An exciting revenue-generating strategy for non-fiction authors is to create a certification program. In this case, you would develop a training program (most likely in your field of expertise) and participants would complete some sort of test at the end to be considered certified in your program.
Jim Horan, author of The One Page Business Plan, has built a brilliant business around his book. He offers certification programs to consultants who want to teach his methods, transforming them into agents who promote his brand and his books as certified One Page Business Plan consultants. Participants invest several thousand dollars to go through the online course and complete the certification program, and then are sent out to teach Horan’s methods all over the world. He’s not the only author to do this. Michael Gerber, Michael Port, and John Jantsch all offer similar programs.
Jan B. King is a publishing consultant who developed a certification program for virtual assistants to become certified authors’ assistants: (http://www.authorsassistanttraining.com/). Participants learn strategies for helping authors promote their books, and in return they receive a certification to put on their career résumés and get listed in an online directory: http://authorsassistants.com/. (By the way, this is a great place to find an assistant.)
You will find all kinds of certification programs out there, and if you can find a need within your target audience, you can certainly create a program of your own.
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