Salesforce coding lessons for the 99%Finally, Apex tutorials for point-and-click admins! Written by a self-taught Google engineer.
Salesforce coding lessons for the 99%
Preface: this post is part of the Study Guide: How to Earn 15 Salesforce Certifications series.
Before you attempt something incredible like passing 15 certifications, you have to have a plan.
Follow this checklist to make sure you’re mentally prepared to do this!
#1. Make sure you really want to get a ton of certifications
This step sounds almost silly, but I assure you, this adventure is not for everyone.
This guide is for you if…
This guide is NOT for you if…
Now that that’s out of the picture, if you’re still on board, read on.
#2. Set a goal for yourself. Officially.
Your goal should look something like this: I will earn 10 certifications in 10 months.
That’s a goal I believe is realistic for the average person who can set aside an hour a day to study. You’re welcome to change the numbers based on your own preferences. Just don’t make it too easy.
Now when I say you need to officially set a goal, that means you need to write it down. Write your goal on a piece of paper and put it somewhere where you’ll see it at least once a day. This could be on the door to your room, a poster on your wall, or even your desktop wallpaper.
The key is that you’re reminded of your goal often enough that you feel ashamed if you slack off!
#3. Prepare yourself for failure
You are guaranteed to fail certifications. And if you’re like me, you’ll fail many, many times.
You need to mentally prepare yourself and accept that failure is part of the learning process. Engrain it so deeply in your head that when you see the “FAIL” message on your computer screen after submitting your exam, you don’t feel bad. You have to be prepared to snap back and literally start studying again within the next 5 minutes. More info on this soon.
That said, fail certifications but don’t fail your goal!
#4. Budget your money now
If you’re serious about getting a ton of certifications, you have to be able to pay for it!
Let’s do a little bit of math here:
Your grand total comes out to be $5,000, rounding up to be safe. That’s a ton of money!
This doesn’t even include your annual maintenance exams, although with the recent Three Then Free policy, this comes out to “only” $300 per year.
If you can’t budget $5,000, make budget. Don’t let finances stop you from getting certified.
The reason is simple: getting certified will increase your salary far more than $5,000!
I don’t think it’s unrealistic for 10 certifications to increase your salary by $50,000!
If you still don’t think you can afford $5,000, see if you can convince others to pay for you, such as:
Remember, it’ll all be worth it after you pass!
#5. Have a reward in mind
Have a nice reward in mind.
If you’re going to increase your salary by $50,000, it’s not unreasonable to reward yourself with an expensive gift for all your hard work.
Now for this to be a proper gift…
For example, a trip to that one place you’ve always wanted to go to (Japan)! Or, a Nintendo Switch.
#6. Get a continuous dose of inspiration
These ones always do it for me:
The Magic Formula
And of course, check out all the latest success stories!
#7. Post your goal in the comments below
Internet fame and shame is a fantastic incentivizer!
Next post: How to pass each certification: The SFDC99 Method!
I will earn six certifications by 1-10-2021.
Thank you for sharing your strategies! Failed once. Salesforce Certified Admin by 30-AUG-2020.
Salesforce Administrator by 19th August 2020.
i got hooked on to your websites to learn Salesforce. Its been good so far.
I am just confused on how to go about in taking the certification, i need some guidance. I have worked as Salesforce tester for the past 4 to 5 years but never though of getting certification. But now i want to change my focus and start getting certifications in this area.
Any help from you will be appreciated.
Thank you Ren check out this full guide here!
https://www.sfdc99.com/ultimate-salesforce-certifications-guide/
Hey All… I do training for Salesforce and I put together a “Trail Guide” Playlist if you want some commentary as you go through your Salesforce Administration Trails.
My Request: Put the Trailhead Module (not just Trail) links into the Comments of each Video Session… UNTIL they are in the Description.
(I forgot to track all the links for each session, and I would love your help in cleaning up that resource for each person watching the video).
Good Luck and Thank You David for all your guidance.
I’m going from 3 Certs to 5 by the end of Aug 2020.
First in the 24 video Playlist:
I have been trying to register for “Salesforce Administration” Certification. I had written the exam earlier. I needed a few more scores. I am trying to re-register expecting USD 100 fee in stead of USD 200 fee as earlier. However, the web assessor does not seem to find my old account.
How to fix this ??
Gotta reach out to the Salesforce cert team for this!
I’m brand new to the SF world and looking for a coach/study buddy. I’m in retail and need a way out – Can we be salesforce dev friends?
– Chris G
Hey can you delete my last name from this? Thought it was needed, apologies.
Done =)
You rock, thanks David!
Dev 1, Community, Sales, Service, Marketing, and Einstein – All before the end of June.
I set a goal over the next 100 days to acquire Admin 1, Platform App builder, and Dev 1 Certs. I plan to tackle the first two as quickly as possible in order to focus the majority of my time on Dev 1. To me, this is a very big challenge I plan on posting daily via twitter to track progress/keep me accountable.
Very nice Mike!!
Hi David,
You are an inspiration. Taking some time off to encourage others is awesome. I am 15+ yrs CRM experience in Siebel and now turning myself into Salesforce. I did my Admin few months back. Now, I am determined to complete all System Architect pre-requisites + couple of domain certifications by EOY 2020, if not sooner. 1st thing for me is to dedicate time to read, practice and finish trails.
Thanks a lot for your contributions to community. Wish me good luck.
My best wishes to everyone !!.
Thanks David,
I will celebrate my 50 years old this Abril 2020 along with my Admin 201 and Sales Cloud Consultant certs, and by July completing my App Builder cert.
My history will be a 50 year old professional, emigrating from two countries (Venezuela and Argentina) in 2 and a half years, and starting over twice, while studying Salesforce, learning Portuguese and jumping from underpaying jobs to feed my family during the process!
After completing my challenges, I will have another one to overcome, it is finding a remote job to avoid moving.again
#resillience #ohana #SFsalvation
This is an achievement. I was in a similar situation.
I had been trying to move back/forth between India and USA as well try to meet my daughter studying in India. I have been trying to find a remote job in USA to work from India.
It looks like they want somebody already in USA.
What you could try to do is try to find local jobs as well as try to set up a salesforce consultancy and try to sell the Salesforce Solution for businesses in Real Estate, Insurance, Automobile, Education etc that can make a good use of Salesforce
I will get 3 certs within the next 6 months. I want to pace myself and not just learn to memorize, but to know and understand the material. Fighting!
I am actually living and breathing the situation that you have talked about. I have been so ashamed of failure.
I had my Platform App Builder and Admin certifications, then flunked Community Cloud and could not gather the courage to try again for almost a year. I came back and completed Service cloud but failed Sales Cloud last month.
But now I am prepared to keep going and earn 2 certifications every quarter and become a Salesforce Architect by June ’20.
Thanks for the inspiration
Proud of you man!!
I realize honesty and acceptance of my failures here has worked for me. I have kept the promise I made six months ago and am now a Salesforce certified Application Architect.
This journey through certifications has made me stronger and wiser. I’ll continue to learn, pick up certifications to become a System Architect by end of the year and make my career brighter.
Thanks a lot man for all the inspiration.
=)
I am looking for a new Salesforce Dev Role with 2 years exp and recruiters are constantly turning me down because I don’t have any certs! I will get 5 certificates by End 2020.
So thankful for this resource (your blog), can’t thank you enough. I will go from 1 certification to 12 certifications between now and the end of 2020.
Go get it man!!
Looking forward to getting Admin, Advanced Admin and Platform App Builder by the end of this year ! Thanks in advance for all the great help !
It is a good article.When I worked in Cool Gen / Advantage Gen (a 4 GL Tool ; It is very much 4th Industrial Revolution type of a tool) for 5+ yrs as developer and for 5+ yrs as a Administrator in USA for 4 Encyclopedias and supporting 10+ applications I did not do any certification. I was so much busy with the work.
But then after I moved to Salesforce (Salesforce is like advanced version of advantage gen in that it is also 4th industrial revolution product plus has the advanced technological developmental capabilities for Web and Mobile as well as Sales,Service, Marketing cloud etc) in 2008 I did not get time to write the certification exams. I did write one and some more scores needed to pass the exam.
I have made up my mind to write one more exam and get certified when I got chance. I am also short of money as I have been on bench since Feb 2019. I hope that I will get an employer who will hire me soon so that I get some funds to write the exam as well
Love you David!, it’s very inspiring. Will Soon plan for certificate…
This is incredibly inspiring (the comments too), I’m lucky enough to work at a company that loves his employees and encourages them to keep getting SF certs, I became and Admin and a Platform App Builder this year but reading your content makes me want to go for more! planning for 2 more before ending this year.
Excellent Article, Inspiration
This is a old story but I still would like to share ,I am a guy from non technical background, I got trained on Salesforce admin in the beginning back in 2012 in the company that I used to work for, and unfortunately my colleague and I failed 201 cert, so we were both was insulted by our trainer before the team of 20 , and the trainer told me I will never succeed in my life and his predictions never go wrong (I still remember his bitter words), and he informed the management to transfer me to different projects other than Sf as I was not capable of doing Sf, my colleague left the company after this insult and joined a different domain, I requested , infact I literally cried before my management for another chance, within 40 days from there I cleared 201,211,app builder and also bagged best performer award for 3 consecutive months and today I own 10 certs and working as Salesforce Consultant , best part is, I am also handling a team of 20 :) (in a different company though)
David, I should say ,you are Salesforce Genie , who full fills everyones dream of becoming Salesforce champions .
Keep going…
Wonderful story =) You did the hard work, keep that head up high!
Congrats!
David
Your stories are inspiring! All the best to everyone who posted. I am training to get my Salesforce Admin certification, and will take the test in the next several weeks.
Very inspiring! Could you please share the training materials you used for clearing the certifications
Read the full guide linked in the heading of this post for more info.
Loved the Guide! Thanks for putting this together and sharing with the world. Passing the exam is like taking a photo, being a good Salesforce Admin is like living a life full of photos, built over time.
I am brand new to Salesforce. I have studied maybe 18 hours in the past couple of weeks and my goal is to pass 2 Admin certifications in the next 6 weeks and start picking up part-time gigs by the end of the year.
Thanks!
Update – I passed my first Admin Cert on 11/3/18, after only 3 weeks exposure to Salesforce. I wouldn’t have had the courage to try or tips to pass without your Ultimate Guide!
Thanks!!
Congrats Jess =)
HI David!
I am new, totally new to this side of the world. I want to achieve First 3 certification which is Sales force Admin, App builder and Sales force developer.
I dont know where to begin, I have bought plural sight subscription and I have bought couple of courses from UDEMY. I am also learning slowly from trailhead.
which certification should I do first?
Need a proper guidance which path is good start?
Vivek
That’s covered later in this guide!
My goal is to complete Application Architect and System Architect by December 2018.
Out of which I completed
App Builder
Platform Developer
Integration Architecture Designer
I already own Sales cloud and Service cloud and Admin.
Thanks David Liu for your understanding not memorising tips !!
Best
Sandesh Kulkarni
I am aiming to give 2 certs in Aug ’18 and 6 by end of 2018 ! Thanks David your advice is very inspirational !
Good luck Siri!
I will get 2 certifications by end of the 2018.
I will get 3 certifications by end of 2018
I will earn Salesforce Administrator Certification before August 12th 2018
I planned 5 certifications this year, including this one that I missed twice :(.
I will rigorously test your method.
Currently am with PD1, planning to do the second certificate a soon.
Really I get BOOST, with words of David, am thankful to you always…..
Cheers,
Samyuktha.
I want to earn 6 certifications by the end of 2018. Thanks for the inspiration and the study guides! I wish I’d come across this site a couple of months ago.
Good luck Stacey!!!
I will get 4 certifications by the end of this year.
I am working on 3 certs in SF by end of 2018 – admin, sales cloud consultant and service cloud consultant. Fingers crossed!!
My goal is to get 2 certifications by April 3rd and get on a plane back to USA before I get barred from entering the country with my Green Card.
I am an Uber/Lyft driver and 47 years old. Time for a big change. I´m getting old and I cannot stand driving anymore. I have an Associates degree in IT but never worked with IT before. I need motivation guys!!!
You can do it friend! Make it happen!
I see the determination in your comment! You can do it!!!!!
I have started this year, and already I have 5 SF Certs – I think that with big commitment everything is possible.
Wow! Great progress Lukasz!!!!
Bro me too i am 50
Hey David,
Time to boost my professional career and time to get certified. AIming for Admin cert on 30th Dec. Next year, 2 more on the trail: advanced admin and service cloud consultant. Your sessions at India Dreamin were big moral boosters for me. Wish me luck!
Hi David,
I’ll complete 2 certification Admin and developer in 2018.
Regards
Syed
My goal is to get 6 Certifications by June 21 2018
My goal is to get 3 Certifications by March 28 2018
Hi David,
Came across your wonderful blog which has all the guidance in a very detailed and simple manner .
I have scheduled my Administrator exam for Jan 2018 !!I have started with the trail head for admin , have even bought a course on UDEMY . Are these two sufficient ? or I need to add more ?Please let me know if there are specifics which i need to concentrate on .
Thanks in advance:)
I’m aiming for Admin , Advanced Admin ,Developer in 2018 .Wish me luck :)
You got all you need Shilpa! =) It’s now on you to execute! Good luck!
Hi David ,
Woohoo :) I am a certified Salesforce admin now !! Cleared my exam in March 2018.. I was supposed to finish it by Jan but took a while to get on track and finish it . But the happy factor is that I have cracked the certification . Your guidance has helped me so much . I want to Thank you :)
I am planning on taking up the next certification exam . Could you please guide me if it is better to take up Advanced admin or Platform app builder next .
Also , should I start with a job since m currently on a break and in parallel prepare for the next certification ?
Please guide .
Thanks a ton
Shilpa
I generally recommend the order on this page:
https://www.sfdc99.com/2017/04/22/guide-to-passing-all-salesforce-certifications-2017/
Gotta feed yourself so keep looking for a job!
Woah !! m soooo happy to see your reply :)
Its like M in touch with the Salesforce GURU himself !! Okie then ,on track for the next certification.
Leaving an update here makes me more focussed . Thank a ton.
Keep motivating and guiding us .
=P
I currently have 7 Salesforce Certs. My goal is to have 10 by the end of 2017. Salesforce QtC, Advanced Admin and Platform Dev 1.
Great!!!!
I don’t have specific number that I will be having before I complete my Masters study. But you have motivated me to think of certification seriously keeping job prospects in mind and keeping the financial barrier aside.
Here we go. I have put this off too long. Tonight is the night I study for the Admin exam. I will take the test before 12/1 and be certified! Then by end of Dec, have the Dev I done.
^_^
I am lucky enough to have an employer willing to invest in me. They provided me with time, flexibility and financial support to do as many certifications as I want as long as I prioritize my projects. Since I was on the “bench” for the last month and a half, I completed 4 certifications in the last month alone! The “Buy 2 Get 2” promotion for designer’s certifications really motivated me.
I now have 12 certification and I intend to reach 16 by next spring.
Wow!! Great achievement!!!
Hi David,
My goal is to have another 3 certifications before the end of this year – Salesforce Admin, Sales Consultant, Cloud Consultant!
Hope i carry the motivation i have right now till the end
Go get em Ange!
Hi David,
I came across this blog after being laid off. I am determined to get 5 certifications by the end of the year. With me dedicating a good 4 hours a day to going through trailhead and udemy (I purchased 2 courses on Salesforce admin on sale). Do you think this would be enough to write the exams for Admin and Advanced Admin? Of course i will use the resources you have mentioned on this site, but was wondering if there was anything else I could leverage?
I have the time and desire to spend on upgrading my career. I no longer want to be at the mercy of companies and their misfortunes. I want to be in a place where if I get laid off in the future, I can quickly find a job bc i am so qualified. I see the way through Salesforce certification. I am hyped!
Thanks for putting this site together!
Excellent! Check out many of the success stories to see how people got 5 certs in really short amount of time!
Willpower is all you need to succeed in this industry, keep it up!
Hi David,
I was inspired by your page, so I recently set the goal to take and get 3 certifications at Dreamforce to take the cost down. I’m going to be studying as 3 hours a day (it helps that my commute is an hour each way), with an hour of studying the guides, 1 of flash cards, and then 1 of coding practice and classes (Apex Academy included!). I hope to earn the Advanced Admin, the Platform App Builder, and Platform Developer 1, and I’m already pounding away on the studying now!
Wish me luck,
José A.
Good luck Jose!!!!!
My goal is 100 certifications before 2018. With your free resources I am sure I can accomplish this. I do not have any yet but thanks in advance, David.
I don’t think your goals are ambitious enough sorry
Hey David, do you think I will impress girls when I get my certifications?
Hey baby, I got my 5 SalesForce certifications in 5 week. Do you wanna go out with me?
lol
Lol, well, my wife could care less how many certs I have so I’m gonna say no.
Women and dating is a big mystery to me but hope to hear your success story here soon! =P
I am taking lessons on Udemy in order to pass the Admin certification.
85 lessons, 40+ hours of video…!
Will be needing practice!
Was a solo-preneur from 2013 to 2017 and had a basic Salesforce account, the difficulty of which deterred me from using it for my simple needs.
Now looking to take a revenge on life after time wasted selling classic cars with what can essentially be called crooks…
Have 4 Hubspot certifications already and would love to learn what synergy can stem from using both tools.
Looking forward to signing up to Apex.
Thanks,
Thomas
France
Good luck Thomas =)
Thank you David for inspiration.
I will complete Platform Developer I and Platform App Builder in next 2 months.
Hi David,
Thanks David for your tutorials!!!
I am a mainframe developer and really looking to change my technology to something new like Salesforce. I have completed all your tutorials and really looking to get certified.
Could you please let me know which certification i should go for ?
Shubham
Welcome! This tutorial series recommends a certain order, read on!
Wow!!! Great post and motivated to see the comments. I aim to pass Salesforce admin, Sales & service cloud by end of this year. I need to be really focused and achieve my goal. Many thanks to David,
Good luck everyone!
Regards
Saleema
Goooo Saleema!
I want to complete 4 more certifications by end of Dec. I currently only have my admin 201
Yay Maria!!!
He Liu,
I will get 2 certifications in the next 2 months, i.e End of June 2017.
I am taking the inspiration to become a SF Developer from one of my friend who is currently working as a SF Developer.
Coming to my background, I am currently working as Web Designer, so can you please help me out that which certifications that I have to choose first.
Can you please help me in this.
Gotta read this post!
https://www.sfdc99.com/2017/04/22/guide-to-passing-all-salesforce-certifications-2017/
Love the goal of not getting out of whack by failing the exams. I failed my first 2 Admin 201 exams and thought, after hearing soooooo many people say how easy it is, that I may not be cut out for SF.
It is nice to hear there are others that have difficulties with SF.
No worries at all, IMO that one is one of the most difficult!
Passed the Platform App Builder transition yesterday, was not as straight forward as I was hoping. This was also my first online exam on your advice, and it surely is much better to take the exams online, there is so much flexibility with the scheduling as well.
I have scheduled the Platform Dev 1 a few weeks from now, and plan to get the Application Architect requirements in next 6 weeks.
Thanks David for all the guidance and motivation.
Congrats!!!
Hi David!! Wanted to update that I have done Platform Dev 1 and Sharing Designer now. SFDC99 has been a big help in this, specially in motivating to go for this. Now Data Architect next :)
Yay!!! Congrats Ranvijay!!! BIGTIME!!!
Just wanted to let everyone know that I have completed all the four pre-reqs of the Application Architect exam now. And also did Adv Admin to take the total count to 10 ;)
5 certifications in 5 weeks. Yayyyyaaayyy :) :)
Thanks a lot David for all the inspiration, strategies and materials. For sure I would not have gone for it if I had not visited SFDC99.
Woohoo!!! Congrats Ranvijay!! Very proud of you and very impressive!!!
Hi,
Greetings of the day,
I am planning to take Platform App builder certification.I am worried about this certification.
Could you please guide me what I need to study and concentrate, and also provide me exact dumps, whether all the questions come from the dumps ? .please help me. I ll be grateful to you, Thanks in advance.
Congrats Ranvijay, :) I am planning to take Platform App builder certification.I am worried about this certification.
Could you please guide me what I need to study and concentrate, and also provide me exact dumps, whether all the questions come from the dumps ? .please help me. I ll be grateful to you, Thanks in advance.
Failed my Administrator Exam the first time around, it was a tough test. I have not failed a test in many, many years, heck I passed my NREMT exam first go round, not bragging, just saying the Administrator exam is tough. But I am more determined than ever to pass. I am going to use the methods David (thanks!!) shows on this site to study for a week straight and re-take it. I will be testing againg the week of May 15th 2017 and will report back that I have passed. David is right, ANYONE can do this, I started this goal / journey on Feb 18th 2017. 3 mos in and I almost passed the Administrator exam my first try.
David, you have been a great help to me, thanks again,
Travis W
That’s the spirit!!
I want to earn 2 certs by end of June.
YAY!!
I will get 3certs every month
Very nice! Good luck!
I’m hyped and inspired to get my first cert in two weeks
You can do it Joe!!!!
I received my first 4 certifications from 2013-2015(Admin, Developer, Sales, Service), but “didn’t have time to pursue” others until now. I made a goal in 2017 to earn 5 more certs this year, and have achieved two (Platform App Builder and Community Builder). I’m currently studying for the Advanced Administrator and Sharing & Visibility Designer in the next month. Wish me luck!
Good luck Efren!! Glad you are prioritizing this now!!
Thanks David! Just passed my Advanced Admin today (on the second attempt, I got caught off guard the first time with reporting and Sales Cloud questions). But I continue to move onward. I may take a little more time before I get my Sharing & Visibility Designer cert since it’s $400(!!!). As you said, need to save up.
Got my first 2 certs at Destination Success App Builder and Admin. Working on Dev 1 then Dev 2, then Admin 2 then Sales Cloud and Service Could that’s 7 before the end of the year. Motivated by you and the prize(s) I plan for myself at the end.
Great goal!! Congrats!!
Awesome post. My goal is to pass my CTA certification review board exam this year! I haven been working with other CTAs and coaching as well was reviewing online materials. I think I have strong understanding of all domains. Just need to button it up!
I wish you luck Gustavo!!! A massive achievement no doubt!
Dave, You are the best. The way you constantly encourage Salesforce community to succeed in their careers and lives is awesome. I hope one day in the nearest future, I shake your hand and be share my gratitude with a beer. God bless you and your loved ones.
Thank you Bhaskar, very kind of you =)
Great article, David. Got my 3rd in March, planning on having 8 by the end of 2017. Want to add CPQ Specialist, Service Cloud Consultant, Community Cloud Consultant, Advanced Admin, and potentially giving Platform Dev I a shot :-)
Congrats Bill!!
I currently have three now looking to get my fourth this month! Will shoot for three between Sept. and Dec.of this year. In 2018 shooting for all the Architect specialization certs. IT’S ON!! I needed this motivation!!! Thank you!!
NICE!!!
Today i just passed the Platform Developer I. Working the plan!! Again, thank you for your encouragement and inspiration!
Yea!!!! Congrats Chad!!
PDI is HUGE! HUGE!!!!!!
Hi David,
It really inspired me. As I am new. I am planning to give PD1 certification exam next 2 months. And After that I can increase my speed.
But I need your suggestion. Is it really good to give directly PD1 certification after getting trained on Sales force from last 4 months ?
Will post my philosophy on this shortly!
2 by year’s end. Your story @David is very inspiring. THANK YOU!
Already have 4 certifications. Will earn another 5 by EOY 2017.
Looking forward for 4 Certifications in upcoming months , Thanks for motivating David
Good luck Paarth!
Thanks David, I’m really looking forward to the rest of this series! So far, I’ve achieved already 4 certifications in 5 weeks following your previous advice. My goal is in the next two months to pass the Service Cloud and Platform Dev I Certifications. And my next goal after that is to pass Sharing & Visibility and Data Architecture & Management to become an Application Architect by Dreamforce.
WOW!!! Great velocity!! Proud of you John!!!! WOW!!!
I’ll be honest, when I saw the costs of the designer certs, I was a bit concerned given that they’re about $400 a pop and there are 6. I’ve decided that I will revisit those at a later time given my budget. For now, my next big goal is to get community cloud and Platform Dev 1 certified within the next eight months, which is great because my employer is looking into the Community Cloud for our staff. You’re courses in Pluralsight and constant guidance has helped me and many others. I can say it a billion times over, but when I talk to others about Salesforce, I often reference you among many other Salesforce rock stars as someone who’s changed my career and in turn my life!
Thanks Medhanie, you’re a rock star yourself!!
Excellent!!
I will get 4 certifications in the next 4 months! Platform App Builder, Platform Developer 1, Platform Developer 2, Advanced Administrator.
Thanks for all the motivation!
BOOM!!