The Power of SEO Systems for Your Business with Dolly Delong
Today, I'm thrilled to welcome back Dolly DeLong, a seasoned expert in systems, workflows, and SEO. Dolly brings a wealth of knowledge from her dual roles as a systems and workflow educator for creative business owners and a Nashville-based family photographer.
In this episode, Dolly shares her expert insights on the significance of SEO and systems in streamlining your business operations.
We'll explore practical strategies to optimize your business backend, enhance your online visibility, and prevent burnout through effective systematization. Whether you're a solo entrepreneur or leading a small team, this discussion will equip you with the tools to transform your approach to SEO. Join us as we uncover the secrets to integrating SEO into your daily business practices for maximum impact.
Get the FREE SEO Audio Summit! Click here!
What’s In This Episode:
[00:02:10] Dolly discusses her role as a launch integrator and the importance of a structured approach to business launches.
[00:03:00] The necessity of systems for solo business owners to manage the backend of their businesses efficiently.
[00:05:00] Introduction to SEO as a system and its impact on business visibility and growth.
[00:15:32] How Dolly utilizes her 'Pigfell' system across various platforms to enhance her business's SEO.
[00:25:00] Discussion on the power of repurposing content across different media to maximize reach and efficiency.
For full show notes and a transcript of today’s episode, head to wildhomepodcasting.com/podcast/191
ABOUT DOLLY:
I’m a Nashville-based photographer who serves small businesses with personal branding photos and I serve families with milestone family photos.
When I’m not serving clients through photography, I wear the hat of a Systems and Workflow Educator for creatives. I love teaching business owners about the importance of SOPS, systems, and workflows so that the backend puzzle pieces of their businesses can run smoothly so that they can focus on what matters most to them: serving clients, saving time, and making that money!
My most important roles in life are being a wife, a boy mom, and a believer in Christ!
CONNECT WITH DOLLY:
Visit Dolly’s Website
Listen to Dolly’s Podcast
Follow Dolly on Instagram
LINKS:
The Transcript for Share, Strategize, & Shine:
[00:00:00] Hi everyone. Welcome back to the show Dolly I am so excited to have you on the podcast again
[00:00:50] Oh, thank you so much for having me seriously.
[00:00:52] I'm so excited before we dive in today because we're going to talk about something. I'm actually really, really excited about this [00:01:00] topic because I have been exploring it myself and other aspects of my business and that is SEO and systems and how that all works together. So before we dive in though, I would love if you could just remind the audience who you are and what you do.
[00:01:13] Yeah, definitely. My name is Dolly DeLong. I am a systems and workflow educator for other creative business owners. So what that means is I like teaching about systems, workflows, SOPs, and launches and how they impact the back end of your business. And I do that through my YouTube channel and also through my podcast, the systems and workflow magic podcast.
[00:01:37] And the other. Side of my hat. My business is I am a Nashville based family photographer. So I have two very different businesses, but today I'm here just to talk about the systems and workflows of SEO. Yeah.
[00:01:52] working on a lot of launches lately. I've noticed on Instagram.
[00:01:57] So I am also a launch [00:02:00] integrator and planner for one to one business owners. And so I help other business owners plan out their launches and I make sure that they stick to at least a three month strategy. So
[00:02:10] that
[00:02:10] includes the pre launch and. We see it through all the way. So, there's no shiny object syndrome in the middle of it.
[00:02:17] That's so cool. I feel like we all need that because
[00:02:19] there's always plenty objects with
[00:02:21] launches I would love. So you were in the podcast before and we're going to link to that episode cause it was amazing, but I would love if you would just talk for a minute about why systems are so important and why you're so passionate about this topic of systems for business.
[00:02:36] Yeah. So I, oh man, I just love system so much because we, the majority of us running our businesses are solo business owners, or we're wearing many hats and we may have one or two VAs working for us. But again, the majority like of my listeners in my podcast, and I'm sure the listeners of your podcast, Caroline are
[00:02:59] renting the [00:03:00] show on their own.
[00:03:00] And so the beauty of systems is that. I look at systems as a way to organize different aspects of the backend of my business. And so what that means is like, I have a system for marketing. I have a system for my podcast. I have a system for my CRM. And so I know that like entering into owning your business, you learn about these things over time, but they can seem a little bit.
[00:03:26] Overcomplicated. We can overcomplicate it. We can stress out about it. We think, Oh, we have to like make the perfect decision in order to create the perfect system. But there's not a perfect system. I, I just want to encourage listeners to really take that first step to really organize the back end of their business.
[00:03:43] So that if you quit your nine to five job to work. 24 seven, then you're like, you're doing it wrong. And I want to help you on the back end of your business. And, yeah, take it from us. I'm sure Caroline has learned the hard way too. I've learned the hard way.
[00:03:59] Yes.[00:04:00]
[00:04:00] Yeah, I just, systems are supposed to be for your favor and for your benefit slowly over time.
[00:04:07] Yes.
[00:04:09] thing too is that systems really help prevent burnout. And like for me, especially in this season of my business, you know, I went from having a large team to now it's just me and one other person and systems have been, I mean, I thought I had systems before. Oh, I've got systems now.
[00:04:26] And it really helps on those days when, like today I've been on the phone with doctors and all kinds of things, making appointments all day, but I don't have to worry about anything because I've got systems in place to make sure everything is running properly in the background. And that really is like the key.
[00:04:43] And that's something I always try to emphasize, especially with having a podcast is having a because it's going to make all the difference between. Being excited to do it and getting burned out and pod fading really quickly, but we're not going to talk about podcasting today because we talked about that in the last episode that you were [00:05:00] on. We're actually going to be talking about SEO today. So you posted on Instagram the other day, basically talking about how SEO was working for you. And for your business as a system in the background. Okay. Wait a minute. I have never thought about SEO as a system. Can you explain what you mean by that?
[00:05:23] Yeah, sure. So I will say this, I have to give full credit, to my good business peer, Rebecca Reed, she, if she listens to this podcast, Hey, Rebecca, thank you for the system you taught me. But it's called the pig fell system and don't worry, you all, I will explain what every, letter means in this, acronym, I think that's the word I'm looking for, but, because.
[00:05:46] As again, as a small business owner, we're wearing all the hats. We're our marketers, we're our promoters. We are the content creators. We are like, we're everything we're the VA. And so, one of the [00:06:00] most important hats you can wear for your business, like. As a solo business owner is leaning into the power of SEO, which is search
[00:06:07] engine optimization. Now that is. It's multifaceted, so it's a big beast to, like, even look at sometimes, and it overwhelms me sometimes. But, but, um, I have found a system that works for me and I have been utilizing this Pigfell system for like genuinely over a year and a half now. And because of it, over 50 percent of my business comes from SEO now.
[00:06:42] And I will say that is the That is the photography side of my business. So a large portion of my income comes from SEO. And so I will break it down. Hopefully it'll make sense. And It will be a little bit more tangible. So [00:07:00] when I say pig fell, I'm talking about the Pinterest, Instagram, Google business profile,
[00:07:08] Pig and the Facebook email and LinkedIn.
[00:07:12] So that's my. acronym for Pigfell. And so let's break it down from there. So every time I create a long form piece of content, so we've all heard that in like blogging is not dead. And it's true. Blogging is not dead and creating long form pieces of content to be evergreen, to be searchable is super important.
[00:07:35] So let's let's talk about those three forms. Three long forms of content where you can either do a blog post, you can do audio content, which is podcasting, which
[00:07:47] Caroline you're doing now. Yeah. And, or you can do a YouTube channel. And so each of those has its own barrier to entry. I think the least barrier to entry is blogging, [00:08:00] but like. Like all three can be evergreen. All three can work in your favor over time. And if you used keywords that your ideal client is searching for in those different platforms, like, like Google for blog or YouTube, or even your podcast player, you can be found. So anyways, so let's say you have decided on what.
[00:08:25] Long form piece of content you want to create. So Caroline, since you are a podcast host, we're going to use podcasting, for example, because I do the exact same SEO system for myself every single week, whenever my new podcast goes out. So my new podcast goes live every or drops every Monday. So when it drops.
[00:08:47] I then take an hour and a half at the top of the week. So Mondays are my SEO system days. And again, this is an hour and a half every week. And I dedicate to, is it sexy? [00:09:00] No. Is it essential? Yes. And, I am hoping to eventually, get to a point where I can hand this off to a VA. I will say this, you can do this as a solo business owner, carve out, I would say carve out two and a half hours first.
[00:09:16] And then once you get a cadence, it will come down to an hour and a half. So first thing I do is after my podcast episode has been posted, I normally have it embedded in a blog.
[00:09:28] So I embed that in a blog and so that makes it more searchable.
[00:09:32] So then I go down the acronym. So P is for Pinterest. And so I create a graph.
[00:09:41] I have templates. I do want to caveat. And say, I do not do this from scratch every week.
[00:09:47] I have a folder, dedicated to the systems and workflow magic podcast and in Canva. And I have within that folder, I have templates for Pinterest, [00:10:00] templates
[00:10:00] reels, and then I can just open it every week. So I opened up that folder on a Monday.
[00:10:06] And I open up the Pinterest folder and I create a corresponding Pinterest pin for that would point people towards that podcast episode, which is embedded in the blog. All right? And so I, I'm sure somebody is probably screaming at me and they're like, why don't you just use Tailwind? Well, right now I keep everything super low cost and like my overhead is
[00:10:30] lean. And so I just go and I make. Three or four pins in Pinterest and then I, or Canva and I post them to Pinterest and I make sure they lead to my, my blog posts, which has my podcast.
[00:10:45] Okay. The next one is Instagram. I then create from the same pin. Cause I like, you can convert that to an Instagram post.
[00:10:54] You can convert
[00:10:55] that to an Instagram story or even a real cover. And I do that. And [00:11:00] then I quickly like. Without going doomsday scrolling. I just like, I just opened up Instagram and I post that, Hey, I have a brand new podcast episode, here's a link to it. And I really linked the blog.
[00:11:16] Because if I have readers instead of listeners.
[00:11:19] And then, and then I talk about, I post about it on my static feed as well. And then that's like 10 minutes and then that's it. And then I get out because otherwise I will doom scroll and I will be like
[00:11:31] Oh, like what is this cat meme? I need to look at it right now.
[00:11:36] Rabbit holes.
[00:11:39] So that we've done the P we've done the I G stands for Google business profile. So I would argue this, that Google business profile is essential for every type of business owner to set up regardless if they are an online business owner. Or if they own a physical business, it's really essential and important to set [00:12:00] up.
[00:12:00] We're not going to get down to the nitty gritty of that, but assuming that you have a Google business profile set up, you can go into Google. Your Google business profile used to be called Google my business. Now it's called Google business profile. And then you can, you can just update it. And it's kind of like when you update your Facebook status, you update your Google business profile status and you let them know, Hey, I have a new, um, like blog post or like that has my podcast in it and you can reuse the image that you created in Canva.
[00:12:35] For Pinterest and for Instagram for that,
[00:12:38] and then let them know, Hey, crawl my website and bring people over for these key terms. And it takes me three minutes to do that status
[00:12:48] Yeah. Yeah.
[00:12:51] I go into Google search console and I let them know like, Hey, here is a new URL to [00:13:00] crawl. So that way they know, Hey, like this, like, this is relevant.
[00:13:04] Like this goes with the site map and I want people to find it for the key terms. Cause keep in mind, like on. The back end of my blog, which has the, embedded podcast episode. I've done the Yoast SEO, like I've gone through Yoast
[00:13:21] SEO on my blog post. And so I have a URL, I'll like slug that has a lot of good keywords that correspond with the podcast.
[00:13:33] Okay. Before I go on any, do you have any questions about the pig part?
[00:13:39] I'm literally like sitting here writing down, like I wrote down the acronym and I'm writing notes on a little sticky because like I do some of this, but like the Google, the Google business profile and the Google search console, I never thought to do that. That's absolutely fascinating. So I'm going to add that to my list.
[00:13:56] But I think one of the things that. You keep saying that [00:14:00] I'm like, yes, why why do we make this so hard is you're repurposing
[00:14:04] Yes.
[00:14:05] You're not like reinventing the wheel for each place you're posting. And I just want to like, put a pin in that, make sure everybody hears that. Because I know a lot of times when we think about marketing and we think about all these places we're supposed to be showing up, we think of them as like separate silos. But What you should all be doing with your podcast is taking it and creating these little pieces of information that you can post in all these places. So I just wanted to like reiterate that because it's so, so important to be doing.
[00:14:37] Yeah, and like, I know that different platforms like require a certain way for you to type out like, hey, check out this information. So, listener, this is my like, small little tip. I use chat, I go into chat GPT,
[00:14:52] and I let it know, I'm like, hey, I need to create like a synopsis about my new book. which has my [00:15:00] podcast in it, for LinkedIn, which we'll get to soon.
[00:15:03] And, and then it makes me a little LinkedIn blurb. And then I ask one for Facebook, and then I ask one for Pinterest, like four different descriptions for Pinterest. And. That's my, and then I create it in my own words. I look at it. I'm like, okay, I'll insert my personality in it. And here we go. And you all like, it saves me so much time.
[00:15:24] So I don't have to like, be like, Oh, what, how should I craft this blurb for Facebook? Which, which is the next acronym, the letter,
[00:15:32] uh, So we've done P I G G and then F is Facebook. And the reason why I choose Facebook is because a lot of like, for example, I, I have a Facebook business page for the education side of my business
[00:15:50] And And I also have a Facebook business page for the photography side of my business. So I post whenever I have a new blog post for photography [00:16:00] and, or my, podcast. And so I do Facebook and then I also like a side note for all of this. If you're like, Does she just go down the list and like post live? I actually go into the, these native platforms and I schedule them out.
[00:16:19] So like
[00:16:20] for Pinterest, I, I do make them go live in Pinterest, but for, and then Google business, same thing. But for Facebook, I go in the backend of, I don't even know, Meta business tools or
[00:16:33] Yeah. Yeah,
[00:16:34] something.
[00:16:35] you can schedule it out. So if you don't want it to go out exactly that minute, and if you'd rather have your audience see like your audience is more, , more involved on a Thursday, just like schedule it out for a Thursday because it's already live and you have the link.
[00:16:49] And
[00:16:50] so for a Thursday, and then I do the same thing for LinkedIn, but I'm kind of getting ahead of myself. So we've done Facebook. So the [00:17:00] next one is E for email marketing. It comes to no surprise to you, Caroline, that I am a huge supporter of growing out your email list. And I put a lot of like importance in, in
[00:17:14] Right.
[00:17:15] An email newsletter and nurturing my, my community.
[00:17:19] It's small, but it's mighty. And I want to let them know, Hey, like I have a new podcast episode up and I make it specifically for them, like why they should tune in. So I, I write out the email, I schedule that out. And then I go to LinkedIn because, that's like just a more professional platform.
[00:17:39] For me to connect with business owners who may want to learn about launch strategies.
[00:17:45] And so I post to Lincoln and I scheduled that out. So pig fell, that's my SEO system right there in a
[00:17:53] I love that. That is amazing. And I have a couple of like tips to throw in there. So one of the [00:18:00] things that I teach is like that your show notes should be the hub. are things you can easily put in your show notes. So like if you're sitting down and you're working on your show notes, open up chat GPT, Have it start to generate these things for you and go ahead and paste them in that show notes document.
[00:18:16] So when you get ready to schedule, you've got it all right there. You don't have to go anywhere and look for it. And then, one of the things I've been learning a lot about chat to BT, so you mentioned like putting it in, having it spit out like a LinkedIn version for you and then you'll tweak it and post it. One thing I highly recommend for anyone who's doing this is to post back to chat GPT, your version and ask chat GPT, what's different about its version and your version. And it'll tell you exactly the differences. And then you say, can you apply this in the future? And chat GPT will say, sure thing. And what chap GPT then will learn is how you write, what words you use.
[00:18:55] And it'll actually start to spit things out that are more on brand for you, [00:19:00] which makes it a lot easier down the road, , to create things very easily and chat GPT. So just a couple of pro tips that I've, I've learned over the last few months. So
[00:19:10] something new just now. That's a really good point.
[00:19:14] yeah, I, it's actually been amazing. So I went to a digital marketing conference and there was someone who did a whole Talk on chat GPT. And he set up, this is so cool. Like everybody should do this and chat GPT. He set up different threads for different uses. So he has an email marketing thread, a social media thread, a podcast, you know, for us, you could have a podcast show notes thread or whatever. And by doing that, and then, you know, Like I said, reposting his versions to it. What he's doing is teaching chat GPT, how to write specifically for those things. So I've been doing it and it's been amazing. Like I've been able to get some pretty good stuff out of it that I can actually use. And like, if I'm in a hurry and I don't have time to tweak it, that's fine. Don't [00:20:00] worry. I'm not publishing any, AI stuff, you know, To my website and things like that, but it's helpful when you're like working, like you said, on like posting on LinkedIn and posting on Pinterest and posting on Instagram. And especially if you have those show notes, it's like so much information for a chat GPT to then take and create all kinds of stuff.
[00:20:18] So yeah, give it a try. Let me know. Everybody let me know how it works for you.
[00:20:22] I will give it a try. I'm like slowly, I actually just upgraded. Um, I know I just said, like, I try to keep everything, my overhead low, but I splurged on my business a little, and I, , upgraded my chat GPT subscription to be like the pro version, whatever version
[00:20:39] it is, and it's been so helpful for me.
[00:20:42] yeah, because the higher up versions of ChatGPT are a little bit smarter. They're a little bit less clunky in their marketing speak,
[00:20:52] as it were.
[00:20:53] So, um, I'd have fewer nautical, uh, metaphors in my writing from [00:21:00] ChatGPT and ChatGPT. com. Chat GPT four point, whatever, then I did in 3. 5. So, you know, I'm here for that.
[00:21:06] Cause if it was like going to reference boats one more time, I was like, come on now, compasses and boats and waves. It was like always giving me all these nautical things. I was
[00:21:14] that's so funny. And ChatGPT like quickly picked up, like, that I love Harry Potter, but it, like, the free version was, like, giving a little bit too much reference. Like,
[00:21:26] Oh my God.
[00:21:27] too many magical references. I was like, all right, like, tone it down. Like, I'm not
[00:21:33] I love that.
[00:21:35] telling people in every podcast episode.
[00:21:38] That's hilarious. I love that so much. So this was amazing. Like, I feel like. You just basically taught a masterclass on the podcast here on how to have an SEO system. But really the reason that you're here today, because we are talking about SEO, but you also have an SEO bundle coming out. I would love for you to share a little [00:22:00] bit about this resource and maybe some of the things that are in it and why this is such a valuable thing that people need to grab.
[00:22:07] definitely. So I am so excited to share with you and your audience that we have the systems and workflow magic bundle, the S E O edition. , it's going to be out in August of 2024 and it is truly dedicated to the small business owner who wants to. Start infusing more SEO into the back end of their business, especially if they are running the show on their own or if, if they're a small team and they just need to like learn, I guess, I guess like from many courses or resources or templates, like
[00:22:44] they need to consume on the go.
[00:22:46] And so I made a very comprehensive button bundle and Caroline, you're a part of that. And, , SEO, like we, we were talking about earlier, it feels like a beast. It is a beast. It's changing all the time. [00:23:00] It's evolving all the time, but there are some foundational concepts that you can apply to like whatever type of
[00:23:07] Mm hmm.
[00:23:07] or whatever type of business you like have, and there are SEO resources for.
[00:23:13] Physical businesses. So if you have an own a physical storefront, guess what? There are SEO resources in there for
[00:23:20] you, or if you're a digital business owner, online business owner, sorry, there are SEO resources in the bundle. If you are a service provider, I know many of us are service providers. Like how can we make our.
[00:23:35] And how can we attract more of our ideal clients without relying heavily on ads? Because a lot of us have very
[00:23:43] low marketing budget and we don't have time. We'll, we don't have money to spend on the meta ads. And so I wanted to make this very chewable digestible. And I wanted to invite SEO experts, [00:24:00] Who have like, who know what they're talking about when it comes to SEO.
[00:24:04] And I, one of the reasons why I was like, okay, I hope Caroline says yes to this, but you know, your stuff when it comes to SEO and podcasting, because that
[00:24:14] is. A little sliver of like SEO and if you have a podcast. And so I am so excited that you said yes. So do you mind? I'm like kind of turning the tables on you.
[00:24:27] Do you mind sharing what you are going to be sharing in this bundle?
[00:24:32] Yes. So I, It took a masterclass that I did for my membership and reworked it for the bundle. And it's all about SEO for podcasts. And what I talk about, it's, it's goes beyond just like keywords and really talking about how do you get, Found in the apps. And so yes, there's a lot of keyword stuff there, but people also like ask me about reviews and categories and does that help me get found [00:25:00] and all?
[00:25:00] I talk about all of that in the masterclass and provide some tips on how to figure out what keywords to use for your podcast titles. You know, it's very similar to SEO that like you would think of traditionally for like Google search, but the truth of the matter is the podcast apps. All search differently. They all have their own shado. They, you know, it's, it's, it's this mysterious world of podcast app search. And we recently were finally told by Apple exactly what they were searching. And so being able to apply that in a way that can really help you be found in the apps. So when people are looking for the help that they need. They can find your podcast. That's my goal for all of my clients and, for all of those who watch the masterclass. So I hope that's helpful. I'm really excited to share that with everybody. Yeah.
[00:25:48] very selfishly excited because I'm going to be watching that as a podcaster. Thank you.
[00:25:55] Of
[00:25:55] course.
[00:25:56] mostly like selfish. What does Dolly want to learn about [00:26:00] SEO? I'm going to reach out to all of these SEO experts. So there are over 20, I want to say 24 different SEO related resources in this bundle, , from templates to masterclasses to many courses.
[00:26:15] Everything in between. And the great thing about this specific bundle is I made sure to create a free audio summit,
[00:26:25] , that, that goes alongside. So if you're like, I want to, I want to actually meet the, the educators. I want to learn from them before I actually. Buy this bundle. Well, then you can snag the SEO mastery audio summit for free.
[00:26:43] And I know Caroline's going to have the link in the show notes, but you can learn from everyone, one juicy SEO tip and apply it to your business immediately. And then you can decide from, and it's a four day free event that you can learn on the go. So [00:27:00] it's an audio summit that you can put in your ears and it's in podcast format.
[00:27:04] And I am really excited. That this, I don't know. It's just like a good appetizer. I'm just calling it an appetizer
[00:27:12] to see if it's a good fit for you. And so either way, I just really want to, um, make sure small business owners take action when it comes to SEO.
[00:27:22] Yeah. And the little SEO tip that I shared for that audio summit is like gold for podcasting. So I had to like edit myself cause I was like trying to give all the SEO tips in two minutes, but, uh, definitely go check that out. And I know I'm going to be downloading it and listening to it because again, like I said, SEO is something that, you know, I always kind of.
[00:27:45] Put on the back burner. And I think that's what we do as business owners is we were like, Oh, that's too complicated. It's too hard. One day I'm going to be able to hire somebody who's going to come in and fix all my SEO. And, you know, I recently had a friend who's an SEO [00:28:00] expert do a quick analysis of my website. And she was like, yeah, you're ranking for these words. And I was like, I don't want to rank for these words. For those words, you know, and so I've been kind of working on this myself. And so I just appreciate you so much, um, sharing this and creating this bundle because you're absolutely right. Like it's, it's something that everyone should take advantage of and not put on the back burner because it really can work for you in the background by attracting the right people to your podcast and your website and all the things. So don't skip out on this.
[00:28:29] Well, and I want to encourage listeners to also, know that SEO is not like a quick one and done thing. Like it's
[00:28:36] an ongoing process and it should be a priority for your business. You can lay. Good foundations. And then, like I said earlier, you can set up a system that's easily like an hour and a half.
[00:28:50] If you don't want to do an hour and a half system once a week, then do an, like an hour system once a month and audit and see like how you can optimize certain things on your [00:29:00] website. But make sure that. That your, your people are finding you organically. I, that SEO is amazing and I've definitely loved the fruits of like my SEO foundations for my business.
[00:29:16] And so I want to continue to lean into that.
[00:29:20] I love that so much. Thank you so much, Dolly. And I will put all the links to everything, including, uh, Dolly's podcast and how to connect with her because, uh, you definitely need to just follow her on Instagram. She always posts some really great tips on there and some really good insight into launches and systems.
[00:29:36] So I'll make sure that's all in the show notes. And I just appreciate you so much. And thank you for coming and sharing this with my audience.
[00:29:43] Yeah. Thanks for having me again.
