Certifications: Selling Credibility For Passive Income
Crystal posted this on July 14, 2008
That may sound like a hustle—and it can be—but distributing credibility via certifications is totally legitimate and so common that it’s almost invisible. Whether a high school diploma or college degree, state board license or driver’s license, Social Security card or passport, or any industry certification, the structure is the same:
- A trusted industry expert or organization or company or entity requires a minimum standard for identity, knowledge and/or performance and offers a certification that, if achieved, sprinkles Magic Credibility Dust on the heads of…
- Folks meeting the standard and proving their ability, who can then show the cert to…
- Other folks wanting third-party verification
This is a game where everyone wins. The folks wanting a third-party verification get a single piece of paper that represents the hassle of testing and verifying the certificate holder’s credentials, abilities, and knowledge. With a trusted certificate, they’re assured the holder: 1) is who they say they are, 2) knows what they say they know, and/or 3) can do what they say they can do.
The folks who acquire certifications get credibility-by-association, which is especially helpful for newcomers to a field. Certifications don’t replace real-world experience, but they do offer potential clients or employers that bit of proof.
What does the certifier get? Well, they get paid, of course.
So Where’s The Money?
The money is all along the certification process, from application to training and testing to the piece of paper at the end. Here are some examples—
- Last week I mentioned Jim Horan, a consultant who earns passive income by certifying other consultants to resell his licensed One Page Business Plan system. He charges $2,800 to $10,000 for training and certification, as well as a $250-$750 annual license renewal fee.
- Microsoft administers their technical certifications through authorized testing centers worldwide, with exam fees at around $125. Certification tracks require up to 7 exams.
- Microsoft outsourced administration of their Microsoft’s Office Specialist (MOS) certification to Certiport, who also administers exams via authorized testing centers, these at around $80 each. The Master Specialist track requires 4 exams, and the Master Instructor status requires all of that plus proof of teaching experience and a $95 application fee.
- Learn2Type offers a self-administered online typing test, where it’s free the take the test, but the certification itself costs $19.99 plus shipping.
- BrainBench has 575+ self-administered online exams for everything from ASP to XML at $49.95 each, which includes a hardcopy certificate. They also have a subscription plan for $199 a year with unlimited access to their entire exam library.
So when I tell you Jim Horan has 400+ certified consultants paying $250+ annually to maintain their certification, and that Certiport’s 12,000 testing centers have delivered 5.5 million exams at $80+ each, and that BrainBench has delivered over 8 million exams online at up to $49.95 a piece, you can appreciate the earning potential in offering—or even just administering—certifications.
I bet you can think of at least 3 more certifications I didn’t list here…every industry has their own. When you have them in mind, put on your Passive Income Glasses and look closely at the setup. Is it passive income? Could it be?
Mmmm! Passive Income…
Clearly, the passive income part depends on what the certification is based on and how it’s administered. If the certification requires a personal interview with each applicant, then that setup is the opposite of passive income.
But if certification depends on background verification and testing, it’s easy enough to delegate the daily operations to staff, contractors, or technology.
Jim Horan’s applicants attend teleclasses that may be taught by him, but are likely facilitated by qualified members of his consulting team. Microsoft and Certiport both outsourced some, if not all, of their certification administration to partners. Learn2Type and BrainBench offer online exams that are 100% web-based, so staff need only print and mail certificates.
But you can already see trouble brewing, can’t you?
Fakers, Cheaters, and Other Credibility Killers
A certificate’s value is wrapped in the credibility of the certifier and/or the certification process. Obviously the certifier has to be trusted and respected, but the process has to do its share of the heavy lifting when it comes to establishing the certificate holder’s credibility. If the client or agent or customer doesn’t know, respect, or believe in what the certificate represents, it’s just paper.
For example, I’m an ordained Scribe. Seriously. The Universal Life Church openly offers free online ordainment. I typed my name in a box and clicked a button. Done! The only thing easier would’ve been wielding my pen as a magic wand and tapping my head with it. “Poof! I’m a Scribe!”
And while the certification seems a bit of a sham, the certifying body is legit—apparently my state recognizes UCL’s instant ordainment as proof of my qualification to hold marriage ceremonies. Still, it didn’t take much so it doesn’t mean much. The easy-peasy process is a credibility killer.
Fakers will wreck a certification’s credibility, too. MCSE bootcamps are legendary in the IT world for churning out legions of underqualified systems engineers who are well-trained to pass Microsoft’s certification exams, but not necessarily able to handle the job their certificate gets them. So while employers like to see these certs, they’re not a golden ticket.
And of course there are the cheaters, whose certifications are worth less than nothing. They memorize the answers from stolen tests, pay someone else to take the test in their place, or buy the certification outright from an unethical or unauthorized vendor. When word gets out that the certification can be bought, it’s absolutely worthless…forever.
But some credibility killers are built into the certification process by the certifier. For example, the BrainBench and Learn2Type exams are 100% online, and therefore 100% honor system. I’ve taken their tests, and I believe that they are valid ability tests. But anyone at all could take the tests in my place, so what good are they at proving MY ability?
Also, I’ve seen would-be professional certifications (naming no names here), where the passing exam score was near failure by any other educational standard—a pitiful 63%. The certification’s documented benefit is it proves holders “have key job skills”. I’d begin or end that with “barely”, based on their low expectations.
Which is all to say that offering and/or administering certifications can make for great passive income, but it’s not without pitfalls and hazards and it’s fair share of rogues. If you take this on, step carefully and guard aggressively.
Some Last Thoughts
So developing a certification process into a passive income generator isn’t tough, and I shared plenty of examples of people, organizations, and companies who are earning heaps of money from it.
The challenge is in gaining and maintaining the credibility that gives the certificate it’s true value. And it’s as much about the certification process as it is the certifying body…maybe even more.
Because above all, a certificate’s purpose is to provide proof that the certificate holder has demonstrated their knowledge or skills, and if the certification process is lame or flawed or easy to circumvent or nonexistent, it’s not worth a helluvalot to anyone.
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40 Responses to “Certifications: Selling Credibility For Passive Income”
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We have a hard time trying to find a certified tech in our business. Sad that people would even try to falsify documents or scam. I run a legit business and have no time or money to waste especially on this crap. I went to the Ministry site and I am too a Scribe. Scary thought since I have little to no religious beliefs. Great post keep them coming.
dang thats a lot of info to swallow, but its very interesting. ill prolly have to read it 2 or 3 times to get it all down
-KeLLi
@Beth—Howdy! The UCL is very open about being available to folks with little or no religious beliefs, so you fit right in
And it is so very dumb to scam a certification exam. Besides being unethical (and maybe even illegal), don’t people realize that at some point they’re going to be required to perform at a level the cert promises? Sheesh! No forethought.
@Kelli—Yeah, this post was a mouthful…I should have broken it up over two posts…or maybe two weeks
Wow, thanks for the article. It’s awesome! I’ll need to read it again! lol
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@Eric—Welcome, thanks, and my pleasure…and okay, okay, no more posts over 750 words
I just spent my hours on line getting all my class time completed so I could be certified in Googles Ad word and Analytics. I will let you know how the passive income hits in the near future!
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Interesting post Crystal. The math looks great.
Quite a few open source projects make their money through certifications for partners & implementors. I wonder what other things besides software can be given away for free while charging for certifications?
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echoing sterling post. Math really looks great!
I need to read the article again and again on order to digest all the information.
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You should check out one of my clients site, http://ki-work.com
They are building a global marketplace for online work that is built on this certification and accreditation necessity. The play is genius as it empower groups to become trusted and visible not just one off freelancers. Imagine an entire network of professionals ready to go to work. A network of trusted experts in their field.
Fortunately, in our business, we have “continuing education.” So no matter how many titles you have behind your name, you still have to keep learning. Not a bad idea!
This is totally true, whether its a piece of paper or word of mouth, credibility means everything. Who would want to hire a contractor that no one has ever heard of?? Btw, check out my website,
http://www.businesscashadvanceloan.com
The catch to earning a passive income from certification is that you have to already have a great reputation of a professional organization behind you in order for anyone to want your certification.
I am certified in public relations the the Public Relations Society of America. It requires a long written exam, an oral exam to pass, then continuing education to maintain.
PRSA makes money of the certification, but none of the people who help with the training and testing do.
We miss your posts…
@GirlPie Thank you
I miss them too. Soon…
And I miss y’all. See you next week, I hope…
Got a few of these types of qualifications and they have proved valuable.
Crystal,
I’m so glad to see you haven’t forgotten about us. I am really looking forward to getting more sneak peaks inside your brain!
Impossible to forget y’all
Still up to my eyebrows, but starting to peek above…
Research is the key. By doing the necessary research on who is reliable and not, we are assure we got the best service we want and need.
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I never really gave this much thought, although I know the degree that I’m working towards is certainly having me jump through a lot of hoops! So you’re an ordained Scribe? LOL. I would love to get some BS certs just for the fun of it.
There’s this Golden Key Club honors group, that operates at most colleges, and their entrance fee is around $100. Sounds like a scam, but it’s a real organization with support from the colleges. Where does the money go? Well, call me a sucker but I’m a member just to have it on my resume, and I think this is the idea behind most certifications in general…
All of that is good but by the way you say it sounds like fake certifications. Nothing like legal documentation following the normal procedure.
Math really looks great!Great article……Thanks for the post.
You are so right. Certifications have to mean something. That’s why I think the best ones are from professional associations.
However, you have given me some ideas. I have a textbook that is used in many public relations university programs to teach PR students to design for target public characteristics rather than for aesthetics.
The research on those characteristics is the foundation for my site and blog.
Maybe I can develop a certificate program for students who have been taught using my textbook.
Warmly,
Linda P. Morton
pretty helpfull. but very confusing at the same time lol… could work on my degree more..
Absolutely brilliant! I never even considered the idea of issuing certifications for others as a revenue stream. This will definitely take some more thought. Thanx!
I have also tried various brain dumps for passing MCSE exams. I am of the view that those all are money wastage.
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Certified tech are not easy to get indeed! if one prepares seriously and with dedication it could indeed be a great advantage.
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Thanks for the post. It’s amazing! I’ll need to read it again!
great article! read it twice.
Cash For Gold
sure qualifications are important, but equally if not more important is your reputation, and that takes time to build regardless on the qualifications you may or may not have.
Thats new thing. Now everyone can create passive income even at home. You can make your own website and then earn money from that. Real Estate is albo good way to making money. Just slow down with your day job and concentrate on your small business. Even 100$/month passive income is better than nothing at the beginning.
Now everyone can create passive income even at home. You can make your own website and then earn money from that. Real Estate is albo good way to making money. Just slow down with your day job and concentrate on your small business. Even 100$/month passive income is better than nothing at the beginning.
Certification is a huge thing in business as people always want to see if the person they are dealing with is gone through some type of certified training.
Good article! Although i have an MSCE, experience beats all certs and quals hands down.
while certs prove to be a huge advantage when getting yourself employed, in the end experience and attitude will be important factors that employers look at if they’d keep you or not…
I will definetly be considering offering certifications as a form of revenue. This blog was really helpful. I run my business in London, UK and this has pointed out a very interesting revenue stream idea. Expecially as my business is still quite small this will come in handy!
Thanks
That’s one hell of a good post there Crystal!This one is indeed very informative.Hubby is done with his Microsoft certification and you said it right it spells a hefty sum of expenses for us and a good source of passive income for others!
Lengthy article, but covers a wide variety of information that is beneficial for all
Well, we work so hard for the certs but when you started to work it is the hardwork + attitude that proves to be more important~
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I noticed that most big companies prefer getting employees who undergo certifications especially in IT business wherein they prefer having employees who are Cisco or Microsoft certified.
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