36,070 And I because it's easy content creation. 930 00:44:36,070 --> 00:44:36,780 I'm not going to lie. 931 00:44:37,080 --> 00:44:39,700 If I think about the last 45 minutes to an hour. 932 00:44:39,710 --> 00:44:40,540 We've been going. 933 00:44:41,730 --> 00:44:43,230 I've not had to think about anything. 934 00:44:43,230 --> 00:44:45,930 It's all, I'm just asking you questions and picking your brain, right? 935 00:44:45,930 --> 00:44:47,520 It's none of this has come from me. 936 00:44:47,960 --> 00:44:49,470 Which is, so it makes it easy. 937 00:44:49,500 --> 00:44:50,650 It's a wonderful conversation. 938 00:44:50,650 --> 00:44:51,240 It's entertaining. 939 00:44:51,240 --> 00:44:52,220 People get drawn in. 940 00:44:52,640 --> 00:44:55,500 And we constantly show up and now we have thousands of people listening to 941 00:44:55,500 --> 00:44:57,050 the podcast, which is just brilliant. 942 00:44:57,050 --> 00:44:58,880 I definitely don't take it for granted. 943 00:44:59,540 --> 00:45:02,126 Sarah: Is how you are serving your audience, right? 944 00:45:02,126 --> 00:45:05,716 You're serving your audience in this way before you ever ask 945 00:45:05,716 --> 00:45:07,226 them to buy any of your products. 946 00:45:07,556 --> 00:45:09,596 You are teaching them who you are. 947 00:45:09,596 --> 00:45:13,696 You are letting them know and trust you by your inflections in your voice 948 00:45:13,726 --> 00:45:17,046 or the jokes that you may, they're getting to know your personality. 949 00:45:17,046 --> 00:45:18,646 This is your live, right? 950 00:45:18,946 --> 00:45:22,056 So the people watching you on video as we're recording this podcast 951 00:45:22,086 --> 00:45:24,916 and the people listening in their earbuds, they're hearing our voice. 952 00:45:25,471 --> 00:45:27,101 which is so personal. 953 00:45:27,301 --> 00:45:31,791 They're getting to know us on that level because we're just normal people. 954 00:45:31,821 --> 00:45:34,161 We're just talking about the things we talk about. 955 00:45:34,461 --> 00:45:37,341 And that's how you're building your audience and you're serving your audience. 956 00:45:38,851 --> 00:45:39,141 Matt: true. 957 00:45:39,441 --> 00:45:42,551 And actually, 75 percent of people that listen to podcasts are either in 958 00:45:42,551 --> 00:45:44,101 the car or they're walking the dog. 959 00:45:44,411 --> 00:45:47,531 You're in very personal space when they're engaging with what you're saying. 960 00:45:47,941 --> 00:45:52,451 Which makes it quite an extraordinary medium, but anyway, Sarah, listen, 961 00:45:52,451 --> 00:45:55,421 I'm very aware of the time and you've been super generous so far. 962 00:45:55,721 --> 00:45:58,461 If people want to reach out to you, if they want to connect with you, 963 00:45:58,481 --> 00:46:02,781 find out more about your book, your course, your coaching, where do we go? 964 00:46:02,781 --> 00:46:03,477 Fantastic. 965 00:46:03,561 --> 00:46:05,561 Sarah: Just come over to launchyourbox. 966 00:46:05,591 --> 00:46:06,021 com. 967 00:46:06,141 --> 00:46:09,281 Super easy to remember as you're walking the dog, launchyourbox. 968 00:46:09,281 --> 00:46:09,311 com. 969 00:46:09,831 --> 00:46:12,681 You will find everything that I do over there. 970 00:46:12,711 --> 00:46:14,121 You can follow me on the socials. 971 00:46:14,161 --> 00:46:17,641 I go live every Monday for a good little business pep talk if you need 972 00:46:17,641 --> 00:46:19,371 that in your ear on Monday morning. 973 00:46:19,731 --> 00:46:22,001 And I have a wonderful podcast as well. 974 00:46:22,031 --> 00:46:25,911 I show up every week and deliver great content, strategies, tactics, and some 975 00:46:25,911 --> 00:46:27,471 great interviews with my students. 976 00:46:27,491 --> 00:46:29,531 And that's the Launch Your Box podcast as well. 977 00:46:29,931 --> 00:46:31,161 Matt: podcast. 978 00:46:31,161 --> 00:46:31,911 I'm a subscriber. 979 00:46:31,931 --> 00:46:32,701 I do listen to it. 980 00:46:33,401 --> 00:46:35,221 Fascinating some of the stuff that comes out. 981 00:46:35,221 --> 00:46:37,841 I'm like, Ooh, I take some notes which is great. 982 00:46:37,861 --> 00:46:38,731 So do check it out. 983 00:46:38,731 --> 00:46:39,811 LaunchYourBox. 984 00:46:39,861 --> 00:46:42,241 com is the website to go to. 985 00:46:42,251 --> 00:46:46,281 We will of course link to all of that in the show notes which you can get 986 00:46:46,291 --> 00:46:49,551 along for free with transcripts on the website, or it's come into your email. 987 00:46:49,551 --> 00:46:53,701 If you've already signed up, listen, Sarah, I thank you so 988 00:46:53,861 --> 00:46:54,951 much for coming on the show. 989 00:46:55,031 --> 00:46:55,901 Super grateful. 990 00:46:55,901 --> 00:46:56,951 Love the conversation. 991 00:46:57,341 --> 00:46:58,121 Do you know what I loved? 992 00:46:58,346 --> 00:47:01,226 Your passion, and I love the simplicity of the message. 993 00:47:01,226 --> 00:47:03,326 It's not complex what you're talking about. 994 00:47:03,786 --> 00:47:05,346 You've just gotta graft a little bit. 995 00:47:05,556 --> 00:47:08,226 I dunno if that translate actually that translate across. 996 00:47:08,616 --> 00:47:10,506 It's gotta work a little bit, hustle a little bit. 997 00:47:10,916 --> 00:47:12,716 Be passionate, show up, be consistent. 998 00:47:12,716 --> 00:47:16,186 But I love the simplicity of your message and love what you're doing. 999 00:47:16,186 --> 00:47:20,211 Thank you for just being so awesome today and bringing all that to our audience. 1000 00:47:21,277 --> 00:47:22,137 Sarah: Thank you for having me. 1001 00:47:22,137 --> 00:47:22,667 I enjoyed it. 1002 00:47:22,687 --> 00:47:24,357 I could, we could talk about this all day long, 1003 00:47:24,357 --> 00:47:24,667 couldn't we? 1004 00:47:24,691 --> 00:47:26,601 Matt: I feel like we're just getting warmed up, if I'm honest with you. 1005 00:47:28,531 --> 00:47:31,981 So many more questions, but no, it's fantastic. 1006 00:47:32,481 --> 00:47:36,211 Also a big shout out to today's show sponsor, the eCommerce Cohort. 1007 00:47:36,221 --> 00:47:39,221 Remember to check out that membership group, ecommercecohort. 1008 00:47:39,791 --> 00:47:40,711 com, you're going to want to be in it. 1009 00:47:40,926 --> 00:47:41,826 Because I'm in it. 1010 00:47:41,866 --> 00:47:42,816 So why would you not be in it? 1011 00:47:42,866 --> 00:47:43,596 It's just, it's the way it is. 1012 00:47:44,856 --> 00:47:47,956 Also, be sure to follow the eCommerce Podcast wherever you get your 1013 00:47:48,166 --> 00:47:50,936 podcasts from, because we've got some more great conversations lined up. 1014 00:47:51,386 --> 00:47:53,346 I don't want you to miss any of them. 1015 00:47:53,616 --> 00:47:56,646 And in case no one has told you yet today, let me be the first. 1016 00:47:56,656 --> 00:47:57,986 You are awesome. 1017 00:47:58,076 --> 00:47:58,586 Yes, you are. 1018 00:47:58,596 --> 00:47:59,446 Created awesome. 1019 00:47:59,736 --> 00:48:01,696 It's just a burden you have to bear. 1020 00:48:01,986 --> 00:48:02,906 Sarah has to bear it. 1021 00:48:03,286 --> 00:48:04,056 I've got to bear it. 1022 00:48:04,521 --> 00:48:05,441 You've got to bear it as well. 1023 00:48:05,871 --> 00:48:08,691 Now, the eCommerce Podcast is produced by Aurion Media. 1024 00:48:08,691 --> 00:48:12,501 You can find our entire archive of episodes on your favorite podcast app. 1025 00:48:12,501 --> 00:48:16,331 The team that makes this show possible is the beautiful, amazing, 1026 00:48:16,331 --> 00:48:20,581 talented Sadaf Beynon and equally beautiful, talented Tanya Hutsuliak. 1027 00:48:20,901 --> 00:48:22,661 Theme song was written by Josh Edmundson. 1028 00:48:22,701 --> 00:48:25,751 And as I mentioned, if you would like to read the transcript or show 1029 00:48:25,831 --> 00:48:27,401 notes, head over to the website. 1030 00:48:27,431 --> 00:48:28,971 You know it by now, eCommercePodcast. 1031 00:48:30,041 --> 00:48:30,071 com. 1032 00:48:30,671 --> 00:48:34,491 That's it from me, that's it from Sarah, thank you so much for 1033 00:48:34,491 --> 00:48:37,601 joining us, have a fantastic week, wherever you are in the world, I'll 1034 00:48:37,601 --> 00:48:39,091 see you next time, bye for now.