June 17, 2024 • 28 mins
While we are OOO at Sub Summit, you can enjoy the re-airing of this popular episode and take advantage of the free custom printed box offer! While you are listening, we're probably hanging out at the BoxUp booth, checking out their new custom packing tape (launching soon!)
- Use code SBB12 for 12 free custom printed boxes (just pay shipping) at https://go.boxup.com/julieball
- BoxUp on IG: https://www.instagram.com/iboxup/
- BoxUp on FB: https://www.facebook.com/boxup.printing/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Julie (00:00):
So you want to launch a subscription box and don't know
(00:02):
where to start?
Girl, you are in the rightplace.
I'm Julie Ball.
And I'm Rene Gonzalez.
It's your host here atsubscription box basics, a
podcast for new and aspiringsubscription box entrepreneurs
wanting to avoid overwhelm.
So grab a coffee, some pen andpaper, and let's have some fun.
These days, it can be reallytough to cut through the clutter
(00:24):
and stand out.
One easy way to do that is withpackaging that pops.
So that's why we are re-airingthis popular episode today where
our friends at BoxUp areoffering you 12 free, custom
printed boxes.
You just have to pay shipping,learn more in this episode and
use the link in the show notesto claim your free boxes.
Now to the episode.
(00:47):
Hey everybody and welcome backto subscription box basics.
This is Julie, your head coach.
And today I have a very specialguest that I actually met at
this year's sub summit.
I want to introduce you toCourtney Hubbard from box of Hey
girl, welcome to the podcast.
Hey, nice to see you again.
Yes.
And welcome.
It was so interesting because Igo to these events and I aim to
(01:09):
do a lot of networking and meetnew people and that's where we
met.
It was so great.
You came and hunted us down andtold us all about your company
and the capabilities and I wasblown away.
Immediately we're like, Reneeand I said, we need to get into
partnership with BoxUp.
So that's why you're here.
I want to introduce you to ourfollowers and we can talk all
(01:31):
kinds of tips about customboxes.
So let's start with a quickintroduction as people will be
meeting you for the first time.
So why don't you tell everyone alittle bit about yourself?
Courtney (01:40):
Yeah.
So my name is Courtney.
So I live in Terre Haute,Indiana, and that's where Boxups
is located.
I grew up here and I'm alsoreally into soccer.
I actually coach a local highschool soccer team How cool!
Something a little bit morepersonal about myself.
But that's something I enjoyoutside of work, but I've been
(02:00):
at Boxed Up since we started andhave been really involved in our
growth and so I get to know alot of our customers and it's
just been really exciting.
So it's good to be here and I'mexcited that we met at
SubSummit.
And yeah.
Julie (02:16):
Okay.
So you're the operationsmanager, right?
Yes.
Okay.
So everything that goes onbehind the scenes.
Let's talk a little bit about.
BoxUp.
Tell us about what it is, whatyou guys do, and then we'll dive
into some of those tips.
Courtney (02:30):
Sounds good.
So, BoxUp is a custom printedbox manufacturer at its very
broad level, but we supportbusinesses both big and small.
Really here, we know that it'smore than just a box.
It's your brand, or else youwould just be going and buying a
plain box or a brown box, andwe'll And really you're
(02:52):
decorating it for your brand.
You need a, an impact.
This is the very first touchpoint with your customer when
they receive the box.
And we know that.
And so we want it to be reallyhigh quality.
We want you to be satisfied thatit, it comes out the way that
you want it to.
And so that's a little bit aboutus on a broad scale.
More specifically, we offer 28standard sizes in six different
(03:15):
styles.
And so our most popular style isthe display mailer, which is a
lot of what you can see in yourbackground there.
And that just provides a reallynice kind of grand opening with
inside and outside print ifyou'd like that.
We've chosen to go with standardsizes because it allows us to
keep our production times reallylow and our prices low.
We continuously kind of changethose sizes as our audience
(03:37):
tells us what they like.
We're known in the industry forreally good customer service.
Our customer service is alllocated in the United States.
And when you call us, someonewill answer the phone and that
person will be a real person aswell as our chat on our website.
Yeah, we'll be a real person.
So we really try to help youhelp answer the questions that
you want and just help youthrough the journey, which I
(03:59):
know is kind of uncommonsometimes nowadays.
Um, yeah, it's a little bitabout box up.
Julie (04:05):
And I can attest to the quality because we saw a handful
of boxes.
You had a whole bunch of them atSub Summit.
And of course, Renee and I wentover and touched them all,
opened them all, made sure wewanted to get behind this brand.
And they feel sturdy.
They're beautiful.
The color just pops on them.
And I couldn't agree more thatit's important to brand your
(04:26):
box.
And in past episodes.
I've touched on ways to kind ofdress up a plain box, which is
fine, especially if you're on abudget, but let's talk about
like why you think custom boxesare important versus just
sending a plain brown box.
Courtney (04:42):
Yeah, so I think that custom boxes are more important
than a plain box just becauseyou only get one chance at a
first impression.
I think that happens kind ofeverywhere in life.
And the same thing happens withyour brand.
When you, for instance, walkinto a retail store, you get an
opportunity to feel what thatbrand is like when you walk in
through those doors and an ecommerce business, a
(05:03):
subscription box business, they,they don't get that same
opportunity that a retail storedoes to get a feel with their
customer.
And your feel comes when theyfirst receive your very first
box.
And so it's important that givesthe impression that you want.
And that's one reason why customboxes we think are important.
(05:26):
Number two, you want customersto keep coming back.
And so in order to do that, youneed to create excitement with
them.
You need to create a wow moment.
You, you kind of want to hookthem into being excited for that
next box to come.
And if you walk up to your porchand you've got a bunch of brown
or white, just plain whiteboxes, right, and you've got one
printed box, you're clearlygoing to be more excited for
(05:48):
that printed box, um, no matterwhere it comes from.
And so that's where we thinkbusinesses would want to be.
That's where I think BoxOpshelps.
Julie (05:58):
Yeah, it undoubtedly, like when you see a bunch of
boxes.
The ones that are designed welland really pop with color, they
stand out.
That's the one I'm going to bereaching for first.
And when I was running SparkleHustle Grow, we had a hot pink
box.
I mean, it was unmistakable.
And we often called that out inour marketing would say.
(06:20):
Share the picture when your hotpink box arrives or subscribe
today and your pretty pink boxwill be there and on the first
of the month, things like that.
We talked about the color of thebox and it was part of the brand
and it really gave the marketinglegs.
So I agree, there's differentways to do it.
We printed on just the exteriorof our box for the first four
(06:41):
years.
And then when the profit marginallowed for it, we did add
interior design.
And what we did was we took ourcustomers on a journey on that
inside design.
We told them how to use ourproduct.
We told them to share.
We told them to join thecommunity.
We told them to read the bookbecause we always had a book in
every box.
So, not only can it work formarketing, but you can also use
(07:05):
it to call them to action toactually use the product.
So
Courtney (07:08):
yeah, and I mean, that's a great point because
when you're evaluating the costof about box and people will ask
me, well, is this expensive oris it cheap?
Right.
And I think that's, Dependent onthe business, because if you're
comparing it to a very plainbrown box, you're gonna be like,
well, it's a little expensivecompared to that, but really
(07:28):
printing is part of themarketing budget.
It's not part of the shippingbudget.
And it's all about keeping yourcustomers, right?
It's the same as ads that you'llpush in front of the customers
on Facebook or Instagram.
It's more in that type of realmfor where you should put it into
your budget.
And then what's the cost of mymarketing?
And is this a part of mymarketing strategy that I want?
(07:51):
So, so yeah, that's importantto, to differentiate.
Julie (07:54):
Yeah.
And we found that the words thatwe used inside and on the box
packaging, our customers startedusing them.
So before we did the insideprinting, we had a little card
in, in there that said, yay,it's here.
But then we put that on theactual inside of the box when we
did the interior printing andpeople were always saying, yeah,
it's here.
(08:14):
Like we would see them use ourmarketing language, which was
such a win because that showedthat the marketing was sticking.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So for our listeners are mostlynew and aspiring subscription
box business owners.
So as someone new to customboxes, how do they get started?
What do they need to do?
Courtney (08:32):
Yeah.
So I think the number one thingis just make sure that you have
a vision for your brand.
You of course have to have awebsite and make sure that the
box is going to match thatwebsite.
Just kind of like that retailstore that I already went over.
You want it to.
Your site is also that firstimpression.
You get two chances, right?
(08:53):
The website, but then when theyactually receive your product.
And so you really need to have avision for how you want your
marketing to look as a whole.
And that just kind of goes forbrand, super brand new
businesses.
And then as far as going toboxes after that, it's making
sure that you have really goodassets that you can find the
box, the logo, or if you reallywant an image, making sure those
(09:14):
are high quality.
Because boxes are larger thanlike a business card, so you
need higher quality images.
We recommend them to be 300 DPIso that you can stretch them as
much as you want without themlosing their quality.
And it's important to rememberthat on boxes, only CMYK values
(09:35):
are printed.
Julie (09:36):
Okay, explain what that means.
Courtney (09:37):
Yeah, so it's a type of print color code.
You can take any code andthere'll be converters online.
It's not like you have to justmagically know this.
If you have a code, you can goconvert that.
And then either the website orthe designer that you used for
your website would understandhow to convert that.
So so yeah, it will just be moretrue to the color that you want.
(09:59):
If your image that you place onthat box has those associated.
Julie (10:04):
Okay, so there's colors that might look a certain way
digitally.
You want to make sure that theytranslate well when you're
printing them on a physicalproduct.
Courtney (10:12):
Correct.
Yes.
Okay.
Colors on a screen will not, onany type of printed surface,
they won't look the same.
Yeah.
So, so just, it, it, and it'shonestly something that until I
got into this, I didn't fullyunderstand.
Mm hmm.
But it's true.
Every, if you walk into Walmart,the colors on those TV screens
aren't gonna look the same.
It's the same type of thing.
What's on my screen and what'son your screen might not look
(10:34):
the same.
And so, when you're looking atsomething on the screen, Don't
just go off of that.
Go off of what you know is goingto print.
As someone new to custom boxes,what we also offer here to all
of our customers is one free boxwith their design, um, which is
something I would highlyrecommend, like a proof, a
proof.
Yeah.
You get a free proof.
(10:55):
You would just have to ask ourchat what that code is and
they'll give it to you.
Um, yeah, good tip in there, butthat way you can get that box
and see it in your hands withyour colors before you invest.
Yeah.
And some more, a larger quantitythan one.
Yeah.
(11:15):
That's scary.
Yeah.
Exactly.
So just making sure you have allthose and then getting the idea
and all of those assets togetherto really get the opportunity to
see that proof in your hands.
That's what number one thing I'drecommend.
Julie (11:28):
Okay.
So let's talk about some designtips because there's a couple of
different ways that you Withyour website at boxup.
com, you can come to the tablewith a fully designed file that
maybe a graphic designer did foryou, or you can design it right
on your website, right?
Yes.
Courtney (11:47):
Yeah, and in a couple ways.
So, I mean, you're right.
If you want, if you have agraphic designer that you really
want to use or You just wantsomething so professional, so in
your head that you want, thatyou need a graphic designer to
design that you can come ontoour website and download a blank
template that you can just handto them.
And with that will also come theguidelines that they need to
use.
So you don't need to translatereading the box of website and
(12:11):
putting that into graphicdesigner terms, just download
the template, hand them thatfolder.
They will understand if they'rea graphic designer, what those
mean, and it'll have all therules I've already gone over
already.
All those suggestions.
Um, in that artwork guidelines,um, on the flip side, if you
don't want to invest in thatright away, we have two really
good paths online that, um,we've invested a lot of money in
(12:34):
here to hopefully make thatbetter for beginners.
So number one, it's a templategallery, which is kind of some
really good professional graphicdesigns, like hundreds of them,
where you can go in, select one,change them to the color you
want.
We make suggestions on whereyour logo should be, maybe where
(12:55):
your social icons should be ifyou want those, where maybe some
text should be, all suggestions,you can delete any of it you
want, you can still make it yourown, it's not a like, um,
permanent thing, but it givesyou a really good base for
something more complicated, sothat's one path.
Um, Another path is you candesign completely from scratch
(13:16):
and go into our online editorand, um, use the text that we
have in there and the patternsand, you know, upload your
images and anything that youbasically go on any type of
design website and you can find,you're going to find a lot of
that and be able to, you'regoing to create something
wonderful yourself for no money,right?
It's free to use.
(13:37):
And so those are kind of thethree paths to ordering.
Julie (13:40):
Oh, man, that's so cool.
I don't know if you know this,but one of our mantras is just
keep it simple.
And you really have done thatwith the website.
And I remember we were chattingnot long ago and you gave me a
demo of the website.
And I was like, this is whatwe've been looking for.
This is what our students need.
Sometimes we're scrappy andwe're starting off with a very
(14:03):
DIY things.
That's fine.
You're providing the tools forthat.
I think that it's important ifyou can get a graphic designer
to help or maybe even have adesigner's eye look at
something, cause this isimportant.
This is your product packaging.
So you want it to lookprofessional.
You don't want it to look.
(14:25):
As if your little sister made itor something, you know what I
mean?
So I love though that yourtemplates make those
recommendations too.
Like this is where we recommendyou put your social icons.
That's such great informationfor someone who's DIYing it.
Courtney (14:39):
Yeah.
And also, you've kind of broughtup that you want someone else's
eye.
When someone goes into oureditor, they'll see kind of a
flat box and a 3D box.
And when you're messing withthat flat box, it will
automatically change that 3D to,to show you what you're doing
live.
If you really want to show thatto other people, maybe you have,
you want to do a poll with yourfuture audience, or you want to
(15:01):
ask your family members orwhatever it is.
Right.
You can just take screenshots inthere of that 3D.
And just take them and postthem.
That's what we kind ofrecommend.
Love that.
We want to do that.
And I think that's a good way toengage people and get people's
opinions on what they think ismost.
Eye catching to them.
Julie (15:19):
Yeah.
So is it true that you could goin and save two different
designs in BoxUps website andthen take screenshots and then
share with your audience, say,which design do you like better,
A or B, and then they vote,which one takes it off of your
shoulders of like making a bigdecision, but two, it gets them
like emotionally invested inyour business and more likely to
(15:42):
buy because they haveparticipated in voting for
something.
So I think that's a really greattip.
So what are some do's anddon'ts?
If someone's designing theircustom box for the first time,
what are some things they needto keep in mind?
Courtney (15:55):
Yeah.
So, I mean, we just talked aboutthe design a little bit, but,
but one of the, the major do'sis going in and trying it, I
think yourself, kind of messingaround, trying to visualize that
difference between the flat andthe 3D so that when you're
either talking to your graphicdesigner, you can describe that
to them, or if you can save thatmoney, graphic designers aren't
cheap, right?
(16:16):
Try and do that yourself first,I think, and get a feel for it.
When you're price checking, it'stwo different websites, price
check, not just based upon thebox price, take some other
things into thought.
So when you go on there, you seethe box price.
Some people will put one priceand then as you add colors,
(16:36):
it'll go up, right?
Yeah, it's kind of like the
Julie (16:39):
airlines.
Oh, do you want to bring a bag?
Oh, you want to check a bag?
Everything costs more and more.
Correct.
That's one thing to keep in
Courtney (16:46):
mind.
And then number two, when youget all the way to the car,
really look at shipping.
Because, That's kind of a hiddenfee at the end that you want to
check.
So when you're price comparing,make sure that those two are
really key in your price checkand don't just look at the first
number because people will tryto draw you in with that.
(17:08):
Now, as far as box up goes onthose, there's no up charges on
print.
The price you see is that's forall the colors you want.
Go crazy with the design.
As long as you choose the rightsize of the box you want, that's
the price you get.
For shipping, we offer threedifferent shipping services so
that if you plan really farahead, you can choose to save on
(17:31):
that shipping and it will be areally low shipping rate
compared to other people in ourbusiness.
Or if you're in a time crunch,you will see a rush service,
which is beneficial if you'recaught in that time crunch.
But that's why it's justimportant to price check.
And then thirdly, we've talkedabout this, but ordering a proof
or a sample is by far thebiggest deal.
(17:53):
Make sure you get the right sizebox.
And make sure your design is theway you want it before you
invest in a full order.
Um, we offer 1 samples onlinefor just either blank or pre
printed where they'll just shipthe next day and therefore you
can really make sure yourproducts fit inside, that's
number one.
And then we talked about theproof and making sure you see
(18:16):
that design.
That's the biggest deal, mybiggest suggestion for sure.
So as far as don'ts go.
I think that it's important notto get too caught up in the size
all the time of between standardand custom.
Does it fit my products?
Exactly.
Lots of times custom sizes, theway that people have to produce
(18:37):
those, it, it costs more andtherefore the box price will be
more.
And so how can you ordersomething more standardized
where lots of people areordering that size and maybe add
crinkle paper, tissue paper orwhatever to take up those, that
extra inch compared to payingextra for that custom size.
Like, really think that out, um,like I said, order samples in
(19:00):
and that's from us or others andmake sure that, you know, kind
of all your information beforeyou, you invest in a full order.
There's no need to put your boxup box inside of anything else
to ship it.
All of our boxes are straight upto ship by themselves, unless
you really want to.
That's not saying you don't haveto, but you don't have to,
right?
(19:20):
You don't have to invest in twodifferent shipping methods
because you're afraid our boxisn't going to be sturdy.
It can be plenty straightenough.
So, so don't invest in thatsecond one, unless that's just
something really important toyou.
And then thirdly, plan ahead.
Don't wait till the last minute.
Okay.
Like I said, the sooner youorder, the way lower the price
(19:41):
will be for shipping and gettingyour box.
And so you'll just save a lot bybeing a good planner and by
thinking ahead.
So just don't wait to the lastminute.
Think ahead.
Don't get caught in those lastminute orders the most you can.
Julie (19:56):
Yeah.
Courtney (19:57):
That
Julie (19:57):
rush shipping can add up.
Yeah.
Those, that's all really goodadvice.
And thank you for sharing thatfirst of all.
And then second, yesterday I wason your website for a client of
mine.
And I'm going to share some ofmy experience, some of the do's
and don'ts, just based off ofbeing, playing around on your
website, you've made it reallyeasy to go to the website and
(20:18):
see, okay, what are thosestandard sizes?
And so a lot of times people askme, what size box should I use?
Well, I think I always tellthem, use the smallest size box
that's going to fulfill yourmission.
Think about what's the largestitem that you're going to
include on a regular basis andmake sure that fits.
Okay.
But if you have to, if you endup maybe one month having
(20:41):
needing more space, you canalways order another size.
Now, I will say that in the sixyears that I ran Sparkle Hustle
Grow, I always used the exactsame box and I was just really
disciplined in making, pickingitems that fit.
And why I did that is because Iused a nine by six by three and
(21:02):
that specific size maximizedTier one in USPS priority mail,
cubic rate shipping.
And so guys, if you're listeningand you're thinking of like this
box versus that box, I'll putthis link in the show notes, but
pirateship.
com slash rates is a great wayto kind of estimate how much is
(21:22):
this box going to ship this sizeversus this size, because it's
going to be based off of size.
It's going to be based off oflength of transit.
So.
Really play around with that anduse that dollar stock option
that you have where we'll makesure we put that in the show
notes as well.
If you're unsure about what sizeyou want, get a handful of them
(21:42):
of different sizes before youeven order.
So I think those are some of mybiggest tips.
Quantity matters.
So if you buy a hundred boxesversus a thousand boxes or
anywhere in between, that's alsogoing to impact the price.
And so if you can, Buy in bulkand you're going to save.
The first order that I everplaced with my boxes was 250
(22:05):
boxes.
I didn't know if I was going tosell 250s, 50 boxes, but I was
darn sure that I was going to domy best because I had 250 boxes
and I did not want these at myhouse.
And it gave me that motivationin those first few months to
really push because I spent themoney on these 250 boxes.
In later years, I was able tobuy thousands at a time and
(22:28):
really get good rates.
Now, we were able to store themhere at our, we have a two car
garage that we had convertedinto a warehouse.
But yeah, it's worth it to lookat quantities.
If you can kind of go up to thatnext price break, it could be
worth it.
So play around with those sizes.
(22:48):
And play around with thequantity, look on boxup.
com in their, uh, orderingsystem.
You can play around with thosewithout any commitments.
You can also see how printing onthe inside, the outside, or both
can impact that price.
So just get real clear on whatthose different scenarios might
look like.
So those are my tips.
(23:08):
And then my, my don't is don'tmake your box too busy.
Unless that is the, the voice,the tone and the voice of your
brand that you're like very busyand chaotic and crazy.
Otherwise messaging is going toget lost in there.
So for our subscription box,Sparkle Hustle Grow, we had
plain pink box.
It had a gold rectangular kindof frame around it, had the logo
(23:33):
and it said what it was likemonthly subscription box for
female entrepreneurs, then onthe front inside panel.
Well, not the inside, but likeafter you pull up the mailer
top, it had our logo and thatwas for unboxing pictures.
So if the box was open, peoplecould still see the logo.
So those are my tips.
But if you guys check out boxup.
(23:54):
com, you're going to love justplaying around those numbers,
playing around with thatdesigner.
And I think that's a good segueto tell everyone about our
special partnership deal.
What do you think?
Yeah,
Courtney (24:05):
that's all good.
Julie (24:06):
Okay, so we have partnered up with Box Up where
you, as our listeners get 12free boxes.
All you have to do is pay theshipping.
So what's the code for that?
SB B12.
Okay, so as they go through thecheckout, if you put in SB B12,
(24:28):
you are gonna get 12 free boxes.
Again, just pay shipping.
I'm so pumped about that becauseas newbies.
It is so important to get yourhands on that product and get
the excitement of it to feel itto mock up a couple of months
boxes.
And you guys have been sogenerous in this offer to allow
(24:48):
our followers and our listenersto get those freebie boxes and
get to experience that.
I think it's going to be a hugegame changer for our audience.
So thank you.
You're welcome.
This
Courtney (25:00):
is one of the best offers that we offer.
It's especially good for newpeople, right?
Because they can get the boxesin their hands, they maybe have
built up that list of people whomay order.
And maybe they want to get it insome of their hands too.
And it gives you some extras forphotography and showing others.
For beta testing.
Yeah, for beta testing, right?
(25:20):
Test out your shipping.
Test out, test out all that,that you want to do before you
launch.
So it's really good for that.
And then it's also really goodto get a feel for our website if
you're, Maybe with a differentprovider, but want to try out
someone new.
It allows you to do that withoutjust getting one, right?
It'll be like a real order.
Uh, we're not going to treat youdifferently just cause you have
(25:42):
it.
So you're going to get a realexperience and.
Yeah, so it's just a really goodway to test us out.
And it's a, it's one of our bestoffers that we offer for new
people.
So I really hope that you guystake advantage of that and try
us out.
Julie (25:56):
Yeah, we'll make sure that we put all those details in
the show notes, but also on theresources pages on our website
and bootcampers.
If you're listening, it willalso be in there.
So we want to make sure everyonecan take advantage of that.
And you're right.
It's great for newbies, but alsoif you've been running your box
for a while and you just want toTry out a new vendor, check out
(26:17):
the pricing, check out thequality.
It's definitely no risk intrying this.
So I hope you guys all try it.
And then when you do listeners,we want to see your boxes, take
pictures of them, tag us, tagbox up on it so we can see the
beautiful designs that you'vecreated.
And we want to hear about yourexperiences.
(26:37):
So.
This is a great time to share,um, Courtney, where people can
find you guys online.
Yeah.
So on iBoxUp
Courtney (26:44):
and you can find us on there and we'd love to see your
tags.
That's one of the most excitingthings when those come in.
Nothing more exciting than seesomething that you printed in
someone's hands and how they'reusing it.
That's so exciting.
So please share as Julie'ssuggestion.
So you can find us on there on,on social, online.
You can just find us at boxup.
com.
Once you go on there, you canmake an account to save your
(27:07):
designs.
So that you can order when youwant and go back and mess around
with them.
So yeah,
Julie (27:13):
very cool.
It is so exciting as a new boxowner to, to first get that box
in your hands.
It's just, I can't believe thatI've created a product and here
it is.
So we want you all to experiencethat.
Use SBB12 at checkout at boxup.
com and have fun with it.
(27:34):
We can't wait to see what youcome up with.
So Courtney, thank you so much.
One, for being here to talkcustom boxes with us, but two.
For this generous deal to ourlisteners, I'm super grateful
and thank you for being here.
No,
Courtney (27:47):
thank you for having me.
I hope that all your listenersenjoy and we get to meet some
new awesome businesses.
Julie (27:55):
Yay.
Okay.
Thanks everyone for listeningtoday.
We would love if you wouldshare, rate, and review the
podcast.
It helps others find us.
And it helps others get thesegreat deals like the box up
deal.
So thanks for listening todayand we'll see you in the next
episode.
Bye.
Okay.
So you want to launch a subscription box and don't know
(00:02):
where to start?
Girl, you are in the rightplace.
I'm Julie Ball.
And I'm Rene Gonzalez.
It's your host here atsubscription box basics, a
podcast for new and aspiringsubscription box entrepreneurs
wanting to avoid overwhelm.
So grab a coffee, some pen andpaper, and let's have some fun.
These days, it can be reallytough to cut through the clutter
(00:24):
and stand out.
One easy way to do that is withpackaging that pops.
So that's why we are re-airingthis popular episode today where
our friends at BoxUp areoffering you 12 free, custom
printed boxes.
You just have to pay shipping,learn more in this episode and
use the link in the show notesto claim your free boxes.
Now to the episode.
(00:47):
Hey everybody and welcome backto subscription box basics.
This is Julie, your head coach.
And today I have a very specialguest that I actually met at
this year's sub summit.
I want to introduce you toCourtney Hubbard from box of Hey
girl, welcome to the podcast.
Hey, nice to see you again.
Yes.
And welcome.
It was so interesting because Igo to these events and I aim to
(01:09):
do a lot of networking and meetnew people and that's where we
met.
It was so great.
You came and hunted us down andtold us all about your company
and the capabilities and I wasblown away.
Immediately we're like, Reneeand I said, we need to get into
partnership with BoxUp.
So that's why you're here.
I want to introduce you to ourfollowers and we can talk all
(01:31):
kinds of tips about customboxes.
So let's start with a quickintroduction as people will be
meeting you for the first time.
So why don't you tell everyone alittle bit about yourself?
Courtney (01:40):
Yeah.
So my name is Courtney.
So I live in Terre Haute,Indiana, and that's where Boxups
is located.
I grew up here and I'm alsoreally into soccer.
I actually coach a local highschool soccer team How cool!
Something a little bit morepersonal about myself.
But that's something I enjoyoutside of work, but I've been
(02:00):
at Boxed Up since we started andhave been really involved in our
growth and so I get to know alot of our customers and it's
just been really exciting.
So it's good to be here and I'mexcited that we met at
SubSummit.
And yeah.
Julie (02:16):
Okay.
So you're the operationsmanager, right?
Yes.
Okay.
So everything that goes onbehind the scenes.
Let's talk a little bit about.
BoxUp.
Tell us about what it is, whatyou guys do, and then we'll dive
into some of those tips.
Courtney (02:30):
Sounds good.
So, BoxUp is a custom printedbox manufacturer at its very
broad level, but we supportbusinesses both big and small.
Really here, we know that it'smore than just a box.
It's your brand, or else youwould just be going and buying a
plain box or a brown box, andwe'll And really you're
(02:52):
decorating it for your brand.
You need a, an impact.
This is the very first touchpoint with your customer when
they receive the box.
And we know that.
And so we want it to be reallyhigh quality.
We want you to be satisfied thatit, it comes out the way that
you want it to.
And so that's a little bit aboutus on a broad scale.
More specifically, we offer 28standard sizes in six different
(03:15):
styles.
And so our most popular style isthe display mailer, which is a
lot of what you can see in yourbackground there.
And that just provides a reallynice kind of grand opening with
inside and outside print ifyou'd like that.
We've chosen to go with standardsizes because it allows us to
keep our production times reallylow and our prices low.
We continuously kind of changethose sizes as our audience
(03:37):
tells us what they like.
We're known in the industry forreally good customer service.
Our customer service is alllocated in the United States.
And when you call us, someonewill answer the phone and that
person will be a real person aswell as our chat on our website.
Yeah, we'll be a real person.
So we really try to help youhelp answer the questions that
you want and just help youthrough the journey, which I
(03:59):
know is kind of uncommonsometimes nowadays.
Um, yeah, it's a little bitabout box up.
Julie (04:05):
And I can attest to the quality because we saw a handful
of boxes.
You had a whole bunch of them atSub Summit.
And of course, Renee and I wentover and touched them all,
opened them all, made sure wewanted to get behind this brand.
And they feel sturdy.
They're beautiful.
The color just pops on them.
And I couldn't agree more thatit's important to brand your
(04:26):
box.
And in past episodes.
I've touched on ways to kind ofdress up a plain box, which is
fine, especially if you're on abudget, but let's talk about
like why you think custom boxesare important versus just
sending a plain brown box.
Courtney (04:42):
Yeah, so I think that custom boxes are more important
than a plain box just becauseyou only get one chance at a
first impression.
I think that happens kind ofeverywhere in life.
And the same thing happens withyour brand.
When you, for instance, walkinto a retail store, you get an
opportunity to feel what thatbrand is like when you walk in
through those doors and an ecommerce business, a
(05:03):
subscription box business, they,they don't get that same
opportunity that a retail storedoes to get a feel with their
customer.
And your feel comes when theyfirst receive your very first
box.
And so it's important that givesthe impression that you want.
And that's one reason why customboxes we think are important.
(05:26):
Number two, you want customersto keep coming back.
And so in order to do that, youneed to create excitement with
them.
You need to create a wow moment.
You, you kind of want to hookthem into being excited for that
next box to come.
And if you walk up to your porchand you've got a bunch of brown
or white, just plain whiteboxes, right, and you've got one
printed box, you're clearlygoing to be more excited for
(05:48):
that printed box, um, no matterwhere it comes from.
And so that's where we thinkbusinesses would want to be.
That's where I think BoxOpshelps.
Julie (05:58):
Yeah, it undoubtedly, like when you see a bunch of
boxes.
The ones that are designed welland really pop with color, they
stand out.
That's the one I'm going to bereaching for first.
And when I was running SparkleHustle Grow, we had a hot pink
box.
I mean, it was unmistakable.
And we often called that out inour marketing would say.
(06:20):
Share the picture when your hotpink box arrives or subscribe
today and your pretty pink boxwill be there and on the first
of the month, things like that.
We talked about the color of thebox and it was part of the brand
and it really gave the marketinglegs.
So I agree, there's differentways to do it.
We printed on just the exteriorof our box for the first four
(06:41):
years.
And then when the profit marginallowed for it, we did add
interior design.
And what we did was we took ourcustomers on a journey on that
inside design.
We told them how to use ourproduct.
We told them to share.
We told them to join thecommunity.
We told them to read the bookbecause we always had a book in
every box.
So, not only can it work formarketing, but you can also use
(07:05):
it to call them to action toactually use the product.
So
Courtney (07:08):
yeah, and I mean, that's a great point because
when you're evaluating the costof about box and people will ask
me, well, is this expensive oris it cheap?
Right.
And I think that's, Dependent onthe business, because if you're
comparing it to a very plainbrown box, you're gonna be like,
well, it's a little expensivecompared to that, but really
(07:28):
printing is part of themarketing budget.
It's not part of the shippingbudget.
And it's all about keeping yourcustomers, right?
It's the same as ads that you'llpush in front of the customers
on Facebook or Instagram.
It's more in that type of realmfor where you should put it into
your budget.
And then what's the cost of mymarketing?
And is this a part of mymarketing strategy that I want?
(07:51):
So, so yeah, that's importantto, to differentiate.
Julie (07:54):
Yeah.
And we found that the words thatwe used inside and on the box
packaging, our customers startedusing them.
So before we did the insideprinting, we had a little card
in, in there that said, yay,it's here.
But then we put that on theactual inside of the box when we
did the interior printing andpeople were always saying, yeah,
it's here.
(08:14):
Like we would see them use ourmarketing language, which was
such a win because that showedthat the marketing was sticking.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So for our listeners are mostlynew and aspiring subscription
box business owners.
So as someone new to customboxes, how do they get started?
What do they need to do?
Courtney (08:32):
Yeah.
So I think the number one thingis just make sure that you have
a vision for your brand.
You of course have to have awebsite and make sure that the
box is going to match thatwebsite.
Just kind of like that retailstore that I already went over.
You want it to.
Your site is also that firstimpression.
You get two chances, right?
(08:53):
The website, but then when theyactually receive your product.
And so you really need to have avision for how you want your
marketing to look as a whole.
And that just kind of goes forbrand, super brand new
businesses.
And then as far as going toboxes after that, it's making
sure that you have really goodassets that you can find the
box, the logo, or if you reallywant an image, making sure those
(09:14):
are high quality.
Because boxes are larger thanlike a business card, so you
need higher quality images.
We recommend them to be 300 DPIso that you can stretch them as
much as you want without themlosing their quality.
And it's important to rememberthat on boxes, only CMYK values
(09:35):
are printed.
Julie (09:36):
Okay, explain what that means.
Courtney (09:37):
Yeah, so it's a type of print color code.
You can take any code andthere'll be converters online.
It's not like you have to justmagically know this.
If you have a code, you can goconvert that.
And then either the website orthe designer that you used for
your website would understandhow to convert that.
So so yeah, it will just be moretrue to the color that you want.
(09:59):
If your image that you place onthat box has those associated.
Julie (10:04):
Okay, so there's colors that might look a certain way
digitally.
You want to make sure that theytranslate well when you're
printing them on a physicalproduct.
Courtney (10:12):
Correct.
Yes.
Okay.
Colors on a screen will not, onany type of printed surface,
they won't look the same.
Yeah.
So, so just, it, it, and it'shonestly something that until I
got into this, I didn't fullyunderstand.
Mm hmm.
But it's true.
Every, if you walk into Walmart,the colors on those TV screens
aren't gonna look the same.
It's the same type of thing.
What's on my screen and what'son your screen might not look
(10:34):
the same.
And so, when you're looking atsomething on the screen, Don't
just go off of that.
Go off of what you know is goingto print.
As someone new to custom boxes,what we also offer here to all
of our customers is one free boxwith their design, um, which is
something I would highlyrecommend, like a proof, a
proof.
Yeah.
You get a free proof.
(10:55):
You would just have to ask ourchat what that code is and
they'll give it to you.
Um, yeah, good tip in there, butthat way you can get that box
and see it in your hands withyour colors before you invest.
Yeah.
And some more, a larger quantitythan one.
Yeah.
(11:15):
That's scary.
Yeah.
Exactly.
So just making sure you have allthose and then getting the idea
and all of those assets togetherto really get the opportunity to
see that proof in your hands.
That's what number one thing I'drecommend.
Julie (11:28):
Okay.
So let's talk about some designtips because there's a couple of
different ways that you Withyour website at boxup.
com, you can come to the tablewith a fully designed file that
maybe a graphic designer did foryou, or you can design it right
on your website, right?
Yes.
Courtney (11:47):
Yeah, and in a couple ways.
So, I mean, you're right.
If you want, if you have agraphic designer that you really
want to use or You just wantsomething so professional, so in
your head that you want, thatyou need a graphic designer to
design that you can come ontoour website and download a blank
template that you can just handto them.
And with that will also come theguidelines that they need to
use.
So you don't need to translatereading the box of website and
(12:11):
putting that into graphicdesigner terms, just download
the template, hand them thatfolder.
They will understand if they'rea graphic designer, what those
mean, and it'll have all therules I've already gone over
already.
All those suggestions.
Um, in that artwork guidelines,um, on the flip side, if you
don't want to invest in thatright away, we have two really
good paths online that, um,we've invested a lot of money in
(12:34):
here to hopefully make thatbetter for beginners.
So number one, it's a templategallery, which is kind of some
really good professional graphicdesigns, like hundreds of them,
where you can go in, select one,change them to the color you
want.
We make suggestions on whereyour logo should be, maybe where
(12:55):
your social icons should be ifyou want those, where maybe some
text should be, all suggestions,you can delete any of it you
want, you can still make it yourown, it's not a like, um,
permanent thing, but it givesyou a really good base for
something more complicated, sothat's one path.
Um, Another path is you candesign completely from scratch
(13:16):
and go into our online editorand, um, use the text that we
have in there and the patternsand, you know, upload your
images and anything that youbasically go on any type of
design website and you can find,you're going to find a lot of
that and be able to, you'regoing to create something
wonderful yourself for no money,right?
It's free to use.
(13:37):
And so those are kind of thethree paths to ordering.
Julie (13:40):
Oh, man, that's so cool.
I don't know if you know this,but one of our mantras is just
keep it simple.
And you really have done thatwith the website.
And I remember we were chattingnot long ago and you gave me a
demo of the website.
And I was like, this is whatwe've been looking for.
This is what our students need.
Sometimes we're scrappy andwe're starting off with a very
(14:03):
DIY things.
That's fine.
You're providing the tools forthat.
I think that it's important ifyou can get a graphic designer
to help or maybe even have adesigner's eye look at
something, cause this isimportant.
This is your product packaging.
So you want it to lookprofessional.
You don't want it to look.
(14:25):
As if your little sister made itor something, you know what I
mean?
So I love though that yourtemplates make those
recommendations too.
Like this is where we recommendyou put your social icons.
That's such great informationfor someone who's DIYing it.
Courtney (14:39):
Yeah.
And also, you've kind of broughtup that you want someone else's
eye.
When someone goes into oureditor, they'll see kind of a
flat box and a 3D box.
And when you're messing withthat flat box, it will
automatically change that 3D to,to show you what you're doing
live.
If you really want to show thatto other people, maybe you have,
you want to do a poll with yourfuture audience, or you want to
(15:01):
ask your family members orwhatever it is.
Right.
You can just take screenshots inthere of that 3D.
And just take them and postthem.
That's what we kind ofrecommend.
Love that.
We want to do that.
And I think that's a good way toengage people and get people's
opinions on what they think ismost.
Eye catching to them.
Julie (15:19):
Yeah.
So is it true that you could goin and save two different
designs in BoxUps website andthen take screenshots and then
share with your audience, say,which design do you like better,
A or B, and then they vote,which one takes it off of your
shoulders of like making a bigdecision, but two, it gets them
like emotionally invested inyour business and more likely to
(15:42):
buy because they haveparticipated in voting for
something.
So I think that's a really greattip.
So what are some do's anddon'ts?
If someone's designing theircustom box for the first time,
what are some things they needto keep in mind?
Courtney (15:55):
Yeah.
So, I mean, we just talked aboutthe design a little bit, but,
but one of the, the major do'sis going in and trying it, I
think yourself, kind of messingaround, trying to visualize that
difference between the flat andthe 3D so that when you're
either talking to your graphicdesigner, you can describe that
to them, or if you can save thatmoney, graphic designers aren't
cheap, right?
(16:16):
Try and do that yourself first,I think, and get a feel for it.
When you're price checking, it'stwo different websites, price
check, not just based upon thebox price, take some other
things into thought.
So when you go on there, you seethe box price.
Some people will put one priceand then as you add colors,
(16:36):
it'll go up, right?
Yeah, it's kind of like the
Julie (16:39):
airlines.
Oh, do you want to bring a bag?
Oh, you want to check a bag?
Everything costs more and more.
Correct.
That's one thing to keep in
Courtney (16:46):
mind.
And then number two, when youget all the way to the car,
really look at shipping.
Because, That's kind of a hiddenfee at the end that you want to
check.
So when you're price comparing,make sure that those two are
really key in your price checkand don't just look at the first
number because people will tryto draw you in with that.
(17:08):
Now, as far as box up goes onthose, there's no up charges on
print.
The price you see is that's forall the colors you want.
Go crazy with the design.
As long as you choose the rightsize of the box you want, that's
the price you get.
For shipping, we offer threedifferent shipping services so
that if you plan really farahead, you can choose to save on
(17:31):
that shipping and it will be areally low shipping rate
compared to other people in ourbusiness.
Or if you're in a time crunch,you will see a rush service,
which is beneficial if you'recaught in that time crunch.
But that's why it's justimportant to price check.
And then thirdly, we've talkedabout this, but ordering a proof
or a sample is by far thebiggest deal.
(17:53):
Make sure you get the right sizebox.
And make sure your design is theway you want it before you
invest in a full order.
Um, we offer 1 samples onlinefor just either blank or pre
printed where they'll just shipthe next day and therefore you
can really make sure yourproducts fit inside, that's
number one.
And then we talked about theproof and making sure you see
(18:16):
that design.
That's the biggest deal, mybiggest suggestion for sure.
So as far as don'ts go.
I think that it's important notto get too caught up in the size
all the time of between standardand custom.
Does it fit my products?
Exactly.
Lots of times custom sizes, theway that people have to produce
(18:37):
those, it, it costs more andtherefore the box price will be
more.
And so how can you ordersomething more standardized
where lots of people areordering that size and maybe add
crinkle paper, tissue paper orwhatever to take up those, that
extra inch compared to payingextra for that custom size.
Like, really think that out, um,like I said, order samples in
(19:00):
and that's from us or others andmake sure that, you know, kind
of all your information beforeyou, you invest in a full order.
There's no need to put your boxup box inside of anything else
to ship it.
All of our boxes are straight upto ship by themselves, unless
you really want to.
That's not saying you don't haveto, but you don't have to,
right?
(19:20):
You don't have to invest in twodifferent shipping methods
because you're afraid our boxisn't going to be sturdy.
It can be plenty straightenough.
So, so don't invest in thatsecond one, unless that's just
something really important toyou.
And then thirdly, plan ahead.
Don't wait till the last minute.
Okay.
Like I said, the sooner youorder, the way lower the price
(19:41):
will be for shipping and gettingyour box.
And so you'll just save a lot bybeing a good planner and by
thinking ahead.
So just don't wait to the lastminute.
Think ahead.
Don't get caught in those lastminute orders the most you can.
Julie (19:56):
Yeah.
Courtney (19:57):
That
Julie (19:57):
rush shipping can add up.
Yeah.
Those, that's all really goodadvice.
And thank you for sharing thatfirst of all.
And then second, yesterday I wason your website for a client of
mine.
And I'm going to share some ofmy experience, some of the do's
and don'ts, just based off ofbeing, playing around on your
website, you've made it reallyeasy to go to the website and
(20:18):
see, okay, what are thosestandard sizes?
And so a lot of times people askme, what size box should I use?
Well, I think I always tellthem, use the smallest size box
that's going to fulfill yourmission.
Think about what's the largestitem that you're going to
include on a regular basis andmake sure that fits.
Okay.
But if you have to, if you endup maybe one month having
(20:41):
needing more space, you canalways order another size.
Now, I will say that in the sixyears that I ran Sparkle Hustle
Grow, I always used the exactsame box and I was just really
disciplined in making, pickingitems that fit.
And why I did that is because Iused a nine by six by three and
(21:02):
that specific size maximizedTier one in USPS priority mail,
cubic rate shipping.
And so guys, if you're listeningand you're thinking of like this
box versus that box, I'll putthis link in the show notes, but
pirateship.
com slash rates is a great wayto kind of estimate how much is
(21:22):
this box going to ship this sizeversus this size, because it's
going to be based off of size.
It's going to be based off oflength of transit.
So.
Really play around with that anduse that dollar stock option
that you have where we'll makesure we put that in the show
notes as well.
If you're unsure about what sizeyou want, get a handful of them
(21:42):
of different sizes before youeven order.
So I think those are some of mybiggest tips.
Quantity matters.
So if you buy a hundred boxesversus a thousand boxes or
anywhere in between, that's alsogoing to impact the price.
And so if you can, Buy in bulkand you're going to save.
The first order that I everplaced with my boxes was 250
(22:05):
boxes.
I didn't know if I was going tosell 250s, 50 boxes, but I was
darn sure that I was going to domy best because I had 250 boxes
and I did not want these at myhouse.
And it gave me that motivationin those first few months to
really push because I spent themoney on these 250 boxes.
In later years, I was able tobuy thousands at a time and
(22:28):
really get good rates.
Now, we were able to store themhere at our, we have a two car
garage that we had convertedinto a warehouse.
But yeah, it's worth it to lookat quantities.
If you can kind of go up to thatnext price break, it could be
worth it.
So play around with those sizes.
(22:48):
And play around with thequantity, look on boxup.
com in their, uh, orderingsystem.
You can play around with thosewithout any commitments.
You can also see how printing onthe inside, the outside, or both
can impact that price.
So just get real clear on whatthose different scenarios might
look like.
So those are my tips.
(23:08):
And then my, my don't is don'tmake your box too busy.
Unless that is the, the voice,the tone and the voice of your
brand that you're like very busyand chaotic and crazy.
Otherwise messaging is going toget lost in there.
So for our subscription box,Sparkle Hustle Grow, we had
plain pink box.
It had a gold rectangular kindof frame around it, had the logo
(23:33):
and it said what it was likemonthly subscription box for
female entrepreneurs, then onthe front inside panel.
Well, not the inside, but likeafter you pull up the mailer
top, it had our logo and thatwas for unboxing pictures.
So if the box was open, peoplecould still see the logo.
So those are my tips.
But if you guys check out boxup.
(23:54):
com, you're going to love justplaying around those numbers,
playing around with thatdesigner.
And I think that's a good segueto tell everyone about our
special partnership deal.
What do you think?
Yeah,
Courtney (24:05):
that's all good.
Julie (24:06):
Okay, so we have partnered up with Box Up where
you, as our listeners get 12free boxes.
All you have to do is pay theshipping.
So what's the code for that?
SB B12.
Okay, so as they go through thecheckout, if you put in SB B12,
(24:28):
you are gonna get 12 free boxes.
Again, just pay shipping.
I'm so pumped about that becauseas newbies.
It is so important to get yourhands on that product and get
the excitement of it to feel itto mock up a couple of months
boxes.
And you guys have been sogenerous in this offer to allow
(24:48):
our followers and our listenersto get those freebie boxes and
get to experience that.
I think it's going to be a hugegame changer for our audience.
So thank you.
You're welcome.
This
Courtney (25:00):
is one of the best offers that we offer.
It's especially good for newpeople, right?
Because they can get the boxesin their hands, they maybe have
built up that list of people whomay order.
And maybe they want to get it insome of their hands too.
And it gives you some extras forphotography and showing others.
For beta testing.
Yeah, for beta testing, right?
(25:20):
Test out your shipping.
Test out, test out all that,that you want to do before you
launch.
So it's really good for that.
And then it's also really goodto get a feel for our website if
you're, Maybe with a differentprovider, but want to try out
someone new.
It allows you to do that withoutjust getting one, right?
It'll be like a real order.
Uh, we're not going to treat youdifferently just cause you have
(25:42):
it.
So you're going to get a realexperience and.
Yeah, so it's just a really goodway to test us out.
And it's a, it's one of our bestoffers that we offer for new
people.
So I really hope that you guystake advantage of that and try
us out.
Julie (25:56):
Yeah, we'll make sure that we put all those details in
the show notes, but also on theresources pages on our website
and bootcampers.
If you're listening, it willalso be in there.
So we want to make sure everyonecan take advantage of that.
And you're right.
It's great for newbies, but alsoif you've been running your box
for a while and you just want toTry out a new vendor, check out
(26:17):
the pricing, check out thequality.
It's definitely no risk intrying this.
So I hope you guys all try it.
And then when you do listeners,we want to see your boxes, take
pictures of them, tag us, tagbox up on it so we can see the
beautiful designs that you'vecreated.
And we want to hear about yourexperiences.
(26:37):
So.
This is a great time to share,um, Courtney, where people can
find you guys online.
Yeah.
So on iBoxUp
Courtney (26:44):
and you can find us on there and we'd love to see your
tags.
That's one of the most excitingthings when those come in.
Nothing more exciting than seesomething that you printed in
someone's hands and how they'reusing it.
That's so exciting.
So please share as Julie'ssuggestion.
So you can find us on there on,on social, online.
You can just find us at boxup.
com.
Once you go on there, you canmake an account to save your
(27:07):
designs.
So that you can order when youwant and go back and mess around
with them.
So yeah,
Julie (27:13):
very cool.
It is so exciting as a new boxowner to, to first get that box
in your hands.
It's just, I can't believe thatI've created a product and here
it is.
So we want you all to experiencethat.
Use SBB12 at checkout at boxup.
com and have fun with it.
(27:34):
We can't wait to see what youcome up with.
So Courtney, thank you so much.
One, for being here to talkcustom boxes with us, but two.
For this generous deal to ourlisteners, I'm super grateful
and thank you for being here.
No,
Courtney (27:47):
thank you for having me.
I hope that all your listenersenjoy and we get to meet some
new awesome businesses.
Julie (27:55):
Yay.
Okay.
Thanks everyone for listeningtoday.
We would love if you wouldshare, rate, and review the
podcast.
It helps others find us.
And it helps others get thesegreat deals like the box up
deal.
So thanks for listening todayand we'll see you in the next
episode.
Bye.
Okay.
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