Why I'm Launching My New Website, FunMoneyDad.com

A longtime freelance writer finds a new way to talk to the Internet.

My name is Ben Gran, and I’m a freelance writer. For the past 15+ years I’ve been working on the Internet. My work has appeared in publications like Forbes Advisor, The Motley Fool, and Business Insider. I’ve written about personal finance and investing for corporate blogs like Prudential and regional banks like PNC and First Horizon. I’ve written about technology for venture-backed tech startups and VC firms.

I’m also an executive ghostwriter, working behind the scenes to help CEOs and business thought leaders share their expertise in publications like Entrepreneur, Fast Company, and TechCrunch. And I recently finished my first book ghostwriting project, about the future of AI, advanced technology and human spirituality. I wrote 73,000 words in 3 months.

So, I write pretty good. I’m a wordsmith. I read fast, I research fast, I write fast. My brain processes words faster than most people. This is my core professional skill, the thing I’m best at in all the world, the only thing I know how to do anymore. I’m not a handy guy around the house (every time I have to do a minor home improvement project, it ruins my ENTIRE LIFE), I don’t know how to fix cars, I don’t cook much, I don’t have a lot of hobbies, I don’t have “work-life balance” or a “healthy exercise routine,” but by God, I know how to do the writin’ and the talkin’.

Ben Gran, freelance writer: being a digital nomad in Berlin, October 2025. In the background is the “Molecule Man” sculpture on the River Spree.

But last month, I made an alarming realization: despite writing millions of words as a freelance writer over the years, I have no real professional “online presence” or “brand” or “platform” of my own. In October, I was a guest expert on a fun investing podcast, and I realized that I had nowhere to tell people to follow me. This website, FunMoneyDad.com, is intended to correct this error.

All these years, I’ve been creating content for other people. And I’m good at what I do! I don’t care about being an “influencer” or a big shot or a bestselling author; all I’ve wanted is to stay fully booked and happily, slightly too busy as a freelance writer. I’m a ghostwriter, at heart; I don’t care if I’m invisible as long as I get paid.

But all this time while I’ve been helping other people build their reputations and drive traffic to their websites, I’ve too often neglected to figure out how to build up a consistent presence and platform and voice of my own. “The cobbler’s children are barefoot,” as the old saying goes. I need something that I can truly “own,” an email list and audience that wants to keep hearing from me. I need a new way to get found by freelance writing clients (some of the best freelance writing gigs find me; why not make it easier to get found?). I actually set up this Substack back in 2020, but I never got around to doing anything with it. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to blog about, or why. But now I know!

And also: earlier in 2025, I wrote my first book. I haven’t published it yet. This was not a ghostwriting project, it’s my very own CEO memoir about the lessons I’ve learned from 15+ years of being a solopreneur on the Internet. I intend to self-publish this book. I don’t care about selling lots of copies, I just want to use it as a portfolio piece to help get other book ghostwriting projects. And I want my kids to have something on the shelf someday to remember their Dad by. But if I can build up an audience on here, I might ask you to help me out by buying my book and giving it a 5-star rating on Amazon.

So that’s the elaborate backstory to why I started this website! But what am I hoping to accomplish with FunMoneyDad.com, what is FunMoneyDad.com about, and why should you subscribe??

Here are a few key goals for why I’m doing this, and why I intend to stick with it:

Make Money More Fun

I want to offer personal finance and investing content that is empowering, informative, and fun! There’s a lot of money advice and money articles and personal finance and investing content on the Internet, but too much of it is boring and technical and hard to understand. Or it’s coming from loud-mouthed aggro Money Influencer dudes who sound like jerks. That’s not how I want to be.

I believe that writing about money and learning about money and managing money can be fun! It doesn’t have to be a miserable bean-counting experience. I get annoyed by personal finance gurus who try to shame people for borrowing money to buy a car, or who hassle people about their $5 a day coffee habit. I want people to feel GOOD about their money. I want people to feel PEACE about their money. We’re all going to die someday, and the point of being alive is not to amass the largest retirement savings portfolio. We’ve got to have some fun along the way. We can make prudent investments for the future AND have fun with our money today.

Read more: You Don’t Have to Be a Millionaire to Retire.

Help People Make Money in a Fun Way

I want to offer hard-earned lessons and insights on how to be a freelance writer, how to start a business working on the Internet, and what it really means to make money online. Starting my own little creative solopreneur business as an online freelance writer back in 2010 completely changed my life. It’s been so, so great, you guys. I’ve been doing this for 15+ years and I’ve loved almost every minute, even during the hard times when there’s not enough work, even when clients ghost on me and don’t pay their bills. (Usually that doesn’t happen! 98% of the time, clients actually pay me! Thank you, good clients!)

And I don’t want to sell false hope about starting a business. It’s hard. It’s flexible and fun, but it can also be stressful and all-consuming. I’m very lucky. I’m exceptionally good at my weird little niche skillset. This is the best way for me to make a living, based on the unique and sometimes exasperating ways that my mind works. Not everyone can do what I do, exactly how I do it.

But I do believe that almost everyone can be entrepreneurial in their own way, on their own level, in whatever way is meaningful to them. Start a side hustle. Get creative with your job. Add more value for your employer. Make some extra cash on the side. There are so many ways to boost your income and it feels fantastic. I still believe in the Internet as a way to connect with lucrative, life-changing opportunities. I’m going to write about that here on FunMoneyDad.com.

Read more: My Side Hustle Almost Got Me Fired. Here’s Why It Was Worth It.

Be a Responsible “Money Dad”

I’ve always been passionate about saving money and investing for the future. The kind of pleasurable brain chemicals that most people get from spending money are what I get from saving money. (“Ahhh, yes. Another generous contribution to my SEP IRA! I can feel the prudence flowing!”)

But I also try not to go too far and be stingy and impractical. My children have never wanted for anything important, fun, or frivolous in life because I was being stern and frugal and saying “no you can’t have an ice cream cone; we have to save for retirement instead!”

The point is: it’s not always easy, but I love being a breadwinner and a responsible parent who provides for my children. I want every parent, whether you’re a Mom or Dad, to enjoy this same feeling of abundance and peace about money.

Read more: I Was the Sole Breadwinner in My Family for 10 Years. I’ve Learned Money Can Sometimes Buy Happiness.

Share My Best Work and Favorite Money Writers

There are so many amazing writers, podcasters and YouTubers who talk about personal finance and investing. I want to share my favorites on here. I also want to use this space to share my latest published work, podcast appearances, travel writing, and more.

I think this is gonna be fun! I’ve been needing this for a long time — a new way to talk to the Internet, away from all the depressing sludge of social media, away from all the spam and trolls and AI slop. The Internet changed my life. I still remember how exciting it felt, growing up in a small town in the 1990s, to hear that friendly chirp and whir of the modem connecting, knowing that we could connect to a wider world, find like-minded people, build community. The Internet made it possible for me to have my dream career and travel with my family around the world. We need the Internet to be about people again. I think a lot of people are yearning to get away from the algorithms and the tech monopolies and the deranged AI bots, and just get back to having real conversations and human connections.

Thanks for being part of my journey! More to come.

Want to hire Ben Gran for your next freelance writing project? Send me an email (benjamin.gran@gmail.com) or check out my freelance writer website at BenjaminGran.com.