We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ashley Brock a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the best or worst investment you’ve made?

I remember staring at the screen realizing I was about to click confirm on a nearly $4,000 purchase. I was shaking and nervous because I knew it was a big commitment. It would require money, but also my time and dedication to learning and implementing. I was committed… I knew I needed the material… so I did just went with my gut and did it.

It was the best investment I ever made.

It was an online course where I learned from experts who had a skill I desired to have.

My biggest regret was NOT investing in this knowledge sooner. I was so skeptical of learning online from individuals but the knowledge I gained in that program has made me over $35k just in the last month.

Imagine if I had been to scared to commit to $4k without a guaranteed return? I have a newborn, a toddler, a husband, business I’m trying to run… and there are a million other things I could have used the $4k for.

Sacrificing using that $4k on material things and exchanging it for knowledge was one of the best gifts I ever game myself. Knowledge is not power unless it’s applied… and for the first time I didn’t just “listen” to something… I listened, learned, and applied what I had learned, and it paid dividends.

Not only did it financially pay off in my business, but it paid off in other ways – my confidence, my excitement, and my belief in my business increased.

They say if you’re the smartest person in the room to get in another room. If PAYING to be in that room makes you a little nervous, I say GO FOR IT.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’ve worked in 4 agencies over the past decade. I’ve done seo, email, shopping, google, youtube, facebook, instagram… every type of digital advertising, I’ve pretty much done it all. I’ve worked with both b2b and b2c clients of all size – from 1 personal companies to Fortune 500 brands like Dollar Tree.

Now, I’ve left agencies and decided to start my own business where I do two things. Primarily, I teach small business owners how to do their own marketing so they don’t have to outsource. Through my signature program, the #MarketingMatters program, I teach small business owners my M-E-T-H-O-D behind doing digital marketing strategically and effectively across the most important ad platforms – Google, YouTube, Meta, and TikTok. They learn paid strategies alongside organic strategies (SEO, YouTube, and Email Marketing) to grow their company on their own.

Many business owners feel empowered learning how to drive the momentum in their business, then later, when they DO decide they can afford to outsource due to the growth they’ve seen, they know what to expect, what questions to ask, and how to ensure the person managing their marketing is effective.

The other side of my business is consulting. I consult with large companies to help strategize on and execute their digital marketing strategies. I typically only work with 1-2 companies at a time to ensure I’m able to fully dedicate the time needed for them to win. It also keeps my skills top-notch so that the business owners I teach are getting the latest and greatest of everything they learn.

At the end of the day, my heart and passion is to help small business owners WIN.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The first course I launched failed big time. It was called “How to Land a Job in Digital Marketing.”

I spent 200+ hours creating the course… and less than 30 enrolled.

I could not have been happier that it didn’t work out as I planned because it taught me SO MUCH.

I learned how to use the software, how to create the course, how NOT to launch a course, etc.

It pushed me to do more research, pivot, and build a tolerance for pain that has led me to a very successful and profitable business.

Every education costs you something! This time, it was time and a little pride.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

I have ALWAYS done my marketing for OTHER people. Not myself. So when I started my business I knew I’d have to DO what I teach everyone else to do. Believe it will work, make the investment, run the ads, etc.

All of a sudden I was $2,000 in on my ad spend with 0 sales and my program was supposed to launch in 5 days. I had 2 students. But I KNEW that my ads were working because I was having wonderful conversations, I was getting in front of the right people who were qualified for my program, but no one was buying.

I came to my husband in tears — “should I pause my ads?”

He said to me, “What would you tell your clients to do?”

I told him I would tell them that multiple exposures matter, the more you spend the more data you get on what works and what doesn’t… the ads are set up well… you’re learning about audience performance, ad performance… and that it just takes time for people to convert from the first time they learn about your product/service.

I ended up INCREASING my daily budget that day. I believed with my entire being that this was going to work and the people I was talking to WOULD end up buying.

3 days before the deadline… I had a small business owner enroll in the #MarketingMatters program.

2 days before I had 6 more small business owners enroll (nearly $12k that day)

1 day before I had 5 more.

Then the day AFTER the deadline 3 more business owners enroll to learn how to do their own digital marketing through my program.

I landed with 17 business owners enrolled in the program, netting about $30k in my business.

My ROAS ended up being about an 8:1.

My biggest regret is I didn’t trust the process and invest more so I could reach more small business owners that could grow their businesses and benefit from the training.

One student had her best month ever in business as a result of what she learned, a $10k month as a photographer.

My fear held me back from the opportunity to serve even more!

Could you imagine if I turned my ads off?

Reward requires risk – that’s all there is to it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ashleybrock.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.ashley.brock/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyjettonbrock/