What if you serve your audience first?

Discover how serving your audience before you sell can lead to a successful subscription box business and a community of loyal, raving fans.

What if I told you it was possible to nearly double your subscriber base in four months? And I’m not talking about going from 10 to 20 subscribers. Nope. This subscription box owner went from 330 subscribers to 600! 

600 subscribers. 

600 subscribers meant a subscription box spouse was able to leave his career job to work full-time in their subscription box business. The regular, recurring, reliable income their subscription brought in every month was enough to support their family. To give them the life they wanted.  

And less than six months after reaching that 600 subscriber goal, guess what? They passed the 1,000 subscriber mark. 

1,000 subscribers is huge. 

You’re probably wondering, “What’s the secret?” What does this subscription box owner know that you don’t? 

• Does she have a subscription box unlike any other subscription box? 
• Does she have a talent or specialized skill that no one else has? 

The answer to both of these questions is no. 

But this subscription box owner does have a secret of sorts. Or maybe it’s more accurate to call it a belief.

The key to her success is a deep belief in the importance of serving her audience. She serves before she sells. 

Meet Kristy of Kristy’s Craft Room 

Let me introduce you to Kristy and tell you more about her story and just how she has reached dizzying heights of subscription box success. 

It started with crafting together.    

Kristy Bottle loves to craft. She used to host craft parties and teach others how to make cute, fun, and sometimes functional crafts. She loved those nights and so did the women who participated. 

When life started to get busy and people had trouble making time for in-person craft nights, Kristy moved her craft nights online. She started going LIVE on Facebook a couple of times a week, crafting with anyone who wanted to join her. 

Kristy’s audience of crafters grew. And grew. She was surprised to see that the people who were crafting with her weren’t just people she knew or people who lived in her area. Through word of mouth, her audience just kept growing.

And Kristy’s Craft Room was born! 

Kristy had no real plan to sell anything. She simply wanted to show up and serve her audience. To craft with them and bring them the connection and sense of belonging so many of them were seeking.

Giving Her Audience What They Wanted

Then Kristy’s audience asked her to sell.         

Kristy’s audience loved to craft with her. But they wanted more. They wanted her to provide them with ready-made kits that had everything they’d need to complete the crafts. 

At first, Kristy was hesitant. She never intended to sell anything and wasn’t sure she wanted to. But her audience kept asking. And she wanted to serve her audience. 

So she decided to create the kits and sell them. 

That first month, Kristy sold 12 kits. The next month double that. And it just kept growing. 

Then Kristy noticed something interesting. 

When she looked at her customer list, many of the same names appeared month after month.  

Moving From One-Off Sales to a Subscription Box

Kristy sold out of her kits every month. And there were times some of those loyal, monthly customers missed out on a kit because it sold out before they had a chance to buy.

A subscription box was the solution to a problem.

The idea for a subscription box came out of Kristy’s desire to serve her loyal customers well - to make sure they didn’t miss out. 

Kristy launched a subscription box knowing the recurring revenue could put her one step closer to quitting her full-time job to spend more time with her family. 

The subscription grew steadily with Kristy only opening up as many subscriber slots as she could handle fulfilling. She was still a one-woman show, doing all the things inside her business.  

Realizing It Was Time to Scale Her Subscription Box Business

Kristy’s Craft Kit subscription reached the 330 subscriber mark. 

She was doing great. Her subscribers were happy and Kristy had that reliable income hitting her bank account every month. 

But she wondered if she could grow even more.  

Then Kristy met me… and she asked me a lot of questions.

I met Kristy right about the time Kristy’s Craft Kit had 330 subscribers. I was speaking at an event and she came up and asked me a number of questions after I spoke. Good questions. The kind of questions that let me know she was ready to take things to the next level. 

Kristy was ready to scale. 

We talked. We both asked and answered a lot of questions. And then I told Kristy about Scale Your Box, my membership for established subscription box owners that is all about taking your subscription box business to the next level. 

Kristy joined and jumped in with both feet. She learned and implemented what she learned. Then she learned some more and implemented some more.  

The result? 

In four months, Kristy grew her subscription box from 330 subscribers to 600! 

So what did she do? What allowed her to grow that much that quickly?  

• She ran engagement ads - to build her audience and increase awareness of her subscription box.

• She started a waitlist - Kristy didn’t have the tech in place to have a waitlist page on her website, so she used her texting app to manage her waitlist. 

• She posted consistently - talking about her subscription box throughout the month. 

• She moved to a closed cart model - creating urgency and scarcity - FOMO!  

Hear more of Kristy’s story on episode 45 of the Launch Your Box podcast.

Kristy continues to invest in herself as a subscription box owner. She continues to learn, implement, and grow. Not only is Kristy a member of Launch Your Box and Scale Your Box, she is also part of my Elevate Mastermind. 

Kristy also continues to serve her audience. She gives more than she takes - every week. Still going LIVE three times a week to teach crafts on her free public page. Still offering more and more value in the form of Zoom meet-ups, exclusive behind the scenes content, and bonus LIVES inside the subscriber group.

The community Kristy has built is a place women go to craft, but it’s so much more than that. It’s a haven for people searching for a place to belong. It’s a place to make human connections, to find companionship and connection for those who need it. 

How can you serve your audience today? What can you do to create a sense of community and belonging? Remember to serve your audience authentically and consistently so when it’s time to sell, they’re ready to buy.