Wherein Leonie reads your mind...

So, GUYS.

I know what you might be thinking:

Fucking essential oils? How do I build a 6 figure business from smelly shit?

or

Multi Level Marketing? Isn't that a pyramid scheme?

or

Is this Amway? GROSS!

or

Is this really something for me?

So, I totes know those questions, because fuck, I TOTALLY had the same reaction.

The idea kept calling me for months, and I would only tell my husband Chris or my mentor Hiro because I was SO EMBARRASSED. Even then, I would say it as a joke:

"I have secret fantasies about running away and joining the MLM circus!"

I had to keep exploring it, turning it over in my head, having more conversations and sitting with myself before I worked through all the questions and worries I had in my head.

Honestly - in the past, I've been quite judgey about multi level marketing.

It was only when I found out a few of my friends, business associates and even past coaching clients were doing it... and were making REALLY fucking great money... and having a lot of fun with it... that I started to even research it as a business model.

Hilariously, I started researching it not for me - but for a friend who wanted to do something different instead of her teaching job... but didn't know what she could do that would enable her to support her family!

So I researched it for her... and learned more... and realised that not only was it a really fucking cool business model... but that I knew a stack of friends, family and clients who would resonate really beautifully with it, and that it would be an amazing income source for them.

Here's why the doTERRA business model is pretty rad:

• They are really, really generous. They have one of the most generous compensation plans in the industry. It's actually really doable for committed people to earn 6 figures.
• They have one of the highest retention rates of customers in the industry - doTERRA enjoys a 68 percent retention rate, compared to a direct selling industry average near 10 percent. After joining doTERRA, 68 percent of all customers reorder, continue to share doTERRA products, or build a doTERRA business. What this means is: customers are REALLY happy with their orders... and it's easier for doTERRA businesses to continue earning moolah!
• They were just ranked the #2 best MLM company worldwide to partner with (despite being a relatively new business - they only started in 2008!)
• You don't have to hold stock or pay for expenses... it's pure profit. (Which, to me, having just spent $500k to print workbooks, is a masssssive turn on!)
• Financial boner alert: it is also residual passive income. Once you hit certain ranks, you are guaranteed an income for life. Basically... a really fucking cool retirement plan. I think it's a beautiful insurance idea really... for when you want to take holidays, have time away to have more babies, if you get sick or if, you know... LIFE happens!
• The reason they sell it as a multi-level marketing company (also known as "network marketing" or "direct marketing") is that doTERRA wants you to find a doTERRA business owner (called a "Wellness Advocate") who supports, educates and helps people get the most out of their essential oils. They don't want people to just go into stores and buy them. They want people to be connected and helped through the process so they can get the most benefit out of the essential oils. Being a doTERRA Wellness Advocate isn't really about "selling" - it's about sharing, connecting and helping people. Or as Em says "I get to hear everyone's secrets so I can help them! I get to be their OIL FAIRY!"
• It's still a (very) untapped market... less than 1% of the population use essential oils... but over 70% of the population are interested in using natural products to improve their health.
• Essential oils are something people need to purchase again and again - which increases your earning rates as a business as you get a commission for everyone's orders for all time! Also... as you'll soon learn... they are a bit of an addictive thing that brings people so much joy!
• They have a really wonderful fair trade model of business that support communities in developing countries to grow indigenous plants for their area.
• They do some beautiful philanthropy work as well.
• Read more about doTERRA's achievements + corporate social responsibility here.

Now honesty time: WTF would I be doing a doTERRA business?

So, when I talked to Em the first time about doTERRA businesses, I did NOT think it would be worth my time at all.

I've created two multi-million dollar brands. I own a fast-growth company that is highly profitable. I've been finalist for myBusiness' Australian Business Woman of the Year award and Ausmumpreneur of the Year. And I don't want to be a wanker here, but I became a self-made millionaire just after I was 30 years old.

My time is money, and it's really important for me to choose v. wisely.

So I was reaaaaaally freakin' blunt with Em:

Babes, there would be no way I'd even be able to consider this thing if it wasn't going to be at least a million dollar a year revenue stream for me.

She responded by telling me about three mutual friends who were doing just that.

And I started seeing it as a really fun extra passive-income stream for me... that would mean I could ease up the gas on my current workload, take time off to write a book (or just fuck around drawing unicorns and playing with my kids)... while building a long-term abundant financial security for me and my family.

I started getting excited about how fun it would be to apply my brain to something new... and to be able to help people super directly in their businesses, and see them prosper too. It would give me so much fucking JOY to use all the business and marketing skills I've built and work with people to see them reach their financial and lifestyle goals. In lots of ways I already do that, but this felt like it would be even more intimate and connected!

I've been doing online business for a looooong ass time now... I've been blogging since 2004, and running an online business since 2008. My brain has been hankering for something new... and I just feel intuitively that this is it... and that it's going to be a really fun adventure!

Honestly, I think we all have Amway flashbacks! Hahahaha!

And if I did think doTERRA was anything like that, I wouldn't be going anywhere near it.

So here's the thing:

Just like in business, there's a thousand different ways to do a network marketing business.

I know I've spent much of my career doing things a completely different way from the industry standard, and I've had some awesome results. And I really appreciate that doTERRA is the same in the way that it does business. Just because it also uses a network marketing model to distribute doesn't make it Amway.

(By the way - I know we all think Amway is daggy... but it actually is still a hugely successful business that has generated over 11 billion dollars in revenue and continues thriving today!)

doTERRA has a reputation for being one of the more authentic, relationship-centred network marketing organisations out there. Its intention is to bring natural healing into homes, empower families to improve their health, and do it while benefiting communities and land around the world. As I shared above, the reason they sell it this way is that they want you to find a doTERRA business owner who supports, educates and helps people get the most out of their essential oils. They don't want people to just go into stores and buy them. They want people to be connected and helped through the process so they can get the most benefit out of the essential oils. Being a doTERRA Wellness Advocate isn't really about "selling" - it's about sharing, connecting and helping people. Or as Em says "I get to hear everyone's secrets so I can help them! I get to be their OIL FAIRY!"

When you connect with the essence of it, it's really about helping other people... through sharing with them about oils, or if they wish to start a business, supporting and encouraging them on that journey.

I love that if you have a doTERRA business, you really can only succeed if you have helped other people to be healthier and to succeed themselves!