In our year-long celebration of the 10th anniversary of the PESO Model©, we are launching something new every month to help you integrate and implement it more effectively in your day-to-day work.
So far, we’ve refreshed the framework and graphic, built a free and ever-evolving guide, and updated the PESO Model Certification© online course.
For April (coming in right under the wire!), we are introducing a new program called the PESO Model Certified Guide©. This program is designed for solopreneurs and agency owners to help them grow their businesses and deliver results with the PESO Model at the center. The certification is also included if they aren’t don’t already have that.
It is the start of a program that will educate business leaders on the importance of hiring PESO Model-certified professionals. By the 20th anniversary of the PESO Model, we anticipate thousands of solopreneurs, agencies, communications professionals, and students certified in the framework and be the driving force behind ensuring that the work we all do is ethical, responsible, and measurable.
Fiercely Protecting Our IP
When I wrote about the PESO Model in Spin Sucks, the book, I had no idea it was going to take the industry by storm. In the past decade, I’ve learned a lot about intellectual property, copyrights, what to monetize, and what to give away for free.
It’s always been important to me that the framework be free for the entire industry, so we offer it under Creative Commons. This means you can share and distribute it if you provide proper credit. You may not use it for commercial purposes, remix, transform, or build upon it. But if you want to use it in presentations, blog posts, videos, or on your website, have at it! All you have to do is provide credit to Spin Sucks and link to our website. That’s it!
Still, I have learned that many individuals, big companies, and large PR firms like to pretend they created it. Or that their version of it is the official one. Or that, because they changed it to match their brand colors and include things they do day-to-day, it’s OK to use without credit.
How to Properly Use the PESO Model
It’s not. It’s like selling soda and creating a logo that looks like Coke or Pepsi but has a different name. How fast would an attorney come after someone for that?
We’ve had to become extraordinarily diligent in ensuring that it’s used correctly and that our IP is fiercely protected.
As I’ve gained more experience and confidence, it’s become clear that one way to protect our IP is to have an army of professionals certified in using the model to educate their audiences. We started by creating a grassroots effort with students.
Today, if someone graduates with a PR, marketing, or advertising degree, most have at least a cursory knowledge of the PESO Model. We’re working to get the formal certification into programs across the country so young professionals go into the working world knowing how to implement it effectively. (If you’re a professor and want to discuss what that looks like in your classroom, let me know!)
Now it’s time to level up and teach professionals how to use it internally or with their clients.
PESO Model Certified Guide© Program
This is how the seed of the PESO Model Certified Guide program germinated in my brain (that and some really hard bike rides where I had to think about something else, or I might have died).
So what the heck is the program? I’m glad you asked!
A PESO Model Certified Guide is a professional who is certified in using the framework. It is someone who has learned how to use the model directly from us—how to sell it, implement it, measure it, and teach it. We bless this person to use it to grow their business and drive results for clients.
There are plenty of people out there who say they use it or tell clients they can execute it, but when it comes down to brass tacks, very few actually know how. We are here to solve that!
Once certified, the Guide can consult with businesses to help them integrate and implement a multi-year program with demonstrable results.
Spin Sucks supports Guides with a 12-month program, an annual license to use the PESO Model framework, and ongoing support. We refer certified Guides to businesses looking for PESO Model help. The Guides can work with us to coach and mentor other Guides, and eventually, they can also become affiliates.
Right now, the program is perfect for a solopreneur or agency owner looking to fill their pipeline with qualified leads and have more consistency in their new business efforts.
What Is Included?
First off, let’s talk about what’s included in the program. It consists of the following:
- The PESO Model Certification©, which has evolved to a partnership with USC Annenberg School for Journalism
- Monthly group coaching calls with a dedicated coach (for founding members, that will be me!)
- Unlimited email, text, or Slack access to your group leader
- A license to use the PESO Model framework, with an annual renewal
- Exclusive PESO Model content and tools to help you generate more leads
- Access to a private community of Guides for referrals, camaraderie, and collaboration
- Affiliate opportunities when you sell products like the PESO Model Certification and some of our other PESO Model products
- A business profile in the Spin Sucks directory where you can generate more high-paying clients
What Are the Outcomes?
I mentioned earlier that solopreneurs and agency owners are the best people to join. It’s for those who want to better understand the PESO Model framework, how to implement it, how to sell it, how to price it, and how to encourage existing clients to expand their budgets to use it.
Because this program is built for those who need to drive business growth, much of the work we’ll do together will focus on this area.
You will receive tips on lead generation, new business meeting structure, relationship building, and increasing close rates. We will provide feedback on materials you create that blend your brand with the PESO Model and help you better understand, communicate, and implement the PESO Model with new and existing clients.
We’ll have a program specific to in-house marketers and communicators later this year.
How Long Does It Last?
The program lasts 12 months, and the first two months are focused on the PESO Model Certification. Once you receive that and have built a business development plan for this work, you can begin using the process inside your business. It’ll probably take 90 days, and then we’ll set you free to start generating income.
If you already have the PESO Model Certification, we will discount your fee to join this program and have you do a refresh (depending on when you last took it). There are no additional fees. Everything is included. You will have a separate annual re-certification fee, which won’t be required for a year.
What Happens After Graduation?
Once you graduate as a Certified Guide, you will be well on your way to implementing the PESO Model framework with new and existing clients, charging more for your services, paying yourself what you’re worth, and delivering demonstrable client results.
You will become an affiliate for our other programs, including the acclaimed PESO Model Certification. You will be included in our directory, which matches you to qualified prospects.
You will also be eligible to become a mentor for the next group of Guides. If you would like to consider this, your annual recertification fee will be waived as long as you are a mentor.
If you can’t be a mentor, that’s OK, too! We’ve built the program to be flexible enough to meet everyone’s needs.
Become a PESO Model Certified Guide
If you’re interested, please let me know as soon as possible. You can email, text, Slack, or DM me. Whatever is easiest for you. If you want to email it, send it to our support email address and my team will forward it to me.
So there you have it! As of this writing, I have two spots left. Once those are filled, we’ll launch the founding members program. Anyone interested who doesn’t get one of the last remaining spots will be put on a waiting list. You will have a chance to join us in 90 days.
And if you have questions I haven’t answered here, just let me know! I’m happy to discuss it with anyone and everyone.
PESO Model dominance, here we come!
