[?] Subscribe To This Site

MLM Statistics: What is a 3 Percenter?

You’re at a meeting, you overhear a quick comment: Sam's a 3 percenter...ever happen to you? Usually you'll hear this kind of remark from another mlmer who has been in the business for a while.

Do you want to know what it means?

Where you want to be

A 3 percenter refers to the typical success ratio in network marketing businesses, according to some MLM statistics. For instance, how many people have you sponsored? How many are successful? That may not be accurate. Let's look at it another way.

When an mlm opportunity starts really gaining approval and growing, tons of people join up. Great! But how many make a real income from participating?

Past figures show only about 3 percent will make any real income in network marketing. More surprising to me, only 1 percent or less will make a large income. Weird, right?

Where have you been?

I’ll bet you can relate to being let’s say, a 97 percenter. In other words, one of the people not in the top 3 percent, not in the profitable part of the MLM statistics. Most people come into the business, work some. Sponsor a couple of people. Attend a few meetings. Then stop coming or move on to another opportunity. Some may spend themselves into debt, continue to come, but still not make any money.

Who does this count?

These numbers exclude the people who work at the company itself - the people who research new products, pack and ship items, and so on. Distributors, or consultants as many companies call them these days, differ from the corporate staff. Only distributors sell product.

What Makes a 3 Percenter?

After I found out what a 3 percenter was in MLM statistics, I wanted to know how I could become one. The answer? Too often in MLM, the answer I hear is

You need a big why

You have to want it bad enough

Have you really committed to success?

Of these answers, sadly none fills the bill. The truth, I have found, sounds more like this:

Do what works

Another version, hitch you wagon to a star, comes close.

Real Skill

In other words, you have to use real skills and real savvy to succeed. Just having a big reason for success won't do it. A great goal poster, while motivating and cool, won't do it. A commitment to success won't do it - but it helps.

Instead, you need skill. In other words, go back to school. The more I learn about MLM and look at MLM statistics, the more I see that the best educated, those who can really do the work, win. And here I found a surprise: don't follow the crowd. Don't listen to stale, untrained, unprofessional advice. 3 foot rule? Old. Make a list? It's a start, but it only gets you an introductory education, not success.

Live Advice from a Top Dog

For example, I once listened to a 3 percenter, a guy making about half a million a year, over forty thousand per month, speak about how he works his business. He said he ran advertisements in the newspaper for cold leads. Then, he recommended we DO SOMETHING ELSE.

What should I have done? What he recommended, or what he does to succeed? Here's a hint: which one produced a half million a year, over $40K per month?

How to Start

So you attend the meetings, yes, but you speak. You recruit from your friends, if you have to, but you develop huge lists of leads from other sources, as many as you can find. You spend hours on the phone calling these leads and peaking their interest, not blurting out everything, just enough to get them to come.

And when they sign up, give them some real training. Spend some time in person or on the phone and show them the ropes. You can’t hand them everything or they won’t respect how hard it is to succeed and work. But you can identify the tools they will need, and show them how to use them.

In other words copy the gurus, or at least emulate them. That's where you find skill, and that's where you will find success. And a half million a year, for some people.

From MLM Statistics to Home