Hello friends,
The paper you hold in your hands marks the final print edition of Social Selling News.
After four incredible years as publisher of this journal, now in its seventh year, we are officially bringing the print edition of SSN to a close. With this transition also comes the conclusion of my role as publisher.
Social Selling News will continue on as a digital publication, remaining committed to keeping the channel informed with breaking news and critical updates that impact the direct selling industry.
What began for me as a freelance writing opportunity during the pandemic evolved to taking the helm as publisher, and with it, a chance to learn from brilliant minds, forge lasting friendships and discover the remarkable heart of this channel. Putting together each edition of SSN taught me something new about the resilience, innovation and genuine care that defines this community.
To our readers, I cannot thank you enough for supporting this project. Your engagement, suggestions and compliments were the wind that kept our sails full.
To our loyal advertisers, I extend my deepest appreciation. Your partnership made this unique publication possible. But more importantly, your commitment to the channel’s growth and innovation inspired every page we produced. Working alongside your teams, meeting you at industry events and collaborating toward our goal of elevating direct selling has been among the greatest privileges of my career.
I must also thank every person who contributed knowledge and insights to our articles over the years—from company executives, consultants, field leaders, and tech experts to the great policy and legal minds of the channel. Your input elevated every piece we published.
I want to give special thanks to Dave Grimaldi at the DSA and Peter Marinello at the DSSRC for their steadfast support of SSN and commitment to keeping me, and you, informed on the important legislative and regulatory matters affecting direct selling.
I have been extremely fortunate to be blessed with an immensely talented staff. My copy editor, Jennifer Mills, made me look better (and smarter) than I deserve. My graphic artist, April Allman, effortlessly put each article and graphic into place for the print edition each month, which was not an easy task. The informatively visual Optics column was brought to life by the artist Beth Blackford. And my staff writers Jenna Lang Warford and Stephanie Ramirez did a tremendous job bringing you insights and trends from around the channel. Indeed, it takes an orchestra to play a symphony.
Finally, I must thank my good friend, SSN’s founder and owner, Jonathan Gilliam, for entrusting me with the honor of guiding Social Selling News over these past four and a half years. Your confidence in me and our shared vision resulted in a unique and exciting publication that I hope served our community well.
With deepest appreciation to you all for your readership and friendship,
David Bland
Publisher
