Just as the arrival of a new year allows us start a new chapter and usher in new ideas, we too at Direct Selling News are excited to present to you a few new items for show and tell.
As you can see we have added a new coat of paint to our look and feel, in addition to expanding our content offerings. This is all in an effort to better serve the needs of YOU, our audience.
Never in our history have we been witness to a more competitive landscape as we are experiencing right now, with new challenges popping up every day that affect the direct selling channel. Whether it’s the ever-present 800-pound Amazon gorilla and its frictionless consumer experience, or the stealth threats from the gig economy’s easy signup process, delivering customers to our phones (Uber and Lyft) while paying you the same day, we are in a battle to remain relevant.
As LifeVantage CEO Darren Jensen said at DSA Fall Conference 2018, “The people in this room are not my competitors. Uber, Lyft, Shopify, and Amazon are my—and your—competitors.”
This means not only do we need to start discussing how we are going to compete going forward, it’s paramount that we work together as a channel in doing it. And that starts with upping our own game in supplying you with timely information and analysis you will need to make better decisions going forward.
With that said, we have a great lineup of content for you this month, starting with our cover story on the importance of focus when it comes to implementing your 2019 strategy. If your priority list is expanding, you might want to scale back for the fear of spreading you and your team too thin.
Our company spotlight this issue is on PURE, led by CEO Daren Hogge, which has seen impressive growth the past few years, and a resurgence in field activity. You will also see a few snippets of some exclusive online content, including our Direct Selling vs Gig Economy feature (pg. 9) and New Company Interview Series with Gaya Samarasingha of Kalaia (pg. 21). Just scan the QR code with your iPhone camera to be directed to the entire story.
I hope you are as excited to kick off 2019 as I am. We will be launching a few other initiatives in the upcoming months to better serve you. Also, let me know what you think of the new changes to the magazine as well as any other comments that will help us do our job better.