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Direct Sellers Grapple with Supply Chain Challenges
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Direct Sellers Grapple with Supply Chain Challenges

Despite strong sales, pandemic creates some disruptions for companies

By:  David Rauf

“This was felt everywhere and in everything; the immediacy of things shutting down in a manner of days was extraordinary.”

—Brian Kraus, VP Global Manufacturing, Amway

“We were fortunate that we had some plans in place to be able to respond as quickly as we did. It’ll be interesting to see, as an industry, how this changes things in the coming year.”

—Brian Kraus, VP Global Manufacturing, Amway

Already faced with a variety of new challenges in the coronavirus era, direct sellers are dealing with another major hurdle affecting their daily business: supply chain disruptions.

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August 1, 2020 0 comment
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DSSRC Issues New Guidance on Earnings Claims for Channel
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DSSRC Issues New Guidance on Earnings Claims for Channel

Guidelines go into effect Aug. 1

By:  Courtney Ronan

The Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council (DSSRC), a division of BBB National Programs, has released new guidance on earnings claims. This new guidance defines and classifies earnings claims and is provided to help ensure direct selling companies and their independent distributors are making representations that comply with legal and self-regulatory standards. 

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August 1, 2020 0 comment
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Addressing Unconscious Bias at the Workplace and in the Field
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Addressing Unconscious Bias at the Workplace and in the Field

Mona Ameli, founder of Ameli Global Partnerships

By:  Mona Ameli

Often perceived as a negative action taken deliberately, unconscious biases are actually cognitive automatic shortcuts, often based on primitive, mistaken, outdated, inaccurate, or incomplete information deeply rooted in our cultural, environmental and family upbringing.

To have a true and authentic inclusive culture, a key area to address is stereotypes, which not only impact our individual and/or organizational behaviors, but can then undermine the sustainability of inclusive diversity. Another term for this is unconscious bias. 

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August 1, 2020 0 comment
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Worker Expectations Drive Payment Methods
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Worker Expectations Drive Payment Methods

Traditional once-a-month commission checks outdated

By: Camille Barlow

“If you don’t pay people quickly enough, and they find they’re being paid quicker by another company, they’re going to leave.”

—Natalia Yenatska, Chief Operations Officer, i-Payout

Since its inception, the direct selling channel has prided itself on bucking convention. From introducing the gamechanger of residual income to openly eschewing the traditional 9-to-5 workday, direct selling companies have aimed to divert from the norm.

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August 1, 2020 0 comment
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Direct Selling Executives Break Traditional Silence
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Direct Selling Executives Break Traditional Silence

Usually quiet on social issues, major companies issue bold statements

By:  David Rauf

“The fact that leadership in companies has taken this stand is a very distinct change in culture.”

—Connie Tang, former CEO, Princess House

“This is a human issue, social issue and a justice issue.”

—Ryan Napierski, President, Nu Skin

Several major direct selling companies are joining a growing chorus of corporations issuing public statements in support of racial equality after protestors poured into the streets across the country following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in police custody on Memorial Day.

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July 1, 2020 0 comment
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New Round of FTC Warning Letters Sends Direct Sellers Scrambling
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New Round of FTC Warning Letters Sends Direct Sellers Scrambling

Agency maintains its hard-line stance on coronavirus-related claims

By:  David Rauf

“It almost seems like what the FTC is saying is you can’t represent that you have a business opportunity.”

—Michael Collins, President and CEO, M&L Collins Group

“The FTC is going to be very diligent. We’re not going to tolerate these claims.”

—Lois Greisman, Assoc. Director of Marketing Practices, Federal Trade Commission

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued warning letters to six more direct selling companies over alleged misleading product and earnings claims related to the coronavirus. This represents the latest escalation between regulators and the direct selling channel over how to market products and business opportunities during the ongoing pandemic.

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July 1, 2020 0 comment
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U.S. Supreme Court Decision Could Impact FTC’s Ability to Seek Injunctive Relief
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U.S. Supreme Court Decision Could Impact FTC’s Ability to Seek Injunctive Relief

June 22 decision in Liu v. SEC allows agency to seek monetary relief; major setback to limiting FTC’s authority

By:  John Villafranco

John Villafranco, partner with Kelley Drye LLP

The Supreme Court issued an 8-to-1 decision on June 22 in the highly anticipated case of Liu v. SEC. The opinion, authored by Justice Sotomayor (with Justice Thomas dissenting), holds that a “ disgorgement award that does not exceed a wrongdoer’s net profits and is awarded for victims is equitable relief,” and allows the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to seek such relief under the Securities Act. 

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July 1, 2020 0 comment
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Inclusive Diversity: What Does It Mean for Direct Sellers?
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Inclusive Diversity: What Does It Mean for Direct Sellers?

By:  Mona Ameli

Mona Ameli, founder of Ameli Global Partnerships

Our industry’s objective is to provide entrepreneurship opportunities to all through a community-based approach that helps everyone to believe, belong, and become part of a company’s mission and growth. We, more than any other industry, need to be part of the solution to acknowledge, understand, commit and build systematic inclusion to truly become an opportunity for all.

The brutal killing of George Floyd and other Black Americans has brought into greater focus the challenges of systematic racism in America, as reflected in the protests all over the country and even globally. There is a critical need to understand how the often uncomfortable and tough conversations of race and inclusive diversity impact both individual direct selling companies and our industry as a whole. We can play an active and positive role in the new breakthroughs that are now possible.

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July 1, 2020 0 comment
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A Letter from John Fleming to All Stakeholders in the Direct Selling Channel
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A Letter from John Fleming to All Stakeholders in the Direct Selling Channel

By:  John Fleming

Publisher’s Note: I received this letter from John Fleming concerning our channel and the social unrest generated by George Floyd’s killing. I asked him if we could reprint the letter in its entirety so that more people could benefit from his insight and thoughts.

— Teresa Craighead, Publisher

John Fleming, DSA Hall of Fame, DSEF Circle of Honor

Dear Friends,

COVID-19 has changed the game and so will the resurrection of the social justice movement.

The direct selling model has been approaching an inflection point for more than a few years. We have never experienced a threat to the health and welfare of nations as we are experiencing today. Add to that the events of the past few weeks, during which we have seen an unprecedented global outcry for repairing social injustice, and one could easily say that these are indeed the most challenging of times.

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July 1, 2020 0 comment
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