LI marketing expert takes her own advice, gets help

Lisa Chalker often advises her clients to let her handle their marketing efforts, since she's the expert: "You wouldn't have a heart surgeon deliver your baby," she tells them. "Don't market your business yourself if you don't know how."

So when Chalker found herself struggling to handle her company's social media presence, she decided to take her own advice and hand the task to someone else.

Chalker started Family Affair Distributing Inc. in 2003. At first, the company focused on wholesaling candy and unique items, but now it's become a resource for businesses and event planners to buy custom gift baskets, personalized giveaways and other promotional items. She offers everything from branded basketballs and customized candles to personalized gumball machines with logo-imprinted gumballs to go inside. The Massapequa company has two employees and yearly revenues of around $100,000.

Chalker knew she needed to have a presence on Facebook and LinkedIn -- tools to help her reach new customers and grow her business. But, she says, "social media is not my 'thing.' "

"I am not savvy enough and I usually don't have the time to post properly and check on notifications," she says.

For Chalker and other small-business owners, the concept of delegating responsibility can be daunting. But the willingness to delegate effectively can make or break a company, says Andrea Feinberg, a business coach based in Port Jefferson Station.

By focusing on routine tasks, small-business owners are "robbing their company of profit, opportunity and future growth," she says.

"Because they have so much invested in their business, [owners] find it's hard to trust others to do the tasks as they would," Feinberg says. "They also believe they can't afford to hire, and that's nonsense if they'll just open their minds to what they might consider untraditional forms of help."

Get some office help

Indeed, an untraditional form of help is proving to be a major timesaver for Family Affair. This spring, Chalker met Jamie Pirowskin, a "virtual office assistant" based in Woodbury. Pirowskin had experience working on social media campaigns, and Chalker realized that a relationship could offer the best of both worlds: help with tasks she didn't feel she was executing well, without the overhead costs of adding an employee.

Pirowskin started her business, called Jamie & Friends, less than a year ago. She works with all kinds of small businesses to help with tasks that business owners might not have the time or inclination to do, "so they can focus on their mission-critical responsibilities," she says.

She typically works remotely, although she occasionally visits clients on site. For remote work, she charges $25 to $30 per hour; she charges $40 to $50 an hour when she visits clients' offices.

Since starting her business, Pirowskin has worked to organize clients' databases, plan special events, create brochures and perform other administrative tasks.

For Family Affair, Pirowskin is helping develop the company's presence on Facebook and LinkedIn.

She posts on behalf of the company several times a week on each site, making a point to reach out to both clients and potential clients by liking their pages and otherwise engaging with them.

Cost-effective service

Chalker "didn't really . . . take advantage of the things she could be posting," Pirowskin says, noting that Family Affair has gotten about 25 more "likes" on its Facebook page since she started working for the company. "I'm really helping her establish her personality, instead of just products and services."

Chalker and Pirowskin have agreed to re-evaluate their relationship in six months, which they think should be enough time to start seeing results. Indeed, the fact that Pirowskin's services are reasonably priced -- and don't incur any overhead costs -- means it's not prohibitive to take a wait-and-see approach, Chalker says.

"The best part is that I am basically hiring her for just an hour a week, so budgetwise it really feels comfortable right now, and there is room to grow," Chalker says. "Down the road I might even begin to give her more to do."

AT A GLANCE

Family Affair Distributing Inc. Massapequa

Owner. Lisa Chalker

Founded. 2003

Employees. 2

Revenues. $100,000