Do You Need Certification To Create Online Courses?

Do You Need Certification To Create and Sell Online Courses?

You have this amazing course idea and are excited to share your knowledge and make money while at it but you don't feel like you have what it takes to make such a step.

And so, you keep asking yourself; "Do I have the required experience?" "Will my students think that I am an expert?" "Do I need to be certified to my field to teach others?"

I get that, because I'm a course creator just like you, and those same thoughts crossed my mind as well.

As a new course creator, it's normal to experience some level of imposter syndrome. You are scared that people might see you as a fraud and that you're not good enough yet to teach others.

I had that exact same feeling when I started my journey as a course creator. I had all the usual self-doubts that any content creator or entrepreneur has when just starting out.

And it took me quite a while to get past that fear.

So, do you need a certification in order to teach online?

In general terms, you don't necessarily need a certification to create and sell online courses.

However, if you are creating a course on a specific topic that does require some certification or licensing, such as teaching a nursing course, you will need the appropriate certification or license.

Additionally, if you are creating a course on a topic that involves sensitive or regulated information, such as financial or legal advice, you want to make sure that you obtain any relevant certifications or credentials to demonstrate your expertise and credibility to your students.

Ultimately, whether or not you need certification to create and sell online courses will depend on the specific topic and content of your course, and local laws and regulations in your country.

One thing is for sure, that are usually several other ways to earn the trust of your students other than having a certification, and I will cover many of them in this post.

In this article, I am going to share what I learned about certification and its need in online course creation.

So, without much ado, let's dive right in!

Table of contents

You can also check out all the free guides at the Course Creator Academy by clicking on the Academy link on the top menu bar.

If you are looking to learn how to sell online courses here is my most detailed guide on it: How to Sell Online Courses? The Ultimate Guide

Do I Need To Be An Expert To Create Online Courses?

The simple answer is that you don't need to be certified or be an expert to create and sell online courses.

You just need to know enough to teach your students. As long as you're knowledgeable in an area more than a group of people, you can create online courses in that area.

But that depends on your topic or field.

For example, for certain topics, some sort of degree or certification might be needed depending on the country where you're based and the local laws and regulations.

So, you want to make sure that you research your local laws to be sure that your course topic doesn't require any sort of certification before teaching.

But generally, no certification is needed to create and sell online courses as long as you can teach what you know based on your experience.

But if you have any certification, then you should mention it because it helps to sell the courses by building trust among your students.

It convinces them that you're an expert in the field and know a lot more than they do. In other words, certifications add more value to your online course.

However, if you don't have any, there are other ways to reinforce how valuable your courses are to your students and get them to trust you enough to want to purchase your course.

How To Establish Trust Among Your Students And Be Seen As An Expert?

To generate enough course sales without any certification, it's essential that you spend some time creating and nurturing trust among your students. So, how do you achieve this?

Offer valuable courses

Of course, the first step in establishing trust with your students is to make sure that your courses are valuable. You should focus on teaching them specific parts of what they want to know.

It means that you need to understand your audience so well to figure out what they are struggling with and then offer insights on how they can get past that problem.

If you teach them 3 or 4 things that they were struggling to understand, they will trust you implicitly because you have already proven that you can help them in an effective way.

And if you're still a beginner, you can start by creating valuable short courses and use them as a lead magnet to grow your audience.

Create insightful content

Aside from the courses, you also need to offer insightful content in the form of podcasts, blog posts, and infographics.

And depending on your field, you can also opt to write for certain publications.

First, this strategy increases your online visibility and invariably your expertise. The more insightful content you put out there, the more your audience will see you as an expert.

It also reinforces your potential to your audience. When they can gain value from your free content, they will be highly motivated to purchase your online course.

Show your background

This is another smart way to build trust with your students in the absence of any certification. You have to let them know what makes you qualified enough to teach them.

Of course, you didn't just stumble on the knowledge you have right now. You went through learning curves and gained experiences that eventually made you a guru in your field.

How did you get interested in your course niche? How and when did you start learning? Are there achievements or career goals you have scored with the knowledge you acquired?

You need to explain all of these. Let your audience know your background and how you arrived where you currently are.

This is why it's important to have an "About" or "Bio" page on your course website. You can tell your story there.

Show off student testimonials

What better way to gain your audience's trust than showing off testimonials of students who have purchased and taken your online course?

Showcasing these testimonials is enough proof to your audience that you'll teach them what they need and they will get value for their money.

And that's because humans are naturally influenced to subscribe to something when they see that people are doing well in that area.

It's called the "Bandwagon effect" and you can use that strategy to draw in more students to your online course if you don't have any certification to show off.

Conclusion: What's Next?

It has been established that while certificates are helpful in establishing trust with your students, you don't necessarily need one to fully bear the "Course creator" title.

You can start creating and selling your online courses as long as there is a significant knowledge gap between you and your students. That is to say that you know something that they don't know and they are willing to learn from you.

Also, as long as the rules and regulations in your country aren't against teaching in a particular field without the needed certifications, you're free to create your courses.

There are other ways to establish trust with your students and get them to see you as an expert in your field.

You start by offering valuable courses, creating insightful content, showing off students' testimonials, and sharing your background with them.

Now, it's time to ditch that imposter syndrome, shun the voice that keeps telling you that you're not good enough, and go out there and kickstart your course creation business.

However, you'll need an excellent platform to host your online courses. OnlineCourseHost.Com is that platform for you.

You're not only saving yourself from the technical headaches that come with setting up a website but also getting the best platform features at a very affordable price.

But more than a platform, we want to give you all the information that you need to grow your online course business successfully.

That’s why we have created the Course Creator Academy where you can find everything you need to become a successful online course creator all in one place for free.

To get notified when new content is available here at the Academy, you can subscribe here to our weekly newsletter:

If you are looking to ask any questions on online course creation, you can reach me here on my Facebook group:

Join the Course Creator Academy Facebook Group

Ready to learn how to launch your first course on OnlineCourseHost.com? Here are the helpful guides for you to check out: