035: We All Start from Scratch – How Donna Ended her First Launch with 65 Subscribers!

Launch Your Box Podcast with Sarah Williams | Start, Launch, and Grow Your Subscription Box

Everyone starts somewhere in this subscription box business. Sometimes you start with an audience ready and waiting for your box (if you’re already online), and sometimes you must build your business and audience from nothing. That’s where Donna Prudhomme started with her Plan, Lead, Educate box, but with a little Launch-Your-Box knowhow and some hard work, she was able to build her launch base to 65 subscribers! This week she joins me to tell the story of her first launch and how she put aside her fears and worked toward her success.

The Top can be Lonely

Donna works in education, but not at the teacher level but at the leadership level. She saw all the different boxes that were geared toward teachers and realized that there wasn’t as much of a support system for those women in leadership positions. She found her ‘why:’ an area for opportunity and a community that needed some good old-fashioned TLC.

“I (tried) to find something for leaders and public-school education. I really want to hone in on public school education because we face different challenges. And I didn't really find anything. So, I said, well, I need to create something. I don't know what I'm going to create. I just need to create something.” – Donna

Get Out of Your Own Way and Do It

Building an audience and getting to launch is one of the least-sexy things that we do but I can’t stress how crucial doing the work is to have a successful launch. Donna realized this and put in the work necessary to get her to where she wanted to be with subscribers. We’ve talked about doing a giveaway to build up your email list, being active on multiple social media platforms, and most important, going live and getting in front of your audience.

“I said, I have to do this, let me just jump on Facebook Live. (I told myself) I just have to do it because I tried to stay away from it. But I felt like if I actually showed myself in front of my brand, that people will relate. And so, once I jump(ed) on Facebook Live, putting myself out there, I received so much positive feedback from other educators like, ‘Yes, thank you for doing this, oh, we need this.’ That actually drove my momentum.” – Donna

One last thought from Donna that I thought everyone needs to hear:

“Your box will not be for everyone, but it will be for someone so give yourself grace.”

You can find Donna and her Plan, Lead, Educate box at: https://planleadeducate.com/

Remember to subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast provider, as well as leave a 5-star rating and a review and drop me a line letting me know what your favorite episode is! You can also get on my waitlist for my subscription box course at https://www.launchyourboxwithsarah.com/.

Get 30 Days FREE when you switch to Subbly: https://join.subbly.co/sarah-williams

Use code LAUNCHWELCOME at https://www.boxup.com/ to get 10% off your first order