Network marketing - with a difference

Reading time 5 minutes

Updated - July 22, 2025

Network marketing - I don't want anything to do with it, snowball system, only the first ones earn, the others fall behind, the products are MUCH too expensive, everyone earns from it ... - that's the common opinion, formerly mine too. The company dōTERRA, for example, proves that things can be - pleasantly - different.

dōTERRA has dedicated itself to the distribution of essential oils with the premise that everyone on each side of the bottle, from the producer to the customer, can live equally fairly and well.

On the one hand, this is possible because the farmers who grow the plants from which the oils are extracted on site under the supervision of dōTERRA receive a fixed wage on an ongoing basis before planting, only oils from these farmers are processed and no oils are purchased from oil exchanges (where oils of different origins are mixed and sold to bulk buyers).

On the other hand, dōTERRA does not spend money on advertising, but pays its consultants, who receive thorough product-related training from their superordinate consultants and are thus a competent point of contact for customers and subordinate consultants.
The products should speak for themselves and, thanks to sound advice, customers should be able to use them safely according to the knowledge they have acquired.

dōTERRA vs. adidas

In contrast to dōTERRA, adidas, for example, spent 2.5 billion euros on advertising in 2023, with sales of 21.4 billion. This means that over 10 % of sales were invested in advertising, while 125 million euros were paid out in dividends, i.e. just 5 % of the sales volume.
adidas is a stock corporation and therefore has an obligation to its shareholders to maximize profits and pay high dividends.

dōTERRA is a private company that is - and wants to be - exclusively committed to itself, its suppliers and customers / consultants.
Remarkable: Annual sales in 2023 amounted to 1.9 billion, of which an impressive 35 % was paid out in commissions.
According to the Business for Home Database rated AAA+, which is only 5 % of all rated companies, or 3rd(!) out of more than 800 network marketing companies worldwide.

Compared to adidas' 5 % dividend, dōTERRA's 35 % commission payment is a completely different house number, considering that adidas has more than 11 times higher sales, namely 19.5 billion euros more than dōTERRA ...

Compensation plan

The remuneration plan of dōTERRA is Public accessible and has been optimized several times over time. Looking at the income possibilities in the first two years, a range of 175 - 300 euros/month in the first four months is realistic and increases to 9,275 - 16,925 euros/month from the 24th month. After 38 months, EUR 23,425 - 32,325 per month can be achieved, and after the 52nd month even EUR 64,400 - 73,900 per month.
The above values were calculated by dōTERRA from the average income in 2022 and provided in the PDF linked above.

Step by step forward

In the first ten months, the aim is to products consumed by the company in terms of costs compensate. Up to around the 22nd month Supplement to the main professional income. From the 24th month onwards, it is assumed that the previous main income is fully covered by dōTERRA replaced can be used.

As income increases, the amount of work required naturally also increases. While at the beginning you assume a work input of 3 - 10 hours/week, the supplementation of the full-time income to about 10 - 30 hours/week is assumed, from 25 - 30 hours/week, you want to replace your previous income in full.

Whether you go full speed ahead or adapt to your own everyday family life is entirely up to you.

Own experience versus sale

The key to success is not selling the products, but personal use, which results in your own(!) experiences that you then talk about.

It's a bit like recommending the best ice cream from the Italian restaurant in summer. It's just as natural when you recommend your friend the oil that you have tried and tested yourself.

The difference is that you do not receive a "commission" for the tip with the best ice cream around the corner, but you do for the tip with the oil if the person wants to have your experience as well and therefore orders the oil.

Personal initiative

This acquired knowledge is then used to give courses on e.g. Telegram, WahtsApp. These can be short sequences of informative graphics, but also entire presentations, depending on your own ability and time commitment.
You can use your own programs that you are already familiar with, or you can use Canva, for example, an online graphics platform that is basically free of charge. Here I have gone into this possibility in more detail.

Here, too, the rule is that you don't have to do anything, but you can do anything - the important thing is that you do it without pressure and with a lot of joy.

Further training

It is important to take advantage of the product training courses offered by dōTERRA, which contain specific information on the properties and modes of action, as well as background information on further developments, improvements, etc.

Further training courses are organized by teams on their own initiative and are also offered free of charge. They are held by competent people trained in the respective subject, who usually earn three to four figures in the private sector.

Other topic-related courses are also offered by professionally qualified people - free of charge.

Experience groups are used to exchange personal experiences, research your own acute problems and share your own successes in the use of various essential oils.

Drawing on all these possibilities not only helps in your own interest, but also to be able to answer questions from interested parties in a technically correct manner. They can also be used for research if an answer to a question is still unknown.
Finally, the so-called upline, the person who carried out the enrollment (registration), is also available to answer questions.

Working crossline broadens horizons, builds relationships and promotes communication across team "boundaries".
Some may say "What good does it do me if I support someone who isn't even on my team?" Well, the more well-known you become overall, the more connections are made in the "network". Just as every neuronal connection in our brain is an advantage, over time, helpful connections are formed, in the spirit of beneficial cooperation.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating

... so they say. That's why it's good to be able to offer interested parties a sample of an oil or other product of desire.

Of course, you can only send or distribute samples if you yourself either have available samples of dōTERRA or, as with oils, fill them into small, previously ordered bottles (e.g. for aroma products) and pass them on to the person with a small application note.

In this respect, over time you will collect a few oils in your collection, as well as other products that you have procured and used on your own recommendation. You can then draw from this and, after three or four days, ask the recipient (if not delivered personally) whether they have received it and tried it out.

As is the case, package inserts or instructions for use, such as the instructions for use, are rarely read. So the first question in these cases is usually how to use the good oil.

Legalities

Personally, I have always been bothered by the predominantly vague use of language when it comes to essential oils: it supports, it promotes, it soothes, etc.. Instead of writing that an oil helps here or there in this or that way.

This is - unfortunately - due to the prevailing legislation, according to which only a doctor may make a promise of healing. So I came across the video "Healing with fragrances" by Dr.Dr.Dr.med.habil. Hanns Hatt from the Ruhr University in Bochum, because he CAN do what people who are not medically trained are not allowed to do. Here both his lecture and the medical background to his statements are explained in a way that is understandable and comprehensible for the layperson.

Since then, I have been very fond of quoting him, because now that I understand HOW the mechanism of action works, I can explain with even greater conviction why oils have this effect. And people who have always said to themselves "a lot helps a lot" should be advised of this fact:
A single drop of grapefruit oil contains 226.92 trillion oil molecules. Divided among the approximately 37.2 trillion body cells (depending on weight and size), there are 6.1 million oil molecules per cell!
That should be enough ;-)!

Well, if we happily and correctly proclaim that this oil helps against this or that, then we should always express ourselves "compliantly" (in accordance with the legal formalities), even if we find this difficult.
You can use either the manufacturer's own product descriptions or ChatGPT as a formulation aid, as ChatGPT is also a very critical and law-abiding advisor in such matters.

Example formulations

A permissible formulation from own experience is: "I had a cough and took this oil three times a day for three days. After that my cough was gone.„

The Manufacturer's own description would read something like: "The components of the oil soothe the respiratory tract.„

The Medical formulation would be approximately: "Component x of oil y has a bactericidal / antibacterial effect.„