During quarantine, people were forced to stay at home. They had to find different, creative ways to earn money.
MLM or Multi-Level Marketing companies encourage and offer job opportunities for aspiring distributors.
In this article, you will learn about one of the companies, Young Living.
They distribute, sell, and offer essential oils and other similar products.
If you’re interested in how to earn more on this platform, keep reading.
Chances are you heard about Young Living because someone – a friend or family member – introduced you to the company. Maybe you attended an online workshop or webinar, or maybe an in-person information session.
Your head’s probably spinning. This might be the first time you’ve heard about a real way to make money outside of a typical job.
So first off, congratulations!
You’ve just entered a whole new world…the world of making money on your own terms.
However, you came in through the wrong door.
Because Young Living is – plain and simple – an MLM. Throw whatever fancy name you want on it…multi-level marketing (MLM), network marketing (NWM), direct sales, or anything else, it’s the same concept:
You pay some money upfront for the “opportunity” to sell products.
The products are typically low-quality but with high price tags (because fancy labels and stuff).
You’re told that the key to building your own successful business is selling these products to friends and family, and getting them on a subscription (so you get “monthly recurring revenue”).
Unfortunately, like most people who get taken in by these types of schemes, you’ll quickly discover that the well runs dry faster than you imagined.
After all, they make it sound really simple. “Just get 5 people you know onto this magic widget, and things will just grow from there.”
And in your head, you think “How hard can it be? I know plenty of people, 5 will be easy.”
But then you do it, and you realize people look at you like you’ve joined a cult. You’ve become “that person”, who joined an MLM, and is now trying to sell questionable products or services to everyone they meet.
It puts a strain on your relationships, and you end up stuck between two worlds.
But it’s not your fault. These companies spend millions of dollars each year figuring out exactly how to brainwash and recruit people. And that’s why we’re here.
To help you find a better way before it’s too late.
So, what if there was a way you could build a passive income stream that’s actually passive?
An income stream that doesn’t require:
- Inventory
- Selling to friends and family
- Selling to strangers
- Recruiting people
- Dealing with questionable products that weigh on your conscience
An income stream that brings in consistent revenues every single month (from a couple thousand dollars to well over $10,000)?
An income stream you could actually build in your spare time, and grow as large or as small as you want to, without having to spend hours a day chasing, selling, or managing anything?
If that sounds like something you’d be interested in, check out Digital Leasing.
This is nothing like this MLM, and that’s probably a good thing.
However, if you’d still like to know more about Young Living, keep reading.
What Is Young Living? Is Young Living A Bad Company?
Young Living is a multilevel marketing company that advertises essential oils as a cure-all for everything. From the common cold to ebola, essential oils can do the trick.
Even though there is plenty of evidence to back up these claims, essential oils have yet to be proven to “cure” any diseases. This is according to references in multiple lawsuits involving the corporation.
Nevertheless, Young Living makes some bold statements about the health benefits of their essential oils.
Many Young Living reps are known to make facts up when marketing their products.
That isn’t to say Young Living as a whole is terrible.
If it’s because of overzealous members fabricating stories or the multi-level marketing company’s authenticity, they have a profitable income.
They’re a 1.5 billion-dollar industry.
Who Owns The Young Living Company?
Young Living was started by Gary Young in Riverton, Utah, in 1993.
In 1993, Gary bought lavender seeds from Provence, France, to plant on the 200 acres that are now the lovely St Maries Lavender Farm.
In 1996, Young bought a second farm in Mona, Utah.
In 2006, Young founded his first international farm in Ecuador.
According to his wife Mary Young, Gary became interested in alternative medicine after sustaining a back injury in the early 1970s.
They became the “first major commercial distillery” of frankincense essential oils in 2010, and their Highland Flats distillery “became the first automated, large-capacity, computerized steam distilling facility for essential oils in 2014.
Around 1996, Young Living forecasted product sales of $8 to $10 million and posted annual sales of more than $1 billion from 2015 to 2017.
Gary founded the Young Life Research Clinic in Springville, Utah, in 2000.
The clinic was closed after the lawsuit settlement in 2005. He opened a clinic in Ecuador, where he practiced medicine and surgery, despite objections from Young Living‘s COO, David Stirling.
After being fired from Young Living in 2008, former employee David Stirling founded the rival company, doTerra, with the help of other ex-executives from Young Living.
DoTerra wanted to offer essential oils to a broader customer base than Young Living, and they also saw rapid market success.
Young Living filed a lawsuit against this rival for stealing trade secrets in August 2013. The claim was that the company had secretly reproduced its manufacturing operation.
The allegations against doTerra were dismissed by the Fourth District Court in October 2014.
The companies settled lawsuits involving fake lab tests, false advertising, and theft of trade secrets. They dropped their derogatory claims about the purity of each other’s goods.
Young Living lost the lawsuit in 2017, and a court decision ordered it to pay $1.8 million in legal fees to doTerra in 2018.
In 2015, Young stepped down as CEO, and his third wife, Mary Young, took over.
Young Living relocated its corporate offices to Lehi, Utah, in 2014. They did this to take advantage of tax cuts and to expand its operations. They began construction on its new corporate headquarters in 2017.
Gary passed away in 2018.
Trouble Of Young’s Past
Despite having no experience in obstetrics or midwifery, Gary delivered his wife’s baby underwater in a whirlpool bath at the health club he managed on September 4, 1982.
He kept the baby for more than an hour, culminating in the death of a newborn child.
Even though the coroner said that the baby would have survived if she had been delivered naturally, Young was never charged in the case.
His hopes for an underwater delivery had been derailed the previous year when a health department caseworker threatened to file a lawsuit against him if he carried them out.
Young was arrested in Spokane in March 1983 for practicing medicine without a license after offering prenatal services to an undercover investigator to cure her mother’s cancer.
He falsely claimed he was a member of “The American Institute of Physiology Neurology.”
Young only attended a few classes, completed only 1/3 of the homework, and owed $1,800 for tuition fees, according to the claim of the institute’s owner.
Young was sentenced to a year of probation after pleading guilty to the unlawful practice of medicine.
Are Young Living Essential Oils Safe?
Yes, Young Living oils are safe, according to a YL employee. They must be handled and used appropriately and follow aromatherapy rules.
I’ve included a few safety tips below, but I recommend that people do their homework before putting anything on or into their bodies.
- Inhalation: This is the safest way because you’re breathing the oils in. Certain oils, such as eucalyptus or tea tree, can be powerful, so take them carefully at first. Start with a few drops if you’re using an ultrasonic diffuser to get the correct aroma that’s not too strong.
- Topical – This is also a common choice. However, certain oils might cause injury when combined with sun exposure due to photo toxicity. Lemon, lime, and bergamot, to name a few, are among these oils. Before sunbathing, wait twelve hours after applying the cream.
- Applying pure oils to the skin, in particular, is never a bright idea. Make sure they’re appropriately diluted before massaging them in.
- Because these are pure volatile chemicals, several of them are also combustible.
- It isn’t to claim they’ll combust in their dark bottles alone.
- It simply means that you should keep them away from open flames when using or storing them.
- Pregnancy / Breastfeeding: Various smells might be detrimental to pregnant or breastfeeding women.
- Find out which essential oil products are safe to consume during pregnancy and consult your doctor before doing so.
- Children and Babies – A few oils are hazardous to newborns and small children, as well as pregnant and lactating moms.
- You should know which oils are OK to use in their presence.
Are Young Living Oils Legit?
BBB’s National Advertising Division advises Young Living to stop saying that their oils are “therapeutic grade”. Young Living lacks clinical evidence to back up their claims.
The corporation objected, stating that it would file an appeal but later promised to stop making several health and wellness claims for its goods and ingredients.
Is Young Living Oils A MLM?
Young Living is a multi-level marketing firm with thousands of members who can sell directly to customers and earn commissions on sales made by other recruits via a hierarchical structure known as downlines.
Members can earn from direct sales, but commissions on sales made by recruits (downlines) are substantially higher.
Young Living classifies its distributors into different categories based on their sales volume.
The lowest rank with minor sales is referred to as “Distributors,” while the highest rank with the most sales is referred to as “Royal Crown Diamonds.”
Young Living requires dealers to make $100 in monthly purchases to qualify for a commission, claims The New Yorker in 2017.
According to a public income statement, about 94 percent of Young Living’s active distributors earned less than a dollar ($1) in 2016, while less than one-tenth of one percent (roughly 1,000 Royal Crown Diamond distributors) gained more than a million dollars.
According to Business Insider’s review of the multi-level marketing company’s 2018 income disclosure statement, 89 percent of all Young Living’s members are on the bottom tier, receiving an average of $4 each year.
Others on the top three levels, accounting for 98.7% of active members, earned between $4 and $1,551 per year. This does not include monthly expenses.
Is Young Living A Pyramid Scheme?
A corporation that does not sell consumer products is a pyramid scheme, although many pyramid schemes can hide under a product.
One approach to recognizing a hidden pyramid scheme is to look at how much money can be earned from the products.
Given that you’d have to buy these essential oils every month, it’d be difficult even to make a profit.
If we want to call a spade a spade and ignore the corporate jargon, the real income opportunity is recruiting people into the company.
Whether you only want to sell products or wish to recruit new members to the opportunity, you will have to spend on starter kits which will cost you between $45 and $160.
Below are their prices and inclusions:
Basic Starter Kit ($25)
Includes:
- Stress Away 5ml
- Thieves Mints
- Discover Your Young Living Lifestyle booklet
- AromaGlide Roller Fitment
- 2 NingXia Red 2-oz samples
- 10 Thieves Waterless Hand Purifier Sachets – 0.1 oz each
- Essential Oils At A Glance
Premium Starter Kit ($165)
Includes:
- Desert Mist Diffuser
- Peppermint Oil 5ml
- Frankincense Oil 5ml
- DiGize 5ml
- Valor 5ml
- 10 Thieves Waterless Hand Purifier Sachets – 0.1 oz each
- Product Guide and Product Price List
- Member Resources
- Premium Essential Oils Collection
- Lemon 5ml
- Thieves 5ml
- PanAway 5ml
- Thieves Spray
- Essential Oils Magazine
- Lavender 5ml
- Citrus Fresh 5ml
- Raven 5ml
- Stress Away 5ml
- 2 AromaGlide Roller Fitments
- 2 NingXia Red 2-oz samples
- Essential Edge News
Following a starter kit, you must purchase an Essential Rewards (ER) kit.
These Essential Rewards kits contain the actual essential oil products you’ll be selling.
You buy them at wholesale prices (a 24% discount off retail) and then get paid a percentage of any product sales you make in addition to a cash bonus.
I believe it is much easier to recruit people than to sell the products.
To join in on the opportunity, one must first purchase a product anyway.
As a result, selling the opportunity also entails selling products.
However, there is still a high risk of failure in either case, but I believe that the income opportunity, or shall I say, recruiting, is the more logical way to go if you want to make money with this company.
And for this reason, my friends, I believe Young Living Essential Oils is a pyramid scheme in disguise as multi-level marketing.
Is Young Living A Scam?
So, is Young Living a scam?
Not technically. You can make money with this program, but it’s definitely not as easy as the company makes it sound.
There’s a ton of work to be done upfront, no real guarantee of success, and – most importantly – the actual commissions are pretty small.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with front-loading the work and making the money later.
But if you’re grinding it out for 3 months and then your reward is a $50 commission, it’s not really worth it.
What if, instead, you could do that same 3 months of work (in your spare time), and your reward was a $500 to $2,000 payment that came in every single month?
And what if you actually didn’t need to wait 3 months? What if you could get started today and have your first payment in a week?
And what if you could double it next week?
Well, that’s the power of Digital Leasing.
And, unlike an MLM, you can legitimately do this from anywhere. It’s a true lifestyle business.
Your laptop and an internet connection is all you need.
Some of the most successful students in this program run their entire 6-figure businesses from:
- A camper in the middle of the woods
- A beach chair on the water in Mexico
- A small villa in Greece
They’re able to travel around, living their lives first, and focusing on their income second.
Because even if they stop working for an extended period of time, the money keeps coming in.
So adventure, memories, and experience are the top priority.
And they never have to worry about how to pay for the next trip, or consider asking for time off.
If this sounds more like the type of life you want to lead, just click here to find out more about Digital Leasing.
Are There Alternatives To Young Living?
Yes, there are plenty of other business models to choose from if you want to pursue making money online. Here are just a few:
What Is My Top Recommendation In Making Money Online In 2024?
Our review team has spent months researching, reviewing, and vetting dozens of business models and thousands of programs.
While there may be no “perfect business”, the research IS conclusive:
Digital Leasing is the #1 online business model for those just starting out.
Whether you’ve never made a dollar online, or you’ve been in this space for a while but never really “made it,” Digital Leasing is for you.
Why?
1) It’s Flexible: got an hour a day? You can do this. Ready to drop everything else and dive in full time? You can do this. Yes, the more time you put in, the faster you see results. But even with a little time each day, you can move the needle in a Digital Leasing business.
And because this system is so flexible, you don’t have to constantly be working to make more money. It’s called PASSIVE INCOME because if you stop working, the money doesn’t.
Imagine taking 3 months off to just tour around Europe, rent a cabin in the woods to write a book, hike the Appalachian Trail, or live on the beach and surf all day.
This is only possible if you have an income stream that’s not tied to your time.
2) You Own & Control EVERYTHING: With MLMs and Network Marketing, you don’t really own anything. You have no control over the quality of products. You don’t even own your “team”.
Look at the fine print for most of the agreements folks sign when they join one of these companies. At any point, the company can change your commission structure, reduce your profit margins, or kick you out entirely.
With Digital Leasing, you own the assets, which means you have all the power and all the control.
3) Little To No Startup Costs: It’s possible to get into Digital Leasing with zero dollars upfront. Because, using the strategies outlined in this program, you can get a client to pay you BEFORE spending a penny out of your own pocket…even before you do any work.
Even without getting paid in advance, you can have your first Digital Rental Property up, running, and generating profits for less than $100.
4) No Inventory: Alright, so most MLMs don’t make you buy the products and fill your garage with them anymore (unlike the good ol’ days), but you’re still in a physical products business.
And physical products always have physical limitations. Even if you don’t have to manage the inventory, you still have to deal with supply chain shortages that cause major delays.
Imagine finally landing your first customer, and then losing them after one sale because they had to wait 6 weeks to get their order.
With Digital Leasing, a 100% online business, you never even have to think about that risk.
5) Easy To Duplicate: Ok, here’s the best part: once you have your first Digital Rental Property up and running, you can literally DOUBLE your income with a few clicks, a couple keystrokes, and a single phone call (and you don’t actually need the phone call).
Remember: each Digital Rental Property is worth $500 to $2,000 a month in semi-passive income (over 95% profit). Every time you decide to create another one and increase your income, it gets easier.
Because you have more knowledge, more experience, more results, and more momentum.
If you wanted to double your income with an MLM, you’d have to double your customers OR double the average order size of your existing customers. And, guaranteed that’s a lot harder than a few clicks and a few minutes of your life.
6) Make Money Helping Real People: This part is what makes it all worth it. In an MLM, your “upline” might convince you that what you’re selling improves people’s lives, but deep down, you likely know that’s not true.
Most of the time, you’re either selling a dream or a poor-quality, overpriced product with a fancy label.
And that makes it pretty hard to sleep at night.
But with Digital Leasing, you’re actually helping people by solving your clients’ biggest problem:
Small, local businesses need more customers, and with Digital Leasing, you are unleashing a flood of happy, paying customers for these businesses.
You make money by helping them make money.
Not a big, faceless corporation either…a small business owner who’s using that money to put food on the table for their family, start a college fund for their kids, or take care of a sick parent.
Once you see how Digital Leasing makes a real impact in the lives of real people, you’ll sleep like a baby with a big smile on your face.
Now, the choice is yours.
You could continue browsing, looking at opportunities like Young Living which could one day make you money.
You could continue researching, never making a decision.
OR, you could take a look inside, consider what you really want, and join a program that makes your dreams a reality. At the same time, joining a community of over 2,000 successful students that are living life on their own terms thanks to Digital Leasing.
A consistent, reliable, semi-passive stream of income that doesn’t depend on you or your time to keep producing profits.
All while genuinely helping real people who are grateful and happy to pay for it.
If this sounds more like what you want out of life (or if you just want some nice side income), click here to learn more about Digital Leasing.
