53: Pod-a-versary: A Year of Pinch Me Moments and Learning Experiences (Happy One Year Podcast Anniversary To The Systems and Workflow Magic Podcast!)

Can you believe it has been a year since I started The Systems and Workflow Magic Podcast? Maybe you have been listening for most of the year, or maybe you just stumbled across this podcast today. If you are a behind-the-scenes junkie and love getting the inside scoop on what goes on behind the mic, this episode is for you! In this episode, Leah Bryant is putting me in the hot seat to reminisce about the past year and pull the curtain back on what is going to happen in the near future.

The Systems and Workflow Magic Podcast is brought to you by Dolly DeLong Education. This podcast is for creative business owners who want to learn tangible steps to automate their business through workflows, systems, tools, and strategies to go from scattered to streamlined with purpose because even muggles can become automated wizards.

Want To Learn How To Incorporate Systems In Your Business? 

Are you ready to automate the backend of your business with systems and workflows…but you have no earthly idea where to begin? Well, the Systems and Workflow Magic Bundle is coming out again in February of 2023 and this time the theme of the bundle = is The Systems and Workflows of All the parts of a Funnel! Doesn’t that sound like FUN(nel)? 🤓

To get on the waitlist for the Systems and Workflow Magic 2.0 Funnel Bundle head on over here or go to: https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/

Review the Show Notes

Putting Dolly in the hot seat to celebrate (0:30)

Getting started in podcasting (2:20)

Creating a podcast for business and a legacy (4:23)

How podcasting has influenced Dolly’s business (8:50)

Learning and growing while podcasting (12:31)

Memorable moments over the past year (17:55)

Low points and “pinch me” moments (25:22)

Hyped up for the upcoming year (32:14)

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REVIEW THE TRANSCRIPT:

The Systems & Workflow Magic Podcast
Welcome to the systems and workflow magic podcast where I help entrepreneurs go from scattered to streamlined in their creative businesses. I’m your host, Dolly DeLong, a wife, a mom, and a photographer turned systems educator. Join me every week as we have conversations centered around creating tactical workflows, and automation in your business. Now, let’s make some strategic workflow magic.

Leah Bryant
Hello, and welcome back to the systems and workflow magic Podcast. Today sounds a little different because you’re used to hearing Dolly with her introduction. But today, it’s going to be a fun episode. You guys, we have Dolly in the guest seat. We’re putting her in the hot seat as they say. And we’re celebrating her first podcast anniversary. We’re super excited. And I am honored. I met Dolly in the quiz lab with Linda Sidhu. And by the way, my name is Leah and she had asked me to come and interview her today jumped at the chance because I love her podcast and all of her content. So Dolly, how does it feel to sit on the other side?

Dolly Delong
Oh, my goodness I was sharing with you earlier before we hit record. I’m very nervous about this. But I’m very excited at the same time. And thank you so much for doing this.

Leah Bryant
Of course. Well, I’m excited. Anytime we get to celebrate a milestone in podcasting. I think that’s really something to definitely celebrate to the full extent. So that being said, How does it feel to be celebrating this milestone with your podcast?

Dolly Delong
Oh, man, I am pumped that well, two things come to my mind. The first thing is yesterday was my son’s fourth birthday. So when this airs, it will be not only my son’s fourth birthday but this podcast, podcast-anniversary birthday as well. And so there have been a lot of fun milestones. And for me also, it’s just, it’s nice to see that something that I’ve been dreaming of for several years. I’ve been sticking with it and being consistent with it. And it’s just been a fun ride. It’s been so much fun learning about podcasting in the past year.

Leah Bryant
I love that so much. And you said that you know I’ve been thinking about podcasting for a couple of years. What was it that made you want to start a podcast?

Dolly Delong
Yeah, so I started this one in 2021. This podcast and I have been thinking about it for two years. So starting around, or maybe three years, I don’t know. But either way, it’s two years 2018 and 2019. I had started thinking, well, it would be really, really fun, just fun to do a podcast. But I didn’t really know or understand where to begin, how to start, what the theme would be because at the time, I hadn’t, what everybody calls, I hadn’t niched down enough, or I was like offering everything to everyone. And I am an avid podcast listener, myself, I love listening to all types of podcasts, like other business podcasts, I also love, all talk radio-type of podcasts, just to listen to what’s happening in the world. And then I also like true crime. And then, of course, my son now listens to podcasts with me. And so he has his favorite podcast. So anyways, my family, we are all podcast listeners together. And I use that, you know, I have a lot of things I would like to share with the world. I don’t know if that’s narcissistic. And so I just think that podcasting has been a good platform for me, but yeah, two years ago, I had no idea where to begin, I had no idea where to start. And I have a personality where if I start something, I want to finish it and do it well, and not be one of those business owners that says I’m gonna start a podcast and then 10 episodes in you never hear from them ever again. So I wanted to be consistent, but I just knew two years ago, that I wasn’t at that point yet. I couldn’t commit to something long-term.

Leah Bryant
So when you were thinking about starting a podcast, did you know that you want it to incorporate into your business? Or were you thinking you know what, I just want to start this podcast? I think it would be fun. And what I talked about, it’ll just come to me as I go, or did you come to it like, Oh, this is going to be for my business. This is going to do these things for my business. What was the thought process behind that?

Dolly Delong
Yeah, so I thought of it more from a strategic standpoint for the business. The podcast listeners who have been with me since the beginning, I guess since last year. Y’all know how much I love pillar content. And I love talking about being very strategic with your content. And I believe firmly that podcasting and blogging and anything like even video, like YouTube form, are great pieces of content that are long living, I don’t want to say everlasting, but they have a longer shelf life over social media or something that has 24 to 48 hours shelf life. And so if I was going to create content I wanted, I want it to be long lasting, and I want it to be impactful and help people in the long term, and not just in the short term. So that’s kind of like where I was coming in from. I mean, I’ve always loved systems and workflows, even before I knew what systems and workflows were, I love a good strategy session. I love being purposeful and mindful of everything I do. If my husband was here, he’d be like, really you do, when he’s way more strategic and purposeful than I am. So I don’t know if it’s also being married to my husband that has helped, like, open that up more in me. And I’ve joked around one time with somebody, I was like if somebody were to like peep in my brain, about the strategies, it looked like a psycho psychotic serial killer, or like that. There’s like this meme where this person looks crazy. And everything drop points back to one thing. And like, you know, I don’t know what specific meaning it was. But I just like seeing how strategies and workflows work together and how to be just purposeful. I don’t know, I just really wanted to be purposeful with my business and create, like a positive ripple effect. And not just in the short term, but in the long term could impact my business.

Leah Bryant
Yeah, no, I love that so much. And when you think about it, podcasting is almost like you’re leaving a legacy for Blake to be able to listen to this when he’s older, he can share with your grandkids, it’d be so great to be able to go back and listen.

Dolly Delong
You know what, that’s funny. Okay, I’m glad you said that. Because I, for those of you who are listening, if you know who Jasmine star is, she’ll never know who I am. But I just love her so much. And I love how real and authentic she is. But I was listening to her podcast like, this is literally a few months before I started my own podcast. So it was in 2021. And that’s exactly the phrase she uses. She used sorry, with a listener or I don’t know, whoever she was talking with. She said you should just start the podcast, not for strategy purposes, but to leave a legacy for your kids. Because that way they can listen to your voice and learn something about you. And that is another reason that sparked me like that legacy component. Because, man, I would have given anything to learn about like, my grandparents and my relatives like just listening to their voice and listening to like, the stages of life they were at and so I’m hoping that Blaze and I haven’t had baby number two yet, but I’m hoping baby number two Yeah. also enjoys like, getting to know me later on in life, like after their like angsty teenage years. And then they come back and they’re like, oh, like mom and dad are actually pretty decent. And we should get to know them. So I’m hoping this does leave a legacy for Blaze and baby number two for their life. And they get to know like, Hey, mom actually, like, loved running a business. And she enjoyed it. And because my son doesn’t really understand what I do. He understands what my husband does, but he has no idea what I do. And maybe one day, I’ll get it.

Leah Bryant
He’ll listen to the podcast. And he’ll be like, yeah, no, I totally get it. Yeah, I know what mom does. I love that so much. But like, speaking of what you do, and the whole reason why we’re here today, celebrating your podcast, with his anniversary, it brings up an interesting question of, you know, how have the podcasts impacted your business? You know, have you been able to reach as many people as you do every week with your podcast, and would just love to learn more about how that impacted the business for you?

Dolly Delong
Yeah, I’m so I’ve definitely networked myself, even more, and met a lot of amazing, creative business owners such as yourself. And I’ve been able to, I don’t know, for me just meet other amazing female business owners who are not in the similar business that I am, but they’re also online. And so it’s been nice just creating new friendships online because it can be very lonely. Being a solo business owner who works from home, and yeah, it gets lonely and my own family, they don’t understand what I do, right? But so I just say, Oh, I’m a photographer, I don’t really explain what I don’t know how to explain. I’m also a creative business owner who educates other creative business owners. And so I just say I’m a photographer. So it’s nice to have other people who get what I do. And so that’s been wonderful. This podcast has been really good in connecting me with other people. And honestly, I never thought that anybody would listen, even though I had so many ideas and so many things to say about, like systems and workflow strategy. I didn’t realize, the amount for me, like having people DM me, and even email me about podcast episodes, I never realized it would help. It’s so funny. I say, I have so much to say, because I want to help others, but then I didn’t realize it would actually help others. People would actually listen, does that make sense? Like, it’s so exciting to know other people are listening and tuning in because I consider myself, I don’t say this in a self-deprecating way. Like, I just consider myself a very small fish in a very big pond. And so it just means a lot to me that people let me in their earbuds every week. And they want to tune in, and they actually want to learn about systems and workflows. And they like my quirky and weird personality that goes alongside it. And so, I don’t know, it’s been just a fun year of getting to know other business owners and other listeners.

Leah Bryant
I love it. And I think that your quirkiness is you say, I think that’s part of your charm. You know, that’s like the reason why I love your podcast, because you share things in a way that just my brain gets it. And like all the people that listen to you, I’m sure that they are the same way that they’re just like, oh, my gosh, Dolly, you just totally made my brain light bulb moment. I’m like, Oh, I get it now. So yeah, it’s really awesome that you’ve seen this impact with networking, especially in the online space, because it is so hard to meet by yourselves. We talk about, oh, we’re gonna hop on a zoom call and your family’s like, well, now not so much. But maybe before they’re like what you’re gonna get on a zoom call and do what? Yeah, but to be able to have this and to connect with people, you know, whether they’re in the same business or not. I think that’s really that’s like probably like one of the number one reasons why I love podcasting is for that networking feel. Yes. But you know, being a podcaster doesn’t come without learning a thing or two, I think. Yeah. So just switch gears a little bit like, what have you learned maybe about podcasting, maybe about yourself, maybe about your business within this year that you’d like to share with everyone?

Dolly Delong
That’s such a good question. It’s so loaded too, I feel like I’m always learning something. But several things come to mind. Okay, so the first thing that comes to mind is, how do I explain this, it’s so important to me to think ahead, and to be strategic with my episodes. And so like, again, like I tried to batch everything out and be strategic and try to give myself space to batch out. That’s so important. But at the same time, there’s only so much batching I can do where because my husband joked around with me the other day, he’s like, man, you batch out a lot, which is good. But then what if like a nuclear war happens in your podcast keeps on airing, as if nothing has happened? I’m like toeing the line of, you know, I’m trying to be proactive with my time. But at the same time, I also need to be very mindful of like, what’s happening in the world. So like, I’m not like producing things that they’re not helpful. They’re not uplifting that. I don’t know if that makes sense, whatsoever. But yeah, I’m trying to like find my groove with batching still and not batch too far in advance, but then batch enough to where I can still have some breathing room. So that’s something that I’ve been thinking about lately. Another thing is just, I struggle still with like, recording in a recording-friendly environment, which you know, that I like, really struggle with this because I’m like, I don’t have the space in my house for that. And when I do have the time, I just want to like get it cranked out and I sometimes think done is better than perfect. Let’s just crank these bad boys out. But I am learning so much more. Having good audio is important. I don’t have to have state of the art setup. But having good audio is really important. So I’m trying to be very mindful of that. Especially for my listeners. I’m trying to think of it Like from their perspective, and I’ve really enjoyed learning. I don’t know if this kind of ties into this question, but I think it’s really important to bring on guests who compliment my business and who have complimented like systems or workflows so that I can introduce my audience to these guests. I don’t want it to be like the Dolly DeLong and here’s my systems and workflow Amazing Brain shows that I definitely do not know everything I like to think I know everything and that is like, one of my flaws my human nature flaws like I want to know everything And God’s like, you can’t know everything, it’s impossible but I love having had met other experts who know more than me who work alongside me and I can connect my audience with these guests. And so and again, like the proof is in the receipts like I get DMS I get messages that say it’s because of episode whatever. I am now connected with that person okay, like for example, we both are mutual friends with Linda Sidhu, who is the personality queen of creating quizzes. And so I’ve had her on the podcast. And several weeks ago, I had somebody DM me on Instagram and say, Oh, thanks for your podcast episode with Linda. I got connected with her. And now I’ve hired her to help me out with like writing out my quiz. And I’m like, That’s awesome!!

Leah Bryant
Like, so amazing.

Dolly Delong
It makes me so happy. Like, that’s exactly one of the reasons why I want to do my podcast to like, help other people, like create a new system for their business. And for this business owner, it was creating a quiz system, which is so cool. So that’s something I’ve learned, like, I want to continue to do that, Lord-willing in the years ahead, just bring on experts who know more than me about like specific systems and who can genuinely help my audience because unfortunately, I don’t know all the things I wish I did. But I don’t know all the things.

Brittany Herzberg
(Commercial) Dolly you beautiful joyful systems and workflow queen, I am so lucky to call you a friend. You’ve opened my eyes to so many organizational and automation tips and tricks. And I’m so grateful. Special shout out to Episode 28 with Caitlin Gray, where you guys are talking about HoneyBook versus Dubsado. You have been so kind and invited me into your world as a podcast guest and a special contributor for a fun project in 2023. I’m so excited for the future of your podcast and of your business over the next year and beyond. This is Britney Herzberg for the Instagram handle is Brittany underscore Herzberg.

Leah Bryant
You know all the things that you should know and that’s important, right? Yes. And I think that the reason why I like your podcast is so successful is that you have that Servant’s Heart of I want to help people I want to help educate people. This isn’t just what you said, the dolly DeLong show I mean it is. It’s also like you’re bringing in people that are talking about areas of you know, topics that are there’s no genius that may not be yours, and that benefit your listeners really all of that together provide such value, that I think that’s really important and really impactful. And that’s something that should be celebrated, especially today, right? Since we’re celebrating your one-year, pot anniversary we’ll just call prefers. Remember that, you know, you’re taking the time to be strategic in your content planning, you know, what can I relate to my listeners that are going to help them in their business to move forward in their business, impact them in some way. And if I can’t talk about this topic, who can I bring in, that’s going to be able to help them learn, grow, and so on and so forth? I think that’s really, really admirable that you do that because there are not a lot of podcasters. I mean, there are but just the fact that you take the time to think that through is really important. And the batching is awesome. Because you know, being able to be ahead, you’re not stressed out. You’re not worrying about oh, gosh, I’ve got to record an episode today. Yeah. You know, but thinking ahead, and I think that that’s really awesome. You know, talking just about this past year, and, you know, we’ve kind of gone through what it’s like celebrating this milestone for you. We’ve talked about, you know what made you want to start the podcasts and how you’re leaving a legacy for your little ones. And then you know, ways that it’s impacted your business, all the serious stuff, right, like, yeah, that’s custody with your podcast. But what I would love I would like to think that the listeners would love to know this too. We’d love to know, like, share the fun, share the exciting share, like what you love I mean, you have shared some of that we’ve led up to but just share things that have really brought you joy over this last year with your podcast.

Dolly Delong
Oh, yeah. Okay, so just like the excitement of finally having started it, like, I know it’s been a year, and sometimes the excitement can wear off. But for some reason with me, it’s so exciting every week when I see that a new podcast episode is out. And so many downloads have happened. I know like metrics are you know, go up and down all the time, but it’s just so cool to me. And still so new and so exciting that people actually want to learn from me, the weirdo that I am, and the crazy woman that I am, but it feels exciting that I met this milestone that I’ve been thinking about for so many years. And it’s so cool to see it come to fruition. And it’s even cooler now because I’m trying to think ahead like we’re recording this in 2022. So I’m trying to think ahead for 2023. And what sort of systems and workflow themes do I want to start incorporating for 2023? Who should I invite, and not drained by it? I’m not dreading it. The only time I’ve ever dreaded recording a podcast episode was because like, I’ve been 2 million months pregnant with baby number two, and I can’t breathe as you can you probably hear me breathing heavily because I’m just like, trying to get in all the breaths. And while my son kicks me, besides that, I just love I’ve loved this. And I may not see, I guess my return on investment this year has been the marketing aspect of getting my business, like growing a little bigger, and also networking. And yeah, I know, I’m not like, I don’t have like sponsored deals yet. So I’m definitely not rolling in the dough, like somebody. Somebody mentioned. It was really funny. Somebody heard I had a podcast at my church. I don’t talk about what I do at church because people don’t understand like, you’re a creative business owner was that mean? So I just tell everyone, I’m a photographer. But somebody found out I have a podcast, and they made a passing comment to my husband like, Oh, you guys are gonna be fine. Like, your wife probably has all these sponsors. And like later on, my husband and I were like laughing about that. They were like, they don’t know how podcasting works. Like, it’s like a long game, right? And I’m one of those weirdos that I’m okay with the long game. I am okay with like, slowly growing over time. And so yeah, like, I want to be like clear with all the listeners. Like I don’t have any ads, like sponsors or deals like, I don’t even I just tried to think of like a big sponsor who would sponsor me, the only person I like that came to mind was, I don’t know why Nike would want to sponsor your systems and workflow.

Leah Bryant
Reach out to Dubsado and be like, hey!!

Dolly Delong
Probably true, yeah, but like, I just want to be clear with everyone. Like if you are wanting or thinking about starting a podcast, like, definitely put on your hat of thinking long-term, long game Strategic Growth slowly over time, because it’s very rare that people can make money from podcasting. And so, for me, the winds have been more like growing my brand. Again, I share that and then also network, and meet other creative business owners, and not feel so alone. So those have been like huge, huge wins for me, and have sustained any moments of self-doubt I’ve had, and I will share this and you know, this Leah, I have shared that. I’ve had moments of doubt where I’m like, is anyone really listening? Does anybody really care? Why am I doing this, at the end of the day, I’m doing this like because it’s fun! I love it. I love this. I love talking systems. I love talking about strategies. I love learning. I love growing. And so as long as I can, I’m going to stay on this podcast.

Jackie

(Commercial) Happy one-year podcast anniversary Dolly, I am so thankful to have been a part of this journey and a bit of one of your guest speakers this past year, you bring so much frickin valuable content to your podcast and I cannot wait to see what you bring it in 2023 Because I have personally been so blown away by some of the guests that you’ve had on the podcast and the content that you have shared with all of us. So happy birthday!!!!

Leah Bryant
I love it and I forget the exact statistic but I’m pretty sure that 25% or 50% of the top podcasts received anywhere between like 25 and 75 downloads within the first seven days. is. So just knowing that you are well above average. So you are doing a phenomenal job. And if you think about if you take all your listeners in, which equates to downloads, right, so all those downloads, you turn those into people, you put those into a room, they would not even fit in a room. Oh, now you’re doing a great job. And the proof is in the pudding. As I say, right?

Dolly Delong
thank you so much. It’s been it’s been fun. And like, I do want to stress that, like whatever you do in business, it’s kind of like being on a roller coaster at times, like it is. I don’t know, sometimes I do feel like I am experiencing so many highs and then so many lows. And I have learned and I’m still learning and I’m learning how to be okay, with the feeling I can’t always have those high moments. And I need to still push myself forward when I’ve experienced that roller coaster like that low point. And it’s okay to be upset, disappointed, I don’t know. But I feel like everybody feels that way. And I also like to push myself through those emotional rollercoaster moments. And I maybe not share it as often. But I do like to, I don’t know if this is a weird personality trait or something that I’ve always done, but when I feel really low, that’s when I’m like, I usually like reaching out to other business owners who are in similar like stage I met. And I try to encourage them, but I don’t tell them why I’m encouraging them because I feel low. So I’m like somebody else needs to feel really good about themselves. So this year has also been really good for me because I’ve like randomly encouraged other people who don’t know, it’s kind of counter-weird. It’s so weird. It’s countercultural, I realized that it’s so weird. But I figured if I’m having like a really low moment, I need to like, stop feeling sorry for myself and just like go out and encourage somebody not to make myself feel better. But like maybe they need encouragement, and I’ll get back up again. Like everything’s gonna be okay like that. That’s like usually my mindset with things.

Leah Bryant
I love that so much Dolly that just really goes to show the type of person you are just such a giver. Right? Like, when you’re feeling low, you’re giving and thinking when someone else. So I think that’s really admirable. So from the world, I can definitely say thank you for that. So that really means a lot. Speaking of like, I don’t want to disregard any low moments or anything. But I do want to just because we’re celebrating you and all your accomplishments within this past year, I know this is kind of hard because when I’ve asked this question before other podcasters are usually like, oh my goodness, I don’t even know. But do you have any like favorite moments favorite guest episodes, that you’re just like when you think about the year you’re just like immediately like, oh my gosh, I love that so much that you’d like to,

Dolly Delong
two come to mind. The first was I had a major pinch-me moment when Ashlyn Carter agreed to be on my podcast, and I got to interview her. And for those of you who don’t know who she is, she is a like, copywriting genius. And she is a copywriter for creatives. And she helps, oh, she’s like, helped 1000s upon 1000s of creative business owners with copywriting. And I pitched myself to her and her team, and she agreed to be on my podcast, and I was like, holy smokes, like, I cannot believe this is happening. I was so nervous. But it was so much fun getting to know her. And she is the real deal. Like she is humble. She is kind. You always wonder, what is the real person behind the business and I learned she’s the real deal. And so it’s nice knowing that somebody I look up to is, is genuine. So that was a huge pinch-me moment for my podcast. And to be honest, I have not even like, looked at my data for the back end of my podcast in a while. So maybe I should like check out that data to see like, how many people reached but that was cool. And then another fun moment, my husband is going to laugh. He’s not even in the room with me. And he’s so he’s not paying me to say this. But the only man I’ve ever interviewed on my podcast was my husband. And we shared our financial journey with the listeners because the theme of the month was like setting up systems for success for your life and for your business. And for those of you who know me have known me for a while, you know, I have acquired a lot of student debt, like before marrying my husband. And that was like a source of shame for me just because I didn’t know anything about money or finances and then starting a creative business. I did really know how to pay myself and all that stuff. And then one of the number one catalysts of change that helped me be profitable for my business was my husband. And I’m sure he’s like, when he listens to this, he’s gonna have that like sly smile on his face like I told you. So like, we just have to have a plan. And so that episode is like, I actually like checking out to see what are my top five or 10 downloaded episodes. That’s like, one of the top downloaded episodes. It’s like featuring him talking about money. And I’m just very proud of him because he’s a very, like, he doesn’t like a lot of attention. I don’t want to call him shy. He’s not shy, but he’s very introverted and very, like, he would never start a podcast because he like he’s like, I don’t, I don’t really want to say anything. I just want to be quiet. People will leave me alone, like, like Ron Swanson. So if you want to picture our marriage, just like Ron Swanson married Leslie Knope, like a relationship. I’m like, excited about everything. He’s like, please leave me the alone world. But the fact that he agreed to be on the podcast meant a lot to me. And then people loved it. Again, my husband’s not paying me to say this, everyone. And I really respect him a lot. And I admire him. And so it was, it’s just fun sharing our story together. And I was nervous. I was so nervous, again, about talking about my financial journey. But anyway, so those are two big moments for me on the podcast, just like having my husband guest on a podcast after like, he’s told me so many times as I would never be on a podcast, or I would like, I don’t know, like the fact that he shared his story with my audience means a lot to me. And then, of course, interviewing Ashlyn Carter was a pinch-me moment.

Leah Bryant
I love it so much, we’ll have to have him back on to do like a part two,

Dolly Delong
I know, seriously, I’ll have to like bribe him with something like, I don’t know, like barbecue or something.

Leah Bryant
You’re a year into your podcast, and you, you know, have strategically planned your way through all this awesome content. And then, you know, looking ahead into 2023, or even towards the end of 2022. Like, do you have like exciting things planned? Is there anything that you want to get the audience hyped up for really look forward to some content that’s coming?

Dolly Delong
Yes. Okay. So you all, I have been very purposeful in like the next, if you’re listening to this currently, it’s November of 2022. And so I’ve purposefully planned out the content for the next two months, not only because I’m expecting my second and I wanted to batch out but also because I wanted to be strategic with the systems and workflow magic bundle. So I know this is the systems and workflow magic podcast, but I host a bundle every year. And the bundle’s theme is always around systems and workflows for creatives. And so the 2023 theme is about systems and workflows, specifically, around funnels, so like the top of the funnel, middle of the funnel, the bottom of the funnel, and like things that creative business owners who may be running the show in their own want to learn about but don’t necessarily know where to start. And so I have put together this huge bundle with over 30 plus contributors, and I am pumped about it because it is not only going to help create business owners learn the different parts of the funnel, but it also gives them a strategy for the full year. So they don’t have to like consume it all in one quarter. They can consume it q1 Just concentrate on the top of the funnel q2, middle of the funnel, q3 bottom of the funnel, and then end the year with, okay, how to actually execute the funnel like with continued education of the funnel, hopefully, that makes sense, like what to do after the funnel, right? Anyway, so I’ve been planning this out since July or August of this year, and I’ve been very mindful and purposeful of it. And I wanted to invite experts who are actual experts in their field in where it lands in the funnel and they can explain it better than I can. As much as I love funnels and I love systems and workflows around the digital funnel. I don’t know everything about the funnel, I will openly admit that I am still learning myself. I love creating optimized funnels myself but I can’t do it all on my own. I know I need other experts to come alongside me and explain that. So for the next two months, I have, a lot of my contributors coming on to the podcast. And they’re going to be sharing some behind-the-scenes workings of like what they are offering on the systems and workflow magic bundle funnel edition. And then in January, I have a private pop-up podcast that coincides with the bundle. And it’s only available for people who obviously like to sign up for the private pop-up podcast. And it is kind of like a free appetizer to the bundle. So the bundle is going to be $97. And you get it, I haven’t even added up all the courses and templates yet. So I don’t want to throw out a random number. But for $97, you get access to over 30 different contributors, templates, resources, and mini-courses about funnel education. And so if the listener is like, Okay, I want an appetizer just to see what this bundle is about. I planned out a four-day private podcast event. And that way you get to hear from the contributors themselves, like mini master classes. And it’s four days because the first day is the top of the funnel. The second day is the middle of the funnel, third day bottom of the funnel. And then the fourth day is like a continuation of now you understand the different parts of the funnel. Now, how do you apply it to your business? And again, it’s a free event. And it gives you an appetizer to the actual bundle. But you have to like sign up for it like it’s a private podcast. So that’s been something new and exciting in the works in January.

Leah Bryant
So all your listeners, make sure you’re watching dollar closely so you can go sign up for that private podcast and get all the deets about this awesome bundle that she and these other contributors are joining together to bring to you to learn all about the various pieces of your funnel. That’s so amazing. I love it so much. So dolly before I let you go, we continue to celebrate you and your amazing podcasts and all that you do. Is there anything that you would like to leave your listeners if there’s somebody out there saying, is podcasting right for my business? Or any kind of encouraging thoughts that can either be around just business in general or your podcasts, whatever you’d like to share? Just that we would love to hear from you.

Dolly Delong
Yeah, definitely I want to man, there are so many things I want to share like just mostly as an encouragement to any listeners who are on the fence about starting a podcast, I want to encourage you to sincerely like think about doing it, I get no financial benefit from telling you this only because the podcasting has been like I shared earlier, it’s not like I’m getting so many sponsored paid ads. Like I’m not like rolling in the dough for podcasting. What I am benefiting from podcasting is a long-term strategy, long-term growth, and strategic growth. And if you are genuinely wanting to do a podcast, then I would say put on your strategic hat, count the cost for yourself and for your business and see if it’s something that you genuinely want to do in the long term. Or if it’s something that’s just a shiny object, then don’t do it. Because if it’s a shiny object, then there are a lot of moving parts and pieces that go into producing a podcast. And if you have shiny object syndrome, then you’re gonna lose steam. Like very quickly, you’re gonna get five episodes and then be sick of it, and then move on to the next thing that, like social media is telling you is the thing. So I would say if you’ve been thinking about it for like, let’s say it came to you in a day, give yourself at least a month, maybe not take two years like I did, but give yourself like a good solid quarter. Yeah, 90 days, 90 days to think, think it through to think about how it could actually benefit your business in every way, shape, or form. And how you can fit it into your pillar contents. And how can be realistic for you? Again, sometimes I feel like I’m a killjoy sometimes with like, the way I talked, and like we have to like think about the pros and the cons and count out the costs. But if you are genuinely like in it for the long haul and you didn’t just start your business yesterday, you don’t really know. That’s another thing like knowing who you want to serve and know who you want to talk to and knowing the whys behind your business. That’s been huge for me like I know who exactly I want to serve. I know who I want to speak to. I just know like what I want to do with my business. So that’s why podcasting has been fun and natural for me. So that’s one thing I would say to somebody who is teetering on starting a podcast, like, make sure you weigh out a lot of things. And then the second thing is like, Hey, I know that there is comparison syndrome like rapid. Everywhere we got like, it’s not just because of social media, it’s like human nature to compare yourself to, like XYZ neighbor is doing or what X, Y, Z peer is doing. Like, it’s just human nature is part of the human. There is always going to be a topic that somebody has a podcast about, I know that there are hundreds of other podcast hosts who talk about systems and strategies, and workflows for creative business centers, I bet. But the fact is, like, I still decided to show up. And I don’t say that, because I’m like, oh, because I’m Dolly and I do hard things like I show, like, I’m saying that like, if I can, like speak to a listener right now and just say, Hey, don’t be intimidated. If you feel like a small fish in a big pond, you might be but you can still show up. And you still have something amazing to offer that you and only you can like, in a way, educate another person on even if it’s one or two people, and don’t allow the comparison syndrome to also like hinder you and cripple you from moving forward. Because, again, it’s just it’s not. It’s no fun to be crippled and paralyzed by what you assume other people are thinking of you. And that’s like, just part of being on the emotional roller coaster called entrepreneurship. Like you just like, hang on, and you like, you just like power through. And there are days where I’m like, Oh, my gosh, what is somebody thinking about me? I’m like, Oh, my gosh, who? Like at the end of the day, who cares? I don’t answer them, like, so you can still move forward. Even if you feel this crippling fear of like, I’m not good enough. I don’t have enough XYZ to do a podcast like yeah, you do. Like after you’ve like weighed out the pros and cons after you counted up the cost. After you see like, hey, this would actually be really good for my business. And I want to do this long term, like, do it even if you feel like a small fish, do it.

Leah Bryant
I love that so much Dolly, it’s so true. Because only you can share the message that’s been placed in your heart, right? And that’s gonna resonate with who it’s meant to resonate for. Oh, I hope you guys had your notebooks. And if you didn’t go back, hit pause, go grab a notebook, and then re-listen to this whole episode again, because Dolly has dropped some amazing tidbits and nuggets and all the things I know I’m gonna go make notes you guys can make notes to. So good barley is so good. I appreciate you. I know that your listeners appreciate you, and all that you pour into everything that you do, not just the podcast. So not only are we going to celebrate your podcast, one year anniversary, but we can also celebrate you and all that you bring into the world and the light that you are and so appreciate you. And as Dolly always says, we’ll make sure that all the links are in the show notes for everything that she’s mentioned today. So you guys can make sure you’re aware of all the awesome happenings that are going on. And I’m sure she can’t wait to be back next week in the host seat to bring you more amazing system and workflow-related tips and education. And then I will go ahead and end it just like dolly does so that way we are still in the flow of things and say that as always, this week, stay magical is streamlined. You amazing muggle you,

Dolly Delong
it’s right. Thank you. Thank you so much for listening to the systems and workflow magic podcast. You can find full show notes from today’s episode at dolly DeLong photography.com forward slash podcast. If you’re loving the podcast, I’d be so honored if you’d subscribe and leave a review on your favorite podcast player. Be sure to screenshot this episode, share it with your stories, and tag me at @dollydelongeducation over on Instagram. Until next time, go make some strategic workflow magic!