Archive for 2010

No doubt you’ve seen or read stories about the group of expert economists who recently declared that the Great Recession is officially over. I doubt it feels that way to many of you.

The recession has hit the direct selling business in about the way we expected. According to our latest Growth & Outlook survey, the number of people engaged in direct selling grew to a record 16.1 million in 2009. The same thing happened during previous downturns, when many people turned to direct selling to replace lost income.

Sales last year fell slightly, to $28.6 billion. That’s somewhat disappointing, but even our resilient industry felt the pressure of the economic headwinds of the last two years. Consistent with the experience of previous recessions, though, direct selling still outperformed retail, which saw a decline of more than 7%, compared to about 4% for direct selling.

I’ve been traveling quite a bit lately (part of the reason why it’s been so long since my last post!). Everywhere I go, people share stories about how direct selling has helped them and their families. Some turned to it for the first time when a family member lost a job. Others had dabbled, but ramped up their businesses to provide themselves a little extra financial security. All were thankful for the opportunity.

A colleague recently told me that he attended a seminar here in Washington with two prominent administration officials. Their message: The economy may not be growing as fast as we’d like, but we’ve definitely turned the corner.

Maybe. I certainly hope so. What do you think?

When I began reading Lori Penner’s piece “Why We love Our Tupperware” that appeared in a Canadian publication today, I could feel the Letter to the Editor forming in my head. “The patronizing stereotypes reinforced in this piece do not do justice to the millions of women and their satisfied customers who enjoy direct selling,” I would say.

To my surprise and delight, though, Lori’s description of her mother’s home parties as shallow and uncomfortable took an unexpected turn when she said: “Being at one of these parties recently made me keenly aware of just how much fun you can have when you throw a bunch of enthusiastic women together. Yet, there was a casualness about this get together I didn’t remember from the parties my mother and aunts used to throw.”

Like Lori, many women certainly have childhood memories of clanking tea cups and polite conversation in their own living room. I remember the tiny lipstick samples a fragrant perfume vials my mother’s friend would leave for me each time she visited. These memories certainly form the basis for the particular feelings evoked in each of us, now as adults, when we imagine those same parties and demonstrations in the first person instead of as the small child sneaking hors d’oeuvres from the table.

If your last experience with direct selling didn’t have you in the starring role, perhaps it’s time to update your memory bank with an experience in your own living room – or that of the next friend who sends an invite your way.

Lori sums up her first-person experience this way: “To say we didn’t feel a pressure to purchase would be lying. We all felt a certain urgency – after all, we wanted to make our hostess happy,” she states.

But in the end, Lori happily purchased several items – “the two consultants had done their job so well – none of us wanted to go home without these amazing products,” she continued.

I’m glad Lori was able to write her own ending – how about you?