This event is in addition to a number of give-back service opportunities that the company hosted throughout the year including a Single Mother Outreach event in Florida that provided school supplies, essential items and support to mothers and their kids, and a Shop-a-thon in Utah that gave a complimentary shopping spree to 500 kids in need. 

Internationally, the company’s philanthropic arm Foundation 4Life served in the Philippines and South Korea providing education materials and support for underprivileged children. 

“These are just a few of the many service projects we conducted around the world in 2023,” said Jenna Lisonbee, Foundation 4Life Director. “Thank you again for supporting Foundation 4Life. It is a privilege to mingle with the 4Life family around the globe and feel united in a common goal.” 

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Building a smart international expansion strategy means looking for momentum-building markets with untapped growth potential. In 2024, that indisputably includes the Hispanic and Latino markets.

In Mexico alone, the direct selling market is projected to surge to $19.48 billion by 2028. That staggering number doesn’t include the more than 60 million Latinos living and working within the US, or the fact that direct selling is already a staple for the Latin American population, where a quarter of beauty and personal care sales take place through a direct selling relationship (compared to eight percent globally).

“Latinos in the United States represent a larger consumption market than the entire economy of nations like Italy, Canada or Russia,” shared Judith Sanchez Lopez, PM-International General Manager, Latin America. “If Latinos living in the United States were an independent country, the US Latino GDP would be the fifth largest GDP in the world, larger than the GDPs of India, the United Kingdom or France.”

There are a number of direct selling companies who have already captivated the Hispanic and Latino markets and are thriving. There are two distinct scenarios at play here: US-based companies that are dominating in Hispanic markets and foreign-based companies doing the same.

DSN 2023 Bravo Growth Award winner Princess House successfully serves this corner of the US market. Other examples include 4Life, Hy Cite, Immunotec and relative newcomer ACTIVZ. These companies are also strong in other Spanish-speaking markets.

Betterware de Mexico and Omnilife are based in Mexico and making huge strides in that market and throughout the region.

It could be tempting to assume that the same strategies and approaches that work for US customers would be a fit for the Hispanic population living within the US, or even the neighboring Latin American populations, but that assumption is a sure-fire way to fail. Ignoring the unique communication styles of each individual market is not only ineffective, it’s disrespectful. There are cultural sensitivities that should be honored; product preferences that need to be prioritized; and local talent that deserve to be elevated to leadership.

“Companies that want to be successful need to stop making Latin American countries an extension of their current market,” said Mauricio Domenzain, Immunotec Chief Executive Officer. “By that, I mean you really need to commit to the market. We can’t simply send one manager to Latin America now and then wait to see if it’s going to work or not. It’s a full commitment, not just the addition of another flag on your wall or your website. You have to truly become part of that market to understand the cultural needs.”

Copy and Paste Isn’t a Strategy

What works in the United States doesn’t automatically translate to success on a global scale. That goes for products, but it’s also a good rule to live by when it comes to communication, marketing materials and events. For companies founded in the US or who predominantly operate within the US, expanding to include Spanish-speaking consumers is not as simple as hiring a translator or relying on Google Translate. These translations are often choppy, with no regard for local idioms or speaking rhythms.

Solving for this pain point has been a game changer for brands like 4Life, who overhauled their communication process to treat Spanish as its own first language rather than relying entirely on English. The company now enlists two separate content creator teams, one who is primarily English-speaking and one who is primarily Spanish-speaking, to design materials. The end result prevents poor translations that damage credibility.

“If you go to our convention, we are 80-85 percent Hispanic,” said Brian Gill, 4Life Chief Marketing Officer. “Five years ago, out of respect, we stopped translating English to Spanish. It’s not enough to have great translators. A Hispanic whose primary language is Spanish should be the one creating our materials. It’s about empowering the affiliate to share the brand, and a poor translation is not a credible connection they are proud to share.”

Homogenous, hand-me-down resources communicate the message that international markets are inferior, less valuable and unappreciated. Conversely, when companies allocate the resources and staff necessary to maintain and develop a culturally relevant, localized brand with tools that take local language, lifestyle and history into consideration, customers and distributors take note. A successful entry into Hispanic and Latino markets is one that allows the population to embrace entrepreneurial opportunity while preserving its own cultural DNA.

“Entering the Hispanic market was not secondary or an afterthought; it was our primary thought,” said David Brown, ACTIVZ Chief Executive Officer. “Our Spanish-speaking distributors are constantly amazed that they get new products and materials first and that they weren’t translated from English. Everyone responds well to attention and responsiveness, and that’s probably the secret to our success.”

Honor Culture Past and Present

Family is a core value for the Hispanic and Latin American markets, and consumers in these demographics typically have great reverence for their parents and their tightly-knit communities. The US ethos of independent, self-made success doesn’t land the same within these cultures, so even well-intentioned corporate leaders commissioned from the company’s US headquarters could get off on the wrong foot without realizing it.

“It’s not only the language, but it’s also the culture that you need to understand,” explained Domenzain. “You need to have people on the ground—people directly from those markets—who understand and can serve that market the correct way.”

Leaders also need to consider how each new generation brings their own energy and inspiration to the foundational values of the Hispanic and Latin American cultures. From a corporate standpoint, that means being willing to adjust the speed and style of work. Omnilife addressed this generational evolution by implementing a shift from graphic design to a focus on social media, leaving behind big format printing in favor of video and digital formats and encouraging all of its departments to embrace the Gen Z style of work, which is quick to adapt to change.

“We are integrating younger generations into our corporate team, and that has helped make us relevant,” said Eduardo Ros, Omnilife Marketing Manager. “Our communications and packaging have become younger. We have received testimonies from people in Ecuador and Peru who tell us that working with second- and third-generation distributors who are younger has helped them see how best to take advantage of this opportunity and approach the business differently.”

Recognize the Uniqueness of Each Market

Each country and community has its own unique traditions and habits, and the Latin American market is no exception. There is no one-size-fits-all approach that would respectfully reach this vast audience, and it’s important to remember that there are distinctions among the adjectives often used to describe this diverse group of cultures within and outside of the US. The word Hispanic describes Spanish speakers, including those living within the US and Spain, while Latinos is reserved for those living within Latin America, including Brazil, where Portuguese is the official national language.

“Hispanics in the US are not a monolith,” Sanchez Lopez said. “They are a combination of countries, cultures, slang, levels of acculturation and generations. You need to decide who you want to target, understand what sets them apart and then ask yourself if your company is communicating and interacting in a way that respects their cultural differences and strongest drivers.”

For companies with a broad footprint across countries with similar but distinct cultures, discovering what makes each market tick is critical to securing healthy, welcomed growth among distributors and potential customers. Hy Cite, for example, courts Latinos in eight different countries, including the US and Brazil. Efficiency is incredibly important, so the company harmonizes its content, but it also takes care to modify even the smallest details to communicate that each individual market matters.

“The way we present our products changes depending on the audience,” said Paulo Moledo, Hy Cite President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our recipes used on social media, for instance, feature arepas in Colombia and tacos in Mexico. We also pay attention to our call center services. We learned the hard way that the agent accent speaking to customers from different markets is an important variable.”

Moledo also emphasizes the significance of making sure corporate expresses with actions that they value distributors’ wellbeing just as much as their earning opportunity. For Hy Cite, that means facilitating a close relationship between executives and top leaders; leaning into recognition; and designing ways for distributors and customers to voice their opinions and experiences.

“Latinos, more than most, need to feel heard,” Moledo said. “As fast as we could after the pandemic, we started having events, conventions and meetings with independent distributors, and the attendance has been outstanding. We invest more today in events than we did pre-pandemic, but the return on that personal, face-to-face touch is great.”

Operating with inclusion and respect as the highest priorities is non-negotiable. It’s imperative that companies take the extra steps to ensure the opportunity they are presenting is tailor-made for the audience receiving it, and that their presence improves the quality of life for the people who call that country home. When diversity of backgrounds and ways of doing business are treated with dignity and honor, executives who have successfully built bridges into the Latino and Hispanic cultures say there is a shared entrepreneurial spirit that transcends language barriers and countries of origin.

“It doesn’t matter what language you speak or what country you’re in, everyone is looking for the same thing,” Domenzain said. “To be a part of something bigger than yourself.”

From the November 2023 issue of Direct Selling News magazine.

The post Hispanic Market is booming first appeared on Direct Selling News.

“That’s a really long title for findings that are simple, yet important: 4Life Transfer Factor can do more than just boost the immune system.,” Vollmer said. “While we’ve demonstrated 4Life Transfer Factor’s immune-activating benefits across many different studies, our latest data reveals that 4Life Transfer Factor can also calm an overactive immune system. This new, independent research has wide-ranging applications across many aspects of wellness, particularly for those who can benefit from balancing the immune system.” 

The study considered a variety of 4Life’s proprietary products, and all ingredients studied showed positive effects in modulating innate and adaptive immune cell activity. 

The post 4Life Therapeutic Research Published in Peer-Reviewed Journal  first appeared on Direct Selling News.

“Our facilities have undergone NSF quality control audits for years,” said Nate Buhler, 4Life Chief Global Supply Chain Officer. “It’s great to now showcase the NSF seal on our label for 4Life Transfer Factor Plus Tri-Factor Formula. This seal represents another mark of distinction for our science, our quality, and our manufacturing efforts.” 

The post 4Life Transfer Factor Plus Receives NSF Contents Certification  first appeared on Direct Selling News.

Bianca and her husband, David, launched 4Life Research in 1998. Over the past 25 years, 4Life Research has grown to a global company, with offices in 22 counties. In 2006, Bianca launched Foundation 4Life, a philanthropic arm of the company that focuses on building people, families, and communities. In March of 2023, Direct Selling News named Bianca as one of the channel’s most influential female founders.

Bianca is survived by her husband David, their five children and 13 grandchildren.

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In an effort coordinated by the Granite Education Foundation, 4Life volunteers assembled meal kits that will provide food to students in a local school district who might otherwise not have enough to eat over the weekend while they are not in school. 

“My family and I loved participating in this service project,” said Jeremy Wardle, Vice President of Global Markets. “We love serving local families and children, and by so doing, we become closer as a family.” 

The post 4Life Hosts Day of Service in Honor of 9/11  first appeared on Direct Selling News.

The company stated that this accomplishment was the result of several years of hard work and collaboration. 

“We are proud of our history with the dairy farmers who collect our colostrum,” said Dr. David Vollmer, 4Life Chief Scientific Officer. “That relationship, first and foremost, recognizes animal well-being. In terms of 4Life Transfer Factor® manufacturing, 4Life uses the remaining colostrum after the calves have consumed their portion to jumpstart their naïve immune systems. Our partnerships with FARM and UEP-certified facilities underscores the importance we place on sustainability.” 

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“The alliance between AEVD and UTPL is unique and provides insight for how international Direct Selling Associations can collaborate with local universities to offer certification programs,” García said. “Our program is backed by one of Ecuador’s top three universities. We are excited for UTPL’s academic experience. They will lend our program a lot of prestige.” 

Participants who complete the program will receive an official certificate from UPTL. 

The post 4Life Ecuador Partners with Local University to Boost Direct Seller Online Skills  first appeared on Direct Selling News.

There is no longer a cookie cutter template for what equals success in direct selling. The channel’s once predictable, duplicatable system, is now populated with an array of infrastructures, each designed with the goal of expanding reach and attracting new customers.

For some brands, this new structure has involved earning a footprint in the ecommerce space by taking ownership of their Amazon storefronts and presence online. For others, remaining relevant has included the addition of retail and brick-and-mortar partnerships.

But one option continues to rise to the surface as a common pattern: the enhanced affiliate model.

Many direct selling leaders have begun to consider integrating or launching an enhanced affiliate model as part of or in addition to their existing brands. In fact, in a recent Direct Selling News survey of 45 direct selling companies, more than two-thirds of participants (67 percent) said they were at least considering how they could adapt and incorporate an enhanced affiliate model into their existing structure.

The Top 6 Affiliate Strategies

What is an affiliate model? Simply put, businesses offer affiliates a commission when they refer customers to their products or services. Businesses generate revenue that they couldn’t have reached otherwise, and affiliates make money on something they are already using or sharing.

The key difference this structure offers is that affiliates don’t grow their business through recruitment and team building. Instead, they focus on lead generation, customer loyalty and partnership with brands. Today, direct selling companies who have successfully completed this transformation typically reside in one of six categories.

1/ No Direct Selling History

This is the basic affiliate model structure. These companies pay commissions on revenue generated from sales, but they also can offer a tiered affiliate model that offers commissions to affiliates for sales made from another affiliate they referred, including SellHealth, Builderall, Market Health, Organica Naturals, Intechra Health and service-based companies like Fiverr, ClickFunnels, Travelpayouts and Grammarly.

While none of these companies would consider themselves a direct selling operation, all of them are running an enhanced affiliate model structure, some with tiers that extend two generations.

2/ Optimized Front-End Direct Selling Models

USANA, 4Life, pawTree and BELLAME have all implemented this new compensation model approach into their existing structures. With this method, those interested have the option to join as an affiliate whose sole task is to sell, but at any point in their affiliate journey, they also have the option to sign up as a business builder or direct selling distributor.

pawTree, who announced this switch in the first quarter of 2023, pointed to it as the most efficient way to attract and retain a new segment of marketers who don’t lean into traditional direct selling messaging.

“The lynchpin for long-term sustainable growth is getting lots of people making $300 to $500 a month in a reasonable amount of time with a reasonable amount of effort,” said Roger Morgan, pawTree Founder/CEO. “We want to help them make enough money, faster, so that they stick with it.”

USANA created a new position on the company’s compensation plan called “affiliate,” a product sharer and brand influencer who earns a 20 percent sharing bonus on all sales.

“It’s really creating a whole new customer segment target for your company,” said Jeannie Price, USANA Executive Vice President of Sales. “We have a separate portal, a simplified website. We’ve created sharing tools and assets for them and use a completely different communication approach with our affiliates than our distributor base.”

4Life, who also chose to optimize the front end of their compensation model, wanted to reimagine its legacy programs to maintain its competitive nature and generational relevance. They developed Preferred Customer incentives including free shipping, wholesale pricing, loyalty points, bonus products and instant discounts. Affiliates also have access to a Rapid Rewards program that pays builder bonuses, new rank recognition, incentive trips and more.

At the beginning of 2022, BELLAME was taking note of how fluid the entrepreneurship landscape was becoming and developed proprietary lead capture and lead generation tools that an established affiliate marketer would expect. They removed startup fee barriers, making it free to join for anyone, regardless of whether they were interested in being an affiliate or building a business and removed qualifications to earn money.

“Whatever label you use—affiliate marketer, digital marketer—we knew we needed to make room for it,” said Melissa Thompson, BELLAME Founder/CEO. “They enjoy the entire compensation model. And we never charge one penny—not a sign-up fee, transaction fee, renewal fee or tool fee. We have been able to attract people who are not normally interested in our industry at all.”

3/ The Standalone Sister Company

This avenue is a way for existing direct selling companies to start a new entity as a wholly owned subsidiary offering a new brand and an affiliate compensation model separate and apart from the existing legacy company while leveraging the established brand’s powerful reputation, expertise and logistical strengths.

Mannatech led the way with this “best of both worlds” approach through the formation of a subsidiary that will serve as its innovation hub. Trulu, the new resulting brand, is expected to build upon the legacy company’s existing strengths, utilize operational assets and enhance relevancy.

This new subsidiary offers a complimentary pathway to support growth in customer acquisition and retention, revenue, profits and value but does not diminish or detract from the company’s investment in direct selling.

“We will continue to transform certain aspects of the current model, however, our investments in Trulu will not distract from our responsibilities to Mannatech,” shared Al Bala, Chief Executive Officer. “It takes courage, but this blue ocean opportunity is real. This is the new decade and phase of this industry.”

4/ The Hybrid Startup

Eliminating confusion is the key focus of this strategy. Most of these brands have some connection to the direct selling industry and have decided to start an entirely new venture using the tiered affiliate model as the backbone of their business.

For ALIGN Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jesi Condor, her experience as a leader in the sales field taught her what worked and what didn’t when it came to compensation.

“I would always look at my check and it averaged out to three percent,” Condor said. “My question was always ‘Why is there this giant chart of complication for me to ultimately earn three percent?’ So, what we tried to do was eliminate that confusion. Our entire comp plan is volume-based; it’s very simple. Simplifying comp plans provides the transparency and trust that we’re trying to establish.”

Amanda Tress, Founder/CEO of FASTer Way to Fat Loss, developed her health and fitness-focused affiliate program with a customer journey that offers the opportunity to grow from a six-week orientation program to a VIP monthly membership and, ultimately, a certified coach. Coaches have the chance to earn 50 percent commission on their new client signups and 50 percent commission on their clients’ VIP monthly membership fees. They can also help their clients become certified coaches and earn 10 percent of their sub-affiliate sales.

Tress builds loyal customers through micro-influencers, called Ambassadors, who pitch strategic micro-commitment campaigns, like a $19.99 lead magnet that requires minimal time and investment. “What we’ve found is that micro-influencers truly do not care about a recurring revenue model,” Tress said. “They simply want that one-time commission on the front end.”

5/ The Relaunched Affiliate Model

These companies have transitioned completely out of direct selling and are fully embracing the affiliate structure as their sole mode of operations. SimplyFun announced this switch in February of this year, saying it would phase out its existing direct sales model to instead focus on a new affiliate program that offers affiliates a ten percent commission on purchases made through their personalized link and bonuses of up to 25 percent commission based on their total monthly sales.

Pure Romance announced this change in May 2023 stating it was “shifting away from the multi-level sales model” in favor of an omnichannel approach now that only one percent of its consultants were receiving downline commissions.

But the most experienced leader in this path is undoubtedly AdvoCare, who, as the result of pressure from and litigation with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), switched to a direct-to-consumer, single-tier marketing compensation plan. Today, the company has found that its affiliate incomes are five times higher than they were in 2018, before this switch, and that affiliates say they feel less pressure with the removal of team building as a requirement for growth.

“I know that we are not all the same, and we did go through it in a way that I would not wish upon my worst enemy,” said Christina Helwig, AdvoCare Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing. “At the same time, we found success. Sometimes you take a little risk and find traction. At the end of the day, leaning into our customers has resulted in success—not only for our distributors, but for our brand.”

6/ The Rapid-Fire Test and Launch Model

Messaging in direct selling can feel sluggish as executive teams work to spread the communications like a game of telephone, passing it through the top leaders who then share it with their downline.

“In the traditional direct selling world, marketing teams work really hard to define their messaging and create all the collateral to launch to the field,” said Paul Adams, President and Owner of Adams Resource Group. “Then, when launched, it takes quite some time to get the messaging into the hands of the field. Does this take weeks? Months? What if it didn’t work as well as expected? That is a lot of time lost.”

Enhanced affiliate marketing whittles down that message refinement process to create a leaner, more responsive communications tool. Within 30 days or less, a new website, shopping cart and product can be exposed to a large group of potential affiliates, assuming that the pay structure is already in place. No genealogy, no lengthy IT integration, no games, training sessions or long-term commitments necessary. This makes it simple to test the efficacy of a message, then adjust, refine and adapt.

Opening up a new domestic market or expanding internationally might cost seven figures with a traditional direct selling template, but with the enhanced affiliate approach, leaders can test the market on a trial basis at a fraction of the cost. By advertising in that market and then paying affiliates to get involved, companies can cheaply assess if the market is warm for a certain product or messaging style.

“What we have found is that when affiliates and potential affiliates with past experience in direct sales are no longer enticed by the long-term business building model, they are very interested in leveraging their existing network of followers and offering products they believe in,” Adams said. “It’s very clear with affiliate marketing—if you can sell something, you can earn something.”

Brave New World

As brands seek to optimize their offerings for the next generation of consumers by making the direct selling model more appealing, the most powerful behavior the industry possesses is knowing how to create a movement that spreads like wildfire. But that magic only happens when combined with the critical elements of connection and community.

Even as the industry considers how it can integrate and embrace the enhanced affiliate model, it is imperative that it remembers how to craft a sense of belonging for and connection between its affiliates, distributors and customers.

From the July/August 2023 issue of Direct Selling News magazine.

The post The Rise of the Affiliate Model first appeared on Direct Selling News.

4Life is also looking to innovative ways to offset its own carbon footprint, including neutralizing CO2 emissions generated by its incentive trips to Athens in 2023. To accomplish this CO2 emissions neutralization, the company will be planting trees in Viu de Llevata, Lleida in collaboration with the organization Bosques Sostenibles. 

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