AUBREY ACCEPTED INTO NATIONAL SPEAKERS ASSOCATION

Contact:                                                  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sarah Aubrey

Prosperity Ag & Energy Resources

(317)996-2777 (office)

sarah@prosperityagenergy.com

SARAH AUBREY ACCEPTED INTO NATIONAL SPEAKERS ASSOCIATION

MONROVIA, Ind. - September 13, 2011 - Sarah Aubrey has been accepted as a professional member into the National Speakers Association (NSA) as of August 2011, following the Association's extensive internal review process. Member qualifications include presenting a minimum number of speeches annually and/or generating a minimum amount of revenue from paid speaking engagements. Aubrey is now part of the NSA network which brings professional speakers together to excel in their careers and better serve clients. She is also involved in several NSA sub-groups including the Motivational/Keynote, Seminar/Workshop Leaders, and Writers/Publishers groups. The NSA, established in 1973, is the leading organization for professional speakers. For more information, visit http://www.nsaspeaker.org/.

Aubrey provides speaking services focusing on entrepreneurship and small business development strategies, including assisting audiences in finding and applying for grants.

Aubrey is a member of the Writer's Center of Indiana where she consults fellow members on developing successful book proposals suitable for publishers. A full time entrepreneur since 2004, she created and sold a direct marketing business, Aubrey's Natural Meats, LLC. in 2008. She is the author of two non-fiction books with over 50,000 copies sold worldwide. Starting & Running Your Own Small Business Farm (Storey Publishing, 2008) helps niche farmers position themselves well for the opportunities afforded by today's market. Aubrey's second book, The Profitable Hobby Farm, How to Build a Sustainable Local Foods Business (Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2010) is a down-to-earth guide giving all the information one needs to know to start a local foods business. Aubrey's company, Prosperity Ag and Energy Resources, is a full-service funding opportunities firm which aids entrepreneurs, communities and institutions of higher education in securing grants and loans in the areas of agriculture, energy, environment and food manufacturing. More information can be found at www.prosperityagenergy.com.

###

S

August Travels: From the Desk of Erin Smith, Marketing Manager

Last month, Prosperity was out and about enjoying summer and many agricultural activities. On Farmers Day, August 17, and in honor of Sarah, I attended ISDA's Celebration of Agriculture & Photo Contest Reception in the Normandy Barn at the Indiana State Fair. The highlight of this event was the presentation of the 2011 AgriVision Award presented by L.T. Governor Becky Skillman, which honors a Hoosier who has displayed a deep commitment and vision for Indiana agriculture.

In addition to the award ceremony, I was happy to represent Sarah as she was recognized as a 2011 ISDA Photo Contest winner with her picture, "Hereford Haze."  Her photo was on display in the Normandy Barn for the duration of the state fair, and is currently on display in a traveling photo gallery. All winning photos will also be in a 2012 calendar sponsored by Indiana Farm Bureau and designed by Hoosier Ag Today.

Also in the month of August, I attended Indiana Farm Tours in Southern Indiana hosted by the Indiana Soybean Alliance. The tour was a two-day experience, and stops were made at multiple ag production facilities. A tour bus carried participants to facilities consisting of cattle, egg laying pullets, hog, turkey and chicken, and dairy. Thank you Indiana Soybean Alliance for hosting the tour!

The Final Post of Prosperity's Summer Intern, Rachel Bayless

Working at Prosperity has been a wonderful 13-week internship. I’ve had a lot of fun keeping this blog updated. And I’ve learned a lot about the business and gotten great work experience. This is my final post, as I will be heading back to Purdue in a couple of days.

This week I’ve taken Sarah’s books to Mooresville Feed & Seed to sell. There are now a few copies displayed at the cash register. I also went to a country store not too far from Prosperity where they expressed an interest in the books. They have a lot of hobby-farming customers who would be interested in learning how to make their operations profitable. And due to the convenient location, there may be some book signings in the future!

Yesterday I got to work at the Indiana State Fair. I sat in the Normandy Barn and got to talk to scores of fair-goers and hand out recipes for the Family of Farmers’ recipe trail. The Striped Bass with Pumpkin Sauce may not have been the biggest hit of the trail. But quite a few people said they planned on trying it, and it would probably go well with the dirt pudding recipe from the next stop on the recipe trail. Also, upstairs at the Normandy Barn, paintings of Indiana artist, Douglas David were featured, as well as the photographs of the ISDA photo contest winners. Sarah’s “Hereford Haze” is the first picture you see as you walk up the stairs. It’s really a very nice display of pictures and paintings. If you’re at the fair, it’s also a good break to the indoors for air conditioning.

On Monday I will begin my job as an advertising representative at The Exponent, Purdue’s student newspaper. Last semester I was a sales assistant, but now that I’ll have a territory and my own clients as an ad rep, I’m glad I’ve gotten some experience at Prosperity dealing with clients! I also write for a blog at Purdue. I am an admissions blogger, and maintain a blog for prospective students to read about life at Purdue. Once school starts I will be updating my “Boilermaker Life” blog again. You can keep track of what I’m up to at school on that blog. I am heading into my junior year, studying Sales and Marketing in the College of Agriculture. I’m looking forward to my new classes this semester, and hopefully I will have another fantastic semester at Purdue!

Hamming It Up

Last Friday morning Sarah, Erin, and I got to attend Indiana Pork’s annual Ham Breakfast at the fairgrounds. It was bright and early at 6:45am. Governor Mitch Daniels and Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman spoke briefly about Indiana agriculture and our wonderful state fair. As the governor said, even though this is the “Year of the Soybeans”, every year is the “Year of the Pig” at the fair. And of course we got a yummy breakfast. The Indiana State Fair has officially begun!

I only have one week remaining of my internship. For the final week I will be making phone calls to bookstores promoting Sarah’s books. The books are already sold in major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders. But we’re looking to have them in smaller stores around the state, a nice touch to local bookstores to feature an Indiana author. Mooresville Feed & Seed, past the Lowe’s, will be carrying a few copies beginning next week. More locations are to be announced.

This week I will hopefully have the opportunity to work at the state fair a couple days with the Indiana Office of Energy Development. It’ll be good networking, especially seeing as it’s about time for me to start looking for an internship for next summer! I am open to suggestions, recommendations, and job offers. The agriculture world is very close-knit, as I’ve learned this summer. It seems as though everybody knows each other. I have a lot of people left to meet!

Post/Photo by Rachel Bayless

Winding Down, Week 11

On Monday, Prosperity held its quarterly advisory board conference call. I had the opportunity to sit in and listen to the board discuss current happenings in the agriculture world from different vantage points. Indiana Farm Bureau president Don Villwock called in as a guest speaker, and I am glad I got the opportunity to sit in on the meeting.

Also, as a follow up to my previous posts regarding Sarah’s photo, Hereford Haze – an entry is the ISDA’s annual photo contest, the winners have been selected! Hereford Haze took first place in the “On the Farm” category. It goes very nicely with the other 11 photographs selected, which will be a part of a 2012 calendar put out by the Indiana Farm Bureau and Hoosier Ag Today. And throughout the fair you will be able to see the pictures displayed upstairs in the Normandy Barn. I hope you get a chance to visit the fair this year and see all the wonderful events going on, especially this “Year of the Soybean”.

Following the meeting on Monday, I got to meet the newest resident on the Aubrey property. I had never seen such a young calf before, and she’s about the cutest thing I’ve seen. Her name is A cappella. She’s precious.

Photo by Rachel Bayless

From the Desk of Prosperity’s Summer Intern, Rachel Bayless:

I can’t believe I only have three weeks left of my internship. This summer has gone by so quickly. My next three weeks will be focused on marketing Starting & Running Your Own Small Farm Business and The Profitable Hobby Farm. There will be quite a bit of email and phone correspondence with Indiana wineries and local businesses to try to sell the book at those locations in addition to the current major sellers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Hastings. And at some point in the next few weeks we’re going to try to set up a face-to-face sales call. I’ll admit, I’m nervous! But hopefully I can pick up some sales skills from my internship, as I continue studying sales & marketing.

It looks as though I’ll be working at the state fair for a couple days with the Indiana Office of Energy. I am truly excited to be seeing the fair from a different side. I’ve attended it almost every year, just with elephant ears and snow cones in mind. But I’m looking forward to seeing the agriculture and Indiana-focused side of the state fair and especially seeing the displays the Office of Energy presents to fair-goers interested in Indiana energy. And as I mentioned in my last post, the ISDA is putting on a “Celebration of Agriculture” event on August 17^th. They will also be announcing their photo contest winners, and Sarah’s photo “Hereford Haze” is an entry!

Photo by Rachel Bayless

From the Desk of Prosperity’s Summer Intern, Rachel Bayless:

This week has been very productive in preparing the marketing of The Profitable Hobby Farm. I’ve gathered book excerpts, a press release, and related items that are going to go towards making my very first media kit. The Sarah Beth Aubrey Facebook page (www.facebook.com/sarahbethaubrey) is being used as a book page for The Profitable Hobby Farm and Starting and Running Your Own Small Farm Business. 

After about another week, I will be getting started on contacting businesses and hopefully selling some books. The publishers are not easy to get in touch with. But I’m hoping to pull through and make this a successful project! I don’t want to be a flop at my major, sales and marketing.

Coming up in just a few weeks, the Indiana State Fair begins! I’m looking forward to going this year, after having a taste of the agriculture world. Our soybean friends at the Indiana Soybean Alliance are celebrating their “Year of the Soybean”. Check out this post by one of the ISA interns; take a shot at winning four tickets to this year’s fair. And once you’re at the fair, participate in the ISA’s soybean search, BEANGO (like Bingo, clever isn’t it!), to get some free fair food. And be sure to attend the Celebration of Agriculture event (August 17^th) put on by the Indiana State Department of Agriculture. They are announcing winners of their annual photo contest, and Sarah entered her picture “Hereford Haze” in the “On the Farm” category. 

"Hereford Haze" by Sarah Aubrey