You’re Not Starting From Zero: The 70% Rule for Certification
Your existing IP is worth more than you realize. Here’s how to make it certification-ready.
Over the last several months, I’ve been having a version of the same conversation.
The question I keep getting: "Am I ready to build a certification?"
The answer I keep giving: "You've probably been ready for a while."
There's this persistent myth that certifications are ivory tower territory. That you need to be LEED or some massive accreditation body to create a legitimate credential. That the barrier to entry is prohibitively high.
But there is a really unique and powerful opportunity for businesses to leverage existing IP to create certifications.
If you’ve written a book, built a course, taught workshops, or documented your process for clients, you’ve already done the hard part. That’s your IP. And it’s usually 70–80% of what a certification requires.
When we work with leaders, the first thing we do is audit what already exists. Books. Slides. Course modules. Case studies. Frameworks. We line them up against what certification needs:
- A standard (what good looks like)
- Education content (teaching to that standard)
- Assessment (verifying competency)
Most of the time, the standard is already embedded in your work. The education is 70% there. What’s left is packaging: pricing, positioning, brand, and renewal.
We recently had a conversation with a super neat golf fitness company. They already had a training app and a clear methodology, but they needed some support in formalizing their existing work into a certification that would attract members, build credibility, and ultimately grow their business.
All we did was:
- Formalize their method into a standard
- Reorganize their videos into education modules
- Build pricing and branding around the credential
If you’ve built IP that delivers results, you’re closer to certification than you realize.
👉 What IP have you already built that might be 70% of the way there?
Reply and let me know if I can help.
Onward,
Shane
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