Why You Should Launch Your Own Certification Program
Perhaps you’ve considered creating a certification program before, but then the questions came – questions like:
- How do you get started?
- How long will it take to create a certification course?
- Is there an interest in your industry for such a course?
- If there is an interest, will your course be competing with an already saturated marketplace?
- What should you include in it?
- How much should you charge?
If you’ve been mulling questions like these, you’ve probably wondered if creating a course is a good idea after all. Is it really worth the time and energy?
To answer that question, let’s take a look at the 5 key benefits of creating a certification program.
1. Build Brand Awareness
Offering a course is a great way to develop or bolster awareness for your organization. Whether you’re a well-established name or an early stage startup, if you can provide real tangible value to your stakeholders, you’ll find them much more receptive to the product or service you offer.
For the newcomer, use your certification course to make a name for yourself in your industry. Even if your brand is relatively unknown, you can use your certification course as a proverbial foot in the door. Piquing their interest in your course will help establish a long-term and fruitful relationship with prospective customers. If you’re able to get this individual to take your course and tell others about it, you can also reach that person’s social circle, which can drastically increase awareness for your brand.
For the seasoned brand, the rewards are similar. However, a certification course also provides another way to engage your established, core audience. Existing stakeholders will naturally gravitate towards your course if you can show that it will help them solve their problem while simultaneously increasing their clout within his or her industry.
2. Cultivate A Community
One of the ultimate goals of any business is to build a community of loyal followers. Why? Loyal fans believe in your business, will continue to invest in your business, and will tell others about your business.
You can’t produce this type of loyalty by only creating one product or service without ongoing support and engagement. Most organizations rely on blogging, social media, and email marketing to engage their audience. Creating a certification program is another opportunity for ongoing engagement.
3. Create Another Stream of Revenue
Monetizing your certification course (if you choose to do so) will open up another stream of revenue for your business. Obviously, the amount of revenue you’re able to generate depends on what you charge per certification and how many people you can enroll. Keep in mind, the amount you charge should be proportional to the value your students get out of the certification. The higher the stakes, the more you can charge. We’ll delve a little deeper into pricing in another lesson.
4. Build Authority / Thought Leadership
Use your certification course to become a respected voice and thought leader in your industry. If you’re able to develop a comprehensive training course on a relevant topic for your industry, students will be more willing to return to you in the future when they have other questions or problems to be solved, even if it doesn’t directly relate to the initial course.
Building authority through developing and teaching a course will help you grow other parts of your organization. After offering your initial course, you may find that there’s a demand for other courses, too.
5. Validation (For Employees)
Not all certification courses need to be done with the intention of developing another stream of revenue. Perhaps you’d like to create a certification course for your own employees. Formally educating your employees on company standards and procedures will improve your workforce and their output. Through your certification course, your employees will better understand your company’s policy, products, and services. This means that your employees are more confident at work and more adept at handling your customers. It also means less employee turnover.
One of the top reasons why employees leave a job is lack of training. Many employees feel like they’re thrown into the deep end and forced to sink or swim. By offering a comprehensive training course, you’ll teach your new (and even old) employees how to do the job at hand and how to improve their performance.
They’ll also learn valuable skills that they can take with them throughout their career – this is another selling point you can use when recruiting prospective employees.
As an example, look to companies like Apple or Zappos who invest in creating adept employees. Such companies have gained a reputation for supporting and training their workforce. If you can develop your own reputation for investing in your employees, you can become a trusted voice in your industry.
Answering The Question
Let’s go back to the original question: Is now the time to offer a certification program? Absolutely! To know more about creating your own program, download the free eBook How To Launch Your Own Certification Program.
