099: Creating a One-Thing of the Month Subscription

What if I told you my one thing of the month subscription was easier and more profitable than my fully curated subscription box? What if I told you I had almost double the subscribers in that subscription than I did in my larger, more expensive box? Today I'm sharing ways to get started with a one thing of the month subscription. Come join me. Welcome to the Launch Your Box podcast with weekly tips, tricks, and strategies to start, launch, and grow your box. Now here's your host, Sarah Williams. Welcome back to another episode of the Launch Your Box podcast. Today we're going to shift our mind to the future and we're going to talk about kind of our next steps. Like, what does this business look like? What do I want this business to look like? How can I make things different in the new year? Or how can I get started on something that I've been maybe dragging my feet on in the new year? And I want to talk to you about creating a one thing of the month subscription. And back in episode 77, I talked with Rhonda from Posh Pups and how she created a dog bandana subscription. And if you haven't listened to that episode, I'm going to encourage you to go back and listen to it after you listen to this one, because I think you'll feel inspired. You'll really figure out how Rhonda went from selling a lot of different things to narrowing down to this one particular thing, um, and how she built a really thriving subscription from it. And it was literally one item, a personalized dog bandana every single month, and it changed her business and she continues to grow. So I want you to go back and listen to that because today we're going to dig into that topic just a little bit more. We're going to talk about the benefits of having a one thing of the month subscription what to pick for your one thing of the month subscription, and how you show up and sell the one thing of the month subscription. So let's dig in. When you first started to have your idea about starting a subscription box, maybe you dreamt about a carefully curated box, lots of little touches to your box, planning all the items that complement each other, and it all sounds fun and exciting, right? But then the overwhelm sets in. What if you didn't have to create an entire experience for your subscriber? What if it was only one thing? Would it be easier? Would it get you moving forward faster? Does it feel less overwhelming? I want you to open your mind to starting a one thing of the month subscription instead of that carefully curated box. All right, let's dig in. Grab your notebooks. We're gonna start with the benefits. I need you to understand the differences of why it's easier to start with a one thing of the month versus a fully curated box. Okay, number one, you have the lowest barrier of getting started. Okay, so you don't need a lot of vendors when we're starting a subscription box. Sometimes we're gonna get 1 item from this vendor, 1 item from that vendor. We're gonna have to go to market and find different products like we've gotta start searching, and this search could be extensive. With a one thing of the month, you need one vendor, or a lot of times the people doing the one thing of the month are making the items themselves. It just streamlines the process. So you don't need a lot of vendors. You don't need a ton of cash to start up. If you have one thing in your box for the month versus 5 things, you've cut your expenses significantly. So you don't need a lot of cash when you start up a one thing of the month. Another thing that you're going to cut your cost, time, effort, energy, all the things on is packaging. Your packaging can be simple and the same every single month, and you don't have to worry, will this product fit in my box? Do I need to get a bigger box? What size box do I need each month? If you have one thing of the month, your packaging is going to be exactly the same every single month. So when you think about getting started, a one thing of the month has the lowest barrier to getting started. Okay, number 2, a one thing of the month is easy to fulfill and ship. There is a big difference in packing a fully curated box with lots of different items and packing a one thing of the month. It's going to streamline your fulfillment. We have both, right? If you guys have been around the podcast for a little bit, you know a little bit about my subscriptions. I have 3 subscriptions. I have one fully curated box. It's called the Monogram Box, and I have 2 one things of the month, my t-shirt club and my Tees for Teachers. So I have 2 t-shirt subscriptions and one curated box. We fulfill thousands of our t-shirt subscriptions in a fraction of the time it takes us to fill our fully curated monogram box. Like a fraction of time. It is one item, one box, fewer touches. When you think about that fully curated box and how many items are going to go in there, and how many times we have to touch that box, it's a lot of touches, it's a lot of time, it's a lot of labor. Our one thing of the month, super simple. We get thousands of those out in literally a half a day, easy to fulfill and ship. Number 3, higher profit margin. Would you be surprised if I told you that my one thing of the month has a 20% higher profit margin than my more expensive customized box? Like it does. Sometimes it blows people's mind because it's such a smaller dollar amount, but it has such a higher profit margin because I don't have to deal with all the extras. I don't have to deal with different types of filler. I don't have to deal with, you know, every item that you add to that box keeps adding more and more, and your profit margin gets less and less. But if I know I'm doing one Thing of the Month, typically that item is going to be the same cost from month to month, right? So I know what to expect. With these curated boxes, my things cost different, different items cost different dollar amounts. And so it's a, it's a balancing act of the budget every single month with the curated box, because I got to make sure I don't go over budget. I got to make sure it feels full. I got to make sure all of these things happen and line up. But it's super streamlined with my one thing in the month, because I know exactly what my costs are, and my profit margin is able to remain high. Plus it's less labor, less labor that I have to pay cutting into my profit margin. Plus I get to use cheaper packaging. I get to use a poly mailer instead of a cardboard box. I mean, we're talking 35 cents versus $3. That's a huge savings. Plus I get to spend half the amount on shipping because it's such a light item. So I want you to think about a one thing of the month and how it relates to your profit margin. Are you sold on this yet? Let's talk about what that one item of the month could be. So if you're already a store owner, I want you to think about what is your best-selling item. And then think about what do people repeat by. So if you— whether you have a brick-and-mortar store or you have an online store, what do people come back for? Okay, do they come back and buy a particular item month after month? Are they going online and buying multiples of items, a particular item? Think about what people repeat by. And then I want you to think about what people are constantly asking for more of. So what do people ask? I want more of this. Think about what that is. So if you've been thinking about your subscription box and maybe you haven't launched it yet, or maybe you've been in business for a while with your current subscription box and you're thinking of maybe I want to change to a one thing a month, or maybe I want to add a one thing of the month. and you're thinking about what could I put in it? What is one thing that they would get or could get every month that could be your one thing of the month? Let's talk about different one thing of the month items that our members have. Let's talk about Christina. Christina's subscription is called Just Puzzles. Now I opened Christina's box a while ago during our monthly box openings. And I was intrigued by the fact that it was called just puzzles. But when I opened her box, it had more than just puzzles in it. And as I unraveled, like, these puzzles are beautiful, like they are beautiful, they tasted amazing, they looked awesome. But she had some other stuff in there, and I questioned her about why she had some other stuff in there. Why did somebody that was buying something that was just puzzles need these trinkets or extras in this box. To me, it cheapened the, the value of that box. It cheapened those puzzles. They are beautifully handcrafted gourmet puzzles, and there were other things in there that weren't necessary, and it cheapened them. And I know it cost her money. It reduced her profit margin, and they did not add value to her box. And so after that box opening, she said, you know what? You're right. I'm going to do just puzzles. That's what the name is. That's what my customers want. They don't want the extras. Hear me say that so many times. We get caught up in putting extra things in because we feel like it creates extra value. But what we don't realize is that we're creating not only lowering our profit margins, giving some giving people something that they don't necessarily want, that stuff stacks up. And when I get a bunch of stuff that I don't want and I don't use, it feels wasteful, and it feels like I need to cancel my subscription. If I just am ordering your box for the puzzles, that's all I want. I'm going to eat them, and I'm going to be ready for the next box. So I want you to think about that when you're putting your subscription. And she has just puzzles. So she get— you get a box of puzzles every single month. Let's talk about Misty from my mastermind. She has a t-shirt of the month subscription, same as I do. She sends out a t-shirt every single month. That's it. And her membership, her subscription is growing and growing. Let's talk about Shaylee. She has a scent of the month club. So they're non-toxic candles. So every single month she sends you a new scent, scent of the month. You— surprise! Here's your new candles. Here's your scent of the month. That's all they need. They don't need extras. They don't need decorative stuff. They love candles. They love her non-toxic candles. They don't need the extras. The extras are just gonna pile up. Let's talk about Brenda. who has a greeting card subscription. You get 5 cards a month. That's it. She doesn't send you pens. She doesn't send you stickers. She doesn't send you a bunch of stuff that you don't want or need. She sends you the greeting cards. Let's talk about Monica, Earfluential Box. She sends you 2 pairs of earrings every single month. You get 2 pairs of earrings, no bracelets. No necklaces that match, just earrings. Because if she started to send me necklaces and I love her earrings, I might cancel because I don't wear the necklaces. I don't like to wear necklaces. I'm an earring girl. So stop sending them stuff that they don't want, cutting into your profit margin and creating a reason for them to cancel. Let's talk about Rosa. Rosa has a monthly baby onesie. One each month, the little romper. Some might call it a romper or footie pajamas, a little onesie. How great would it be to get a new high-quality onesie every single month for your baby, for your ever-growing baby? She sends you a friendly text each month asking if the size have changed. Convenience. Hello, how great is that? Jonica, Goodie of the Month. Jonica has a Bakery Box. That's her fully curated box with lots of different things in it, and then she has a Goodie of the Month where she sends one item, multiples of that item, but you don't have all the stuff in the Bakery Box, all the different stuff. It's the one thing. Goodie of the Month. Tiffany, Door Hanger of the Month. Tiffany hand paints beautiful door hangers. and she makes one every single month for her hundreds of subscribers. One thing of the month. She doesn't send you extra stuff. She sends you one door hanger every month. Let's talk about Christy Washi Love Club. She sends you washi tape. She sends you a couple different ones, but she sends you washi tape. She doesn't send you extra stuff. She doesn't send you papers and pens and markers and things like that. She sends you washi tape. I mean, I could go on and on and on, but hopefully it's starting to spark some ideas for you. What one thing of the month could you offer? The goal here is to sell convenience, not a complete full experience. Okay? And so let's talk about how we sell these things. So when we have a one thing of the month, we have to sell that it's fun. There's a no-frills way to treat yourself every single month. Stop buying boxes full of stuff you give away. This could be our sales tactic. Get exactly what you want every single month with my one thing of the month. It was a big realization for me when I was starting my t-shirt club. I did a survey and asked them, tell me your favorite thing from the whole year. Tell me your least favorite thing. Like I was trying to get, you know, an idea of what they loved, what they weren't too excited about. I did a survey. I said, tell me what you want more of. And 85% of the people that took that survey told me they wanted more t-shirts. They loved my t-shirts, but I couldn't afford to put a t-shirt in every box because it took away so much of the money that I needed to buy, you know, the big item for the box every month. So I decided to do the one thing of the month, and I also had people tell me, I love your t-shirts. I wish I could just get a new t-shirt every month instead of all the stuff. I don't use all this stuff. So there were people that wanted every single thing in that box every month. They wanted the ultimate subscription, and then there were people that just loved the t-shirts. And so I said, okay, let me just do a t-shirt club. Let me give them one thing of the month, and then they had the option of getting everything in their ultimate box or just the t-shirt of the month. And I was worried, I was nervous that people would take the one thing of the month over the ultimate box. But the ultimate box was $70 and my t-shirt club was $20. And I thought, man, I'm just shooting myself in the foot with revenue, with sales, because I'm telling them to cancel their $70 box and get their $20 box. And that's not what happened at all. People added it to their subscription. Those ultimate subscribers wanted everything, but I was losing subscribers month after month that just didn't want all those things. They just wanted the one thing. So if you already have a subscription, I want you to think about what's the main thing in your subscription box that people just love every time you put it in there. And maybe you don't do it every month. Maybe it's once a quarter or every other month. You give them this one thing and they just rave about it. Could you turn that into a one thing of the month? Do you have something consumable? You show up and sell that it never runs out. You always have a replacement on hand. Try something new each month with new flavors, new scents, something like that. Sell it as a convenience and something fun. So many people cancel, and the number one reason people cancel their subscription, they always say financial. They're trying to save money, they're trying to cut back. So if we have a subscription that's $70, and it's nothing that anybody actually needs. It's all wants, you know, like my subscription. Nobody needs anything that I sell. It's all fun. It's all wants. So if somebody has to cut back, somebody needs to cut back for other things, they don't have to completely stop you. They can afford the $20 a month subscription. That's what they really love anyway, those t-shirts. So how can you capture, win back the people that have canceled for financial reasons with a smaller one thing of the month offer. Sell it as convenience, sell it as something fun. The one thing of the month subscription can be easy and profitable. And maybe you're maxed out with how many subscribers that you can take because of space, because of labor, because you're overwhelmed by it. You can't grow, but you wanna grow. You don't have to take on more subscribers with all the things. Start at one thing of the month. I want you to start brainstorming, start brainstorming all the different ideas you have in your head right now as you listen to this episode. If you're out walking, if you're in the car, make some voice memos to yourself while it's fresh on your mind, and then you're one step closer to launching your subscription. Whether it's one thing of the month or the fully curated box. We gotta quit sitting on our ideas and making the steps to move forward. If the idea of creating a subscription box is swirling around in your head, I encourage you to head over to launchyourboxwithsarah.com, get on our waitlist, and grab some of our free downloads to help you get started. That's launchyourboxwithsarah.com.