As you may know, with all the “buzz” going on in the “blogosphere” and the “Twitterverse” and “FacebookLand,” I’m going to be doing a stand-up comedy show on March 9 at the Des Moines Social Club. Along with Omaha comedian Zach Peterson. Tickets are ON SALE NOW. Ever since I announced this comedy show, I’ve been getting a lot of questions from people. Questions like: “Are you sure you want to do this?” and “Why are you doing this to yourself?” and “You should probably see someone about your emotional...

Ben Gran is performing stand-up comedy on Friday, March 9 at 7:30 p.m. The brilliant Zach Peterson of Omaha’s OK Party Comedy will also perform. Want to buy tickets? Now you can: BUY TICKETS NOW Ben Gran stand-up comedy FAQs: You’ve got questions? We’ve got answers: Where’s the show going to be? Des Moines Social Club, 400 Walnut Street, Des Moines, IA How much do tickets cost? Only $10! It’s a cheap night out! And much more fun than your typical overrated Hollywood blockbuster. Plus there’s a small processing fee that goes to benefit the Social Club (a goodhearted...

Want to laugh at Ben Gran in public? Here’s your chance: Friday, March 9 at 7:30 p.m. Drawing by David Anderson, Houston, TX WHAT: Ben Gran! (Performing stand-up comedy) WHERE: The Des Moines Social Club! WHO: Ben Gran! Also: A funny guy from Omaha named Zach Peterson will be on hand to deliver devastating witticisms! (You might say Zach puts the “Ha!” in “Omaha!”) HOW: Ticket Info and Juicy, Scandalous Details are here – BUY TICKETS NOW! (no pressure) WHY: Because we need something special to get through the gray slog of our daily lives, but drugs are illegal. Love, Ben Gran (Amateur...

My wife and I recently decided to host a foreign exchange student from Brazil. He’ll be living at our house for the spring semester of 2012 – January through June. We had talked before about wanting to host an exchange student, but we always thought it would be on our “someday” list – someday when our kids are older, when we have more money, when we have more time, etc. We’re very busy right now taking care of two young children under the age of 4, and we live on one income, so we weren’t 100% sure if we were “ready” to take in an exchange student...

As a freelance writer, I often work with clients to help write, edit and polish their corporate Case Studies – the “success stories” of specific situations that help illustrate their value and explain how they work. Here is a standard format that I like to use when writing Case Studies, along with some questions that I pose to my clients to help generate the details. Client Background: Give a short description of the client’s business and industry. Who was the client? Who are the client’s key customers? How many employees do they have? How much annual revenue do they...

There’s so much to worry about when you’re a freelancer. The hierarchy goes like this: Will there be enough work? I have plenty of work – but do I have time to get it all done? I have plenty of work, and I’m getting it all done – but am I charging enough? I’m making more money than I’ve ever made in my life – but am I setting aside enough for taxes? I’ve set aside a bunch of money for taxes – but will I have to pay all of it to the government, or will I have some left over? Maybe the answer is: stop worrying. Focus on what is in your...