155: The Best Investments I Made for My Business in 2024

The Best Investments I Made for My Business in 2024

As a small business owner, every investment I make—financial, strategic, or time-related—is critical in how my business evolves. I run two sides of my small business: family photography and systems, workflow & launching education. Managing both requires intentional choices to keep each running smoothly and sustainably. In this week’s podcast episode, I’m doing a solo episode to give you a peek behind the curtain of how I run my business. That’s why I want to share The Best Investments I made for my business in 2024. These decisions have positively impacted my growth, efficiency, and peace of mind, and I hope they can inspire you, too!

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Would you instead read this podcast episode as a blog post?

The Best Investments I Made in My Business in 2024

Welcome back to the *Systems & Workflow Magic Podcast! In today’s solo episode, I’m excited to share the top five investments I made in 2024. This year has been a whirlwind for many business owners, but I want to focus on the positive by highlighting what’s been working well for me.

Some of these investments might surprise you—they aren’t giant expenses, but they’ve significantly impacted my business. Below, I’ll walk you through each one, explaining why it’s been beneficial and how it’s helped me grow different sides of my business. None of these recommendations are sponsored, but I’ll mention if I have affiliate links so you know I’m being transparent. Let’s dive in!

1. Stephanie Kase’s Organic Marketing Club (OMC)

I joined Stephanie Kase’s Organic Marketing Club (OMC) because I adore her approach to organic marketing. Stephanie and I have similar backgrounds—we both started as photographers. While she focused on wedding photography and later transitioned into education, I shifted to family photography, launching, and operations education.

What I love most about Stephanie is that she’s genuine and honest and keeps family at the forefront of her business, just as I aim to do. As a Christian, I admire business owners like Stephanie, who set a positive example. OMC aligns with my goals because it emphasizes long-term organic growth instead of relying on paid ads.

After joining, I quickly realized the importance of marketing both sides of my business—family photography and systems education. For a couple of years, I had focused heavily on education, neglecting my photography marketing, even though photography remained a significant income source. Stephanie’s guidance helped me balance both aspects and create a sustainable, intentional marketing plan for each side.

💡 *If you are interested in the OMC, check out the link here to join the waitlist for when it opens up next*

 2. AshlynCarter’s Copy Bank Club

Another incredible investment was Ashlyn Carter’s Copy Bank. I’ve followed Ashlyn for years and previously took her Copywriting for Creatives course, which helped me develop my writing skills. Writing doesn’t come naturally to me, so Ashlyn’s Copy Bank has been a lifesaver.

Every Monday, Ashlyn sends a template and a Loom video explaining how to adapt it for your business. This resource has saved me time and made my weekly newsletters more manageable. Whether I write about family photography or my educational content, the Copy Bank provides structure and inspiration.

If you struggle with writing, I highly recommend joining Ashlyn’s email list and checking out the Copy Bank.It is affordable (only $20 a month) and has kept my marketing consistent without burning out. Check it out here

3. Enji—All-in-One Marketing PlatformI’ve been using Enji, an all-in-one marketing platform co-founded by Taylor Cusick-Holman, to track the performance of my marketing efforts. Enji helps me monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) and identify trends in my business, like the months with the most website traffic or income.

This tool has been essential in helping me plan for feast and famine cycles—those busy seasons in the fall versus slower months like January.Enji’ss insights make me more confident in my decisions, and I can plan my finances accordingly.

I love working with Taylor and appreciate her personalized support. She continually improves the platform with new features, making it a powerful tool for small business owners like me.

💡 I’ve included my affiliate link for Enji here: https://www.enji.co/?ref=mjvkymm

 4. Google Ads with Pandas on Fire

Even though I focus on organic marketing, I decided to experiment with Google Ads this year, thanks to my friend Emily Conley’s husband, Donnie, who runs Pandas on Fire. Donnie is a Google Ads expert, and I trusted him to manage a small monthly ad budget for my photography business.

Working with Donnie has been a game-changer. He sets up and monitors my campaigns, providing monthly Loom videos to show what’s working. This collaboration has helped me attract new clients during slower months and increase studio bookings, even during the hot summer season in Tennessee! 

While I don’t have an affiliate link, I highly recommend Donnie if you need help with Google Ads. His expertise has made a noticeable impact on my business!

You can check out his website here.

5. Blogging Services with Kara Duncan

Blogging has always been essential to my marketing strategy, but keeping up with it can be overwhelming. That is where Kara Duncan comes in. Kara helps me create optimized, long-form blog content for my photography business, ensuring I stay consistent with SEO efforts.

Her services have been invaluable in driving traffic from Pinterest and generating new leads. Blogging remains a crucial part of my marketing plan, and working with Kara has taken the pressure off me while keeping my content fresh and optimized.

If you need help with blogging or Pinterest management, I highly recommend Kara! Here is a link to her website.

Final Thoughts On My Best Investments of 2024

These five investments have significantly impacted my business in 2024. They’ve helped me create sustainable systems, balance both sides of my business, and avoid burnout. Whether you’re a small business owner looking for marketing support, copywriting help, or advertising expertise, I hope these recommendations inspire you to invest in the areas that best serve you.

If any of these tools or services resonate with you, I’ve included links in the show notes (with affiliate disclosures where applicable). Remember, you don’t have to figure it all out alone. Invest in the systems, workflows, and support to help you grow your business without overworking yourself.

🗒️Review the Show Notes & Quick Links From Episode 155

Connect With Dolly

• Website: https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/home
• IG: https://www.instagram.com/dollydelongeducation/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dollydelong
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/dollydelong/
• The Systems & Workflow Magic Podcast: https://www.systemsandworkflowmagic.com/podcast

🔗Links mentioned in the Show

• Online Marketing Club (affiliate link)
• Enji (affiliate link)
• AshlynCarter’ss Copybank Club
• AshlynCarter’ss The CopyBar (affiliate link) 
• Kara Duncan (Blogging + Pinterest Services)
• Donnie Conley (Pandas on Fire) Google Ads Services

Connect With Dolly

• Website: https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/home
• IG: https://www.instagram.com/dollydelongeducation/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dollydelong
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/dollydelong/
• The Systems & Workflow Magic Podcast: https://www.systemsandworkflowmagic.com/podcast

Check out these past podcast episodes that align with this episode ⬇️

154: Building Sustainable Micro Funnels with SEO Blogging and Pinterest

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Read The Show Transcript Here:

Dolly Delong: Hey, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the Systems and Workflow Magic Podcast. I am responsible for your systems work, ow, and launching BFF and Guide, Dolly DeLong. As you said in the intro, it’s just a solo episode today, but I thought that one: I have not done a solo episode in quite some time.

Two, this idea came from Biz friend Bekah Read. I know you have heard her on previous episodes, so thank you, Becca, for this idea. But this came out of a DM conversation, and she had asked me, just Dolly, what some of your investments in your business are.

Overall, I thought this would be an excellent podcast episode to share. To get more specific, I wanted to share some of my latest investments in 2024. I know from talking with other business owners that this year has been a roller coaster year for many business owners. So, I wanted to keep this positive and let you all know what is working for me and what you’re investing in. You’re glad to be surprised. They’re me of these. They’re huge, giant investments, like thousands of dollars. All right? Not even hundreds of dollars. So, I wanted to give you a peek at what I’m listing my business and time in, and hopefully, it will encourage you all to check it out. This is not a sponsored episode in any way, shape, or form; these are just honest reflections.

I share with you what’s working in my business. If I have an affiliate link, I’ll link that. I do with don’t them, but I don’t have affiliate links for some of them. So you all know I’m honest with you. So, this episode will be packed with practical takeaways that have transformed how I run my business.

These are the different sides of my business. Again, I hope that you will walk away with a tangible tip. Maybe you should check out this program, tool, or app to help you better run the backend of your business. This podcast aims to help you take baby steps to incorporate systems, workflows, and SOPs into the backend of your business and, hopefully, fully the backend of your launches.

So, the first investment I made in 2024 was in Stephanie Kase’s Online Marketing Club or Organic Marketing Membership. I think it’s the OMC. I’m already becoming things. See, I’m keeping it honest with you all. But I joined OMC because I adore Stephanie Kase. I have followed her for several years and learned a lot about marketing from Stephanie because I know we have similar backgrounds in photography. She started as a photographer, a wedding photographer, and I started. I originally started as a wedding photographer, but then I merged more into family photography, and that’s one side of my business. Then she merged more into the online business, like teaching other business owners how to run an online business, market it, and organically market.

I have been learning from her for years and deeply respect her because she is honest. She’s a genuine business owner, and she’s told me that she’s also a wife, a mom, and a dad. She has littles at home. She runs a business but prioritizes family, which I don’t expect because I don’t want my business to run me. I enjoy owning my business, but I also want to live and enjoy my life and my family because they are why I run my business. After all, I love them. I love my donated husband and don’t want it to be the reverse. And so it’s encouraging to follow other business owners weaning into that and a full disclosure.

I’m also a believer. I’m a Christian and a Christ follower, and I admire business owners who set that example for me online. So when I heard she was opening up the OMC—I’m calling it the OMC—I was intrigued because I know she leans heavily into organic marketing, and I love organic marketing.

So, for me, organic marketing means not leaning heavily into paid ads like Meta, Facebook, or Google ads. And I want to groI’mrganically cause I’m in it for I’ve long game. And I’ve seen a lot of benefits from organic marketing for the photography side of my business. And if you’ve been around here, you know that I love talking about SEO, the systems and workflows of SEO, and how to start laying a good foundation of SEO in the back end of your business. Still, I also see the importance of marketing and having a long-term vision and a long-term plan of marketing for both sides of my business.

At a point in my business, I had been growing out the systems and workflow education side. I got a little lazy about marketing the family photography side for several years. And I was still getting clients because that is where much of my income stream comes from today. I needed to catch up with blogging. And the marketing thing is, I was so focused on growing the education side of my business that I was putting all my energy into it, even though it wasn’t as much income as the family photography side of my business. And that should have been a red flag to me because, yes, even though I felt so excited and passionate about growing the education side of my business, there were, like, good, solid two years where I reflected on laying a better foundation of an SEO and organic marketing for the family photography side of my business.

And when I realized two years in, so it was early last year, I would say it was when I started assessing everything and thinking, “Dolly, you should not have neglected this part of your business.” You need to look at both sides and have a specific marketing plan. You cannot do the same things for both sides of your business because one side is family photography.

I’m a service-based business owner (I meet my clients in person). My other side is education, offering launch services and digital products. Of course, I’m also educating through my podcast and my new YouTube channel. So these are two very different business models and two very different forms of marketing.

And it was just me. And I realized, wow, Dolly, you will be burning out like you are ignoring this one side of marketing. And so it took me a while to realize that I’m wrestling it because it’s overwhelming, and I’m burned out. And so I knew I needed to revisit a more sustainable way of marketing.—both sides of my business and because I still love family photography so much. I’m very passionate about it. I’m passionate about creating photographs that will be passed down from generation to generation. It lights me up simultaneously; I’m writing about systems and workflows and launching education—two very different things. So, I knew I needed help to gain traction in both ways in organic marketing. And then StephaI’vehas been—again, I’ve been watching her, following her, and when I learned that she was opening up a marketing membership, I started messaging her early on and saying, Hey, can you invoice me?

I know you have nothing yet available, but let me know when it opens. I was one of the first to buy, and she would laugh at me and say, okay. I’m still waiting. I’m just making it out and building it out. And so when it’s fully open, as I’m recording this, it was in Q4 of 2024 that I was,s one of the first to purchase the membership. It’s an excellent way to help me learn how to market two sides of my business in organic ways, and she offers support through membership.

It gives me more clarity on how to market the education side of my business and where I need to focus the photography side of marketing, like the photography side of my business. Again, I have learned marketing strategies throughout the years. Still, I’m honing in on specific marketing strategies for the systems and workflow magic side of my business, which you all are here for, and you are a part of I’ms journey, too! 

I’m also wondering if my marketing strategies will look very different from the photography side of my business. So, what systems and workflows do I need to implement to make it sustainable for me? If I were to hire any business coach, I would prob say, “Oh, you can just grow; you can  scale and grow and have teamwork for you on the photography side of that business!” And that’s something I have no desire to do. Somebody is probably screaming at me, but I do not want a giant team. I like being a small business owner. I like having just me and some contractors who work for me and do specific tasks, and that’s fine with me because I like to work no more than two hours a week. I don’t hate working; I don’t want to have a giant team or build an empire. 

And maybe that will change in a couple of years, but right here and where I am, I want to run the business independently. Not because I’m trying to wear a badge of courage, like, that badge of That’srking, that’s not it. That’s no desire to have a team. And so, Knowing that about myself, I knew I needed to figure out how to market both sides sustainably ofdon’tusinessesdon’t don’t want to don’t of them up, how not to be burned out, and how to still, like, plant the seeds of SEO and marketing sustainably. So, that was one of the first best investments of 2024, and I know it happened at the end of 2024, but I will be sure to link the OMC in the show notes of this episode! 

I do knIt’she opens it up. It’s not open because I think she’s planning to open it every quarter. If you check out the link, it is an affiliate link. I would be super, super transparent with you. But you can get on the wait list for when she reopens it in 2025.

Also, I plan to include Stephanie on the podcast, and she will talk more about what inspired her to open up to membership and her plans for it. I’m excited about it. Through this membership, I have already met a lot of other businesses that have learned what they’re doing in their business. And we have a good community. It’s an excellent membership. And then you’re also learning about Stephanie, and you are; it’s a very engaged community so far. I wanted to share that with you.

 All right. I’m excited about the second investmCarter’s024: Ashlyn Carter’s Copybank, a copywrShe’sfor creatives. She’s been on the podcast before and is coming back to talk about her system for creating this one resource. I bet you are wondering what your connection is with Ashlyn. I’m a past student copywriting for Creatives, so I invested in Ashlyn several times. I purchased her program about three years ago because I wanted to learn how to use it.

I write copy that connects with both sides of my business. And oh, and it takes time. It’s not something that happens instantly. It is not going to grow overnight. Writing does not come naturally to me. I want it to come naturally because I want to describe what I do to others and how I can serve others very well.

And so, I love Ashlyn. Again, I have deep respect for her. She has built an incredible business over the years, and I’ve followed her on her journey. Again, I love how down-to-earth, impactful, and kind she is. So, I love being on her email list every week, just like reading her newsletter. I learn so much. I like copying tips from that week;; that’s free, and that’s awesome. 

So, if you still need to join her email, you should, and I’ll be sure to tag her again and tag her in the show notes so that you can give her a follow. However, as I read her email earlier this year, I saw she had opened up a membership with weekly email templates in her PS section. So, as a copywriter, she would write a skeleton of a newsletter, and then she creates a looming video walking you through how to use it for your specific business, like giving you advice.

How can you use it as a service-based business owner versus how you it if you sell your product? Now that the business owners have email templates to send you, their newsletter, and their community, I hope this is possible, but marketing is crucial. 

It’s essential to engage with your community. Your community needs to know what services you offer, especially if you provide digital products; you will need to grow your email list to sell you don’t want to do just for digital products. Still, it is vital to ground an email list of an engaged audience So that you can continue to sell your services through the years um. Still, again, this is not an episode about email marketing, but investing in this guess, is like it’s a weekly email template membership where she sends; she calls it the copy bank. She will send you a template at the top of the week, Monday, with a video explaining how to digI’veo the template.

I’ve connected with these templates. Again, I know there are so many email and newsletter templates to purchase from and others to buy from, and I have checked those out. I’ve not connected with the ones who didn’t sell, and I didn’t understand how they were taught, so I know how that’s taught. So that’s one of the reasons why I love being on her email list: she’s trying to help, and I like the way she teaches.

That is a bI’ms for me because I’m learning to write copy. I’m also learning the importance of connecting with my audience through words; this template helps me cross that ridge. I have been using it. In my marketing, for both the photography and education sides of my business, I use words, business analogies from my own experiences, and a megamerger with the template.

Hopefully, I’m making sense. It has created a faster system for me than just staring at a blank cursor on a Monday. Okay, because I like to send out a newsletter every Monday. I am just a woman of habit.  I want to be structured and have a workflow, system, and consistency.

But there were some times when I was thinking, “Oh, I have to s”and out this newsletter about this upcoming podcast or a new podcast episode I have out. I wanted to do it consistently but didn’t know what I didn’t know. So, having the copy bank has been very helpful to me. There, you have access to past copy templates.

So it’s not that it seeks, and that’s it. There are many to choose from. And again, there are videos and tutorials on how to dig into it. I do not have an affiliate link for doctors, but I may do. I don’t think I do, but I will link it in the show notes so you can check it out. And, again, Ashlyn will be on my podcast.

I, I, very soon. It will be in 2024. She will review her system to see how she created this email template and this Citibank offer. And it’s such a price, you all. It’s only 20 a month four. I think it’s between four and five templates a month, depending on how many days there are. It’s an easy yes. It’s made my email marketing easier. Again, I don’t have much time because I want to be present to my family. I don’t want to create emails from scratch, which will typically take me hours, so this has helped me save a lot of time.

Email marketing is my priority because I am learning to better connect with my audience. So that was the best investment number two in my business.

 All right. So, do not share with invasive number three. I’ve had Taylor on the podcast before; Taylor owns Enji, an all-in-one marketing platform. So I know, now I just mentioned an excellent investment in The Online Marketing Club with Stephanie Kase, but Enji complements my OMC membership.

Enji helps me track all the data from my marketing efforts, whereas OMC helps me decide how to act on that data. So, should I concentrate on YouTube, like how to execute that, or how to manage marketing in an organic way for podcasting or blogging? I am learning that I am the king of OMC and Enji. I am creating a system to track my key KPIs and performance indicators.

I use these two together to make better-informed decisions every quarter. I have been using Enji for well over a year now. I started using It earlier this year. I’ve put over a year’s data inyears.

Showing the year’s most significant income-generating months, what months have the most visitors to my website, and how I’m doing with email marketing. So, I am tracking particular KI for myself, and then I can make better decisions. The best example I can think of off the top of my head is a juror, for instance, not being in a feast or famine mode mentality because I know a lot of business owners get in this way, like, from August to November, I am inthat’s mode because that’s when a lot of my  I’mgraphy businesI’mI’m at capacity; I’m at capacity in those months because I am photographing a lot of milestone events, such as Santa’smily session Santa’s sessions and Christmas sessions, and all toSanta’sardsfor all oSanta’sards, all the fall cardscardThat’st’sistmas cardThat’st’s when familiar every day thinkingfamilcardThat’st’s, familcardThat’st’s. I sometimes double or triplewhatt I usually make in slower months so now that I ta—and I’ve been collecting data throughout the year, so I’ve not just this leaveth the help of Engie, I have more visual data that I can see, okay, I know fI’msure on average, I’m going to make this amount.

So maybe I need to start setting aside, for example. I can see that aside whenever I make extra and have it for my slower months. Also, when my slowdon’tnths happen, I don’t have to look ahead in fear because I know that,it’sy, just because it’sdoesn’t month, that doesn’t mean it will be like this forever.

The data shows it usudoesn’tcks back and doesn’t slow down here. Thankfully, I have been doing this to track my monetary data for three to f I’vears. Visually,  I’ve been monitoring data with Engie for one year. So, I know when the feast and f will happen, so I know how to better prepare for the slower months and not be so fear-based, fear-driven, and fear-led.I’llll, it”is okay. I’ll say, “Okay, I know January of every year is historicallyI’velower month, so I’ve prepared similarly regarding finances.

And noI’llat, on average, I’ll be serving two clients that month instead of the 12 clients I usually serve in October and November. Hopefully that makes sense.  I’m in it for the long game. I also like tracking data, visualizing data, and knowing how to market.

It complements OMC. Again, by organically Enji data, Enji’s data-driven insights helped me gain more clarity, which gave me more peace of mind in logical planning. And then, of course, they have seemed to have brand new features coming out every single month, so Taylor is working so hard cause she, as a Like, runnin’ the show, like, it’s her and another business owner who is, so it’s a very, very small business. And so love, I’ve been getting to know her, bringing her to its altitude, collaborating with her, and just, you know, knowing that she wants the best for all her customers.

And so she stays very engaged, which I respect and admire. You are not another number in this company, likknoYou’rebys owner. kit’su’reby name, so it’s cool. She and I also asked for feedback k all the time. So, she always ensures customers understand how to use Enji and all its tools. And I will swasn’tething that I wasI’m digging intent. I’m now digging into the brand-new med media kits, Enji. So if you are a small business owner for, I don’t know, even three years minimum, you should have a media or brDon’tg kit in Enji.

Don’t one. Use it just in caseyou’reo into views, you’re being featured, you need to, you are going to be you’ret blogger, or you’re goisomebody’s guest on somebody’s podcast. It would be a place where you could store your bio, headshots, and other information all in one place instead of digging through your email or folders on your computer and being stressed out.

Consistency in presenting yourself online is necessary because it is part of your marketing. So, there is a feature in Enji that houses your whole media kit. They let you through what to put on, and I put everything in there, and I love it. And sI’m know every person’s on another person’s podcast, or if I Guess blogging another business is featuring, I can seperson’slink to the person’s kit, and they can decide what they want to take so early. If you want an example of this, you can check out my. I have attached a link to my En i Media Kit and the image to show how easy it is.

I have an affiliate link for Enji, so I will see that in the I’mw notes as well; I’m coming in at number four for the best investment I made for 2024. You will laugh at me because I asked about the importance of organic marketing and how I wanted to lean into it earlier this year. One of my good business friends, Emily Conley of EmilyWritesWell,

Well, her husband just started a company called Pandas on Fire. He is a Google ads expert, so he helps other small business owners understand Google ads and how to set them up and run Google ads for them. When Emily told me about that, I immediately wanted to try it out because her husband, Donnie, is so intelligent.

He is very proficient, and pretty much everything he touches is gold. He is so intelligent, you all. I decided to take a chance and invest in working with him. And so I did let him know. I was like, okay, Donnie, I do everything organically. Everything for the photography side of my business has been organic leading up to this point.

Most clients find me through word of mouth or SEO, either from Pinterest or through my blocks. He knew that coming in and working with me made me skeptical and scared because Iwouldn’tthoughtI’ve wouldn’t work. I’ve told myselfI’ves all the time.

I’ve either told myself this because Iwouldn’tacebook and wouldn’t pass, and I have no idea what I’ves doing. And so I’ve let himI’m on all my ears. I’m like, ah, this is my budget. This is what I want to work with. He has taken my budget and is whe’sng on that. Not he’s like, okay, you have to pay10,000 000 a montit’snd to wear, no, it’s It’s, for me, like. It’s 300 a month, which I spenI’mn my Google adI’mI’m telling you, I’m lit’sng youI’ml know itIt’shat I’m saying. It’s where I feel comfortable because I have some money for marketing.this’sd them, okay, this’s how much I I’me.

To work with. I’m going to wait to invest in education. I want to see how this works out for my local business. You all have been a wizard at helping me set up Google ads to gain more traffic business’son for my business’s photography side.

We started working together in QI’ve this year, and I’ve had a consistent photography business for my business every month this year, even in the historiLet’s slower moves. Let’s say one of my highest-pai clients came to me in July. For you all, July is so it’s for me because don’tsummer. If you don’t live in the South r Tennessee in the sIt’sr, it is Humid. It’s so hot. No one should be outsidedon’tg a sessieverybody’s know if everybody’s melting, but I still have a client. 

Whatever Donnie does he’s my Google Ads, he’s working some magic. The great thing about this is that he sends me a Loom video once a “He’s and tellswhat’sHe’s, this is what’s going on behind the scenes of your what’s ads. This is what’s working. This you’re much tra”fic you’re getting.”

This is the cI’mersion rate. So, I’m glad I invested in Google Ads. It was brave of me to think outsidI’mf myself. Again, I’m a small business owner. I like to do everything, so it was perfect to give this over to someone knowledgeablHe’sout Google Ads.

He’s prohe’sent, knows what he’s doing, and is very kind. I know him and his wife, who are also small business owners. They genuinely care about their clients. So, that has been a good invI’mment for me, and I’m seeing how it plays into my organic marketing plan with I’veography.

I’m so I’ve. Again, I’m happy that I Invested in him and will continue to invest in him. I get no affiliate link for him, but I will put in his contact information if you are a service-based bus or interested in setting up Google ads but need some ideas. Donnie of Pandas on Fire will help you out tremendously.

 All right. The fifth investment that I want to share with you all has to do with blogging. I have already had Kara on the  Kara Report podcast. So, Kara Duncan was on the podc st. I will link her episode to this episode. But there was a point I shared with you earlier that I was dropping the ball on marketing.

I was neglecting consistently marketing the photography side of my business. It just came down to me being too overwhelmed with managing the different workflows of organic marketing for both the photography and education sides of my business.

I knew I needed to blog for the photography side of my business. Blogging is not dead. Many of my clients find it on Pinterest, which leads to a blog that helpsI’vewer a question. I’ve gotten clients through Pinterest who have seen me, led to a blog, and then coit’sted me.

And ew, it’s essential to be consistent. I cannot blog every week for PH topography, but I can I’mg twice a month. I’m chatting with my business frwho’s Mara Kucirek, who’s oI’mhis podcast, and I’m letting her know my woes. I know I need a blodon’tt I need to. I don’t have the capacity, time, or organizational resources to optimize family photography.

I wish I had known someone who don’tographySEO and don’togKara’s Mara gave me Kara’s information. I reached out to Kara, and lo and behold, she had purchased a bundle for me. aKara’skflo systems aKara’skflo magic bundle at least once, if not twice a,  ar c, cause I like teaching about one aspect of systems and workflows.

So, I had no idea she had purchased a bundle, and she was a big fan. AI’dshe had told me. I’d love it; I am looking forward to your next bundle. And I was just blown away. This is how this is: a mall world, like a smIt’sinternet world. It’s just so cool how it all worked out. So we connected, and I ldon’tr know, Hey, I don’t want to drop the ball anymore on just the family photography side of my business.

I want to baren’tistent. These aren’t my goals. I am working with a Google ads expert, but I want to continue producing good blogging content to lead to I’mservices because I’m very passionate about what I do. So, I Set up a personalized pac age for me where she blogs and creates long-form contact messages.

Content for me isit’sough blogs, and it’s for the photography sIt’sof my business. It’s been a real working relationship. Again, it was because she was taking on the burden of me having that’ste blogs. And that’s where I was stopped.  I felt frustrated. I was putting it off to the last minute.

I needed to be mthat’snsistent. So, that’s helping She’say consistent. She’s optimizing my photography site with SEO strategies like the phshe’saphy site, and she’s helping me better refresh blogs; you all need to listen to the podcast episode that I did with her because she talks about how she creates micro funnels, Just like her brain and strategy with SEO and Pinterest, and blogIt’s is incredible. It’s helped me a lot because SE  is an integral part of my marketing strategy along with Google ads, and I’ve been using it for a long time.

I want to continue to plant consistent content seeds, and I want it to lead to IM services. I know I’m in this in the long game. So Kara has been integral in helping me optimize my blogs and create consistent blogs for my family photography business. I will be sure to put her links in the show notes, and I get no affiliates fShe’sentioning her. She’s just a wonderful human. If you are a small business owner needing help writing blogs or manadoesn’tnterest, she doesn’t do MY Pinterest management. Still, she does offer that in addition to her blogging services, so check that out.

All right. I did go a little longer with my top five investments of 2024. I wanted you all to take a peek behind the curtain and see where my money is going, how I’m spending it, and how it’s helped me slowly grow my business now in 2024. I’m planning on continuing to invest in that.

Again, if you are interested in any of these links, I will put them in the show notes for the I’llodcast episode. I’ll let you know which affiliate links are and which are not. I wanted to encourage you to visit all of those mentioned businesses. Let me know if they can help you create a system, workflow, or SOP to run the back end of your business better.

Becyou’reespecially if you’re a small don’t owner, you don’t have to I’ve it out alone; I’ve learned don’t the hard way. Don’t feel you must wear that badge of honor, okay, of overworking yourself. Figure out a system, determine the workflow, and make it work for yourself. And learn how to run a sustainable business. That won’t run you into the ground. As always, thank you so much for tuning in through. I am waiting for next week’s episode. So follow and subscribe to the Systems & Workflow Mayou’vedcast. And if you’ve been a long-time listener, do me a big favor and leave a five-star review for your favorite podcast player.

I just wanted to let you know what episode you’d like and how it’s helped you and your business by DMing me on Instagram. Until then, Stay streamlined and magical. I’ll be an amazing muggle. I’ll talk to you next week. Bye!