When people ask me why it costs so much for me to write an article for them, I think I should start sending them this parable I found:

The Graybeard engineer retired and a few weeks later the Big Machine broke down, which was essential to the company’s revenue.  The Manager couldn’t get the machine to work again so the company called in Graybeard as an independent consultant.

Graybeard agrees. He walks into the factory, takes a look at the Big Machine, grabs a sledge hammer, and whacks the machine once whereupon the machine starts right up. Graybeard leaves and the company is making money again.

The next day Manager receives a bill from Graybeard for $5,000. Manager is furious at the price and refuses to pay. Graybeard assures him that it’s a fair price. Manager retorts that if it’s a fair price Graybeard won’t mind itemizing the bill. Graybeard agrees that this is a fair request and complies.

The new, itemized bill reads….

Hammer:  $5

Knowing where to hit the machine with hammer: $4995

yea…it’s kind of like that only my itemized bill would read something more like this…

Article delivery…. $5

Time, energy, sweat, blood, ugly crying, research, so much brain power (including thinking about your article while I’m watching Blue Bloods and cooking dinner), not being able to sleep because I’m thinking of a better way to write paragraph two, finally typing it up then scrapping it because it could’ve been better, rewriting and then finally submitting since it’s deadline and I have no more time and must simply give you this masterpiece I could have poured my heart and soul over longer…… $245 (or some other number depending on the project you hired me for, but you get the idea LOL!)

I used to know a gal who’s motto was “I heart controversy.” Although that has never exactly been my way of thinking, I definitely understand the sentiment when it comes to PR and writing. After all in media controversy gets page views and readers.

Still, I generally have always wanted people to like me and do my best not to ruffle feathers, but I took a chance and threw that caution out the window with a post I wrote in April on the GoDaddy Garage. The title was Are you getting too personal on your blog? and the subtitle was When to pump the brakes. The highlights of the post included the following:

• Don’t overshare
• Don’t write negatively about people you know
• Remember what you write can cost you friends and money

Have I whetted your appetite? If so, read the entire article HERE!

Hey everyone! Now that I’m back from my summer travels, I’m thrilled to announce that I’m taking on new ghostwriting clients. So, if your website needs copy, I hope you will think of me! My rates begin at just $50 for a 400-500 word blog post. You supply the topic, I provide the write-up. It’s that simple.  Interested in learning more? Drop me a comment below and I’ll contact you so we can get started on creating the content your site needs.

You guys, I can’t even believe how close the On Point Book Fair is getting!!!! It’s less than a month a way and I’m crazy excited. I seriously can’t wait to meet all the attendees and my fellow authors and bloggers at the event at Westshore Plaza.

If you’re an author/blogger and you want to participate they still have a few tables available. Author tables start at just $125 and additional sponsorship opportunities are also available. Learn more HERE!

For those of you who don’t know, this summer I went on an EPIC bucket list adventure. I spent 3 and a half weeks traveling the United States. My husband, my two dogs and I took off from Tampa, Florida to California, then headed North toward Washington state before making our way back east via South Dakota, Minnesota and then south through Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and finally back to Tampa, Florida. We got off to a rocky start because of traffic but we quickly learnt to keep an eye out for Car accident news and ended up avoiding most of the traffic from then on. It worked out quite well!

The entire experience was intense, exciting, horrifying, nerve wracking, emotional, amazing, wonderful, breathtaking – you know what I’ll save some time by simply saying I felt nearly every emotion in the book on the trip. I saw things I’ve only dreamed about seeing. I ate some pretty amazing foods. I got to hang out with some fabulous people – a couple of which even hosted my little family for the night (thanks again Jim and Lauren 😀 ). I froze my bottom off in a few states. I thought I would die of heat exhaustion in Texas, New Mexico and Nevada. I drank some delicious wine. I tried a few things I never thought I would and learned some pretty spectacular lessons on the way.

Now, all I want to do is write about the entire trip, but rather than try to stuff it all in one post, I’ve decided to break it up into a series. This way my friends and family can see the pictures that they’ve been asking me to see and I can tell everyone all the things about the trip they want to know! So, stay tuned. I’ll be adding everything to this little blog of mine – a virtual scrapbook if you will of the most amazing working vacation I’ve ever had in my life!

As I add write ups I’ll post links below of all of my additions to my virtual scrapbook!

I first learned about Boiron USA at BlogHer 2013. They were one of the vendors for the event. While chatting with the brand ambassadors somehow we got on the subject of hangovers. You’ve had them, I’ve had them, we’ve likely all had them.

One gal at the booth started telling me about Boiron’s Nux Vomica and referred to it as the hangover cure. “Yeah! Right!” was my response. She then handed me this description:
Nux is made from the seeds of the Stychnos nux-vomica tree native to Southeast Asia. In this safe micro-dose form, Nux provides symptomatic relief of nausea, acid indigestion, upset stomach from overindulgence in food and drink, hangovers or excessive coffee drinking. It’s also great for when you feel drowsy after meals, or if you tend to eat too much spicy or rich food.

Still hesitant, she asked me if I was planning on drinking at the BlogHer party scheduled for that night. I told her I would probably indulge a little… She gave me 5 tablets and told me to just let them dissolve on my tongue.

Well- I did indeed drink that night, perhaps too much, but do you know what? The next morning – NO HANGOVER! I don’t know if it was a placebo or if this stuff really works but I didn’t get a hangover.

She gave me a bottle to take home just in case and I have used it a few times that I knew I’d be drinking and I haven’t gotten a hangover any time that I’ve used it. I would highly recommend it! Again, I have no clue if this stuff works because of the ingredients or if it’s just a damn good placebo, but either way- I’ll take it!

Photo source

 Have a product that you want me to review too? Contact me HERE!

I’m PR friendly 😉

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When you’re bootstrapping a startup, it’s normal to have times when you feel stuck. Discouraged. And in way over your head.

Which is probably why so many startups fail in the early years. It’s hard to predict the bumps and roadblocks you’ll hit along the way, or which ones you’ll lose the most sleep over. Simple things like embracing the low-code software development platform “MODELO” from VANTIQ will help your startup to be efficient and productive.

Of course, you’re willing to do whatever it takes to make things happen. Start and run your business lean. Hustle hard until you hit your stride. Study and learn from smart entrepreneurs who’ve gone before. Long have you asked the question, “what is the net worth of Kevin David?” and upon learning the answer, you yearned to achieve the same level of success for yourself.

But you’re up against a lot of challenges, too.

Maybe you’ve got great ideas but you’re lacking the specific business know-how. Money is probably tight. Your time is stretched thin. You’re bombarded with information but not sure who to listen to or what to do next.

You want to do things right and to do that, you need to learn from the best.

And that’s why the Ultimate Startup Bundle was created.

It’s a complete library of business and startup resources on all the topics you need to round out your business and avoid crucial mistakes along the way.

It contains 58 eBooks and 12 eCourses, all created by experienced business owners who’ve been there, done that, and really know their stuff.

These hand-picked resources are designed to address each part of your startup journey with all the right tactics, tools, strategies and business helps to guide you on the road to success.

Including resources like Hooked (Nir Eyal), The Growth Hacker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Jeff Goldenberg and Mark Hayes), The Lean Brand (Jeremiah Gardner), Born to Win (Zig Ziglar), and Booked (Josh Turner), it covers everything you need to know about:

• Getting Started
• Lead Generation
• Mindset
• Marketing
• Getting Sales
• Copywriting
• Product Creation Finance
• Productivity
• Scaling

With a product value of over $3,300, it’s the full meal deal and was carefully curated to give entrepreneurs like you an edge as you build your business.

In fact, it’s the sort of thing I only wish had been around when I launched my first startup.

At just $97 for the entire bundle, it’s a far cry less than you’ll pay for many monthly membership sites (often $50-$100 per month), online business courses (typically $999-$5,000), and let’s not even talk about the tens or hundreds of thousands you can spend on a traditional business degree.

With content from over 60 top authors, it’s a robust library of business resources that covers the A to Z of creating, marketing and scaling a successful startup.

But you’ve got to act now because the Ultimate Startup Bundle is only around for a few days, and then the team that created it loses their license to make this incredible library available.

Many of the authors and publishers have taken a big risk to make this happen for you, and in return they’ve agreed to keep it to just 6 days.

As an added bonus, along with the products in the bundle you’ll receive free access to premium online software services to support your business, like ConvertKit, ClickFunnels, SamCart, and Thinkific, worth over $900, which makes the small investment of $97 even more of a no-brainer.

Don’t just survive the startup journey. Get the roadmap and guidance you need to make your business thrive. Click here to get your Ultimate Startup Bundle or learn more about what’s included by scrolling down.

What’s in the Ultimate Startup Bundle?

So very glad you asked! Here is just some of the content that is included broken down by category:

Copywriting

• Content Warfare: How to find your audience, tell your story and win the battle for attention online by Ryan Hanley at RyanHanley.com ($2.99)
• Hi-Leverage Conversion Tweaks Crash Course by D. Bnonn Tennant at Information Highway ($68.00)
• May I Have Your Attention, Please?: Your Guide to Business Writing That Charms, Captivates and Converts by Mish Slade at Mortified Cow ($3.99)
• Powerful Words: Discover Your Secret Language for Personal Success and Maximizing Impact Through Emotional Connections by Clark Gaither at Dr. Burnout ($9.97)
• You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One) by Jeff Goins at Goins Writer ($0.99)

Finance

• Founder’s Pocket Guide: Friends and Family Funding: Complete Answers for Entrepren by Stephen Poland at 1×1 Media ($7.99)
• Founder’s Pocket Guide: Raising Angel Capital (From Amazon: Startup Crash Course: Angel Funding) by Stephen Poland at 1×1 Media ($6.15)
• Launch Your Dream 1st Steps Bundle by Natalie Joy at Defining Your Joy ($300.00)

Getting Sales

• 6 Months to 6 Figures: The Fastest Way to Go From Where You Are to Where You Want to be Regardless of the Economy by Peter Voogd at Game Changer’s Academy ($9.97)
• Buy Your Own Island: The Ultimate Guide to Breaking Free and Making Your Dreams Reality by Danny Flood at Open World ($9.99)
• Customer Manipulation: How to Influence Your Customers to Buy More & Why an Ethical Approach will Always Win! by Chloe Thomas at Chloe Thomas ($0.99)
• eCommerce Delivery: How your Delivery Strategy can Increase your Sales by Chloe Thomas at Chloe Thomas ($4.99)
• eCommerce Marketing: How to Drive Traffic that BUYS to your Website by Chloe Thomas at Chloe Thomas ($8.70)
• eCommerce MasterPlan 1.8: Your 3 Steps to Successful Online Selling by Chloe Thomas at Chloe Thomas ($6.99)
• Lifestyle Entrepreneur: Live Your Dreams, Ignite Your Passions and Run Your Business From Anywhere in The World by Jesse Krieger at Jesse Krieger ($7.99)
• QuitN6 Internet Business Course by Steve Reed at QuitN6 ($300.00)
• Selling Among Wolves Audio Coaching Program by Michael Pink at MichaelPink.com ($147.00)
• Twitter Marketing That Sells: How to Convert Your Twitter Followers into Business Dollars by Mike Kawula at Social Quant ($99.00)

Getting Started

• Create, Automate, Accelerate: A Radical New Blueprint To Building A Business (And Life) That’s Exciting, Has Purpose And Gives You The Freedom You Want by Leon Jay at Leon Jay ($6.95)
• How To Plan Your Entire Year On One Sheet Of Paper: The Simple Plan For Doubling Your Sales And Profits by Laura Posey at Simple Success Plans ($5.95)
• Job Escape Plan: The 7 Steps to Build a Home Business, Quit your Job and Enjoy the Freedom: Includes Interviews of John Lee Dumas, Nick Loper, Rob Cubbon, Steve Scott, Stefan Pylarinos & others! by Jyotsna Ramachandran at Happy Self Publishing ($2.99)
• Launch Your Business: The 5 Step Solution to Do What You Love, Quit Your Job and Have the Freedom to Travel and Live Life on Your Own Terms by Rosetta Thurman at Happy Black Woman ($7.97)
• Mastermind Course by Dan Miller at 48 Days ($20.00)
• Plan Twice, Build Once: Lessons learned from over 100 conversations with extrodinary entrepreneurs by Michael Sacca at Rocketship ($39.99)
• The Simple Strategic Plan by Laura Posey at Simple Success Plans ($47.00)
• The Invisible Organization: How Ingenious CEOs are Creating Thriving, Virtual Companies by Mitch Russo at Mitch Russo ($9.99)
• The Juicy Guide to Entrepreneurship: Advice on How to Energize your Brand and Squeeze More Soul Into Your Business by Maria Ross at Red Slice ($0.99)
• The Small Business Life Cycle: The No-Fluff Guide to Navigating the Five Stages of Small Business Growth by Charlie Gilkey at Productive Flourishing ($5.99)

Lead Generation

• Booked: The digital marketing and social media appointment setting system for anyone looking for a steady stream of leads, appointments, and new clients by Josh Turner at Josh Turner ($2.99)
• Internet Prophets Masterclass by Steve Olsher at SteveOlsher.com ($997.00)
• Moving From Blog to Business by Caz and Craig Makepeace at yTravel ($67.00)
• Stop Thinking Like a Freelancer: The Evolution of a $1M Web Designer by Liam Veitch at Freelance Lift ($8.99)
• The Key to More Customers by Brian Lofrumento at Brian Lofrumento ($497.00)
• Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur: What You Really Need to Know to Start Your First Business by Brian Lofrumento at Brian Lofrumento ($9.95)

Marketing

• Brand Identity Breakthrough: How to Craft Your Company’s Unique Story to Make Your Products Irresistible by Gregory Diehl at Brand Identity Breakthrough ($4.99)
• Email Marketing Demystified: Build a Massive Mailing List, Write Copy that Converts and Generate More Sales by Matt Paulson at Matthew Paulson ($2.99)
• Email Persuasion: Captivate and Engage Your Audience, Build Authority and Generate More Sales With Email Marketing by Ian Brodie at Ian Brodie ($6.49)
• Entrepreneur’s Guide To The Lean Brand: How Brand Innovation Builds Passion, Transforms Organizations and Creates Value by Jeremiah Gardner at Jeremiah Gardner ($9.99)
• Facebook Ads Manual: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started by Mojca Mars at Super Spicy Media ($29.00)
• Networking Is Not Working: Stop Collecting Business Cards and Start Making Meaningful Connections by Derek Coburn at Derek Coburn ($2.99)
• Storytelling for Startups: How Fast-Growing Companies Can Embrace the Power of Story-Driven Marketing by Mark Evans at Mark Evans Consulting ($24.99)
• The 1-Page Marketing Plan: Get New Customers, Make More Money, And Stand out From The Crowd by Allan Dib at Successwise ($2.99)
• The Connection Algorithm: Take Risks, Defy the Status Quo, and Live Your Passions by Jesse Tevelow at Jtev ($2.99)
• “The Power of Personality for Your Small Business: How to Use Personality to
  Capture the Attention, Hearts and Wallets of Customers” by Jessica Drury at Heartlines copywriting studio ($3.99)

Mindset

• Born to Win: Find Your Success Code by Zig Ziglar at Ziglar ($8.99)
• From Burnout to Balance: A Small Business Owner’s Journey Through Personal and Business Growth by Paul Redmond at RDA Accountants ($9.99)
• How to Deal with Irrational People: What to do When Common Sense Fails and “Crazy” Behavior Prevails by Paul Colaianni at The overwhelmed brain ($3.49)
• Project: Success: How to Break barriers & Bring Your Ideas to Life by Mark Sieverkropp at Sieverkropp ($9.99)
• The End of Jobs: Money, Meaning and Freedom Without the 9-to-5 by Taylor Pearson at Taylor Pearson ($3.99)
• The Juicy Guide to Entrepreneurial Inspiration: Advice on How to Spark Your Creativity and Activate Your Inner Fire by Maria Ross at Red Slice ($2.99)
• The Successful Mistake:How 163 of The World’s Greatest Entrepreneurs Transform Failure Into Success by Matthew Turner at TurnDog ($9.99)
• Train Your BrainTrain Your Brain: How to Build a Million Dollar Business in Record Time by Dana Wilde at The Mind Aware ($7.99)
• When Millennials Take Over: Preparing for the Ridiculously Optimistic Future of Business by Jamie Notter & Maddie Grant at Work XO ($7.99)

Product Creation

• Collaborate: The Modern Playbook for Leading a Small Team to Create, Market, and Sell Digital Products Online + Online Course by Tom Morkes at TomMorkes.com ($297.00)
• Evolved Enterprise: How to Re-Think, Re-Imagine, and Re-Invent Your Business to Deliver Meaningful Impact and Even Greater Profits by Yanik Silver at Evolved Enterprise ($19.00)
• Hooked: Workbook (Amazon says: Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products), doesn’t mention a workbook. by Nir Eyal at Nir and Far ($12.99)
• Non Obvious 2016 Edition: How To Think Different, Curate Ideas & Predict The Future by Rohit Bhargava at Idea Press Publishing ($3.99)

Productivity

• Automate Your Routines, Guarantee Your Results by Kathryn Jones at Kathryn Jones ($3.99)
• How I Automate Everything with Zapier by Brian Keith at Red Beard Consulting ($50.00)
• The Healthy Habit Revolution: Create Better Habits in 5 Minutes a Day by Derek Doepker at Excuse Proof Fitness ($2.99)
• The Juicy Guide to Brand Building: Advice on How to Attract Loyal Fans and Amplify Your Message by Maria Ross at Red Slice ($2.99)
• The Juicy Guide to Time Management and Goal Setting: Advice on How to Wrangle Your Calendar and Slay Overwhelm by Maria Ross at Red Slice ($2.99)
• The Personal Productivity Handbook: A Step-by-Step Program to Supercharge Your Productivity by Paul Minors at Paul Minors ($19.00)
• Work Smarter: 500+ Online Resources Today’s Top Entrepreneurs Use To Increase Productivity and Achieve Their Goals: Updated and Expanded for 2015 by Nick Loper at Side Hustle Nation ($2.99)
• Yes Yes Hell No: The Little Book for Making Big Decisions by Brian Whetten at Core Coaching ($9.95)

Scaling

• Feed a Starving Crowd: More than 200 Hot and Fresh Marketing Strategies to Help You Find Hungry Customers by Robert Coorey at Feed a starving crowd ($0.99)
• Online Sales Formula: a Six Step Model to Grow Your Impact and Income Online by Brian Dixon at Dixon Agency ($12.99)
• Scale: How to Grow Your Business by Working Less by Frank Bria at FrankBria.com ($8.99)
• The Growth Hacker’s Guide to the Galaxy: 100 Proven Growth Hacks for the Digital Marketer by Mark Hayes & Jeff Goldenberg at Rocketshp ($9.99)
• The Virtual Assistant Solution by Michael Hyatt at MichaelHyatt.com ($2.99)

Click HERE to get your Ultimate Startup Bundle!

***I’m an affiliate for Ultimate Bundles. Clicking on any of the links above will re-direct you to a sales page whereby if you purchase one of the company’s products I will earn a commission. This costs you nothing, but helps support my blog. Thanks in advance for your support!!!***

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Sometimes the roller coaster of life has too many ups and downs…or does it? Could it actually just be the Universe teaching you lessons? Perhaps…the ups and downs I’ve faced throughout the last few days have definitely been…well…educational…

It’s certainly been a crazy roller coaster this life has had me on the past few days. So, where do I even begin? Let’s start here….

Down: Sunday I decided to accompany my mom for a family emergency trip out of town. Up: I can work from anywhere that has an internet connection and I got to spend time with my mom.

Down: Monday, the family emergency got bad. Tuesday it got worse and Wednesday-Thursday it hit the peak of crazy.

Ups: – I got interviewed to be featured on a podcast for my ghostwriting business
– I got a lot of work done albeit under weird circumstances
– I got to watch the Tony Robbins Netflix special – highly recommend it
– I had a fabulous phone chat with a client to take create an exciting project for her business
– I rewrote a lot of goodies on this blog and got INSANELY clear on what I want to do with it.
– I finalized the workflow for what I want on my writer-for-hire website

Coasting: Today…the family emergency settled down enough that I was able to just breathe and know that it should be better for at least the next 45 days (hopefully). As I began to calm down this morning I had more big ups

Ups: – Passed my Hubspot Inbound certification
– I had an article go live on Medium and
– I came to the GLORIOUS realization that I don’t need nearly as much money as I thought I did for my road trip that’s happening next week.

Through all of these ups and downs I’ve been trying to keep a positive attitude and though I had a lot of slips in the positive Ashley department,  I’ve learned a lot about myself and what I really want in my life right now. I’m very much looking forward to my road trip next week and can’t wait to share all of my adventures here on this site! Here’s to more ups and far less downs in the future! xoxo bloggy friends!

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I was asked if I would be interested in accepting sponsorships on my Instagram account as I drive from Tampa to California and back for the BlogHer 2016 road trip. I am absolutely willing to do that as it will definitely offset some of the expenses and be a huge help! So, I’ve set up a system to do just that.

Step 1

Log into Paypal and click “Send & Request”

Step 2

Click the button “Send money to friends and family”

Step 3

From here, you will type in the email address you wish to send the money to. If you are sponsoring an Instagram post on my Famous Ashley Grant page, you will type in [email protected] as the email address and then click Next.

Step 4
Enter $5.00 into the amount area in USD

Step 5
Click the “Write a note” button

Step 6
Write what you would like in your Instagram post starting with the phrase
“I would like you to post the following to Instagram:”

Step 7
I will receive the funds and the note and I’ll post your text to the Famous Ashley Grant Instagram account from wherever I am in the United States at the time. Note: The FCC requires I add a note that makes it clear I was compensated for the post so I will be adding hashtags #sponsored and #ad to my post to be FCC compliant. Below is a screenshot example of what your post will look like. The image will vary based on where I am in the US. Please let me know in your note if you would like me to add a selfie or if you are okay with me simply posting an image from the state I’m in at the time… thanks!

Step 8
The post will also have hashtags #bloggerlife, #roadtrip and #BlogHer16
Because of this, I have set up an IFTTT to share the Instagram post to my Facebook page as well. So, for just $5 you are getting a social share on two platforms!!!

This is how it will share to Facebook based on the example above:

Important notes to note:
– There will be one social media post per $5 donation.
– Paypal donor is responsible for all incurred fees
– The social share will be posted within 8 hours of receipt of the funds and note.

To donate to the trip without requiring I share anything to Instragram, please click here. Thanks in advance for ALL of your support.

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