Archives for May 2015
With its mission of transforming lives by ending the trend of obesity, it’s safe to say that Team Beachbody’s growth trajectory has also transformed its multi-sales-channel parent company.
Over a decade ago, Derek Maxfield reimagined direct selling through the use of technology. His company, NetSteps LLC, created innovative business applications for real-time content delivery, e-commerce, and website and compensation management for global direct selling companies.
It was 1963—Beatlemania was being birthed, Martin Luther King Jr. made his famous speech, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, gasoline was 29 cents per gallon and the average income was $5,807. Most of that income was earned by men in a society where only 37 percent of the workforce was made up of women.
Every direct selling company knows that to grow their business and reach that all-powerful distributor and customer, it takes an army, connecting through relationships and word of mouth. Companies know this because it works.
Back in the early days of direct selling, legends like David McConnell, Mary Kay Ash, Mary Crowley, Charlie Collis and others ushered in a new business model and created a seismic shift in seller demographics.
On April 8, we unveiled the 2015 Direct Selling News Global 100 list. We were privileged to have several hundred of you in attendance to celebrate with us at the Global 100 banquet in Dallas, and many thousands more followed along online or on social media.
In this Q&A, Leslie A. Koll, an Advisory Board member for H2 Wellness, a digital health solutions company, shares his perspective and insight as a consultant to the direct selling industry on ways that today’s companies can leverage new technology to maximize consumer engagement and lifetime value.
A few weeks after the Federal Trade Commission’s National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW), the Direct Selling Education Foundation (DSEF) hosted a panel discussion with top executives from three industries—advertising, distilled spirits and direct selling—to discuss the role of self-regulatory initiatives and their benefits to consumers.
Historically, the direct sales industry has flourished with a distributor “outbound” marketing approach—person-to-person selling. Under this model, it has been the independent distributors’ responsibility to promote their businesses, though this approach can produce fragmented messaging about the company and products.
Avon Products Inc. (AVP—NYSE) posted first quarter results on Thursday amid reports the company is considering a sale of its North American business. Earnings fell below Wall Street estimates as domestic revenue continued to decline and the strong dollar overshadowed growth in foreign markets.