In a very positive move for the company and shareholders of one of the world’s largest direct sellers, Oriflame announced this week that it will repurchase up to 5.7 million of the company’s shares.

In response to the recent attack on Herbalife by Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Management, Herbalife held an investor’s conference on Jan. 10 to address the charges. Company President Des Walsh called Ackman’s claims a “gross distortion of the reality.”

Last summer and fall proved to be a battleground for a few Wall Street analysts and their direct selling company targets, but Bill Ackman’s Christmastime attack on Herbalife seems to be an all-out war.

In this month’s Executive Connection, Direct Selling News Publisher and Editor in Chief John Fleming speaks with Jamie Stewart, Managing Director of Kleeneze, about leadership, envisioning a billion dollar company and embracing technology.

Direct selling is a unique channel of distribution where individual salespeople choose their own level of involvement and where unique aspects of the business model continually offer compelling rewards not available in traditional work environments.

Happy New Year! It’s here!
As we start any new year there is always much to reflect on and many new goals and objectives to strive toward. Because of you, we know the stories we tell will continue to keep all informed of the realization that even in the most challenging of times our industry will continue to demonstrate, through the opportunities offered, that growth in its many forms is still the foundation upon which the direct selling channel is built.

The average response time of a company’s public relations department to a public situation used to be 48 hours, then 24 hours. Now, with Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, responses that don’t come within a few hours of the incident are considered too late.

Blyth Inc., Neways, Avon Products Inc., Computer Vision Systems Laboratories Corp.

Budding Entrepreneurs, Fashionistas, Socialistas and Tastemakers. These are the women who inspired Chantel Waterbury to exit the corporate world and start her own direct sales jewelry company, Chloe + Isabel.

LifeVantage Corp., Mannatech Inc., Natural Health Trends Corp., Nu Skin Enterprises Inc., Blyth Inc., Primerica Inc., Relìv International Inc., Tupperware Brands Corp.

“You can have everything in life that you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”
—Zig Ziglar

The Direct Selling Association helped kick off the 19th Annual TODAY Show Holiday Toy and Gift Drive recently by presenting the direct selling industry’s donation live in Rockefeller Plaza.