Winter 2019
DSA SupplierSource Summer 2019
Michael McClellan - Global Access
International growth is becoming the key driver of growth for many direct selling companies that have stalled or gone stagnate in the domestic market—international business is increasingly becoming more crucial for survival and growth.
Things have drastically changed in the last ten years—it is so much easier to go international! Websites can be quickly tailored to local language, local payment types, local currency and to calculate your international duties and taxes. Every market has personal consumption rules that allow shipments for personal use.
When customers are purchasing from a U.S. entity and the U.S. company complies with the personal import rules, there is no need to register products or set up and entity in the many markets—saving substantial time and money. Companies should consider waiting to go “On the Ground” in the country until they hit a million dollars in sales a month.
Countries do have unique requirements on certain ingredients, potential permits for certain products, and personal import limits. Examples of personal import limits can be 60- or 90-day supply of a given product, a dollar amount value limit on daily shipments and even a dollar amount per month or year. A good strategic shipping partner or licensed broker in a specific shipping market can quickly help you review your products per market and advise you.
Many countries and markets have a tax de minimis. Meaning that if you can keep your shipment below a certain dollar amount, you will pay no duties or taxes—it can be substantial savings to send smaller shipments or to split up your shipments.
The bottom line is that international is the key to growth and survival in this new economy—it is easier than it has ever been, but you need to make sure you ask the right questions and have the right expertise to help you.
Leslie Blye - Iacono + Live!
It’s safe to say that times have really changed since the COVID-19 outbreak, and now more and more businesses are relying on digital platforms for their success. That being said, it can be difficult to know what your business should be communicating or how it should approach marketing.
A great deal has changed in the world of events since the start of 2020. What hasn’t changed is the need to create human connections. Some might say the past few months have made that more important than ever.
At times, a virtual experience may be the best way to communicate with your distributors, consultants and employees —or really, with anyone who needs to engage with your brand & vision. Because of the perceived impersonal nature of virtual events, connecting with emotion, feeling, and experiences in unique ways is much more critical than during a traditional live event. These kinds of meaningful connections just aren’t possible with Skype, WebEx, and Zoom alone. Real human connection (in the virtual world or in person), is only achieved with a strong plan, designed engagements, and interactivity that resonates.
Thankfully, planning a virtual event is not that different from planning your traditional live event. When designing your next stream, you can break down technical barriers by drawing parallels to your past experiences. A strong theme, relevant content, audience engagement, and seamless transitions are still critical components of any memorable event.
Your crew, although no longer backstage, still has your back—supporting your every need from our remote studios and control rooms. Instead of a stage, set, and screens, your presenters now deliver to attendees on their laptops or mobile devices. Venues have been replaced with robust on-line experiences and interactions. See…things aren’t so different after all.
Scott Kramer - Multibrain
Here’s the good news. According to LinkedIn, social media usage has increased 21% worldwide since the start of the pandemic. With this uptick in social media usage, this is the perfect opportunity for your business to incorporate social media into your marketing strategy. The team at Multibrain has put together some quick tips on how to market on social media during these times!
- Keep your social media active by posting regularly and responding in a timely manner to any inquiries or messages.
- Post a variety of content on your various social channels, including images, stories, gifs, and live videos that are relative to your brand and target market.
- Interact with your audience through mentions, by using the “@” symbol, directly followed by the account name to tag those related to specific content. You can do this most effectively on your stories and maybe even get a repost!
- See what your audience is responding to and generate more content like that. You can analyze this by going into your Facebook Group and/or Business Page, Instagram or Pinterest page and look at the insights to see which of your posts are gathering the most responses and engagement. Remember, you need to set your Instagram and Pinterest to a business in order to access the analytics.
- Don’t forget to use popular hashtags that are relevant to your posts or content to garner even more brand awareness.
Now is the time for businesses to reassess their marketing approach and goals, whether it's raising brand awareness, generating quality leads, or establishing yourself as a leader in your industry. Or perhaps your latest goal is to help people out through your business. No matter the end goal, social media and video should be an integral part of your marketing strategy.
Meaghan Kelly - pc/nametag
Custom kits are a great way to connect with virtual event attendees while also bringing the fun and excitement of an in-person event to your attendees’ homes. Kits are the perfect way to build anticipation for your next virtual or hybrid event and give attendees a more personalized experience.
When designing your virtual attendee kit, you’ll first want to consider your event’s content, messaging and theme. What materials or branded promotional products can you include? Then, think about the types of wellness and networking activities that will take place and what items would help facilitate this.
For example, if you’re doing an all-day education session, give attendees a break with a box that includes a mug, coffee, tea, a notebook and a handful of snacks to keep them energized throughout the day.
Include a large-print, customized name badge to allow attendees to more easily interact with one another — especially if an event platform does not prominently display a person’s name.
Virtual event kits are a great way to remind attendees of your appreciation and help build anticipation for next year’s in-person event. With a little thought and creativity, you’ll be on your way to creating a lasting impression for your virtual event in no time.
Wendy Walker - Sovos
Direct Sellers need to report 1099 NEC & 1099 MISC to recipients this year per IRS latest requirements
With the IRS addition of the new Form 1099-NEC for reporting nonemployee compensation payments like Direct Seller commissions, organizations may need to file both Forms 1099-MISC (to indicate the box 7 for direct sales of $5K or more of consumer products) and the new 1099-NEC for the same recipient for the 2020 reporting season. This means double reporting to the IRS and to the states.
Now, with the July release of Publication 1179, the IRS dashed any hopes Direct Sellers had of alleviating some of the burden of the new duplicate 1099 reporting requirements. Filers may not issue a combined statement Form 1099-NEC and Form 1099-MISC for delivery to the recipient. This means duplicate print and mail costs for those that deliver forms via snail mail.
As the # 1 private filer for 1099 forms in the US, we recommend direct sellers follow these three tips to alleviate some of the burden and additional risk while providing a user-friendly seller experience for increased customer retention:
- Leverage modern technology to minimize costs associated with preparing, issuing, and filing additional 1099s.
- Minimize risk of penalties associated with invalid name and taxpayer identification number (TIN) combinations by leveraging TIN matching solutions.
- Explore alternative electronic ways to deliver the recipient version of the 1099 to minimize duplicate print and mail expenses.
Join Sovos on August 20th 2020 at 1pm ET to learn more
Harry Drajpuch -Amware Fulfillment
Many direct sellers continue to fulfill orders out of just a single distribution center. Not only does this strategy limit delivery speed and increase parcel shipping costs, it creates huge risks for a wholesale business interruption.
The best example is what’s happening now with COVID-19. If the virus hits that one warehouse’s workforce hard, can you keep orders flowing?
At Amware Fulfillment, several of our existing customers have recently asked us to spread their inventory across at least one additional fulfillment center to ensure business continuity.
To be clear, this is not a COVID-19 issue alone. Power outages, floods, earthquakes and other disasters also create risk if all your inventory is in one location. Beyond risk mitigation, a multi-location fulfillment strategy also brings the following benefits:
• Faster delivery time. Two-day nationwide delivery is simply not possible with a single fulfillment center.
• Reduced parcel costs. Since carriers use zones to come up with shipping rates, it’s cheaper to fulfill orders from a zone that is nearest to the customer.
• Scalability. If you are a growing business, you’ll need an expanded warehouse footprint to accommodate increasing order volumes.
These are difficult times, with risks we’re not even sure how to deal with. But if you operate a business with a single fulfillment center, that’s one risk with a pretty straightforward solution.
Spread your inventory across more than one location – either by managing this expansion yourself or partnering with a fulfillment provider that has a nationwide network.
Grant Snider - Meeting Escrow Inc.
When a global crisis like COVID-19 strikes, clients want to know how much they have paid, how much they owe, what would it cost to cancel, can they declare Force Majeure, will they be able to postpone with or without penalty? And above all, they want to know, will they be able to get their deposits refunded and if they postpone, will their supplier still be in business when the crisis is over.
Holding advance deposits in escrow eliminates these risks for the client and the supplier.
Neither clients nor suppliers can use the possession of the deposit funds to their advantage and must negotiate fairly and in good faith. Once the parties come to an agreement and provide updated instructions to Meeting Escrow, as trustee of the funds, we execute the instructions.
If the parties agree to postpone rather than cancel the program, they can instruct Meeting Escrow to continue to hold the funds in escrow until the new program dates are set.
Added benefits of the escrow process are:
1) the client’s meeting budget remains committed
2) the budget is shielded from foreign exchange fluctuations (if being held in a different currency)
3) the funds continue to earn interest for the client (USD and CAD dollar escrow accounts) until the postponed program eventually takes place and funds are released.
Get More Information
Visit our website for more information on the services Meeting Escrow offers to all segments of the Meetings Industry www.meetingescrow.com
Carlos Florez - S4DS LLC
With the latest challenges and uncertainty in retail, there has been an incredible resilience in Direct Selling. Companies continue to produce opportunities for millions of independent sellers around the world, and we have become increasingly aware of the growing needs of our industry and many others trying to move their operations into the digital landscape.
Artificial intelligence, chatbots, and digital transactions appear as simple concepts for many corporations, but over the past months we have also seen how uneven the access to the digital world is for many companies and their sellers.
As an international technology provider, we have found that taking small steps and considering multiple options is a good path to begin building a company’s digital presence, while including their independent sellers from the start of the process. Our advice is based in our company’s mission to “Work for the well being of millions of independent sellers around the world” and therefore starting the digital transformation processes centered on the individuals in the sales force, educating and training them in the benefits of social selling and building a sustainable digital sales channel.
Aiming to construct a complete e-commerce experience for clients in which our independent sellers can participate with affiliate and subscription codes, replicated sites, and connections to the sellers’ social media instead of implementing an E-Commerce that would compete with our sellers. A digital transformation that grants seamless transition and enables sales growth, all while integrating our sales force completely with the process.
Crystal Holtzendorff - PayQuicker
In today’s growing U.S. gig economy, Millennials and Gen Z make up the largest generational segments and the desire for flexibility and freedom is on the rise. This has contributed to a tremendous shift in payment expectations in the direct selling industry where distributors and gig workers can be choosy. Keeping the field happy and satisfied has become more crucial than ever. The direct selling workforce has increased expectations for ease, flexibility, and – most importantly – speed of receiving payments. The most successful direct sales companies have evolved from traditional ACH payments to robust solutions that offer instant payouts and flexible spend options.
Direct selling companies are investing in solutions that payout in real time with flexible spend options and are fostering a workforce who is excited and eager to make sales, increasing participation, retention, and loyalty.
The ideal payout platform meets the payment expectations of today’s workforce and offers payouts as frequently as desired in real time and with no hassles. Easy API integration is a platform requirement and allows businesses to process payouts seamlessly and in seconds. Payout providers that offer custom, white-label solutions help their clients to promote their brand with branded debit cards, user interfaces, and marketing communications. A platform that is secure and globally compliant protects the funds and data of businesses and their distributors. Innovative payout platforms must provide solutions that align with evolving fintech trends and market demands, such as offering the latest in digital products, virtual cards, and contactless payments with mobile wallets.
When direct selling organizations partner with payout providers that deliver on these promises and benefits, their payout plan becomes their competitive advantage.
Thank You to the Supplier Sponsors Whose Generous Support Makes DSA ENGAGE Programming Possible:
