Direct Selling
Her thoughts on serving vs. selling and meeting people where they are
Jill Blashack Strahan, Tastefully Simple Founder & CEO, is a top female entrepreneur and inspiration to countless people across the nation. In 1995 Strahan launched Tastefully Simple offering high-quality, easy-to-prepare foods in a 1,200 square-foot shed with no running water. From packing orders on a pool table, to being a $143 million company within 13 years, to 11 years of declining sales, Strahan learned priceless business and life lessons. Recognized as an exceptional CEO, she has earned numerous awards for her achievements and unique philosophies. She published a book about her journey—Simply Shine: Stories That Stirred the Fire.
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Two-month comment period underway to shape prospective rule impacting direct sellers
By: David Bland
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published its Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) as well as a request for public comment concerning false, misleading and unsubstantiated earnings claims to the Federal Register on March 11.
This action starts the clock on a 60-day window in which the public may submit written comments, data and arguments in regard to the need for such a rulemaking. All public comment submissions are due by May 10.
The ANPR outlines the FTC’s consideration of a new earnings claims rule for several types of businesses promoting business opportunities, including multi-level marketers, gig economy platforms, for-profit colleges, franchises, e-commerce companies, and other business and investment opportunities.
The Commissioners also included in the ANPR a multitude of specific questions about various aspects of a potential new rule in an effort to guide and assist the public in its responses.
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As businesses respond to society's demand for authenticity, companies recognize the power of demonstrating core values
By: Jenna Lang Warford
Far from being harmless, as some executives assume, they're often highly destructive. Empty values statements create cynical and dispirited employees, alienate customers, and undermine managerial credibility.
— Patrick M. Lencioni, author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
62% of consumers say purchasing decisions are influenced by a company's ethical values and authenticity.
— Accenture Strategy
Fifty percent of consumers say that the pandemic has caused them to rethink their personal purpose and reevaluate what’s important to them in life, according to the 14th annual Accenture Strategy Global Consumer Pulse Research survey. Additionally, 42 percent say the pandemic made them realize they need to focus on others more than themselves. The result? Sixty-three percent are buying goods and services from companies that reflect their personal values and beliefs, and fully 47 percent have stopped doing business with a company as a result of its actions.
The survey, which included more than 25,000 consumers across 22 countries, with follow-up focus groups in five countries, makes it clear that consumers want more than transactional relationships—they value a company’s stance and are interested in aligning with businesses that share their values. According to the research, 62 percent of consumers say purchasing decisions are influenced by a company’s ethical values and authenticity.
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Predictive actions, behavior modeling and feedback loops for decision making
By: Ben Dixon, Naxum Online Marketing Services, LLC
When the rules of the game change, you can’t do the same thing and expect to win.
— Anonymous
The social selling space has evolved drastically over the last few years. A select group of companies has continued to dominate in the rapidly changing space and reap massive rewards, outpacing the competition while average companies are declining.
The rules of the game have changed.
To discover where the “advantage” stems from requires looking deeper into the behaviors, systems and processes that winning companies deploy. The age-old business quote is indeed true: “If you cannot measure it, you cannot manage it.”
Traditionally, most direct selling companies’ data used for decision-making comes from transactions, orders, commission payouts, and all historical events that happen when and after the sale is made. What’s missing?
Commissioners vote unanimously to seek public comment on potential rule targeting direct sellers and other gig economy businesses
By: David Bland
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) continues its post-AMG Capital Management push to prepare other weapons for use against direct sellers in the absence of injunctive monetary relief via Section 13(b), which was stripped by the Supreme Court in Spring 2021.
Eleven months after announcing a new rulemaking group to reinvigorate and streamline its Section 18 powers, the FTC conducted a virtual open meeting to announce, accept public comments on, and vote on the publication of its Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) Concerning Deceptive Earnings Claims in the Federal Register. The agenda for this meeting also included a vote on issuing orders to large pharmacy benefits managers (PBM) to study the competitive impact of its policies affecting independent or specialty pharmacies.
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Solid supplier relationships, healthy operations keep direct sellers afloat amid continued supply chain disruptions
By: Stephanie Ramirez
Forecasting and planning for supply chain distributions isn’t anything new for logisticians, including those working for or servicing the direct selling channel. It’s their job to have a plan in place for when a weather event strikes near a distribution warehouse or a storm in the Atlantic sinks a cargo ship full of product parts or ingredients.
As COVID-19 forced many companies to shut down temporarily, manufacturers and shipping companies assumed that demand would experience a sharp drop. However, the pandemic merely shifted the demand.
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