Features

By Teresa Craighead

Policing agency now active; aims to monitor and enforce policies on all companies in the channel.

“The message I want to impart and what I want to instill in your compliance protocols is to take it seriously and get it right.”
—Lois Greisman, associate director, division of marketing practices, FTC

The self-regulatory body will monitor and act upon all companies identified as direct sellers and multi-level marketers, whether or not they are members of the industry association.

“... any companies or operations that choose not to cooperate can be identified to the government for further action, and to the public as those who will not cooperate.”
—Joseph Mariano, president, DSA

Last August, Social Selling News reported on the U.S. Direct Selling Association’s (DSA) announcement of the formation of a new self-regulatory body that would monitor and act upon all companies identified as direct sellers and multi-level marketers, whether or not they are members of the industry association.

The entity is now live and has a name: the Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council (DSSRC). It is staffed and ready to work as of January 1, 2019.

By David Rauf

New rule expands the definition of ‘employer’ to allow ‘working owners’ for purposes of health coverage.

This isn’t going to be a panacea, and it’s not a replacement for ACA. But it could be a very good alternative.
--Rich Fuchs, president and CEO, PRO Insurance Managers, Inc.

“If direct sellers did not have to worry about their access to health care coverage, and if the costs associated with it were more manageable, imagine what they could focus on instead.”
—Alexander Acosta, U.S. Secretary of Labor

A Trump administration rule centered on a type of group health coverage known as an association health plan (AHP) will extend access to lower-premium plans for independent contractors such as realtors, court reporters and the salesforce that makes up the U.S. direct selling channel, among others. The regulation expands the definition of “employer” to allow “working owners” to be covered by an association health plan, which are typically used by small businesses to band together for better buying power and coverage.

The regulation has its roots in an executive order signed by President Trump in October 2017 directing the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to expand access for association health plans and make lower-premium plans more widely available.

By Brett Duncan

The market seems to demand a bolder, clearer approach from social selling companies.

Life on your terms. Start a home-based business. Earn a full-time income on your own schedule. Be your own boss. Launch your own business. No more nine-to-five.

Phrases like these have been scattered throughout literature and presentations for most social selling companies for decades, and for good reason. Social selling companies are proud to offer a business opportunity to anyone who is interested. National conventions are organized to celebrate those who earn six figures working their own business. Marketing materials recognize the hard work, the sacrifice, the patience and the persistence it takes to start a business, and sustain it. Leaders and executives acknowledge the months and years it takes to build a business that can create a sustainable, even passive, stream of income.