# How to get started with Blackbox URL: https://blackbox.plus/guides/get-started Level 1: Get set up (https://blackbox.plus/guides/get-set-up) Updated: 2026-10-23 Time: about 10 minutes You'll end with: A brand in Blackbox, its first channel syncing, and its strategy draft on the way to your Inbox Do it in Blackbox: https://blackbox.plus/app/inbox > Sign up, start Starter, turn your website into a brand, check your competitors and connect your first channel: AI marketing for small business in one sitting. ## Short answer To get started with Blackbox (blackbox.plus), sign in with Google or by email, and a short setup takes you through the rest. Type your business name and click Create. Start the Starter plan on Stripe: the card is taken up front, and you can cancel anytime. Paste your brand's website and click Read the site; in about 20 seconds Blackbox fills in the brand's name, logo, colours, fonts and facts for you to check before you click Create brand. It then lists the competitors that show up when your customers search, so untick any that aren't real, add the ones it missed and click Confirm. Next, connect your first channel, such as Meta Ads or Instagram: approve access on that platform's own page and tick the brand's accounts to start syncing 30 days of history. While it syncs, answer up to four short questions so the strategy fits the business, or skip them. Setup ends in your Inbox, where the strategy draft arrives. ## You'll need - **Your website address.** Your homepage is enough. Blackbox reads your brand from it. - **A card for the Starter plan.** $199 a month, a flat fee that doesn’t move with your ad budget. Cancel anytime. - **A login for your first channel.** Most brands start with the ad account they already run, on Meta, Google or TikTok. (Guide: https://blackbox.plus/guides/connect-meta-ads) ## How to get started with Blackbox 1. **Sign in.** Click **Sign in with Google**, or **Sign in with email** to get a sign-in link. You'll see: **Welcome to Blackbox**, asking for your business name. ![The Blackbox sign-in card with the Sign in with Google button ringed and Sign in with email below it](https://blackbox.plus/guides/get-started/01-sign-in.png) 2. **Name your business.** Type your **Business name** and click **Create**. You'll see: **Start on Starter**, with the plan card. ![Welcome to Blackbox: the Business name box filled in with Daybreak Coffee Co. and the Create button ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/get-started/02-business.png) 3. **Start the plan.** Click **Continue to checkout**. You'll see: Stripe’s checkout page for the Starter plan. ![The Starter plan card: 2 channels, 2 seats, the monthly price, what is included, and the Continue to checkout button ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/get-started/03-plan.png) 4. **Pay on Stripe.** Enter your card on Stripe and pay. Blackbox picks it up when you come back. You'll see: **Which brand are you setting up first?**, once your subscription is confirmed. 5. **Paste your website.** Paste the address under **Brand website** and click **Read the site**. You'll see: Your site being read, usually in about 20 seconds. ![Which brand are you setting up first? The Brand website box with daybreakcoffee.example typed in and Read the site ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/get-started/05-website.png) 6. **Check the brand and create it.** Check the name, logo, colours, fonts and facts it read, and fix anything wrong. Then click **Create brand**. You'll see: **Who you’re up against**, with your competitors loading. 7. **Check your competitors.** Untick any that aren’t a real competitor, add a missing one under **Add a competitor**, and click **Confirm**. You'll see: **Connect your first channel**, with the channels to pick from. 8. **Pick your first channel.** Click the channel’s tile under **Ad platforms** or **Social & search**, then **Continue to** that platform. You'll see: The platform’s own sign-in page, in a new window. ![Connect your first channel: the Meta Ads tile picked under Ad platforms, with what it needs and the Continue to Meta button ringed](https://blackbox.plus/guides/get-started/08-channel.png) 9. **Approve on the platform.** Sign in there and approve access, then come back to the Blackbox tab. You'll see: The accounts that login can reach, back in Blackbox. 10. **Tick this brand’s accounts.** Tick the accounts that belong to this brand and click **Start syncing**. You'll see: **While your data comes in**, with 30 days of history loading. 11. **Answer what you can.** Go through **Here’s what we learned**, **Where you stand**, **What a customer is worth** and **Two last things**, or click **Skip** on any of them. You'll see: **That's everything for now**, with the sync still running above. 12. **Go to your Inbox.** Click **Go to dashboard**. You'll see: Your Inbox, where the strategy draft arrives. ## Good to know - The card comes first, before any brand or channel exists. Starter is one plan with no setup fee, and you can cancel anytime. - Leave halfway, at Stripe or on a platform’s sign-in page, and setup picks up on the step you left the next time you sign in. - The brand and the channel can wait: Skip for now sits under each of those steps. Blackbox brings you back to finish them the next time you open it. - The brand form here has no voice question. Add how you talk later on the brand page in Studio. - Competitors come from who shows up when your customers search on Google. For a new or very local brand that can be no one, so add the ones you know. - The questions are shown once. Anything you skip is asked again in your Inbox, next to the strategy draft. - Setup makes one brand. To add another later, see [Set up your brand kit in Blackbox](https://blackbox.plus/guides/set-up-brand-kit). - Only an admin answers the questions. Teammates see the answers, and can’t change them. - When the strategy draft arrives, see [Get a marketing strategy for your small business](https://blackbox.plus/guides/approve-your-strategy). ## Questions people ask **A teammate invited me** Sign in with the email the invite was sent to. Your team shows under Pending Invitations: click Join and you go straight into the app, with nothing to set up. **It says Still waiting on Stripe** Your payment went through and activation is taking longer than usual. Click Check again after a few seconds. There is nothing else to do. **It couldn’t read my website** Sites behind a bot check or a password page often turn the reader away. Fill in the name, logo, colours and facts by hand, or click Use a different website. **No competitors were found** That is common for a new or very local brand. Add the ones you know under Add a competitor, or click Skip. We’ll ask again in the inbox. **It says Authorization not finished** Blackbox stopped waiting after five minutes. Click Try again to start the platform’s sign-in again. Nothing you set up is lost. **I need more than Starter** Starter covers 2 channels and 2 seats, with up to $15k of ad spend a month. For more, click Book a 30-minute call on the plan card.