Ashley Brock: $380 a Month Isn't Enough for Ads

Summary

The Amy Porterfield Show

Episode: Ashley Brock: $380 a Month Isn't Enough for Ads
Date: August 11, 2026
Host: Amy Porterfield
Guest: Ashley Brock

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Episode Overview

This episode is a masterclass for online business owners (especially women) who are struggling to make paid ads work. Host Amy Porterfield welcomes Ashley Brock, founder of Paid Ads Academy, who has managed over $200 million in ad spend and specializes in teaching entrepreneurs to run their own ads. Together, they break down the myths, mistakes, strategies, and mindset shifts necessary for success with digital advertising in 2026—focusing on practical, sustainable growth, not just more hustle.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Real Problem Isn’t Revenue—It’s a Bottleneck

• Amy opens with empathy for founders whose energy isn't matching their revenue, and clarifies that failure to grow is usually due to a bottleneck, not a lack of effort or ideas.
  "You don't have a revenue problem. You're actually sitting on a gold mine. You've got a bottleneck, one thing holding everything else back." (00:39)

2. Confidence & Self-Trust After Failed Ad Attempts

• Amy & Ashley address the emotional impact of failed ads:
  "You believe ads work for other people. You just don't believe they'll work for you. And somewhere underneath all of it, you've lost a little trust in yourself." (01:38)
• Ashley encourages listeners to keep going, likening the journey to learning golf—it’s challenging, but anyone can improve with the right support.
  "For every bad experience, there's a good one." (05:26)

3. Prerequisites: Only Run Ads On Proven Offers

• Don't start ads until people are organically buying your offer.
  "Don't run ads if you don't have something that people aren't gonna buy or are buying." (05:26)
  "We need to make sure that people want it for sure." (06:18)

4. Beyond Meta: Multi-Channel Ad Approach

• Ashley advocates for not putting all your eggs in one platform (Meta/Facebook/Instagram):
  "Your audience and competitors are also in more than one place...Social and search—be findable on Google, ChatGPT Ads, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Amazon, TikTok, YouTube." (07:24–08:28)
• Agencies tend to silo by channel, but entrepreneurs benefit from understanding multiple platforms.

5. The Rainmaker Framework & Memorability

• Ashley introduces her "Rainmaker" framework:
  "We believe the definition is someone with an unusual level of skill that brings an unprecedented amount of revenue." (09:22)
• She shares the importance of mnemonics and rhymes for retention:
  "Your brain is a deletion system, not a storage system…analogy or emotion or alliteration—that's why we remember things." (09:50–10:13)

6. The Power of Specificity in Ads

• "Specificity creates the necessity." (10:23)
• Real-world examples:
  • For an NFL client, changing a headline from "save you six figures" to "save you $763,422" radically improved performance. (10:54)
  • Pelvic floor therapist: using a specific scenario (kids coming home at 5:32pm, trampoline, etc.) made the ad relatable and compelling. (11:23)
• Simple, specific copy always trumps vague generalities.

7. How Non-Copywriters Can Write Great Ads (with AI)

• Use AI as a prompt: Provide specifics about what you do, who you serve, and your unique differentiation.
  "I want the right person to read this and go, 'oh, that's exactly me.'" (12:32–12:33)

8. Segmentation, Budget Allocation, and Campaign Structure

• Over-segmenting campaigns weakens results. Example: a health coach going from 25+ campaigns to 3 saw massive improvement.
• Spend 95% of your ad budget on prospecting/cold audiences, only 5% on retargeting—ensure you’re constantly reaching new people. (13:58–15:16)

9. Warming Up Cold Audiences Rapidly

• Move leads from "cold as ice to hot as a tamale in seven days" by nurturing through emails and retargeting right after they opt in. (15:32–15:50)
• Retargeting is a layer, but most of your money should be on new audiences.

10. How Much to Spend: $1,000+ Per Month Recommended

• For meaningful results, $1,000/month is the minimum; $380/month is not enough for the algorithm to optimize. (17:02; 29:29)
  "When I see people struggle, it’s because they’re spending $380 a month and the algorithm can't figure out because it needs data." (29:29)
• Reinvest a percentage of revenue back into ads, especially if your profit margins are healthy. (17:28–18:03)

11. The Myth of ‘Not Running Ads’ as a Badge of Honor

• It’s not virtuous to avoid paid ads; it’s missing out on growth:
  "Why not running ads is not a badge of honor. It's not a flex...you're missing out on tens of millions of dollars." (18:34)

12. Measuring & Interpreting Ad Results

• Every sale is attributed to a single ad; don’t pause prospecting ads just because the sale is credited to retargeting.
  "They would not have been able to see you again had that ad not driven them initially." (21:18)
• Track “micro-actions” (add to cart, checkout initiated) — not just final sales — to gauge ad health. (22:23)
• Pause ads with high spend but low micro-actions.

13. Should You Learn Ads Yourself?

• Even if you’ll delegate later, understanding ads helps you manage agencies and avoid getting taken advantage of.
  "Indecision is a prison. You gain traction when you take action." (37:48–37:52)

14. Targeting in 2026: More Control Than You Think

• Meta’s "Advantage" settings (budget, targeting, placements, creative)—manual controls still exist and can be better for many. Don’t believe you lose all targeting control. (24:40–25:41)

15. Using AI for Creative & Analysis

• Use AI for text and image ideas—only effective if you provide great input (copy/paste your best emails, website copy, etc).
  "The copy is going to be terrible unless you give it the right input." (25:58–26:08)
• AI dashboards can now help merge platform and internal data, and even email you to kill losers and scale winners automatically. (27:18–27:43)

16. Tracking ROAS & Knowing Your Numbers

• ROAS: Return on Ad Spend (e.g., $1 in, $4 out = 4:1 ROAS) (28:26)
• Track cost per lead for lead campaigns, focus on LTV (lifetime value) for conversion events.
• Most entrepreneurs—even multimillionaires!—don’t know their numbers:
  "There were all seven and eight figure entrepreneurs...and we're all like, we don't know. That stinks." (30:43–30:46)

17. What Works for Creatives in 2026 Ads

• Simple still wins:
  "One of my best performing ads says, 'We can teach you how to do your own ads.' Stupid, simple. Simple still works." (32:16–32:30)
• Use your brand color, clear text, credibility in the caption, and don't fear sharing achievements:
  "Credibility does not negate humility." (32:58)

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Memorable Quotes

• Ashley: "Specificity creates the necessity. Vague gets scrolled, specific converts." (10:23, 39:35)
• Ashley: "Indecision is a prison. But you gain traction when you take action." (37:48–37:52)
• Ashley: "For every bad experience, there's a good one." (05:26)
• Ashley: "You will either learn or you will earn. Both are good." (38:06)
• Amy: "Do you know how much money you are leaving on the table? They use it as a badge of honor." (18:15)
• Ashley: "The gap that's costing you money is not eliminating bad-performing ads soon enough and not spending more on the best ones soon enough." (27:18)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:39] – The true cause of inconsistent revenue: bottlenecks, not lack of effort.
• [05:26] – You need a proven offer before running ads.
• [07:24–08:28] – Don’t limit yourself to Meta; embrace multi-channel ads.
• [10:23] – "Specificity creates the necessity"—biggest copy tip.
• [13:58–15:16] – Spend 95% of the ad budget on prospecting, only 5% on retargeting.
• [17:02; 29:29] – The minimum monthly ad spend needed for results: $1,000.
• [21:18] – The critical role of prospecting ads in sales cycles.
• [22:23] – How to use micro-conversions to evaluate and fix ad campaigns.
• [24:40–25:41] – Myth-busting Meta targeting: manual controls and “Advantage.”
• [27:18–27:43] – AI-powered dashboards and optimizing ad performance.
• [28:26] – ROAS explained (Return On Ad Spend).
• [32:16–32:30] – "Stupid, simple" creative wins in 2026 ads.
• [37:48–37:52] – Indecision as a prison, action as the solution.

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Mindset & Success

• Celebrate other women’s success as inspiration, not competition.
• Don’t try to copy—success comes from doubling down on your unique attributes.
• Embrace imperfect progress:
  "When in doubt, throw doubt out." (35:55)
• Success isn’t rushed—expect difficult moments and keep moving.

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Where to Learn More from Ashley Brock

• Join her live Win With Paid Ads Challenge—5 days covering what you need most to succeed with ads.
• Find her at Ads With Ashley (see episode notes for links).

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Conclusion

Ashley and Amy demystify paid ads for women entrepreneurs, making it clear that mastering ads is a learnable, leverageable skill—not a mysterious black box. Key strategies: focus on what’s working, nurture cold leads vigorously, embrace AI as a tool, invest enough to get actionable data, and don’t fear making bold, decisive moves. Most importantly: specificity, simplicity, and self-trust are your biggest assets.

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Share this episode if you found it helpful, and subscribe for more grounded, real-world online business strategies.

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Transcript

[A]

To kick us off, I want to talk to the founder whose business runs entirely through her. The strategy comes from your head. The copy comes from your hands. You're the one rewriting your sales page at 11pm and here's the part that's so unfair. You're working harder than almost anyone you know and the revenue still isn't matching the effort. Some months are amazing, some months fall flat and you can't figure out why. I have so been there. And here's what I learned the hard way. You don't have a revenue problem. You're actually sitting on a gold mine. You've got a bottleneck, one thing holding everything else back. And here's why you haven't found it yet. It's not that you need more strategies or more ideas. You're just too close to it. Every founder is. It's not a weakness. It's just the truth. In my free live training for multiple six figure female founders, I'm going to help you find it. So save your [e-mail] forward/freetraining. Now, on to today's episode. 90% of the women listening, they have a proven offer. You don't necessarily say all meta. Go all in.

[B]

Your audience and your competitors are also on more than one place. I need you to not run ads if you're not going to let them run for at least 90 days. Like give it time to figure out what doesn't work. Data makes decisions and decisions make dollars. The gap that's taking the most time is the fact that you are not eliminating bad performing ads soon enough and you're not spending more on the best ones soon enough.

[A]

My guest today is a dear friend of mine.

[B]

One of them goes, that one over there. She's big money. And it was my guest today.

[A]

Her name is Amy Porterfield. Amy Porterfield, the ever amazing best selling author of two weeks notice. Ms. Amy Porterville. You've tried ads. They didn't work. You spent money you didn't want to lose. You tweaked the audience. You swapped the creative, you changed the budget. You wondered if it was the platform or the pixel or the algorithm or just you. And now you're frozen. You believe ads work for other people. You just don't believe they'll work for you. And somewhere underneath all of it, you've lost a little trust in yourself. Well, my guest today wants to change that. Ashley Brock has managed over $200 million in ad spend. She's worked directly with the CMOs of Fortune 500 companies. She's helped clients spending $10 a day and clients spending a hundred thousand dollars a day. And she built her own company, Paid Ads Academy, into a multi seven figure business, teaching entrepreneurs how to do this themselves instead of outsourcing it. That's what made me want her on the show. Ashley doesn't run ads for people. She teaches them how to do it themselves.

[B]

She.

[A]

She believes that you can do this. And today she's going to walk us through what to do first, what to ignore, and what a winning ad actually looks like right now in 2026. If you're watching on YouTube, hit subscribe so you don't miss episodes like this. And if you're listening on your favorite podcast app, follow the show so new episodes show up automatically. Ashley, thanks so much for coming on the show.

[B]

I'm excited.

[A]

Now this is sweet because you brought your little boy and right now he's playing out in the creek with Hobie, which is so, so fun. So tell me about that. Why did you bring him?

[B]

I missed him. I had just been out of town recently, and I just keep reminding myself the little moments he can be along for. And I really want him to. To see me not just on my phone working. I want to really show him what we do. So I thought it would be cool for him to get to like, tag along today.

[A]

Absolutely. Okay. Actually, you just said you were out of town, so tell everyone where you were. And there's a funny little connection to me, but I crack up when you say it because, oh, we'll all add to it. So where were you?

[B]

Okay, so this is like such a special story. So I was in Greece with my team because I told them last year if we hit 5 million, we'd go on our trip. We did hit 7. But the cool part is the reason that we went on that trip is because of you.

[A]

This is so wild. Okay, so you said you saw when I took my team to Mexico and you're like, I'm gonna do that for my team. Although you're making me look bad. We went to Mexico. You went to Greece.

[B]

Okay, so Greece was cool. It was a cruise ship. And like, mathematically, like, it really made sense to do it.

[A]

Perf.

[B]

But yes, Amy, I saw that post. I saved it. I, like, watched it four times. Cause I was crying and I was like, how did she afford? Like, I was just doing math. I was like, 5, 10, 15, 20. I was like, how much did this cost?

[A]

It adds up, huh?

[B]

It did. And it was that moment of, like, expansion for me, saying I wanna create something. I'm like, the thing is, she's there and she looks happy. So, like, she created something that she's not stressed about. Like, she did it easily.

[A]

So fun. I love that you did that. You guys had a blast.

[B]

I love that you did it.

[A]

Yeah, right. See, this is the stuff I love when one of us goes first and it shows the other person you could do this. And then the other person does it even bigger. So it's really cool.

[B]

And it's so funny you say going first, because in my sweet little card love letter, it was like, thank you for going first in so many areas. So that's what you did.

[A]

I love that. Okay, well, here we are now. And now we're friends. We didn't even know each other back then, so it's really fun. Okay, so today we are talking ads. And we are talking to the woman who has ran her own ads and she has crashed and burned and lost money. Or the woman who hasn't started running her own ads. Cause she's skipping, scared she's going to crash and burn. So she's not sure if she could figure this out. It feels like everyone else can run their ads, but she can't. Can she do this even if she's lost a little trust in herself?

[B]

For sure. And, you know, I actually just thought of an example that I think will be a good analogy. I tried to play golf and it did not go well. All right. I was frustrated. I was overwhelmed. I wanted to throw the club, but I didn't have, like, an expert standing there beside me being like, oh, like, you can do this. This is normal. And so for everything, there's an equal and opposite. So for every bad experience, there's a good one. And so, of course, it's new and unpleasant, familiar. But the encouragement I want to have and the pause I want to, like, kind of share about is don't run ads if you don't have something that people aren't gonna buy or are buying. And when I say gonna buy, I'm like, if you're gonna be a realtor, like, of course, like, yeah, like, that's a normal job that people will, you know, pay you for. But I just want to make sure you have something people want. And then we can get more people in front of it, but it really can work.

[A]

Do you think it's a good idea to first sell it and make sure people want it and then we go into ads? Yeah, totally agree.

[B]

I used to not, and now I'm like, no, we need to make sure that people want it for sure.

[A]

And then we're going to go in dads. Okay. And 90% of the women listening, they have a proven offer courses, memberships, group coaching, one on one coaching, consulting. That's who we're talking to. So we've got the right women. Okay. So what they've been told and what I've been told from the get go, it's meta. You get on meta. That's where you're spending your time. You think about this differently. And actually I want to say the reason I know this is Ana, who is our senior marketing manager, is in your program, one of your high level programs. She is loving it. For the record, she's great. We're bringing our ads in house and so I wanted to go to the expert to show us how to do this. So first of all, thanks for taking such great care of my team.

[B]

She's the best. Like I shared with this, shared this with you recently. She is so leaned in and she's so good at what she does. So I can't wait to see her take everything from where it is now to where it's going to be.

[A]

It's always fun to have a peer that meets my team and says, you've got a great team member. You sent me that message and like my heart was bursting. So I love that. So thank you. And she's really enjoying the program. But. But you don't necessarily say all meta go all in. What do you teach?

[B]

Yeah, I just feel like. So two things, your audience and your competitors are also on more than one place.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So I think of it like real estate. Like I imagine anyone that invests in real estate, myself included, we don't just have one property, you have multiple. And so I feel like it's a mistake to put all your eggs in one basket. Not because one basket can't work. Well, you and I have both grown our business through a lot of Instagram and Facebook ads. So I'm like so grateful for that. And we're what happens if like there was a change or something happened to where we were like, oh dang, what's our next move? And so that's why what we teach is. And it varies based on what they should prioritize. But ChatGPT ads are officially live and out and the minimum's gone. So it was 50,000, but now anyone can run it wild. The daily budget minimum is $25 a day now. And so that's really cool. So ChatGPT ads, Google Ads, people are searching for what you have to offer. And so just being findable on some of those other places is what I teach. I teach, have a social, have a search. So search would be Google or chat, and then social would be Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or even YouTube.

[A]

And even Pinterest. Right?

[B]

Pinterest and LinkedIn and Amazon.

[A]

You're all for it. That's what makes you unique. Because a lot of people who teach ads, they only teach one platform. But you're giving us an opportunity to be everywhere that it counts.

[B]

Yeah, that's our differentiator, most people. And that's actually how ad agencies are set up. For the most part, they're departments. So there's like a search department, a social department, a shopping department. And so because I worked in an agency for over a decade, four of them, I was just like, I want to understand all of them. And so that is what I think helps business owners not just save money, but make money is knowing how to get one thing rolling, but knowing what their next move is, too.

[A]

Okay, I love that. All right. You have this cool thing called Rainmaker. So we're not going to get into all of it, because that's what you do in your program, but I want to take a little piece of that, and first of all, just kind of explain what the Rainmaker framework is all about, and then I'm gonna pull one piece out of that I wanna talk about.

[B]

I love it. So Rainmaker, the reason we say that is because we believe the definition is someone with an unusual level of skill that brings an unprecedented amount of revenue.

[A]

I love it.

[B]

Which is what we all want.

[A]

Who doesn't want that? Right.

[B]

That's who we are.

[A]

I wanna be a Rainmaker.

[B]

You are the OG Rainmaker. Okay? So basically, R A I N M A K E R. Those are all pieces of our framework.

[A]

Got it.

[B]

And so there's a few, but one of them, one of the lingos that I say, one of the little rhymes.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Cause. And here's why I rhyme. And, like, this is like an accent.

[A]

Yeah, I do. And I'm trying to pick it up, and you're fast.

[B]

Do you want me. Did I tell you why I rhyme? No. So your brain is a deletion system, not a storage system.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

So, like, the brain is like. There's so much that comes in. It's like, delete, delete, delete. And the only reason it's gonna retain or remember something is if it has, like, an analogy or emotion or an alliteration or, like, that's why? We can remember the Empire commercial.

[A]

That's so true, right?

[B]

Yes. So having that M in the rainmaker of memorability is helpful. And one of the ways you do that is specificity, which is kind of what we were talking about.

[A]

Okay, well, that's what my card says.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

You have the same specificity, creates the necessity. What does that mean? Talk to me about it.

[B]

So I might give you an ad example, if that's okay, please. Yeah, I like two or three. So all it really means is you don't want to be general. So one of my clients, he was in the NFL. He has 2 million subscribers on YouTube.

[A]

That's cool.

[B]

It's cool. And he was like, all right. He's trying to run ads. He does woodwork, so he has these shop shades. Okay.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

So I was meeting with him, and he was like, hey, I'll give you organic YouTube feedback if you'll give me ad feedback.

[A]

Cool.

[B]

Quick meeting. And he was like, hey, so this video says how this person saved you six figures on taxes. He says, that's generic. I want you to change it and say, how this person saved us $763,422. Okay, so that's that specificity. So that's one example when it comes to your ads. One of my clients, she is a pelvic floor therapist.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

So she helps women that are having some issues in the pelvic floor. Okay. So she could run ads that say, are you having pelvic floor issues? It's kind of general.

[A]

Very. Yeah.

[B]

Or like, a really way to be super specific is if she was like, hey, is it 5:32pm your three kids come running through the door, and they go straight to the trampoline, and you want to run, but you have to pause because you're like, I can't go. Like, that's a specific example. And you don't have to have three kids. It doesn't have to be 5:32. But that specificity created some emotion, and it's like, maybe that is the thing I need.

[A]

Okay, so that's what you think is missing in a lot of ads.

[B]

Yeah, Just being so specific and simple.

[A]

Okay, so that makes sense. And do you think how. How does the woman listening get better at writing these ads? Because that part is really hard for a lot of my students. They're not perfect copywriters or not really proficient in that area. Are they using AI? What are they doing?

[B]

Yeah, I might give you, like, an AI prompt.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

So I would do something along the lines Of Nai, I would say, hey, here's specifically what I do. Here's who it's for. And give examples of why you are the best compared to other people who do what you do.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Like for instance, you were like, oh, what makes it unique is all these different types of ads. Yeah. So I put that in there. So whatever your specific thing is, say, this is why I'm unique. And say I really want to keep it like a third grade level language.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I don't want to make this super long. I just want the right person to read this and go, oh, that's exactly me. So just as much as you can input it about who you are will help it have a more simple output.

[A]

Okay. And who you are and what you do that might be different than everyone else.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay, so give me an example of. Let's say you worked on somebody's ads or you coach them through. What did it look like before? What did you fix and what was the outcome?

[B]

Yeah. So one example that I think about is one of my clients. She owns a seven figure health coaching business. Her name is Carrie.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And she had paid agencies over 100,000 in just fees. And she almost broke even with results. Like, she ended up paying 100,000, maybe got 100,000.

[A]

Got it.

[B]

And when she got into our program, she had probably 25 or 30 different campaigns. And I know this is kind of nitty gritty, but they were over segmenting. And they, like the algorithm at the campaign level, needs enough data to be able to make a decision. She was segmenting it too much. So it was just doing terribly. And if you think about an agency, this is just fact. They need to teach a scalable model.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And so I'm a control freak. And how I teach people to set up ads is very controlled. Like, let's. It's more work, it takes more time, it's more controlled. But they were just doing a very generic cookie cutter. This is what we do for our client scenario. Weren't making many changes. And so her simply going from 25 campaigns to the three that we teach.

[A]

Oh, wow. Okay.

[B]

And which is my hack for all of you listening. We spend 95% of our budget on prospecting, which is new people.

[A]

Okay, talk to me about that because this is new to us as well. So what does prospecting mean? Why do you do that?

[B]

Yep. And.

[A]

And then what's the other.

[B]

Yeah, so there's prospecting, which is new people.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And there's retargeting.

[A]

When you say new people. Cold audience Is cold. That's another way to look at it.

[B]

And I guarantee it. In the sense that what we do is for every prospecting ad we set up, I exclude my email list, I exclude my followers, I exclude anybody who's been to my website. Cause if you. This was the mistake that they were making, which is why her results weren't great, is they were not excluding people that were familiar. So she didn't realize it, but all that money she was spending was going towards the same people over and over again. Because the algorithm's gonna optimize towards the lowest hanging fruit.

[A]

Yes, yes.

[B]

And, like, we need new people here. The way that we've grown is by spending 95% on new people every single time and only spending 5%. Now, here's the trick. People are like, well, why can I only spend 5% on retargeting? And even you, Amy, and you have a large audience, even 5% of your budget, you're gonna have plenty enough to get around to the million people or however many that are engaging with your website recently. So you don't need to spend.

[A]

I love that you think it's a million millions. Thank you. I'm like, well, across all of it, that's really impressive.

[B]

Thanks.

[A]

Okay, so that makes sense. But here's the thing. A cold audience, they are hard to convert. So tell me from like, a marketing standpoint, your marketing mind, what are you doing on the other end to make that successful after you get them?

[B]

Yeah. So they are cold as ice.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

But the goal is to have enough time where you take that cold lean and you warm them up real fast. Have you heard that people make a decision about you and, like, wanting to work with you in kind of those first seven days?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Yeah. So it's like, okay, they're cold, but you can take them from cold as ice to hot as a tamale in seven days if you do it right.

[A]

Okay. Give us a little hint of something you've done. Cause you actually do this really well.

[B]

So we uploaded our data into AI recently on. This is kind of nitty gritty, but it's really cool. So people see our ad, had never seen us, they click and they sign up for the challenge, or let's say a masterclass. Anybody that doesn't online anything. Well, through that online experience, they get really warmed up, and then not only are we sending them the emails, doing all the nurturing, but they're getting retargeted Now. A separate message. I like that about the program now. Right. So they're getting warmed up by you and your immersion. But they're also getting retargeting ads that are warming them up even more.

[A]

Okay, I love that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So you're all about the cold audience, warming them up, doing work on the back end. And a lot of my audience want to grow their email list. They're really stuck. This is it right here.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But let's say she's spending like between $500 and 2,000. Okay. And I'm going to look at my notes, Ashley, because I need to get this question. Let's get it right, because my girl wants this question answered.

[B]

I love.

[A]

So when she's running her own ads with $500 to 2,000amonth, what is she actually spending it on and what is she ignoring?

[B]

Yeah. So in that range, if I had to give a recommendation, I would say, at minimum, let's make sure it's a thousand.

[A]

Okay, good to know.

[B]

That's my, like, bare minimum.

[A]

What would you like her to spend if she's making $150,000 a year?

[B]

Well, I always ask people, I'm like, what's make what makes you the most uncomfortable?

[A]

Oh, that's good.

[B]

And I say, like, what's the price of what you're selling?

[A]

Yes. And what's your profit margin? A lot of my ladies have huge profit, like 70%. And I'm like, can we please spend some of that?

[B]

Okay, so your new rule, if you're one of those people and your profit margin is that good, then what you need to have is you need to pre plan in your brain and say, when I make this money, every 100,000, I'm putting this percent back into the business.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Because what you don't want to do is spend it all like it needs to go back into the business to grow it. That's how you get here.

[A]

Okay, good. So anyone listening? That has a very healthy profit margin. I personally think. Or over 40% is the number I would throw out. Would you or.

[B]

I mean, there's plenty of people that Even with a 20% profit margin, I feel like they can't afford not to get more people to find.

[A]

Okay, totally agree. So let me clarify. If you're over 40%, I want you spending more on ads.

[B]

That's correct.

[A]

But no matter where you are, if you can figure it out, I think we should be spending. Ashley, I never told you this, but since day one of growing this business, I've used ads. I started with Facebook, ads used to run on myself.

[B]

But wow.

[A]

Through the whole 17 years, I've always Ran ads. And so. Oh, one other thing. I'll talk to some women and they'll say, I've never paid for any kind of ads, any marketing. And I'll say, do you know how much money you are leaving on the table? They use it as a badge of honor.

[B]

I have an episode called why not. Running ads is not a badge of honor.

[A]

It's a flex.

[B]

Right? It's not a flex. I'm like. And you're missing out on like, you know, tens of millions of dollars depending on the industry.

[A]

Exactly. Okay, so you agree like one, we gotta be spending money on ads, especially for six figure female founders who I'm talking to. And there's so much opportunity here. Okay, so going back to the question, let's say she's spending 3,000amonth. Okay, let's give her a little more. She's spending 3,000amonth. What is she doing and what is she ignoring?

[B]

So I think she is. Well, now we already talked about like ignoring how she's allocating her budget. I just want to make sure that 95% is to the people. Just making sure that. And then I just think that if you're spending a little bit more, you are going to have to do a little bit more. More work on creative variations. So all I mean is like when I was running my first ads, I had like two. And I know that people will say, oh, you need, for every so many dollars, you need this many ads. I have actually found that that is not always the case. I have ads running right now that have worked for a year.

[A]

Whoa.

[B]

And I'm not touching them. No, I'm like, everybody's like, how many? How I do rotate new ads in for sure.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And I keep the ones working. So she might be ignoring some of the winners that are like consistently running, you know, so don't, don't forget about that. Here's the other mistake I feel like people make.

[A]

Okay, I need to interrupt. Just really quick. I want you to think back to one of your holy cow, reven. Maybe it was 15k, maybe it was 30. Now there's a chance that month comes with the thought, never again. I wore myself to the bone for six weeks to get there fair. But look at the facts. Your offer converted, your list bought. You've proven you can do this. You just can't do it on demand. Yet. Some months click, some months don't. And you can't see the one thing that decides which kind of month you're going to have. So hear me on this. You do not have a revenue problem. You're sitting on a gold mine. You've got a bottleneck, something specific, something findable standing between you and revenue you can actually count on. And here's why you haven't found it yet. It's not that you need more strategies or more ideas. You're just too close to it. Every founder is. It's not a weakness, it's just the truth. In my free live training for multiple six figure female founders, I'm going to show you how to spot yours. So the good months stop being a mystery and start being part of the plan. Head to amyporterfield.com freetraining to save your seat. Now let's jump back into today's episode.

[B]

Every ad or every purchase can only be assigned to one ad.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Okay. So like I remember seeing, I don't know, 20 different ads of yours.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

But there's only one ad. If I were to have clicked, that would have gotten the credit.

[A]

Good point.

[B]

So people forget. They pause the ad. That's spending a lot, that's not converting. But it's like, no, no, that was prospecting. They would not have been able to see you again had that ad not driven them initially.

[A]

Okay, so you're saying even though maybe some of the ads aren't being attributed to the sell, there still could very much be working. But how do you know? How do you know when's not? I mean, I know I could ask you a million questions. You're gonna.

[B]

I'm not kidding. So I actually did this on my coaching call yesterday and Ana was there and was like, look like she was just so in. So anyway, in the results column.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

So I'm going to be nitty gritty for one second. Every campaign you set up, you're optimizing towards a thing. Okay, so let's say the thing is the thank you page after the opt in because they're growing their email list. Right. So you're optimizing towards the thank you page. Well, you can see the amount of people say that you have say on the landing page where they're opting in for the email, there is like a button that they could click to look at certain things. Even just tracking the button is an indicator of progress. So the smarter example, now that I think about it, is probably let's pretend it's a purchase of a course.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

When someone clicks the button to add to cart, that's one action. Yeah. That's a micro action. Then when they land on the actual checkout page, that's another one. Then when they land on the thank you page, that's another. So if you set up your ads to be tracking all those other micro actions, when you see the ad that has spent $1,000 but has no purchases, you can hover over the column and be like, oh, my gosh, there's 72 checkouts initiated.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

That means they're very close.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

So that's when I. And what you can do is you can say, oh, this one spent a thousand, this one spent a thousand. This one had 92. Add to carts, this one had four. I'm like, that's the one. You pause.

[A]

Okay. I love this.

[B]

I know.

[A]

Okay. It's so funny. While you're talking, I'm like, this. Because I'm, like, leaning in. It's intense, but so good. Like, for the woman who has tried, it hasn't worked, or she hasn't tried yet. She's freaked out. But I want to remind her, this could be really fun. You love it, right? I know it's the work you do, but you have fun.

[B]

It's so rewarding when people find the thing you've worked so hard to build.

[A]

Right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And if you don't have tons of money for an agency, and I'm here to say I've had agencies. I haven't had agencies. Agencies are there. They come with their whole.

[B]

Whole.

[A]

What am I trying to say?

[B]

There's positive and negative to everything.

[A]

Everything. Yeah. So if you can run. And don't you think if you can run your own ads for a while, you are so much smarter when you do work with an agency.

[B]

Yeah. You can delegate better.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, I'm not. Well, I will down the hill that learning things are really good, which is what we do. That's why we teach. However you can absolutely manage it better.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

The analogy I give is like, when I go to a car shop, if they're like, your radiator's broken.

[A]

I like that you just called it a car shop. See? Perfect. Yeah. See, I'm like, what is the place

[B]

where the cars go? Exactly my point. And I'm like, they're like, your radiator's broken. And I hate being like, take my money. And a lot of people are like, your ads are broken. Take my money. I'd love to be able to say, hey. So radiators on average last about seven years, and there's only three reasons that they break, and none of those have happened. Why did my radiator break?

[A]

Yes. I love that. Yes, me too. That's the badass. That's what I want. Yeah.

[B]

So that's why I think learning it, even if you are gonna delegate it or manage it later, is great.

[A]

Priceless. Okay, I am gonna get really specific and I'm gonna maybe sound like an idiot because I don't run my own ads anymore.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And I just know there' thing that keeps coming up. Okay, Targeting. And people will say, you can't even target your ads anymore. Met is just doing it for you. What are they talking about and what's going on there?

[B]

So that's absolutely not true. However, let me explain. So there's Advantage. Advantage is where you are letting meta. It's called Advantage, like in the setup.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

So Advantage has four pieces to has Advantage budget, which is where you let meta decide how you're spending. It has Advantage targeting, which is where you let meta decide who it's getting in front of.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

It has Advantage placements, which is all the different places you can place your ads. So think stories reels, feed on different apps. And then there's Advantage Creative. So there's four different ways that you can say, hey, meta, have control, but

[A]

you don't have to.

[B]

No, you can turn it off.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And there was someone on the Internet the other day, and they're like, breaking news. You can't make it stop. And I'm like, that's false. They just hid the where. Where the button is to turn it off. But, like, it's still there. So glad I asked. I know. So, yes, there's still so much control that you can have. And nine times out of ten, the manual controls still work better. But There are like 10% of clients where I'm like, hey, let's test just letting Meta pick it up and it works and great.

[A]

Okay, so that does work.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay, glad to hear it.

[B]

I know.

[A]

Okay, so also, can we talk AI a little bit?

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

Where is she using AI if she's running her ads on her own?

[B]

Okay, so there's two ways. So one of the ones was creative. Like, it is helpful.

[A]

And when you say creative, you mean the imagery and the copy.

[B]

I do, but the copy is going to be terrible unless you give it the right input. Like, you re like, y' all go copy and paste the words on your website if you feel like they're right.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Copy and paste some emails and a couple of Instagram captions. If you're like, this is how I talk. Paste all that in and say, hey, I'm trying to create an ad for this specific person. For this pain point, take my messaging and help me create an ad. So yes, you can use it for that and then you can use cloud design. In fact, one of our friends best performing ads right now is through inputting all her brand and her messaging and cloud design and the ads are on fire.

[A]

Okay. Love it.

[B]

So Claudesign.

[A]

Okay. Cloud design, like it's actually, it doesn't

[B]

look like an app made it.

[A]

Okay, that's awesome.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Now how about AI dashboards for ads? Like, are we getting too complicated for a newbie running her own ads?

[B]

No. So, so there's two things. We might have talked about this earlier, but there's two things. There's the data that's in the ad platform because remember Meta wants your money. They want you to put one in and get three out. So the whole algorithm is literally designed to make you money. That's all it is. So there's the data in Meta or Google or YouTube, then there's the data internally, whether it's Kajabi or Go high level or Shopify, whatever your place is, where you're having transactions. The gap that's taking the most time that's costing you money is the fact that you are not eliminating bad performing ads soon enough and you're not spending more on the best ones soon enough.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And so being able to use AI to marry those two things together and say, hey, here's my internal data, here's my ad data over the last 72 hours, which are trending up and down, which should I eliminate? And if you inform it right every day, Claude could send you an email and say, hey, Amy, these three ads are below your target cpa. But you have these that are killing it. Pause this one and allocate my.

[A]

I just got chills. And that's what a nerd I am. I'm like, what? Yes, that's big.

[B]

So one of my clients, the husband, so they're an influencer. So it's just posting stuff to Walmart and Amazon.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And they've been running ads for years. And for the first time, his ads, all of his wife's ads are all profitable. Like a break even on their roas is huge. Because the way influencers make the money through Amazon is through the bonuses on the back end.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Not through just the sales on the front end.

[A]

Got it.

[B]

But, but for all of his ads to be profitable on the front end means he could spend a million dollars and make a million and then get their top tier bonus.

[A]

Whoa.

[B]

Because of how the AI and marrying that Data has helped him make better decisions or quicker decisions.

[A]

That is huge.

[B]

I know.

[A]

Okay. On this show sometimes we get specific and we're going to talk about Roas for a second.

[B]

Love it.

[A]

Can you. Is it. Okay, first, explain what it is.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Second, is it something you watch? And third, if they are selling courses or coaching, what should their roas be? But we gotta back up. What is it?

[B]

No, that's great. So Roas is return on ad spend. So think of it like a ratio. If Amy puts $1 in and gets $4 out, she has a 4 to 1 roas.

[A]

Easy. Perfect.

[B]

Done.

[A]

Done.

[B]

So, yes, I look at depends on if I have a campaign for leads.

[A]

That's what I wondered.

[B]

Growing the list. Or if I have a campaign that is optimizing for sales.

[A]

So let's say I'm running ads to my Monday webinar and I'm wanting to get leads.

[B]

I would do a leads campaign.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And I wouldn't track Roas until they buy the course on the back end.

[A]

Perfect. And what would you track instead?

[B]

Leads and cost per lead.

[A]

Okay, got it. And how do this might. I know this answer, but I want you to say it anyway. But how do you figure out how much you should spend on ads?

[B]

So I do two things. Well, first is like, I just believe that you have to give the algorithm enough data to actually learn.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

That's why I said the thousand. I'm like, when I see people struggle, it's because they're spending $380 a month and the algorithm actually can't figure out cause it needs data. So you need at least a minimum. Second is as best as you can. What's the lifetime value of the thing you sell?

[A]

Yes. Okay.

[B]

I think too many people make the mistake of saying I need this to be a return in this first month. It's like I need you to not run ads if you're not gonna let them run for at least 90 days. Give it time to figure out what doesn't work. Data makes decisions and decisions make dollars.

[A]

There she goes. There she goes.

[B]

I love it. So give it time, give it data, and then look at your lifetime value and say, hey, if they're gonna buy the $300 course now and do the 3,000 course later, like just take that into consideration.

[A]

Okay, good. I gotta give a shout out to my Millie members. Caitlin. My CMO just did a live training for my Millie members in Nashville. And it was all about these metrics. And I could see so many light bulbs go off because a lot of women I work with, when they come into my world, they're ashamed that they don't know their numbers. Do you find that? Amy, talk to me.

[B]

I was sitting there at the Hormozi workshop at 5 million and they were asking all these questions and I was like, this stink. This is so bad. Okay.

[A]

I'm so glad you said that though. You're making 5 million and you too weren't sure about your numbers.

[B]

I was not. And I. And I was not alone.

[A]

Like, yeah, right.

[B]

There were all seven and eight figure entrepreneurs. And we're all like, we don't know. I'm like, that stinks. And it's self awareness that creates the next action. So you can't feel bad. Like, you're growing this business so fast, serving your clients.

[A]

Yes. You're doing all the things, wearing all the hats.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And usually because the numbers aren't the most sexiest thing and you have to dive in there. Plus, I'm not a numbers girl, so I have to really push myself there. But dang, the numbers tell the story.

[B]

They do. Right now I have an in person person that is owning all the numbers. And yes. Now I'm like, man, I can't afford not to know this now.

[A]

Yeah, Once you know, you can't unsee it.

[B]

Oh, no, I need more.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, for sure. Okay, so let's talk about the fact that a woman's listening right now. She's going to turn this off, go to her ads manager and she's like, okay, I'm going to give this another shot. Ashley said, I can do this. Obviously we're going to have her check out all your stuff. But she sits down and what's working right now with ads? Like what overall, what makes a really good ad in 2026?

[B]

So I kind of. It's crazy because when I started my business, I think the first ads I ran were like three or four years ago in my business.

[A]

Gotcha. I was like, wait, what?

[B]

Like, no. Been running ads for over a decade, but for my business and one of the best performing ads, then a very similar model is actually my best performer right now. I know it's just an ad with a background almost like your card note here.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That's like. So for those of you that are just listening, you can't see it's a navy blue background with just white text.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And it says the Amy Porterfield show. So one of my best performing ads says, we can teach you how to do your own ads.

[A]

Boom. Donald Miller says, stupid, simple. Literally Come on.

[B]

I still agree. It's like, simple. Still works.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

So that's why you see all these ads. I call them a billboard ad because the whole point of a billboard when you're riding down the road is that you can see it and consume it and understand it so quickly. Like, we're overthinking it. So, like, if your first ad is the most basic canva pink or whatever color it is, your brand color that says, I can help you blank. And then sometimes I put in parentheses, and the caption explains how. And in the caption, just be like, hey, here's the credibility. And one of my other rhymes is, credibility does not negate humility.

[A]

Ooh, what does that mean?

[B]

Credibility does not negate humility. People think I'm not humble if I'm showing how I'm awesome. And to have all these awards. And it's like, no, there's so many people on the Internet that don't have the experience or the skill. So say that you've done X amount of podcasts. Say that you've done this for so many years, and just put that in the caption and be like, yep, my name is Amy. And after doing this for X amount of years and doing X amount of podcasts, I can show you how to xyz.

[A]

Yep. Okay. I love that.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

I'm gonna do a rapid fire with you. You tell me. I actually have two. Two different types of rapid fire. The first one is about ads. So number one mistake you see most of your students make when they start

[B]

running their ads, putting all their eggs in one basket.

[A]

So, like, I'm going all in with Facebook, I'm going all in with Instagram

[B]

and leaving that for, like, six months instead of trying another platform to run alongside it.

[A]

Got it.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

What surprises your students the most when it starts to work? What do you think surprises them that

[B]

they could have known this sooner and it wasn't that hard.

[A]

Yes. Right. Like, they can get in there. They can figure this out. Okay, and then what do you think is the most important thing when you cut. When it comes to targeting?

[B]

Think about one of two things. Are your existing clients the ones you still want? Because if so, really just model people off of that. So what I mean by that is you can take. Hence the email list being such an important thing still is take that list and just do a lookalike audience of people that look, act, and behave like that email list group. So just get your best people and tell the algorithm to go after people that look like them again.

[A]

Keep it simple.

[B]

So simple.

[A]

We don't need to make this super complicated. Okay, so now I want to switch a little bit as we wrap up to really, the success that you've had. So you are a young mom, you have two little ones, and you live this beautiful life. You've had your business for how long?

[B]

Since December of 2022.

[A]

Okay, so not very long. No multimillion dollar business. You are crushing it. You're taking your team degrees. I mean, come on. So a lot of women are listening, and they're like, that's what I want, and that's what I'm going to get. So what do you think it is about your mindset that has allowed you to get to where you are? I've gotten to spend some time with you, and you definitely have a great, solid mindset. So, like, what is it? How do you think about success? How do you think about failure? What is it?

[B]

So I think about when I saw your ads, let's say, five years ago, and I had two options. I could have been threatened, or I could have been inspired. And I was like, oh, no, she's already doing this. I was like, how great that someone went first. And I get to know that this is possible.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And so I just think it's people that try to imitate. I think that's another thing that I'm really strong on, is that there's enough for all of us and that if I had tried to be you, I could have never have been successful. It's saying, all of us just need to be who we are and actually just have an anticipatory heart. Like, I truly believe that when you are in doubt, you should throw doubt out. That's one of my things.

[A]

I like that.

[B]

It's like, when in doubt, throw doubt out. It's just not helpful at all. And so the only other belief that I have is one of the reasons that I started my business was there was just some rocky stuff going on in my life. And I was like, my framing was, all of this is gonna make me the person that I am. So even when things aren't working, I'm like, if I will just keep going. And for all of you listening, so many people just, they get out of the game. They don't keep going when it doesn't work. So my belief was, someone else has done it. I have a separate set of value that's out there. It's gonna be hard. Like, I didn't expect it to be easy.

[A]

That's another one.

[B]

But just don't feel threatened. And don't try to copy what anybody else is doing. Just be who you are. And the last tip is, I think people wanna rush the success. I was so okay with who I had to become and the things that it was gonna take to get to where we are.

[A]

I love that. And you knew it wasn't gonna be easy, so it was unique. Without getting into details. Cause it's your private business. I was with you when you were making a hard decision. Remember when we were at one hotel, you had to make a really hard decision, and it involved someone else, and you had to get on a call. But here's why I'm bringing this up. A lot of the women I support, they take forever to make a decision. They sit on it, they overthink it, they ask way too many people. In that moment, it was you, me, and a few other women, and we gave you some advice. You took what you thought was best, and then you went outside and made the call immediately. Okay, so that's how I am, too. So I really. I know it. I know it keeps us moving forward. What is it about you that you're

[B]

like, I'm just doing this so I have another rhyme. Amy.

[A]

Okay, I'm ready.

[B]

I knew.

[A]

I was hoping they'd come out in this. This way.

[B]

Like, this is so core. Like, this is. One of my big beliefs, is that indecision is a prison. And you gain traction when you take action.

[A]

Okay, seriously, just say it one more time, because that is what I want my students to hear.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay, here we go.

[B]

Indecision is a prison. But you gain traction when you take

[A]

action and talk about why it's a

[B]

prison, because it leaves you in this cage of absolute nothingness. Nothing you start doubting, which I also don't believe is worth your time. And so you will either learn or you will earn. Both are good.

[A]

There you go. You will either learn or earn. It's true, though.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

When you make a mistake. Yes.

[B]

That's life. I think it's the habit. We're used to getting consensus, asking all of our friends, you need to say, what would the 20 million or $50 million CEO do? And just make that decision today. I mean, you've heard that, and that's what. That's what we do.

[A]

Well, I really admired how you handled that, and it turned out great. And I just. I love that you're like, let's go. So that's my kind of girl.

[B]

You were so kind, too. You like. Like. I don't know if you Remember, you were like, I'm so proud of you.

[A]

I'm so proud of you.

[B]

I just did that.

[A]

It was so cool.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So, Ashley, I have loved getting to know you more and becoming your real friend, not just online. I love. I love what you're doing. And because I'm older than you, I do feel like I'm so proud of everything you've done. I just. It's so fun to watch you shine. Where can people learn more about you? Because I know my audience needs your support.

[B]

Oh, the challenge is probably the best place.

[A]

Okay, talk about that real quick.

[B]

So it's five days, and it's broken into the five things you need to be successful with ads. So every day is a different topic.

[A]

And my audience loves boot camps and challenges, and they also love to watch masters do them. And you're really good. You've done many.

[B]

I have, like, I think I've done it over 20, 25 times.

[A]

That is crazy. Yeah. So where do they go to? Check this out.

[B]

To the Win with paid ads challenge. I'm sure we'll have a link below here. Or ads with Ashley. And it's right there.

[A]

Perfect. I'll put it all in the show notes.

[B]

Cool.

[A]

Thank you, my friend.

[B]

Thank you, Amy.

[A]

You can run your own ads. You do not need an agency. You do not even need a team. You don't even need a five figure budget. You need to know what to fix first. And Ashley just gave us that. The reason most ads aren't working comes down to the message. Specificity creates the necessity. Vague gets scrolled, specific converts. And the small structural moves Ashley walked us through are the difference between an ad that drains your account and one that finally pays you back. This is a skill, and once you have it, you keep it forever. If this episode helped, share it with someone who needs to hear it. And if you haven't yet, subscribe on YouTube or follow on your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode. Talk to you soon.