SOPs for Family Photographers Who Want to Take Time Off

You would not believe it, but when I recorded this episode, it was the first one I had recorded in three months. And you would have never guessed, because the show had been airing every single week while I was living my life, spending the summer in Montana with my family. (Montana is my homestate by the way! Yes, I grew up between Montana and India…but I digress… another topic for another day!) 

If you are a solo family photographer who has ever thought, “I would love to take a real break, but I cannot just disappear,” I want you to keep reading. Because I did it. Without a big team. Without burning it all down. And I want to walk you through the SOPs (standard operating procedures) I put in place to make it happen.

(This original podcast aired on September 19th, 2022, and you can listen to it here⬇️)

Why I Needed to Step Away

There were a few things happening at once. I was pregnant with my second baby, and my first trimester knocked me flat. I was sick, exhausted, and running on whatever energy my toddler left me with. It was summer, which meant my son was home full-time, and I wanted to be present with him before his little brother arrived. On top of that, my husband and I had a dream of spending a full month in Montana (where I grew up) so our son could experience Big Sky Country the way I did growing up.

But I still had a business to run. I still had overhead costs to cover. I still needed to get paid in the month I would not be working.

So this became my experiment: could I set up systems, SOPs, and workflows strong enough that my business could keep moving, even when I stepped away?

The answer was yes. And I want to show you how.

First, a Quick SOP Refresher

If you are new to the concept, an SOP is a standard operating procedure. It is the documented, repeatable process for how you do something in your business. Think of it as the instruction manual you write so that a task can be completed the same way every time, whether you do it or someone else does.

In this post, I will use SOPs, systems, and workflows interchangeably, because they all connect to the same idea: creating a repeatable structure for how your business operates behind the scenes.

The Planning Started Months in Advance

This did not happen overnight. My husband, Ty, and I started mapping out our Montana month around January of that year. He works remotely, so his schedule was flexible. My schedule was the bigger puzzle.

I had to think through two major areas: content (my marketing, podcast episodes, and blog posts) and finances (ensuring overhead costs were covered and I would not end the month in the red).

For the content side, I leaned on my content batching system. I mapped out every podcast episode, lead magnet, and blog post that would go live during the months I planned to be away from recording. I recorded guest interviews in advance. I aligned episodes with a mini-course launch I had planned. I batched three full months of podcast content between April and June, even while feeling terrible during my first trimester.

For the finances side, I invested in a program that helped me get crystal clear on the numbers behind my business. I learned where to cut unnecessary expenses, how to save for a virtual assistant, and how to project income for a month I would not be taking on clients.

*This is the literal spreadsheet I use to keep track of my numbers, and it’s my best-selling system in my business! Check it out here or click the banner below!

The 10-Step Podcast SOP I Had to Document

Here is where it gets specific. Once my podcast episodes were recorded and sent to my podcast editor, there were still 10 steps that had to happen every week to get each episode published, promoted, and distributed.

Those 10 steps had been on my mind. Nobody else knew how to do them. And that is the trap so many solo family photographers fall into: we carry everything in our heads, and then we wonder why we cannot step away.

So I sat down and documented the entire workflow. I created a Trello board, recorded a Loom video for every step, and wrote instructions so someone with zero context could follow along.

It took me about 5 hours over 1 week to build the whole thing. Was it a lot of work? Yes. But those five hours gave me an entire month of freedom.

Hiring and Onboarding a VA (Without Losing My Mind)

Once my SOP was documented, I hired a VA. She was another photographer I already knew, which made the relationship easier from the start. We built a 45 to 60-day onboarding plan, so she had time to learn the workflow, ask questions, and get comfortable before I stepped away.

I did not hand her a vague list of tasks and hope for the best. I gave her a full training kit: Loom videos, written steps, a project management board, and weekly check-ins for feedback.

By the time August rolled around, she was running that SOP on her own, and I was fully disconnected for the entire month.

What This Looked Like in Practice

I was not MIA for three months. I was still taking on family and branding photography clients through the spring, working in short one- to two-hour windows when I had the energy. But my marketing content, podcast episodes, email sequences, and blog posts were all queued up and running on autopilot thanks to the systems I had built.

When August came, everything was published on schedule. The podcast aired. The blog posts went live. And I was in Montana, spending naptimes dreaming about a new project for my education brand, feeling rested and creative for the first time in months.

5 Action Steps for Family Photographers Who Want to Do This Too

If you are reading this and thinking, “Okay, but where do I even start?” here are five steps you can take right now:

1. Pick one SOP and document it. Choose the workflow that eats the most of your weekly time. Write out every step. Record Loom videos to walk through the process. Get it out of your brain and into a system someone else could follow.

2. Get a clear contract in place. If you hire a VA or contractor, protect yourself and them with a clear agreement that outlines expectations, communication, and boundaries. If you would like to have a professional contract in place, I HIGHLY recommend The Legal Paige. If you use my code DOLLY10, you’ll get 10% OFF too! 

3. Build a real onboarding runway. Do not hand off a workflow on a Friday and expect your new hire to nail it by Monday. Give yourself 45 to 60 days of overlap to check their work, answer questions, and build trust before you step away.

4. Let go and trust the process. The whole point of an onboarding period is to catch red flags early. If your hire makes a mistake once and corrects it, that is a green flag. If the same mistakes keep happening, address it. But once you have built the trust, let go.

5. Know your numbers. Before you plan time off, know what your business costs to run for that month. Know how much you need to save. Know where you can trim. This is the financial foundation that makes a sabbatical realistic instead of stressful.

Again, here is the system that keeps me on top of my own numbers: https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/bookkeeping-template

You Have Permission to Take Time Off

I know this might feel impossible right now, especially if you are wearing every hat in your photography business. But if I can batch three months of content, train a VA on a 10-step SOP, and take a full month off while pregnant with a toddler at home, you can start building toward this too.

It starts with one documented SOP. One system you get out of your head and onto paper (or into Trello, or Asana, or wherever you manage your projects).

And if you want help building the kind of marketing systems that run even when you step away, that is what we work on inside The Family Photographer’s Marketing Society. It is my monthly membership built around the 4C Framework (Connect, Clarify, Celebrate, Call to Action), designed for solo family photographers who want consistent visibility without the constant hustle.

Now go document that SOP. Your future self (and your future vacation) will thank you!

Meet Your Favorite Marketing Strategist and Business Coach for Family Photographers (Dolly DeLong Education)

Hi, I’m Dolly DeLong, a Nashville-based family photographer, marketing strategist, and systems educator for family photographers who want structure, clarity, and consistency in their marketing.

My photography journey began in 2006, and over the years, I built a sustainable family photography business while navigating motherhood, client work, and the realities of running a solo creative business. Along the way, I discovered something unexpected: I loved the backend just as much as the creative side.

What started as organizing my own workflows turned into helping other family photographers simplify their marketing, build repeatable systems, and stop relying on last-minute posting or panic marketing.

Today, I focus exclusively on helping family photographers intentionally market their businesses (not with trends but with consistently showing up).

I offer two ways to work with me:

• The Family Photographer’s Marketing Society: a systems-first membership that provides a clear weekly marketing cadence for Instagram and email, so you always know what to focus on without starting over.

• 1:1 Strategic Marketing Support for established family photographers who want hands-on guidance in building a sustainable, SEO-supported marketing system.

Through my blog, podcast, and YouTube channel, I teach family photographers how to think like marketers, plan ahead, and create marketing rhythms that support both their business and their family life.

I still photograph families around Nashville because it’s one of my greatest joys. But helping family photographers build calm, consistent marketing systems that actually fit real life is a close second.

I’m so glad you are here, reading this blog, listening to the podcast, or watching the embedded YouTube video. I hope this educational content was helpful. Please let me know what future systems content you would like me to create!