[Creating a Certification Series – Part 4]

When people ask me about creating a certification program the first thing I always check in on is whether or not they meet the two criteria for starting a successful certification. 

First – a PROVEN business model

The main benefit for a person to become certified is that they are getting access to a proven, successful model – one that they can plug into their own business and use (vs. them trying to build from scratch and figure it all out on their own.)

Have you created success with this model in your own business? And for how long? I want to see at least 2-3 years of being successful with something before turning it into a certification. 

If you are newer to your model and haven’t proven it’s success yet focus on that first! Spend the time to create success for yourself/your own business first so that you can then teach and certify others from a place of integrity and alignment.

Second – your OWN proprietary IP (Intellectual Property)

Your IP is the foundation of your certification. It’s the very thing that people are buying from you… and it needs to be yours.

I occasionally see people want to start a certification off something that they learned from someone else. Not only is this super ick on an integrity level, it’s also breaking copyright agreements/laws and may get you in some serious legal trouble.

If you want to teach something that you learned from someone else, check in with them! They might have an option for you to become licensed to teach their materials or maybe partner with them (This is how my Certified OBM Trainers got started back in 2017… when someone asked me if they could teach the program I had created.)

Create the kind of success that others want to create for themselves ← that is the first (and most important!) step

Interested in creating a certification? My Certification Accelerator will take your program from concept to first sale in 6 weeks – learn more here.