Shaklee Celebrates 50th Anniversary in a BIG WAY

Speaking of GREEN... It's hard to talk about GREEN without highlighting Shaklee. Under the direction of their new Chairman and CEO, Roger Barnett the company celebrated it's 50th Anniversary in August by announcing 2 new product lines and holding San Francisco's first "carbon neutral convention."

Read more....

I've recently spent time with many the member's of Shaklee's management team and this once sleepy company is led by visionaries who are committed to make a difference and more than capable of seeing their visions become reality.

If you haven't looked at Shaklee lately... put them on your radar screen.

Regards,
Brett

USANA POWERED BY NATURAL 'MOMENTUM'

In an industry that talks a lot about momentum, USANA has found a way to capitalize on the natural momentum of the jet stream.

Congratulations to Dr. Wentz, David Wentz and the USANA management team for taking action to do their part to reduce dependency on fossil fuels. According to an article in the Salt Lake Tribune (http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_4217387):

USANA Health Sciences Inc., a West Valley City manufacturer and direct seller of nutritional supplement and personal-care products, has made a large renewable energy purchase from Rocky Mountain Power. The company is buying 75,000 kilowatt-hours of Blue Sky wind energy per month, which is enough to offset 900 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year.

Brett

China Issues 4 licenses to Direct Sellers

According to an article in China Business News Online, China's Ministry of Commerce issued direct sales licenses to four more nutritional product enterprises after it approved similar applications from iconic beauty product company Avon last February.

The four companies are Nu Skin, Pro-Health, and domestic companies Ant Power Group and Zhen-ao Group, both based in north east China's Liaoning Province.
..... Read more at Direct Selling News.

This is a bit of good news for direct sellers who have been lining up like airplanes at Chicago O'Hare to start doing business in China. But, the fact that China only issued four licenses and only one was a US company and has any history of success shows that the opening of China is going to be a long, politically challenging and unpredictable task for most US direct sellers.

I understand the tremendous amount of pressure Chinese distributors can put on company executives to open China. But, I'm afraid so much money and effort is being put into China that US direct selling companies might miss out on the huge opportunity in India -- a country that appears to be waiting for us with open arms, with a population that could overtake China in the next few decades and a growing middle class that is entrepreneurial, speaksEnglishh and is willing to work!

Congrats to NuSkin. I know many of the company leaders and they have been thoughtful, persistent and consistent in China. They have built excellent government relationships and have put their money where their mouth is. NuSkin deserves their license.

To those still circling China in a holding pattern -- perhaps a refueling stop in India should be considered soon.

"Fu" to you!

Brett a Blake

Remembering the “Unbrands.”

When was the last time you were forgotten? I’m not talking about a missed birthday or anniversary. No, do you remember what it feels like to be surprised to run in to an ‘old friend’ only to realize that your old friend doesn’t really remember who you are?

As bad as that is, it is even worse to not even be known.

Today, I was reminded again, that for the most part direct selling companies are unknown. Even companies that have reached sales of more than a half a billion dollars are not even many people’s radar screen. In fact, in a recent focus group, I asked direct selling professionals (women who were making money as direct sales consultants) if they had heard of the companies the other women represented (Pampered Chef, Making Memories, Body Shop @ Home, etc.) and I was shocked to learn that most of them had never heard of these other successful direct selling companies.

If Coca-Cola and Pepsi are the big cola brands – direct selling companies are the ‘unbrands.” For the most part, direct selling companies are non-existent to most of the population.

“Great, that means there is more opportunity!” is the common industry response.

But, baby boomers are the brand generation – and all of us following along have been conditioned from a very early age to look for brands. Brands are experts. Brands are trustworthy. Brands are markers of quality. We have in fact learned (for good or ill) to measure a portion of our self worthy by the brands we keep.

So, what do we think of the unbrands? We don’t know what to think or how to respond. Fortunately, many ‘unbrands’ are represented by persons we trust – and if we trust that person to be knowledgeable about the product or service s/he represents – then we can rationalize our way into stepping out of our comfort zone to buy an unbrand.

I think it’s no mistake that Avon’s success (sales of more than 2x more than any other company in the industry) is in part due to the fact that they learned a powerful lesson. When you combine a brand people know (because you introduced it to them they way they are accustomed to being introduced to brands), and you combine that brand with the good name of a person they know – sales are EASY!

While it is difficult to build a brand and pay a healthy sales commission early in a company’s history, by the time a company reaches $100 million in sales, the economies of scale are such that they can now afford to start the long process of introducing their brand to the general public.

Is your company choosing to be an ‘unbrand’ and making life more difficult for you? Or has your company awakened to the fact that their competitors of tomorrow will be those who already have a relationship with their potential customers, they just want to tell ‘the rest of the story’ by employing a direct selling force.

History is clear on this topic, and we all know what happens to those who fail to learn from history…. They fail. That is something all unbrands will want to remember.

Brett a Blake

MLMers: “DING, DONG – Avon Calling”

Note: I realize this is ‘old news’ but I think it is important development that is relevant to our discussion.

USANA Health Sciences is fortunate to have Gil Fuller as their Chief Financial Officer. He is a straight shooter who has gained the respect of Wall Street and has brought credibility to the whole industry. He’s also a genuinely good human being.

I still remember the day Gil returned from an investor conference back East and reported that he had noticed a change in Avon’s presentation. For the first time they stopped trying to distance themselves from MLM companies, and started speaking about some of the positive benefits of a compensation system that paid leaders who played different roles within the selling system.

After nearly 100 years of business, Avon’s execs stopped standing in the middle of the room, hands on their ears, yelling “I can’t hear you.” They actually stopped, listened and learned that their much maligned MLM competitors had something that might help them solve their leadership challenges and improve their sales performance. It wasn’t easy to cross the ‘chasm’ that had separated MLM direct selling companies from their ‘party plan’ and one-to-one counterparts; to avoid the industry ‘slurs’ and to find elements of the MLM compensation system that worked for them.

As Nu Skin has done with beauty products, Avon has done with MLM compensation – they took ‘all of the good and none of the bad’ – theoretically.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love AVON! I don’t just love them because they swallowed their pride and added MLM elements to their selling system. I know it’s a company for women, but as a man with a lot invested in this industry I’m a huge Avon fan.

I’ll be so bold as to say that Avon is the ONLY company in the industry with a model than can support continued, consistent growth….

I’ll tell you how I came to that ‘bold’ conclusion, but first you tell me who else has proven their ability to play with the ‘big brands.’ Who else is broadly and positively known by consumers outside the 5% involved in direct selling?

Hey direct sellers (MLMers specifically), "DING, DONG Avon is calling.”



Brett a Blake

PARTY PLANNERS HAVE MORE FUN!

During my years in marketing at Frito-Lay we shot a commercial with Michael J. Fox that never made the air. The simple story line found MJF bribing a woman to give him the answer to the age old question: "Why do women always go to the restroom in pairs?"

The next scene finds MJF standing in front of the ladies room dressed like a woman, and then standing on the edge of a pool with women all around him enjoying spa treatments, sun bathing and genuine relaxation. All of the fun ends when he reveals his male voice with a "WOW." And the clip ends with MJF asking the angry, betrayed women, "Chip, anyone?"

So, last night in Minneapolis I spoke with 10 women from party plan companies and I feel like I was let in on a little secret. After a career working primarily with Network Marketing companies, I finally figured out why Party Plan companies succeed despite the fact that many of them have comparably meager compensation plans. The answer: THEY HAVE FUN!!!!

Way more fun than the Network Marketers I've worked with.

These ladies have food at EVERY event, and many have wine (or ice cream and root beer for those of us who don't imbibe). They play games, give pedicures, massages, facials and they mix pleasure with their business.... THEY ACTUALLY LOVE THEIR WORK!

No wonder the execs from Party Plan companies never mix with the execs from Network Marketing companies at industry events. Everyone knows we can't mix business with pleasure, oil with water, money and makeovers..... or can we?

CHIP, ANYONE?

Brett a Blake

Defining Direct Selling

I served as moderator for another direct selling focus group just hours ago in Edison, NJ. During that discussion it became clear that even among long time direct sellers, there is some confusion about what direct selling is. So, before we get too far in our discussion I went to the Direct Selling Association website at www.dsa.org and found the following definition:

What is direct selling?
Direct selling is defined as the sale of a consumer product or service, person-to-person, away from a fixed retail location.


Many confuse direct selling -- done by a person -- with 'direct marketing' which was known as 'catalog marketing' but has now grown to include telephone sales and internet sales.

We are focusing our discussion on sales generated by through relationships -- some customers will re-order online or via a company catalog, but the primary method of engaging new customers is via word of mouth.

For a list of companies who consider themselves direct sales companies see http://www.dsa.org/directory/.

What companies do you know who are not on this list?

Brett a Blake

Welcome to Direct Selling Entrepreneurs

Hello Direct Selling Entrepreneurs (DSEs),

I just left Atlanta, GA where I spent last night moderating a focus group of eight women – all independent consultants from the world of direct selling. I’ve heard that there are some focus groups which require tons of work on behalf of the moderator to get the participants to talk and to open up. I didn’t have that problem. These women were fun, energetic and loved to share their thoughts and ideas. They represent the one thing I find so attractive about direct selling – the enthusiasm of the DSEs.

Now don’t get me wrong, I left this industry once and thought I would never go back. Why did I leave? I left to get an MBA at Harvard Business School. Why did I think I would never come back? The people – those who are dishonest about the work required, the income they earn, or the products they sell.

But I came back.

After two years in Boston, and another two years in Dallas, TX with Frito-Lay and internet hopeful Xtra Online, I found myself back in the industry – this time in a position I thought could make a difference.

What difference? I believe this industry lives and dies on what many call ‘duplication.’ We manage to generate millions and millions of dollars of sales due to the ability of the many to ‘duplicate’ the activities of their leaders. Likewise, direct selling is still a relatively small industry (about 1/3 the size of the world’s largest retailer), because we continue to ‘duplicate’ many habits and actions of early industry leaders.

Thus – duplication grants us fleeting success – but we’re still looking for a breakout model in the industry. A company that breaks the $10 billion mark in sales and finds consistent growth in current markets and doesn’t rely on geographic expansion to continue to ‘beat Wall Street’s expectations.’

I’ve attended my fare share of Direct Selling Association meetings. I know many of the top executives in the most ‘successful’ companies and I haven’t met many that I don’t admire. I continue to consult with many CEOs, Chairmen and “C” level direct selling executives and I respect those I work with and don’t have any ‘dirt’ to reveal.

But, I do think the industry needs to ask the question: “Why aren’t we growing faster?”

As the world’s buying rules are being rewritten – and more and more consumers are feelin’ fine shopping outside retail stores – direct selling’s growth is slower than population growth when it should be doubling! We are trading dollars and leaders from one company to the next – when we should be building wealth and providing more and more of our friends and family freedom from their dead-end careers.


One word of warning to those who would say ‘all is well.’ As the President of Harvest Global Management, Ltd. (www.hgml.net) I have met with and talked with executives in companies who would never have considered Direct Selling 10 years ago. These are companies recognized by consumers around the world with brands that are found on the shelves of your local retailer. THEY ARE COMING! Slowly, but surely, the direct selling industry is starting to attract the attention of some of the world’s biggest brands.

If we don’t change the way we do business – these new competitors will change the game for us and today’s Direct Selling giants will be case studies in a history book.

So what should we change? What’s wrong? What can we do to take advantage of the trends and continue to expand this industry? What can we do to prepare for the competition from establish brands? That’s what I have been thinking about and hope to talk more about in this blog.

So, I’m blogging – I’m sharing my vision of ‘Sustainable Direct Selling’ and I’m planning to find and highlight some of the great company initiatives and executives. I welcome your input. Tell me who is doing great things in your company and what your company is doing to improve the reputation of the industry.

So DSEs, join me in an effort to create an “Evolution” before the competitors take the industry by ‘revolution.’ I don't expect it to take much effort to get direct sellers to open up and engage in the discussion....

Brett a Blake