June 10, 2024 • 25 mins
In this episode of Subscription Box Basics, host Julie Ball is joined by Jessica Principe, founder of All Girl Shave Club and the new owner of A Year of Boxes. They discuss the tremendous benefits of being listed on third-party review sites like A Year of Boxes, including increased visibility, SEO advantages, and access to a new audience. Jess shares her journey in the subscription box industry, the importance of having accountability partners, and tips for leveraging features in gift guides to boost sales. The episode also highlights the upcoming Subscription Box Awards and offers listeners a chance to get a free directory listing on A Year of Boxes.
00:00 Introduction
00:55 Jessica's Journey in the Subscription Box Industry
02:31 The Importance of Having a Box Bestie
06:22 What is 'A Year of Boxes'?
08:36 Benefits of Being Listed on Third-Party Review Sites
19:16 How to Get Involved with 'A Year of Boxes'
24:27 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Resources mentioned:
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
So you want to launch a subscription box and don't
know where to start, girl, youare in the right place.
I'm Julie ball and I'm ReneeGonzalez, your host here at
subscription box basics, apodcast for new and aspiring
subscription box entrepreneurswanting to avoid overwhelm.
So grab a coffee, some pen andpaper, and let's have some fun.
Julie (00:22):
Hey, everybody.
And welcome back to SubscriptionBox Basics, the podcast.
I'm Julie Ball, your head coach.
And today I have a very specialfriend.
Actually, my box bestie is herewith me, Jessica Principe.
Hey, Jess.
Hey, Julie, thanks so much forhaving me.
I always love joining you.
Yes, you've been on the podcastseveral times now, but guys, if
(00:44):
you haven't met Jess, let mejust tell you, she's got some
serious street cred in thesubscription box industry.
She is not only the founder ofAll Girl Shave Club, But also
over the years, she's become asubscription box mentor, and now
she is the new owner of a yearof boxes.
Yay! And that's what we're goingto be talking about today.
Jessica (01:04):
Yes! I'm so excited to share more with everybody.
Speaker (01:07):
Yeah, it is such a great opportunity, whether you
are brand new.
In the subscription box game, orif you are an established box,
this episode is for you.
So before we dive into a year ofboxes, Jess, why don't you just
tell everyone a little bit aboutyourself and then we'll tell
them too, about our history ofhow we met and became box
(01:28):
besties.
Jessica (01:29):
Yes, for sure.
So I started my subscription boxbusiness, all girl shave club
back in 2000.
Gosh, almost eight years ago nowit goes by so fast, especially
when you're working in thesubscription box industry and
you're planning monthly, like,oh my gosh, your years just fly
by.
So yeah, I've been doing it foralmost eight years and over the
(01:50):
Over the course of, of my timedoing it, I just, like you said,
started to take on some coachingand some mentoring and creating
some digital products aroundthings that I felt like would
have been really beneficial tome in those early stages, like
how to, you know, send andschedule emails consistently and
prelaunch and all of that.
So that's kind of what I've beendoing.
(02:11):
And then the opportunity for ayear of boxes just came to me
out of the blue.
I was not looking for it.
It was not.
part of my plan.
But it came to me and I kind oftook advantage of the
opportunity to grow my mybusiness through, through that
acquisition.
So that's what I'm doing isrunning all three of those
businesses and juggling my twolittle boys who are not so
(02:33):
little anymore, 13 and 11 andjust kind of living it up here
in New Hampshire.
Speaker (02:40):
Very cool.
I love that you took over a yearof boxes because I think it's so
smart as a business owner tohave multiple streams of revenue
and they're, they're different.
Like they're all very different.
So real quick, before we talk,tell everyone what a year boxes
is, our history goes back towhen you started your box
(03:00):
business.
And when I started mine too, in2016, we had met online in some
groups, but then in person.
In, let's see, October of 2016,this, that was the first month I
sent any boxes.
You were still in pre launch,right?
Yes.
Yep.
We met in Nashville at an eventcalled the Business Boutique.
(03:22):
It was run by a business coachnamed Christy Wright.
And it was this awesome event.
There were what, like 3000 womenentrepreneurs mostly in the
early stages.
Mm-Hmm.
And Jess was there as a attendeeand I was there as a marketplace
vendor.
And so we were like, we have tomeet.
(03:43):
We have to meet.
And we still have the photo fromthe day we met, which is so
cool.
We look like baby entrepreneurs.
And you came to the booth andyou introduced yourself.
We chit chatted just a littlebit.
We, we really didn't have timeto talk a ton because there was
so much going on at the eventand we didn't want to miss
anything.
But over the years, we were ableto be this kind of like sounding
(04:06):
board for each other.
And I love that.
I think that's so important foreveryone to have a box bestie or
an accountability buddy to throwideas against, to pick up when
you're down, to encourage eachother, and just to cheer each
other on.
Because What we found early onwas the subscription box
business model was so differentthan any other business model.
(04:30):
And so, like, we couldn't justask anybody for advice.
We couldn't ask our friends andfamily for advice because they
thought we were crazy, right?
Jessica (04:40):
It's so true.
And it was you know, a businessmodel that neither of us had any
experience in either.
So neither of us really had anye commerce or online services.
Well, you did the digitalmarketing, but like we didn't
have experience selling thosetypes of physical products and
stuff.
So it was really, really helpfulhaving each other to just
understand what you're goingthrough and support each other.
(05:01):
And so we are big advocates ofmaking sure you find somebody
like that.
And really meeting in personjust helps like cement that
relationship.
Like it makes you realintangible.
You're not just a face on thescreen.
You're like someone that I canreally like hug and know and
trust.
And that's helpful.
Speaker (05:18):
Oh, yes, we and we've seen each other several times in
person at the sub summit, bossmom retreat.
So we've made a point to alsoattend events at the same time.
Yeah.
And if you have anaccountability buddy, and you're
like, Well, how do I actuallymanage this?
The way Jess and I do this is wehave Voxer.
An app on our phones.
It's like a walkie talkie app.
(05:38):
We talk on that probably everysingle day.
Yeah.
And then we regularly meet anddo little zoom calls or just
sessions to help each other out.
So if you're thinking, okay,like, how do I manage this with
the accountability buddy?
Yeah.
Make sure that there's some sortof regular communication and
(05:59):
schedule those Zoom calls, thosevirtual coffee chats, whatever
it is you need to stay in touch.
Put it actually on yourcalendar.
Jessica (06:07):
Yeah, I would agree because it's so easy to be like,
oh, I'm so busy today, I can'treally make it, or should I
cancel, or should I reschedule?
But when we commit to it and weshow up for each other, like, it
just, it's really, really helpsand it goes a long way.
So, and it helps you with yourmood too, and your energy around
running a business, which cansometimes be
Speaker (06:26):
very tricky.
Exactly.
And if we're, if we're beingvery honest here, Jess and I
actually spent about 20 minuteson this quick zoom call before
we recorded the podcast and dida little therapy session.
We're there for each other inbusiness and personal, which is
just so lovely.
Okay.
So let's.
Let's talk about a year ofboxes.
(06:46):
Jess, just tell us, what is
Jessica (06:48):
a year of boxes?
Okay, so if you've been in thesubscription box game for a
little while, you may have heardof it.
It's been around for over 10years.
Yeah, I know.
Can you believe it?
She started it, I believe, in2012.
So it was started by SarahColussi and it's a subscription
box review website and blogessentially.
(07:10):
So you can go to the Europeboxes and you can find the
directory of all these amazingsubscription boxes and filter by
type or style or location orprice point.
And you can read reviews, findcoupons, find spoilers.
It is a lot of fun, lots of giftguides and editorial content on
there as well.
So it's just a great place forsubscription box enthusiasts to
(07:32):
go to find their next favoritebox.
Speaker (07:34):
So I remember spending advertising money on a year of
boxes back in the day when I wasrunning my subscription box.
And it was always such an easyyes for me because they spoke
directly to subscription boxenthusiasts.
Like you said.
Jessica (07:50):
Yes.
Speaker (07:50):
The audience that.
Spends time on a year of boxes.
com They are looking for thenext box to add to their
collection.
And so it was always such aneasy Yes for me compared to
Randomly throwing facebook adsout the door or sponsoring an
event and I I find value in allof those things Yes, but when
(08:11):
someone is able to come to youcome to the table and be like I
have, you know, X amount ofsubscription box enthusiasts on
my email list, visiting mywebsite, following me on social
media.
Do you want in on this?
And it's like, yeah, I want inon this.
Jessica (08:26):
Yes, please.
Yeah.
Actually, when I first took overyour boxes, I wanted to learn
more about the audience.
And one of the things that Iasked in the survey that I sent
them was how many boxes did theysubscribe to?
And the large majority of ourreaders subscribe to four or
more boxes.
So they are very activelyengaged in the subscription box
(08:47):
community and they are reallylooking for their next favorite
box.
So it is a great place to getvisibility.
Of course, the ultimate goal isalways sales and transactions,
but there are lots of otherbenefits to, to being listed on
the site.
Speaker (08:59):
Well, let's talk about them.
There are so many benefits ofbeing on a third party review
site.
One.
I mean.
I just said it.
It's a third party.
It's someone else doing theresearch, doing the unboxings.
It's not me as the businessowner unboxing my own box
saying, this is great.
It's someone else.
And I know you, Jess, likeyou're not going to open a box
(09:21):
and recommend it if it doesn'tmeet kind of, what's the word
I'm looking for?
Like,
Jessica (09:28):
Yeah, a quality standard.
Right?
We want to have some standardsand we want to make sure we're
presenting boxes that consumerswould really love and find value
out of.
So, for sure.
Speaker (09:38):
Agreed.
So, other than it being a thirdparty, go ahead and talk to our
audience about some of thosebenefits of being listed on a
year boxes.
Jessica (09:48):
Yeah, exactly.
So what you just said isdefinitely spot on is being able
to kind of add a little bit ofcredibility to your box.
So having a third party, whetherit's a year of boxes or somebody
else who has a blog similar tothis or some kind of platform,
they are giving you valuablesocial proof for your box.
So this can be in the form of areview or a video or an unboxing
(10:12):
or something like that, that youcan then repurpose in Lot of
different ways.
So not only can you just sharethe article and say, Hey, look,
like we were just featured, likethat gives you instant
credibility, but you can alsopull marketing language from the
content that they're using.
Like maybe you never consideredmarketing your box from a
specific angle that they did,that could be a great way to
(10:33):
test a new angle for marketing,or you can repurpose the actual
images or the videos ordifferent clips of the images or
videos.
Again, every third party site isgoing to work a little bit
differently.
A year of boxes.
I give my clients or my brandpartners usage rights.
So you are totally welcome touse any photos, any videos,
(10:53):
clips of our YouTube unboxings,whatever we create for you.
You are totally welcome torepurpose that on your own
channels, on your own website,use it in ads, like I want you
to take it and run with it.
Speaker (11:05):
Oh, that is so helpful because it's going to look
professional.
It is going to be done for you.
It's not a new ad or new contentthat I have to create as the
business owner, which getsexhausting.
Jessica (11:19):
Yes.
Speaker (11:20):
So I love that.
So content you are able torepurpose in all the places.
So
Jessica (11:28):
valuable.
Definitely.
And then another benefit is SEO.
So if you're kind of dabbling inSEO or search engine
optimization, this is a greatway to acquire quality backlinks
from a reputable high rankingsite.
So by doing that, when we postabout your box on our high
ranking site, it gives you aboost of SEO to and improves
(11:50):
your rankings and can drive moreorganic traffic your way
Speaker (11:53):
as a result.
So what that means in the end,when you have your SEO boosted,
that gives you moreopportunities to get on that
coveted page one of the searchengine ranking.
So when someone Googles relevantkeywords, your.
A year of boxes listing canactually show up as an
(12:14):
additional listing.
Now the goal is say you want toget all of the listings of say
the top 10 for example.
Well that might be your productpage, that might be your home
page, that might be yoursubscribe page, but that gives
seven other listings in that top10.
And so it's great to have thoseas third party review sites that
(12:35):
are still pointing to you.
And so you want to use that SEO,I like to call it like the
juice, the link juice.
It's going to help boost you inthose rankings.
Jessica (12:45):
Yes, for sure.
And it's something that I'mlearning about as well, but it's
super, super valuable,especially for newer boxes that
maybe don't have as muchhistory.
It's a great way to kind ofestablish that authority for
you.
Speaker (12:56):
Yeah.
And those, those listings also,those rankings can include your
social media.
So it can be your YouTube, itcan be your Instagram.
So the more of them that haveyour name in it, the better.
Jessica (13:08):
Yes, for sure.
And along the lines of that,like kind of talking about like
your name and the touch pointsthat go along with being visible
with your box is, you know, weare also providing the
opportunity to have more ofthose touch points.
So I forget exactly what thestatistic is.
It used to be seven marketingtouch points before you make a
sale, but I think it's gone upto like 20 or something crazy
(13:29):
like that.
I don't even know, but you know,it's all, it all works together.
It's kind of like.
filtering in more of those touchpoints, the reviews, the, the
directory listing, any types ofsocial media mentions on another
platform, all of that is kind ofworking together to like help
expand your reach andvisibility.
Speaker (13:49):
Excellent.
So you talked about content andyou talked about listings.
And one thing that comes to mymind, That is a huge benefit for
the box owner to be a part of ayear of boxes is gift guides.
So we are, when, as we'rerecording this, we're coming up
on Father's Day.
I know you did a Father's Daygift guide.
I know personally, when I wasrunning Sparkle Hustle Grow, I
(14:13):
got listed in a gift guide thattripled our gift box sales that
holiday season.
And so I, yeah, so I know thatbeing a part of gift guides has
such a ripple effect.
Not only are you getting, youknow, the social proof that you
can repurpose, you know, when Iwas listed, for example, in this
gift guide in Forbes, we startedcreating ads that said, you
(14:36):
know, best gift forentrepreneurs Forbes.
Like we started putting that inall of our marketing messaging.
So that is so smart.
I love that.
Think about that.
Yes.
Yes.
So not only will Did I get linksback from this site, but I was
able to proactively createmarketing based around that
(15:00):
campaign.
I was able to toot my own hornand tell all the people and then
We actually then created insertsin all of our November and
December boxes that said, bestgift.
And so this, this wasencouraging our existing
subscribers to gift it to otherpeople.
So there's just so many thingsyou can do with a gift guide.
Jessica (15:18):
Oh
Speaker (15:19):
my
Jessica (15:19):
gosh, that is such a good idea.
I feel like we could talk allday about how to leverage a gift
guide now.
There's so many layers to it,but I do think like you bring up
a really good point When youpartner with a third party site
like this, especially in a guestguide or someplace where you're
really like building up thatcredibility, like you are
working as a partner in that,right?
Like you can, you can use thatand take it as far as you
(15:41):
possibly can, like, expand itand share it with your audience,
use it as content, use it inyour ads.
Like really give it the mileagethat you can, because it's not,
it's not just being amplified onone channel.
You can take it even one stepfurther.
15 steps further if you want to.
Speaker (15:59):
Exactly.
It's funny.
Years ago, we decided we weregoing to buy a white Honda
Pilot.
And then all we saw on the roadwas like white Honda Pilots were
like, we see this everywhere.
And it's kind of like that withadvertising.
And as a business owner, youhave to make it like that.
So maybe they're on Facebook,and then they get this ad or
they see your post about beingin this gift guide.
(16:21):
And then they get their emailfrom a year boxes that shows
that you were in that.
You know, you want to be in allthe places when you have some
sort of feature like that.
And make sure that if you'refeatured in a gift guide, you
put that on your website too.
You have that as seen in sectionthat you can put the Year of
Boxes logo, for example.
Jessica (16:40):
Yeah, for sure.
And when you are featured in agift guide, share the link to
that gift guide with youraudience.
Because if everybody in the giftguide does that, you're getting
even more traffic and visibilityon your box.
Like you're working together.
You're truly are working as apartner.
So there's lots of things youcan do.
It's exciting.
Speaker (16:57):
Gift guides are some of my favorite things.
I've definitely dug deep on giftguides.
PR and media and visibility.
If you guys are listening andyou want to learn more about
that, I'll make sure that I putsome links in the show notes to
some other episodes about thatand to my mentor in that space,
Selena Su.
She does all kinds of coolprograms.
That is such a good idea.
(17:17):
She does have great stuff.
Especially her free calendar.
Oh, I love that publicitycalendar.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
I'll put the link in there.
She still offers that year afteryear after year.
And every year I download it andI'm like, this is just the
roadmap.
This is so easy to follow whenit comes to pitching yourself to
media.
It's so genius.
Yep.
There's a reason she keepsreleasing it.
(17:38):
Exactly.
Exactly.
Okay.
So back to it.
Let's, we're still talking aboutthe benefits of being listed on
30 third party review sites,like a year of boxes.
So what else is, valuable here?
Jessica (17:50):
you're definitely reaching a new audience.
You're reaching a whole bunch ofpeople that maybe you wouldn't
have reached in other ways.
Again, it's all about thosetouch points.
So if you know you're, if you'refeatured in the newsletter and
then again on YouTube and maybein one of our private Facebook
groups, you're getting thosetouch points in all the
different places.
And that can lead to increasedtraffic to your website,
(18:11):
increased traffic to your socialmedia channels.
Thank you Maybe people willstart joining your email list.
Sometimes they're not astrackable as just straight up
sales, but it all works towardsthat funnel of sales eventually.
Speaker (18:23):
Yeah.
There's, there's again, one ofthe ripple effects of something
like this.
You get in front of newaudiences.
Maybe they click through to yourwebsite, even if they didn't buy
right away.
You can pixel them and startretargeting them with ads.
So, that new audience coming toyour website for the first time,
(18:43):
you may have to take someadditional steps to nurture
them.
So, retargeting ads, capturingtheir email address, things like
that.
But that first step of reachingthe new audience member,
reaching that new person,potential, Subscriber is
oftentimes the hardest step.
And so that's something that youat your boxes can do Yeah, for
(19:04):
sure
Jessica (19:05):
And especially being able to reach people that are
already well versed on whatsubscription boxes are like
there's a benefit there in andof itself because sometimes it
can be a little bit tricky whenyou're just running like a
direct facebook ad where you'relike people in the comments can
get a little weird where theydon't really know what
Subscription box is or they getupset about the idea of a
monthly charge, right?
(19:26):
You But the readers on thesethird party review sites, they
know what they're getting intobecause they know what a
subscription box is.
Speaker (19:33):
So they're automatically more qualified
than a cold audience.
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah.
Okay.
So we've talked about so manybenefits by now.
I'm guessing our audience islike, okay, how can I get
involved?
How can I get listed?
What are the things?
So Jess, walk us through that,what, what you've got going on,
what to, you know, expect in thefuture and how they can get
(19:55):
involved.
Jessica (19:55):
Yeah, for sure.
So there are lots of differentways that we can partner
together to kind of get somevisibility for your beautiful
box.
But the first thing that I wouldlove to offer is a free listing
on the directory.
This is normally a$25 fee, butI'm giving it away for free to
all of our friends atsubscription box Basics.
You can just go to a year ofboxes.com/free and clean your
(20:17):
free listing there.
It'll kind of walk you throughhow to fill out the.
The form and what you need tosubmit and all of that, and then
we'll create a directory listingfor you.
And with that directory listing,you'll automatically get a free
post on the website that kind ofshuts out your box as being a
new box to the directory.
So that is a fun first step.
And then from there, you'll beon our box on our newsletter
(20:38):
list.
So you'll always hear about newopportunities to partner for
gift guides or marketing orreviews, all kinds of fun
things.
And one thing that we do havecoming up that I want to make
sure I mentioned is thesubscription box awards.
Yes, I'm so excited.
This is going to be the second.
Sixth annual subscription boxawards with a year of boxes.
So I'm hoping that I can keep upthe good juju with it.
(21:02):
But yes, it's launching in July.
So the first week of July, thefirst two weeks of July are for
the Canadian best of Canadaboxes, and then the second or
the last two weeks in July aregoing to be the best of the U S.
So if you have a box in Canadaor the US, I'd love to get you
involved.
You just have your boxnominated.
It's a great way to kind ofengage your community to vote
(21:26):
for you and to support you and,you know, winning an award like
that adds a whole nother levelof credibility and Ability to
repurpose and PR and that kindof thing.
Oh, absolutely.
Yeah.
That's
Speaker (21:39):
so cool.
I'm really excited and we'lldefinitely make sure when those
go out, Jess, make sure that yougive me a link so I can put it
in our email newsletter too tomake sure that you don't miss
it.
But guys, listen, get your freelisting first of all.
That's step one.
Yeah.
As soon as you're done listeningto this.
episode, go get your freelisting, and then you will also
(22:00):
be in the loop for futureopportunities.
So think about if you're sittingin Jessica's seat, she has two
different audiences that shesends emails to.
One is to you guys, to the boxowners.
These are the opportunities.
Here, get involved.
And so the second list thenwould be the consumers.
And so that's where you'll getpromoted.
(22:22):
when you become a brand partner.
So I love that you have twodifferent audiences.
You're sharing two differenttypes of content, very specific
to them.
So there's, there's such abenefit to being part of that
list.
Jessica (22:38):
For sure.
It is literally where I go toshare any opportunity.
Like we had the Father's Daygift guide.
We're going to have lots ofthose coming up.
We have lots of differentspecial marketing opportunities.
We can do joint giveaways.
We can do reviews, YouTubeunboxings, lots of things.
So
Speaker (22:55):
for sure.
Well, I am so proud of you fortaking over this Gear of Boxes
site, and I'm so excited tocheer you on and see how this
can impact the bottom line forso many subscription box
businesses that are looking formarketing, that are looking for
ways to improve their SEO,traffic just, and I, I like to
(23:18):
think of this as really longterm too.
Yeah, a gift guide can be shortterm wins.
But this is long term too.
Once you have your listing,that's on the site for, I mean,
forever, right?
Pretty much?
Yep.
Jessica (23:30):
Yep, it is.
It is on there.
It is long term for sure.
Brand building and credibilitybuilding and, again, just all
about building up that interestand those touch points for your
box.
Speaker (23:40):
Nice.
Well, guys, if you're listeningand you're thinking about it,
you'd be crazy not to go getyour free listing.
We'll put all of those links inthe show notes so that you
didn't miss anything.
But again, that link wasayearofboxes.
com slash free.
F R E E.
That's right.
I'm so excited to learn moreabout all the awesome
Jessica (23:59):
boxes out there.
I can't wait.
Speaker (24:00):
Oh, it must be so fun getting all the boxes, getting
to experience them.
Oh my gosh, it is
Jessica (24:06):
so fun.
It is so, so, so fun.
And my office is like becomingsmaller and smaller and smaller
because there's like boxeseverywhere.
It is awesome.
I do love learning more aboutthem.
I think there are so manycreative,
Speaker (24:19):
talented, amazing people out there.
Yeah.
Well, and I think it'd be sointeresting to get your feedback
at some point too.
And maybe you do this on yourlist of like, What you see
working really well and whattrends you're seeing.
Oh,
Jessica (24:34):
yeah, I think that's a great idea.
I could totally add that to mybox on our newsletter list.
I love that.
Yes, maybe I can
Speaker (24:42):
pop in sometime and do a takeover.
Please, any day, any time, Iwould love to have you.
Done.
It's done.
We're making it happen.
Well, thank you so much forjoining me on today's episode,
Jess.
This is so cool.
I love the resource that youprovide.
And I'm really looking forwardto the upcoming awards.
Thank you so much for having me.
(25:03):
It was such a blast.
All right, everyone.
I hope you enjoyed this episode,and we'll see you on the next
one.
Bye.
So you want to launch a subscription box and don't
know where to start, girl, youare in the right place.
I'm Julie ball and I'm ReneeGonzalez, your host here at
subscription box basics, apodcast for new and aspiring
subscription box entrepreneurswanting to avoid overwhelm.
So grab a coffee, some pen andpaper, and let's have some fun.
Julie (00:22):
Hey, everybody.
And welcome back to SubscriptionBox Basics, the podcast.
I'm Julie Ball, your head coach.
And today I have a very specialfriend.
Actually, my box bestie is herewith me, Jessica Principe.
Hey, Jess.
Hey, Julie, thanks so much forhaving me.
I always love joining you.
Yes, you've been on the podcastseveral times now, but guys, if
(00:44):
you haven't met Jess, let mejust tell you, she's got some
serious street cred in thesubscription box industry.
She is not only the founder ofAll Girl Shave Club, But also
over the years, she's become asubscription box mentor, and now
she is the new owner of a yearof boxes.
Yay! And that's what we're goingto be talking about today.
Jessica (01:04):
Yes! I'm so excited to share more with everybody.
Speaker (01:07):
Yeah, it is such a great opportunity, whether you
are brand new.
In the subscription box game, orif you are an established box,
this episode is for you.
So before we dive into a year ofboxes, Jess, why don't you just
tell everyone a little bit aboutyourself and then we'll tell
them too, about our history ofhow we met and became box
(01:28):
besties.
Jessica (01:29):
Yes, for sure.
So I started my subscription boxbusiness, all girl shave club
back in 2000.
Gosh, almost eight years ago nowit goes by so fast, especially
when you're working in thesubscription box industry and
you're planning monthly, like,oh my gosh, your years just fly
by.
So yeah, I've been doing it foralmost eight years and over the
(01:50):
Over the course of, of my timedoing it, I just, like you said,
started to take on some coachingand some mentoring and creating
some digital products aroundthings that I felt like would
have been really beneficial tome in those early stages, like
how to, you know, send andschedule emails consistently and
prelaunch and all of that.
So that's kind of what I've beendoing.
(02:11):
And then the opportunity for ayear of boxes just came to me
out of the blue.
I was not looking for it.
It was not.
part of my plan.
But it came to me and I kind oftook advantage of the
opportunity to grow my mybusiness through, through that
acquisition.
So that's what I'm doing isrunning all three of those
businesses and juggling my twolittle boys who are not so
(02:33):
little anymore, 13 and 11 andjust kind of living it up here
in New Hampshire.
Speaker (02:40):
Very cool.
I love that you took over a yearof boxes because I think it's so
smart as a business owner tohave multiple streams of revenue
and they're, they're different.
Like they're all very different.
So real quick, before we talk,tell everyone what a year boxes
is, our history goes back towhen you started your box
(03:00):
business.
And when I started mine too, in2016, we had met online in some
groups, but then in person.
In, let's see, October of 2016,this, that was the first month I
sent any boxes.
You were still in pre launch,right?
Yes.
Yep.
We met in Nashville at an eventcalled the Business Boutique.
(03:22):
It was run by a business coachnamed Christy Wright.
And it was this awesome event.
There were what, like 3000 womenentrepreneurs mostly in the
early stages.
Mm-Hmm.
And Jess was there as a attendeeand I was there as a marketplace
vendor.
And so we were like, we have tomeet.
(03:43):
We have to meet.
And we still have the photo fromthe day we met, which is so
cool.
We look like baby entrepreneurs.
And you came to the booth andyou introduced yourself.
We chit chatted just a littlebit.
We, we really didn't have timeto talk a ton because there was
so much going on at the eventand we didn't want to miss
anything.
But over the years, we were ableto be this kind of like sounding
(04:06):
board for each other.
And I love that.
I think that's so important foreveryone to have a box bestie or
an accountability buddy to throwideas against, to pick up when
you're down, to encourage eachother, and just to cheer each
other on.
Because What we found early onwas the subscription box
business model was so differentthan any other business model.
(04:30):
And so, like, we couldn't justask anybody for advice.
We couldn't ask our friends andfamily for advice because they
thought we were crazy, right?
Jessica (04:40):
It's so true.
And it was you know, a businessmodel that neither of us had any
experience in either.
So neither of us really had anye commerce or online services.
Well, you did the digitalmarketing, but like we didn't
have experience selling thosetypes of physical products and
stuff.
So it was really, really helpfulhaving each other to just
understand what you're goingthrough and support each other.
(05:01):
And so we are big advocates ofmaking sure you find somebody
like that.
And really meeting in personjust helps like cement that
relationship.
Like it makes you realintangible.
You're not just a face on thescreen.
You're like someone that I canreally like hug and know and
trust.
And that's helpful.
Speaker (05:18):
Oh, yes, we and we've seen each other several times in
person at the sub summit, bossmom retreat.
So we've made a point to alsoattend events at the same time.
Yeah.
And if you have anaccountability buddy, and you're
like, Well, how do I actuallymanage this?
The way Jess and I do this is wehave Voxer.
An app on our phones.
It's like a walkie talkie app.
(05:38):
We talk on that probably everysingle day.
Yeah.
And then we regularly meet anddo little zoom calls or just
sessions to help each other out.
So if you're thinking, okay,like, how do I manage this with
the accountability buddy?
Yeah.
Make sure that there's some sortof regular communication and
(05:59):
schedule those Zoom calls, thosevirtual coffee chats, whatever
it is you need to stay in touch.
Put it actually on yourcalendar.
Jessica (06:07):
Yeah, I would agree because it's so easy to be like,
oh, I'm so busy today, I can'treally make it, or should I
cancel, or should I reschedule?
But when we commit to it and weshow up for each other, like, it
just, it's really, really helpsand it goes a long way.
So, and it helps you with yourmood too, and your energy around
running a business, which cansometimes be
Speaker (06:26):
very tricky.
Exactly.
And if we're, if we're beingvery honest here, Jess and I
actually spent about 20 minuteson this quick zoom call before
we recorded the podcast and dida little therapy session.
We're there for each other inbusiness and personal, which is
just so lovely.
Okay.
So let's.
Let's talk about a year ofboxes.
(06:46):
Jess, just tell us, what is
Jessica (06:48):
a year of boxes?
Okay, so if you've been in thesubscription box game for a
little while, you may have heardof it.
It's been around for over 10years.
Yeah, I know.
Can you believe it?
She started it, I believe, in2012.
So it was started by SarahColussi and it's a subscription
box review website and blogessentially.
(07:10):
So you can go to the Europeboxes and you can find the
directory of all these amazingsubscription boxes and filter by
type or style or location orprice point.
And you can read reviews, findcoupons, find spoilers.
It is a lot of fun, lots of giftguides and editorial content on
there as well.
So it's just a great place forsubscription box enthusiasts to
(07:32):
go to find their next favoritebox.
Speaker (07:34):
So I remember spending advertising money on a year of
boxes back in the day when I wasrunning my subscription box.
And it was always such an easyyes for me because they spoke
directly to subscription boxenthusiasts.
Like you said.
Jessica (07:50):
Yes.
Speaker (07:50):
The audience that.
Spends time on a year of boxes.
com They are looking for thenext box to add to their
collection.
And so it was always such aneasy Yes for me compared to
Randomly throwing facebook adsout the door or sponsoring an
event and I I find value in allof those things Yes, but when
(08:11):
someone is able to come to youcome to the table and be like I
have, you know, X amount ofsubscription box enthusiasts on
my email list, visiting mywebsite, following me on social
media.
Do you want in on this?
And it's like, yeah, I want inon this.
Jessica (08:26):
Yes, please.
Yeah.
Actually, when I first took overyour boxes, I wanted to learn
more about the audience.
And one of the things that Iasked in the survey that I sent
them was how many boxes did theysubscribe to?
And the large majority of ourreaders subscribe to four or
more boxes.
So they are very activelyengaged in the subscription box
(08:47):
community and they are reallylooking for their next favorite
box.
So it is a great place to getvisibility.
Of course, the ultimate goal isalways sales and transactions,
but there are lots of otherbenefits to, to being listed on
the site.
Speaker (08:59):
Well, let's talk about them.
There are so many benefits ofbeing on a third party review
site.
One.
I mean.
I just said it.
It's a third party.
It's someone else doing theresearch, doing the unboxings.
It's not me as the businessowner unboxing my own box
saying, this is great.
It's someone else.
And I know you, Jess, likeyou're not going to open a box
(09:21):
and recommend it if it doesn'tmeet kind of, what's the word
I'm looking for?
Like,
Jessica (09:28):
Yeah, a quality standard.
Right?
We want to have some standardsand we want to make sure we're
presenting boxes that consumerswould really love and find value
out of.
So, for sure.
Speaker (09:38):
Agreed.
So, other than it being a thirdparty, go ahead and talk to our
audience about some of thosebenefits of being listed on a
year boxes.
Jessica (09:48):
Yeah, exactly.
So what you just said isdefinitely spot on is being able
to kind of add a little bit ofcredibility to your box.
So having a third party, whetherit's a year of boxes or somebody
else who has a blog similar tothis or some kind of platform,
they are giving you valuablesocial proof for your box.
So this can be in the form of areview or a video or an unboxing
(10:12):
or something like that, that youcan then repurpose in Lot of
different ways.
So not only can you just sharethe article and say, Hey, look,
like we were just featured, likethat gives you instant
credibility, but you can alsopull marketing language from the
content that they're using.
Like maybe you never consideredmarketing your box from a
specific angle that they did,that could be a great way to
(10:33):
test a new angle for marketing,or you can repurpose the actual
images or the videos ordifferent clips of the images or
videos.
Again, every third party site isgoing to work a little bit
differently.
A year of boxes.
I give my clients or my brandpartners usage rights.
So you are totally welcome touse any photos, any videos,
(10:53):
clips of our YouTube unboxings,whatever we create for you.
You are totally welcome torepurpose that on your own
channels, on your own website,use it in ads, like I want you
to take it and run with it.
Speaker (11:05):
Oh, that is so helpful because it's going to look
professional.
It is going to be done for you.
It's not a new ad or new contentthat I have to create as the
business owner, which getsexhausting.
Jessica (11:19):
Yes.
Speaker (11:20):
So I love that.
So content you are able torepurpose in all the places.
So
Jessica (11:28):
valuable.
Definitely.
And then another benefit is SEO.
So if you're kind of dabbling inSEO or search engine
optimization, this is a greatway to acquire quality backlinks
from a reputable high rankingsite.
So by doing that, when we postabout your box on our high
ranking site, it gives you aboost of SEO to and improves
(11:50):
your rankings and can drive moreorganic traffic your way
Speaker (11:53):
as a result.
So what that means in the end,when you have your SEO boosted,
that gives you moreopportunities to get on that
coveted page one of the searchengine ranking.
So when someone Googles relevantkeywords, your.
A year of boxes listing canactually show up as an
(12:14):
additional listing.
Now the goal is say you want toget all of the listings of say
the top 10 for example.
Well that might be your productpage, that might be your home
page, that might be yoursubscribe page, but that gives
seven other listings in that top10.
And so it's great to have thoseas third party review sites that
(12:35):
are still pointing to you.
And so you want to use that SEO,I like to call it like the
juice, the link juice.
It's going to help boost you inthose rankings.
Jessica (12:45):
Yes, for sure.
And it's something that I'mlearning about as well, but it's
super, super valuable,especially for newer boxes that
maybe don't have as muchhistory.
It's a great way to kind ofestablish that authority for
you.
Speaker (12:56):
Yeah.
And those, those listings also,those rankings can include your
social media.
So it can be your YouTube, itcan be your Instagram.
So the more of them that haveyour name in it, the better.
Jessica (13:08):
Yes, for sure.
And along the lines of that,like kind of talking about like
your name and the touch pointsthat go along with being visible
with your box is, you know, weare also providing the
opportunity to have more ofthose touch points.
So I forget exactly what thestatistic is.
It used to be seven marketingtouch points before you make a
sale, but I think it's gone upto like 20 or something crazy
(13:29):
like that.
I don't even know, but you know,it's all, it all works together.
It's kind of like.
filtering in more of those touchpoints, the reviews, the, the
directory listing, any types ofsocial media mentions on another
platform, all of that is kind ofworking together to like help
expand your reach andvisibility.
Speaker (13:49):
Excellent.
So you talked about content andyou talked about listings.
And one thing that comes to mymind, That is a huge benefit for
the box owner to be a part of ayear of boxes is gift guides.
So we are, when, as we'rerecording this, we're coming up
on Father's Day.
I know you did a Father's Daygift guide.
I know personally, when I wasrunning Sparkle Hustle Grow, I
(14:13):
got listed in a gift guide thattripled our gift box sales that
holiday season.
And so I, yeah, so I know thatbeing a part of gift guides has
such a ripple effect.
Not only are you getting, youknow, the social proof that you
can repurpose, you know, when Iwas listed, for example, in this
gift guide in Forbes, we startedcreating ads that said, you
(14:36):
know, best gift forentrepreneurs Forbes.
Like we started putting that inall of our marketing messaging.
So that is so smart.
I love that.
Think about that.
Yes.
Yes.
So not only will Did I get linksback from this site, but I was
able to proactively createmarketing based around that
(15:00):
campaign.
I was able to toot my own hornand tell all the people and then
We actually then created insertsin all of our November and
December boxes that said, bestgift.
And so this, this wasencouraging our existing
subscribers to gift it to otherpeople.
So there's just so many thingsyou can do with a gift guide.
Jessica (15:18):
Oh
Speaker (15:19):
my
Jessica (15:19):
gosh, that is such a good idea.
I feel like we could talk allday about how to leverage a gift
guide now.
There's so many layers to it,but I do think like you bring up
a really good point When youpartner with a third party site
like this, especially in a guestguide or someplace where you're
really like building up thatcredibility, like you are
working as a partner in that,right?
Like you can, you can use thatand take it as far as you
(15:41):
possibly can, like, expand itand share it with your audience,
use it as content, use it inyour ads.
Like really give it the mileagethat you can, because it's not,
it's not just being amplified onone channel.
You can take it even one stepfurther.
15 steps further if you want to.
Speaker (15:59):
Exactly.
It's funny.
Years ago, we decided we weregoing to buy a white Honda
Pilot.
And then all we saw on the roadwas like white Honda Pilots were
like, we see this everywhere.
And it's kind of like that withadvertising.
And as a business owner, youhave to make it like that.
So maybe they're on Facebook,and then they get this ad or
they see your post about beingin this gift guide.
(16:21):
And then they get their emailfrom a year boxes that shows
that you were in that.
You know, you want to be in allthe places when you have some
sort of feature like that.
And make sure that if you'refeatured in a gift guide, you
put that on your website too.
You have that as seen in sectionthat you can put the Year of
Boxes logo, for example.
Jessica (16:40):
Yeah, for sure.
And when you are featured in agift guide, share the link to
that gift guide with youraudience.
Because if everybody in the giftguide does that, you're getting
even more traffic and visibilityon your box.
Like you're working together.
You're truly are working as apartner.
So there's lots of things youcan do.
It's exciting.
Speaker (16:57):
Gift guides are some of my favorite things.
I've definitely dug deep on giftguides.
PR and media and visibility.
If you guys are listening andyou want to learn more about
that, I'll make sure that I putsome links in the show notes to
some other episodes about thatand to my mentor in that space,
Selena Su.
She does all kinds of coolprograms.
That is such a good idea.
(17:17):
She does have great stuff.
Especially her free calendar.
Oh, I love that publicitycalendar.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
I'll put the link in there.
She still offers that year afteryear after year.
And every year I download it andI'm like, this is just the
roadmap.
This is so easy to follow whenit comes to pitching yourself to
media.
It's so genius.
Yep.
There's a reason she keepsreleasing it.
(17:38):
Exactly.
Exactly.
Okay.
So back to it.
Let's, we're still talking aboutthe benefits of being listed on
30 third party review sites,like a year of boxes.
So what else is, valuable here?
Jessica (17:50):
you're definitely reaching a new audience.
You're reaching a whole bunch ofpeople that maybe you wouldn't
have reached in other ways.
Again, it's all about thosetouch points.
So if you know you're, if you'refeatured in the newsletter and
then again on YouTube and maybein one of our private Facebook
groups, you're getting thosetouch points in all the
different places.
And that can lead to increasedtraffic to your website,
(18:11):
increased traffic to your socialmedia channels.
Thank you Maybe people willstart joining your email list.
Sometimes they're not astrackable as just straight up
sales, but it all works towardsthat funnel of sales eventually.
Speaker (18:23):
Yeah.
There's, there's again, one ofthe ripple effects of something
like this.
You get in front of newaudiences.
Maybe they click through to yourwebsite, even if they didn't buy
right away.
You can pixel them and startretargeting them with ads.
So, that new audience coming toyour website for the first time,
(18:43):
you may have to take someadditional steps to nurture
them.
So, retargeting ads, capturingtheir email address, things like
that.
But that first step of reachingthe new audience member,
reaching that new person,potential, Subscriber is
oftentimes the hardest step.
And so that's something that youat your boxes can do Yeah, for
(19:04):
sure
Jessica (19:05):
And especially being able to reach people that are
already well versed on whatsubscription boxes are like
there's a benefit there in andof itself because sometimes it
can be a little bit tricky whenyou're just running like a
direct facebook ad where you'relike people in the comments can
get a little weird where theydon't really know what
Subscription box is or they getupset about the idea of a
monthly charge, right?
(19:26):
You But the readers on thesethird party review sites, they
know what they're getting intobecause they know what a
subscription box is.
Speaker (19:33):
So they're automatically more qualified
than a cold audience.
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah.
Okay.
So we've talked about so manybenefits by now.
I'm guessing our audience islike, okay, how can I get
involved?
How can I get listed?
What are the things?
So Jess, walk us through that,what, what you've got going on,
what to, you know, expect in thefuture and how they can get
(19:55):
involved.
Jessica (19:55):
Yeah, for sure.
So there are lots of differentways that we can partner
together to kind of get somevisibility for your beautiful
box.
But the first thing that I wouldlove to offer is a free listing
on the directory.
This is normally a$25 fee, butI'm giving it away for free to
all of our friends atsubscription box Basics.
You can just go to a year ofboxes.com/free and clean your
(20:17):
free listing there.
It'll kind of walk you throughhow to fill out the.
The form and what you need tosubmit and all of that, and then
we'll create a directory listingfor you.
And with that directory listing,you'll automatically get a free
post on the website that kind ofshuts out your box as being a
new box to the directory.
So that is a fun first step.
And then from there, you'll beon our box on our newsletter
(20:38):
list.
So you'll always hear about newopportunities to partner for
gift guides or marketing orreviews, all kinds of fun
things.
And one thing that we do havecoming up that I want to make
sure I mentioned is thesubscription box awards.
Yes, I'm so excited.
This is going to be the second.
Sixth annual subscription boxawards with a year of boxes.
So I'm hoping that I can keep upthe good juju with it.
(21:02):
But yes, it's launching in July.
So the first week of July, thefirst two weeks of July are for
the Canadian best of Canadaboxes, and then the second or
the last two weeks in July aregoing to be the best of the U S.
So if you have a box in Canadaor the US, I'd love to get you
involved.
You just have your boxnominated.
It's a great way to kind ofengage your community to vote
(21:26):
for you and to support you and,you know, winning an award like
that adds a whole nother levelof credibility and Ability to
repurpose and PR and that kindof thing.
Oh, absolutely.
Yeah.
That's
Speaker (21:39):
so cool.
I'm really excited and we'lldefinitely make sure when those
go out, Jess, make sure that yougive me a link so I can put it
in our email newsletter too tomake sure that you don't miss
it.
But guys, listen, get your freelisting first of all.
That's step one.
Yeah.
As soon as you're done listeningto this.
episode, go get your freelisting, and then you will also
(22:00):
be in the loop for futureopportunities.
So think about if you're sittingin Jessica's seat, she has two
different audiences that shesends emails to.
One is to you guys, to the boxowners.
These are the opportunities.
Here, get involved.
And so the second list thenwould be the consumers.
And so that's where you'll getpromoted.
(22:22):
when you become a brand partner.
So I love that you have twodifferent audiences.
You're sharing two differenttypes of content, very specific
to them.
So there's, there's such abenefit to being part of that
list.
Jessica (22:38):
For sure.
It is literally where I go toshare any opportunity.
Like we had the Father's Daygift guide.
We're going to have lots ofthose coming up.
We have lots of differentspecial marketing opportunities.
We can do joint giveaways.
We can do reviews, YouTubeunboxings, lots of things.
So
Speaker (22:55):
for sure.
Well, I am so proud of you fortaking over this Gear of Boxes
site, and I'm so excited tocheer you on and see how this
can impact the bottom line forso many subscription box
businesses that are looking formarketing, that are looking for
ways to improve their SEO,traffic just, and I, I like to
(23:18):
think of this as really longterm too.
Yeah, a gift guide can be shortterm wins.
But this is long term too.
Once you have your listing,that's on the site for, I mean,
forever, right?
Pretty much?
Yep.
Jessica (23:30):
Yep, it is.
It is on there.
It is long term for sure.
Brand building and credibilitybuilding and, again, just all
about building up that interestand those touch points for your
box.
Speaker (23:40):
Nice.
Well, guys, if you're listeningand you're thinking about it,
you'd be crazy not to go getyour free listing.
We'll put all of those links inthe show notes so that you
didn't miss anything.
But again, that link wasayearofboxes.
com slash free.
F R E E.
That's right.
I'm so excited to learn moreabout all the awesome
Jessica (23:59):
boxes out there.
I can't wait.
Speaker (24:00):
Oh, it must be so fun getting all the boxes, getting
to experience them.
Oh my gosh, it is
Jessica (24:06):
so fun.
It is so, so, so fun.
And my office is like becomingsmaller and smaller and smaller
because there's like boxeseverywhere.
It is awesome.
I do love learning more aboutthem.
I think there are so manycreative,
Speaker (24:19):
talented, amazing people out there.
Yeah.
Well, and I think it'd be sointeresting to get your feedback
at some point too.
And maybe you do this on yourlist of like, What you see
working really well and whattrends you're seeing.
Oh,
Jessica (24:34):
yeah, I think that's a great idea.
I could totally add that to mybox on our newsletter list.
I love that.
Yes, maybe I can
Speaker (24:42):
pop in sometime and do a takeover.
Please, any day, any time, Iwould love to have you.
Done.
It's done.
We're making it happen.
Well, thank you so much forjoining me on today's episode,
Jess.
This is so cool.
I love the resource that youprovide.
And I'm really looking forwardto the upcoming awards.
Thank you so much for having me.
(25:03):
It was such a blast.
All right, everyone.
I hope you enjoyed this episode,and we'll see you on the next
one.
Bye.
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