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