Paid ads sound like another full-time job you don't have time for. This episode is going to flip that. Ashley Brock has managed more than $200 million in ad spend for brands like Dollar Tree, Revlon, and California Closets, and now she teaches entrepreneurs to become findable without posting on social media every day. We're talking about ads as a life first, anti-social strategy: they run while your kids are at soccer practice, they work while you're asleep, and they never ask you to post a reel.

About Ashley Brock

Ashley Brock is the founder and CEO of Paid Ads Academy. She has managed more than $200 million in ad spend for Fortune 500 brands like Dollar Tree, Revlon, and California Closets. She is the number one bestselling author of How to Win With Paid Ads and the host of the Win With Paid Ads podcast. She teaches entrepreneurs how to become findable through paid advertising instead of relying on daily social media posts.

How paid ads can replace daily posting

Ashley Brock joins Holly to talk about paid ads as a life first strategy instead of another job you have to manage. Ashley spent over a decade managing ad campaigns for Fortune 500 brands before she started teaching entrepreneurs to run their own. Her message is simple: ads can find your people while you're with your kids, asleep, or on a plane to Greece.

She breaks down why most people only think about Facebook and Instagram, and why the businesses that grow fastest spend across search and social, including Google, YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok, LinkedIn, and now ChatGPT ads. Her rule is to put 95% of your ad budget toward prospecting new people and only 5% toward retargeting the people who already know you. She recommends starting with at least $1,000 a month so the algorithm has enough data to work with.

Ashley also gets honest about what running an eight figure business with a team of 16 and two young kids actually looks like. She uses a physical lockbox called a brick to keep her phone away during family time, she structures her week around fixed coaching, team, and content days, and she uses Claude to audit her calendar and find the hours she could delegate.

Key takeaways from this episode

• Ashley Brock has managed more than $200 million in ad spend for Fortune 500 brands including Dollar Tree, Revlon, and California Closets.
• She recommends putting 95% of ad budget toward prospecting new people and only 5% toward retargeting people who already know you.
• ChatGPT ads recently dropped their $50,000-a-month minimum spend, making them available to any advertiser for the first time.
• A minimum ad budget of $1,000 a month is what she recommends to start, because the algorithm needs enough data to optimize.
• On-camera video testimonials outperform text or screenshot testimonials as ad creative, because people trust what other people say over what a brand says about itself.
• She runs an eight figure business with a team of 16 and two kids under five by using a fixed weekly structure: open days, a full coaching day, a team day, and a content day.

"The most successful entrepreneurs have the highest tolerance for pain." Ashley Brock

This episode is for you if

• You think paid ads mean being glued to your phone and posting content every single day.
• You are only running Facebook and Instagram ads and want to know what else is working.
• You want a business that can run itself while you're with your family or out of the country.

Tune in to hear:

• Why paid ads can be one of the most anti-social, life first strategies in your business
• Ashley's story of leaving a six figure corporate job at six weeks pregnant
• The brick she uses to lock her phone away and stay present with her family
• Why she puts 95% of her ad budget toward prospecting and only 5% toward retargeting
• The difference between search ads and social ads, and why you need both
• Why ChatGPT ads are now open to every advertiser after a $50,000-a-month minimum was dropped
• How much to budget when you're just getting started with ads
• The one type of ad creative that outperforms everything else
• How she uses Claude to audit her calendar and find an extra hour in her day
• What she wishes she had delegated years earlier

"Data makes decisions. Decisions make dollars." Ashley Brock

Episode chapters

• 00:00 Intro: paid ads as an anti-social, life first strategy
• 01:30 What building a life first business means to Ashley
• 03:00 The brick and building real structure into her days
• 04:30 Walking away from a six figure job at six weeks pregnant
• 07:30 Running ads without being glued to social media
• 09:00 Diversifying ad spend beyond Facebook and Instagram
• 12:00 Search ads, social ads, and the new ChatGPT ads
• 13:30 Prospecting versus retargeting and how much to budget
• 21:00 Using AI to cut wasted ad spend
• 24:00 Running an eight figure business with two kids and a team of 16
• 28:30 Rapid-fire ads Q&A

CONNECT WITH ASHLEY:

Website | https://www.paidadscoaching.com/
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/ads.with.ashley/
TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@ads.with.ashley
YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ads.with.ashley
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyjettonbrock/
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/WinWithPaidAds/

🔗 LINKS MENTIONED:

🎯 Free Quiz: What's Standing Between You and Consistent Business Income? → hollymariehaynes.com/quiz

👉 Download the Anti-Social Shift Private Podcast → hollymariehaynes.com/shift

🌎 Website → www.hollymariehaynes.com

📲 Instagram → @thehollymariehaynes

🗨️ Chat with Holly → HollymariehaynesContact

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Frequently asked questions

Who is Ashley Brock?

Ashley Brock is the founder and CEO of Paid Ads Academy. She has managed more than $200 million in ad spend for Fortune 500 brands like Dollar Tree, Revlon, and California Closets. In this episode she shares how to grow a business with paid ads instead of posting on social media every day. She is the bestselling author of How to Win With Paid Ads and the host of the Win With Paid Ads podcast.

What is the 95/5 rule for paid ads?

The 95/5 rule is Ashley's guidance for splitting your ad budget between prospecting and retargeting. She recommends putting 95% of your budget toward prospecting, meaning people who have never heard of you, and only 5% toward retargeting people who already know your business. Most people over-invest in retargeting because it feels familiar, but prospecting is what actually grows the business. Ashley and her clients have built an eight figure company using this exact split.

How much should you budget to start running paid ads?

Ashley recommends starting with at least $1,000 a month. She explains that the algorithm needs enough data to make good decisions, and a budget that is too small, like $5 a day, will not give it enough to work with. She ties the right number to the lifetime value of your customer, so a business with a high-ticket offer can justify spending more than one selling a low-cost membership. Her guidance is simple: if you are not willing to spend enough to get real data, you are not set up to succeed with ads yet.

Are ChatGPT ads available to everyone now?

Yes. Ashley says ChatGPT ads recently opened up to all advertisers after the $50,000-a-month minimum spend requirement was dropped. She now recommends treating ChatGPT ads and Google ads as your search strategy, alongside a social strategy on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Running ads in both places helps you show up when someone is actively searching and when they're scrolling.

What type of ad creative performs the best?

On-camera video testimonials perform the best, according to Ashley. She specifically avoids text-based or screenshot testimonials, because people trust what other people say about a business more than what the business says about itself. If you're building out ad creative, her advice is to get real customers on camera talking about their experience, not just quotes on a graphic.

Facebook ads vs Google ads: where should you start?

It depends on where your audience already is, according to Ashley. If you have a strong base of Google reviews, like a therapist, plumber, or Airbnb host, she recommends starting there because people are already searching for what you offer. For less search-driven businesses, a mix of search ads and social ads, like Facebook and Instagram, tends to work best. The real key is diversifying across platforms instead of betting everything on one.

Curious what is actually standing between you and consistent income in your business? Take the free 2-minute quiz and find out where the gap is. hollymariehaynes.com/quiz 💛