Dolly Delong: Hey friends and welcome back to another episode of the systems and workflow magic podcast. Now, if you’re listening to this live, I just want to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I know this, the week, this podcast episode airs, we are in official holiday season. It’s Two days away from Christmas. So I really hope that you and your loved ones are just having a wonderful holiday season.
But in recap, if you’ve been following along, um, I have been diving into some systems you need to prep for 2025 with more clarity and. Confidence. So I’ve been doing a mini series just to help you prep. And in episode one 60, we spoke about creating a system for your marketing. And remember that was a repurposed episode featuring Taylor Kuse Coleman of Engie.
And in episode one 61, we tackled forecasting and how it impacts your finances and then how it also impacts your marketing choices. And today we’re going to build on that momentum by talking about one of my favorite tools my business operations board Now this board is where I keep my entire business organized under one digital roof now I use Trello for this.
That is my project management tool of choice, but you can adapt the system to your own project management tool of choice. So whether it’s ClickUp, Asana, or Notion, like, Use this in your preferred project management tool choice. Okay, but I am sharing the link to my master biz operations board in the show notes.
Just in case you are getting started and you are wanting something for Trello. Okay, so let’s dive into this episode. So let’s first talk about why having a business operations board is important. essential. So simply put, it gives you a centralized hub to organize all the moving parts. Of your business now, I don’t know about you, but I hate hate feeling scattered or like i’m forgetting something because To be super clear and honest I am a mom and I already feel scattered all the time because of my boys It’s like my brain cells are just going out the door.
And so For my business, I don’t want to operate like that. And so I try to stay as organized as possible You And Trello helps me do that. And so I can still be human and still be a mom and forget things, but I really want to be able to keep things organized for both of my business while I’m still, while I still have a human brain.
Okay. So I. This board or this centralized hub keeps me on track and it helps me stay focused on my goals and it keeps me sane and it keeps me in my own lane. Because, again, let me tell you, um, shiny object syndrome is real. And then comparing yourself to other business owners who seem like, Bye. You They are moving light years ahead of you is a real thing.
And so when you have everything in a centralized hub, when you have your own goals, your own vision, like for yourself, like it helps you stay in your lane, or at least it helps me stay in my lane. And if you’re a visual person like me. Seeing everything laid out in one place is it helps me. It’s a game changer.
It’s, it’s, it’s like my entire business brain is in one spot and I could just go to it and refer to it on a daily, weekly, or monthly rhythm. Okay. And I’m not. So scattered and I don’t have 10, 000 tabs opened. Okay. So I want to break down my main pillars that I tend to focus on in my business operations board.
So you can get more clarity as to what I mean, like, what does she mean by having a centralized hub? So these are the sections that I look at sometimes weekly, sometimes monthly, sometimes quarterly, the ones I’m sharing with you, I look And I infuse it into my rhythms of my business. So that way I’m not so scattered and I’m like, I don’t know what to focus on.
So these are the different pillars. So number one is branding assets. So this is where I house everything related to my brand. And I link my Canva to this list in, Trello. So I, and also I might. Branding guide and anything else I need quick access to and again instead of digging through folders of emails I keep it all in one place now in a previous episode.
I I interviewed M of the creative Bodega, I hope I pronounced that right. And she spoke about creating a system for Canva and she laid it out perfectly well for my listeners in her episode aired a while back and so several episodes ago. So I’ll be sure to link that, but. That episode really helped set the tone for how I would organize my own Canva.
And because of that, I linked it, I now link it in, well, I, I’ve always linked it to my Trello board, my operations board, but it’s just like more clear for me, and so I’ll be sure to link that, but I, Also believe having a really good centralized hub for your branding assets, like let’s say you’re an online business owner.
One of your marketing goals for 2025 is to be on more podcasts. Okay. So something about. Like this is just an example, but if you want to get more visual and have a visual strategy, you will most likely have to send in and submit like a short bio or a longer, longer bio or have main talking points. And instead of just like whipping those out on the fly, Wouldn’t it be just good to have them well written out once and then you can put that in your branding assets, you can put your preferred headshots and your preferred links that you want to share like all under one roof.
And so that’s what I put under my branding assets, otherwise known as my media kit. And I link it all there. And then that way, when I get asked by other podcasters who, who want to have me on their show, or I’ve pitched to be on their show and they ask for certain things, I can just go straight to my business operations board and.
Like click through copy, paste, and it’s done versus me agonizing, looking at the intake form and just putting it off because I know we’ve all been there. We put things off because we’re like, I don’t, I don’t have the brain capacity or space to answer these questions. So. Yes. So taking the time to put in all your branding assets.
Um, another pillar I like to have in this business operations board is my marketing plans. So I link my ng account here, which is my marketing platform of choice. And ng is where I map out my promotions, my launches, my content calendar for the year. And so I just infused that into my Trello board, and I linked that there.
And I also link my workflows for podcasting, and my workflows for YouTube, and my workflows for blogging. I do all three, and if you’re like, wow, should I do all three? No, start off with one, especially if you’re brand new to owning an online business or brand new to owning a service based business, um, start off so that you can develop that consistency.
Because if you decide, Oh, I’m just going to do all of the things because I feel like that’s what successful business owners do, you are setting yourself up to fail. Um, so I want to encourage you to just decide on one main piece of long form content. So whether that means YouTube podcasting or blogging, I would say, start off with blogging.
That’s the easiest way to do, especially if you have a business and you want to focus in on SEO, but that’s another story. Okay. I could just go on and on about long form content marketing. I love content marketing. It’s so fascinating to me. It’s so fun to me. Um, and so I, that one of the reasons why I started this podcast in 2021, it was a 2021 or 2022.
I don’t, I think it was 2021. Oh my goodness. This is so embarrassing. yes. The reason why I started this podcast in 2021 is because I wanted to have a marketing platform to. Draw more awareness to the fact that I educate on systems, workflows, and SOPs that impact the back end of your business. And then that has merged into launch education and launch services.
And so I show up week after week. With new podcast episodes that have something to do with that topic. And I love it. That’s my form of marketing. And then I’ve added YouTube to the mix because I, I just love educating other, other business centers, other small business centers. It’s a lot of fun. I have a quirky personality and I love showing up on video.
Is it, is it terrifying to be worried about some, some troll, like making fun of how I look? Yes, but you know what? Oh, well, it is what it is. Um, and so I, I love marketing. And so instead of being so scattered and putting like all my marketing plans on all the tabs, I just keep it under one pillar in Trello.
And then I link the essential links, like I’d mentioned, like NG, and I like link any other important marketing platforms to that list. And so that way I know, okay, like whenever I’m focusing in on something marketing related, I’m going to my business operations board. A third pillar I have in this business operations board is financial related.
So this, In this pillar, I like to link my bookkeeping template, my system for uploading receipts that will go automatically to my bookkeeper, and a list of deadlines for any upcoming tax payments. Now, this keeps me organized for my bookkeeper, and it helps me avoid scrambling when deadlines do come around.
I am in my bookkeeping template daily, like either inputting a payment from a client from my photography side of my business or inputting a payment from a launch client or a sale from a digital product, or I’m looking at my expenses for the month, or I’m inputting, um, Like a, like an expense I made, or I am for like looking at the month’s head.
Like, okay, again, forecasting. And so I am, I like to be very aware of the money in my business. And of course that makes my husband very happy that I’m finally becoming aware of the money behind my business. Because if you heard in previous episodes, like past Dolly in 2021 was not like that. But now I’m like.
I love knowing how to operate my business, um, especially when it comes to money. And so again, I keep this under one digital roof in the pillar is finances in this, Trello board. My next pillar is affiliates. And so I love Promoting my favorite tools and services. And over the years I’ve become an affiliate for several, really trusted programs that I love talking about to everyone, like who will listen to me.
And you all have heard, if you’re an OG listener, you know, I talk a lot about Dev Sato and I talk a lot about Engie and I talk a lot about like, for example, Stephanie case. Um, and so I am an affiliate for these different. Programs for these different business centers. Um, because I trust them, I use them. I like, these are my ride or died, ride or die, ride or die tools that I love using at the back end of my business to operate my business.
So I’m going to share it. And. I have like my goals for like future for like 2026, 2027 is to get more intentional about my marketing and how with affiliate marketing. Um, so I am starting to lay out the groundwork. I’ve been slowly laying out the groundwork for affiliate marketing since last year, honestly, I’m being more mindful of that.
And so I’m like, slowly seeing the benefits. Um, but I don’t really depend on that stream of income. It’s kind of like an icing on the cake for me at this point. It’s like so cool to see an affiliate payment come in, um, once a week or once a month, um, but I don’t like to depend on that type of income and some businesses depend on the affiliates and when, um, their affiliate marketing doesn’t work, like if they panic and I don’t want to be like that, I I just want to truly just share my affiliate links and out of like, Hey, like this works for me.
I want to share it and not really depend upon that income. Hopefully that makes sense. So, um, but I do want to be very intentional about how I infuse my affiliates. So I’m going to be adding these links into my long form content marketing. So, um, if I mentioned something on a podcast, I will be sure to like go back while I’m re uploading the show notes.
I will, if I hear, Oh, like I mentioned Dubsado, I mentioned Dubsado. I’ll go into my Trello board really quickly, grab my Dubsado link, and then put that in the show notes of the podcast. So again, it’s all under one digital roof. And I’m not like homing through my email. I’m not going through like tabs. Like I think I had it here.
Um, it’s all in one centralized hub, right? I, again, I love affiliate, like I’m slowly starting. To be more intentional with affiliate marketing, but it’s, it literally is icing on the cake and it is really fun for me just to infuse it in a fun marketing way. okay. So the next list or pillar that I focus on on.
My business operations board is ongoing education. So I am a big believer in continuing education. Um, but I will also say on the flip side, shiny object syndrome is a real thing. So I struggle with this internally and I don’t know if anybody else who’s listening struggles with this, but like you. Could be like a growing small business owner.
And you see this new course and you’re like, Oh, I have to have that because it promises me that I’ll make 10 K in two days. And like, so you buy it. And then in a, in a few weeks you see another course and it’s promising you something similar, but you forgot about the first course you bought. So you buy the second course and then you just keep on buying all these courses and then you don’t.
Follow through with watching them. You just keep on buying courses that promise you XYZ, but then you don’t execute to get to the steps. Alright? Okay. So, I was noticing that there was one year that I just like bought so many courses. And I wasn’t following through on like 80%, 20 percent I would.
And then 80%, I was just starting it and then not finishing it. And so what I did was I decided to create a pillar on my business operations board of all my usernames and passwords for every single course I’ve purchased and give like a little synopsis of what it is like the transformation and then like link any, like.
Workbooks so that whenever I do have free time because I try to make and create intentional growing space Once a week or once a month for myself where I will do continued education And that has helped me scale back on not spending as much which my bookkeeper loves um, so I Have like I encourage you as a business owner like yes, I do Like I even sell digital products and like summits and bundles all dedicated to helping you grow in some sort of system and workflow for the backing of your business But I like also wouldn’t want you to buy it if you’re not going to take action Like I want people to buy and take action.
And so that’s what I do with myself, if I buy something, then I need to take action. And so, and if I have all of my courses listed out in front of me, um, in my business operations board, I can then take action. All right. So I, and then it’s also a reminder to me, like that most likely if these business owners are refreshing the courses, or if they’re known for the course, like it will most likely be, um, Renewed, refresh, like, like for example, um, in 2019, 2019 is when I started growing my email list because of Amy Porterfield.
So I bought her list builders society. I think that’s what it’s called and she refreshes it. And so I’ve watched it two to three times so far. And it’s like a good reminder to me, like, it’s a very foundational course of email marketing. It’s not advanced. It’s just very foundational. And I just love the, the reminder.
And sometimes I don’t even sit down and watch it. I will pop it in my earbuds and I will just go for a walk and listen. So I’ll listen and okay. As like a refresher on like lead magnets and all this stuff. So I. I just encourage you, like, before you buy any products for 2025, reassess what you’ve already purchased, and then see if you can, like, learn if it’s current, if it’s being refreshed, renewed, and then learn before you buy.
And again, like, I Want like even my students who have purchased for me, like I tried to assess everything I’ve created and I try to refresh it every year. Or if it’s something very evergreen like my bookkeeping templates for creatives. I don’t need to refresh that every year because it’s something that like It’s a template.
And so I, but I still like for my, I’m trying to think of what I do refresh every year, my business operations board. I refresh that every year and I make it for a brand new year and I create a new video and just, just, you know, Like walking past purchasers through it. So they still have access to it. So anyways, hopefully that makes sense.
Um, another pillar that I have in my business operations board is dedicated to my photography business. So, um, OG listeners or new listeners, you should know that I have two sides to my business, this side, um, systems, workflow, launching education. And then the second side of my business is photography. I am a Nashville based.
Family and motherhood photographer. I have, I love my clients. I love the families I work with. Um, I it’s something I’m very passionate about. And so I have a dedicated, um, list that links to my marketing plans for my photography business, because my marketing planner is very different than my marketing for this business.
Um, so I like to stay very organized and on top of everything, because honestly I work, um, if you want to see like how I divide my week on Wednesdays, that is my dedicated photography side of my business day. And then Saturdays is when I am actually out. Photographing families and then versus Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, I am dedicated to doing either one to one client work for the launching side of my business or doing something for the systems workflow launching side of this business.
So that’s how I divide up my weeks. And so I need to stay organized for that, especially as a team of one. And then finally, the last pillar I want to share with you, because I could go on and on about how I organize my business operations board, but I wanted to keep it at seven, um, is email marketing. So this is another pillar on my, um, my business operations list.
And, um, again, it kind of goes hand in hand with marketing, but I like to link my, all my freebies to my email marketing, um, pillar. And I like to see how my email growth is like going alongside course money with my marketing strategy is like what I’m doing marketing wise. Is it actually helping me grow my email list?
Or is it like, am I just. And I’m just continuing to, just like throw spaghetti at the wall and nothing’s happening. Like, I, I want to make strategic choices. And so I’m always looking for ways to grow my list and nurture my subscribers. And I want to stay consistent. And, um, I’m a firm believer that email marketing is not dead.
Like, yes, there is power in referrals. There is power in, like, going to meetings. In person events, but there’s also power in building out your email list. Especially if you have an online business and you sell digital products or online services, like you need to nurture a community. And so I’m been slowly and surely growing out my email list since 2019.
And I’ve built out. A fun community that just, this is still very small, but mighty. And I am very grateful that I get to get to share more systems and workflow and launching education with my systems and workflow community. And I, and I also have a different email marketing plan for my photography business.
So I try to keep that all organized. So those are just a few of my main pillars of my business operations board. Um, but like hearing this, you can totally customize. Like this to fit your needs. Okay. The goal is to have everything you need for your business easily accessible under one hub, digital hub.
And for me, that’s Trello. And for you, that might be Notion or Asana or ClickUp or whatever. But please like keep everything organized under one roof. So in recap, here are the main pillars I covered and that might help you decide like, Oh, I need to create a pillar for this. So I went over branding assets, marketing, finances, affiliates, ongoing education, my other business, which is photography, and then email marketing.
Now remember. I want to share this. The system is adaptable. So again, um, you can use it in whatever project management tool you already have. So don’t feel like you’re like, Oh, Dolly uses Trello. I have to use Trello. No, like use whatever is working for you. Okay. But if you want to save time and skip the setup process, and if you are looking for a consistent.
project management tool that can work for you. I’ve got you covered. I’m sharing my master business operations board as a template in the show notes. You can purchase it and customize it for your own business. It’s a one time fee. And every year I will send you the updated version with like a little tutorial on how to get started.
So it’s a proven system I used for years to stay organized, productive, and Try to stay stress free as possible. So grab it today through the link in the show notes. So thank you again for joining me. And as always, I’m always cheering you on. Um, I want to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas, and I will see you all next week with a brand new systems and workflow related podcast episode.
Again, we’re diving into another topic on how to better prep for 2025. So stay streamlined and magical, you amazing muggle you. Bye.
