Awards for Online Course Creators and Educators: How to Enter

If you build online courses or run an education-led infobusiness, the Glonary® Awards Influencers and Infobusiness category is designed for creators and online educators, and it judges them on results. Entries are scored by an expert jury against five published criteria, with no public voting. This guide explains who can enter, how judging works, and how to turn learner outcomes, programme design and business sustainability into evidence a jury can actually score.

Who can enter and what the category recognises

The Influencers and Infobusiness category recognises creators and online educators on the strength of their results. Participation is open internationally. Founders, innovators, creators and industry leaders can enter with an implemented project, and individual professionals at Senior / C-level or above are also eligible. Companies, startups and teams take part through an authorised representative.

Two rules matter in particular for educators:

• Timing: the achievement you describe must have taken place within the last five years.
• Implementation: the programme is aimed at implemented projects, so read the Competition Rules and Eligibility carefully to confirm what qualifies before you start writing.

If you are 35 or under, you may also be eligible for Young Innovators. Note that the same project may not be entered in both Young Innovators and another category within the same cycle, so choose the category that fits your work best.

How entries are judged

Understanding the scoring helps you decide what to include. According to the Judging Process, every entry is scored independently by at least three appointed jury members. Each scores five equally weighted criteria from 0 to 10, and the final score is the average of all valid evaluations.

Recognition levels are fixed:

• Gold: 9.00–10.00
• Silver: 8.00–8.99
• Bronze: 7.00–7.99

Entries below 7.00 receive no recognition, and their scores remain confidential. Because there is no public voting, audience size alone does not move the score. What counts is how convincingly your entry addresses each criterion.

Mapping your evidence to the five criteria

Course creators are often skilled marketers, which can work against them in a judged setting. Sales-page language such as “life-changing” or “the best programme on the market” gives a juror nothing to score. Instead, connect each piece of evidence to a specific criterion.

Originality & Innovation

Explain what is genuinely different about your approach. This might be a teaching method, a course structure, a feedback model, a community format or a way of serving an under-served audience. Describe the problem with existing options and the specific choice you made in response. Be concrete: “we replaced recorded lectures with weekly live case reviews” is more useful than “a revolutionary format”.

Clarity & Strategic Logic

Show the reasoning behind your programme design. Who is the learner, what can they do at the start, and what should they be able to do at the end? Outline how modules, assignments and support move learners from one point to the other. A short, logical structure, such as problem, approach, implementation and outcome, makes it easier for jurors to follow your thinking.

Measurable Results & Impact

This is where educators can stand out. Focus on learner outcomes rather than vanity metrics. Useful evidence includes:

• Completion or progression data for your cohorts
• Before-and-after assessments or skills checks
• Documented learner results, such as projects completed, certifications gained or changes in their work, with permission where needed
• Retention, repeat enrolment or referral patterns
• Revenue or growth figures where they help show the scale of what you have built

State how each figure was measured and over what period. A modest number with a clear source is more persuasive than a large number with no context.

Category Alignment

Make it obvious why your entry belongs in Influencers and Infobusiness. Describe your role as a creator or online educator and show how the results you report come from that work. If your business spans several areas, focus the entry on the education or content side rather than trying to cover everything.

Strategic Depth & Sustainability

Jurors will want to know whether your results can last. Explain how the business is run: how content is updated, how learner support is handled, how you acquire students, and what you plan next. Evidence of a sustainable model, such as a stable delivery process, a team or systems that do not depend entirely on launches, is stronger than a single successful campaign.

Marketing claims versus evidence: what to leave out

A useful test for every sentence is: could a juror verify or reasonably assess this? If not, rewrite or remove it. Common items to cut or rework:

• Superlatives and unverifiable rankings
• Follower counts presented without any link to learner outcomes
• Testimonials with no detail about what changed for the learner
• Launch revenue shown in isolation, without context on delivery or retention

Testimonials can still help if they describe specific outcomes. Choose a few that illustrate results you have already supported with data, rather than a long list of general praise.

Practical steps to prepare your entry

1. Confirm eligibility in the Competition Rules, including the five-year window and what qualifies as an implemented project.
2. Check the Awards Timeline on the Influencers and Infobusiness page for the final submission deadline, judging period and winner announcement. All deadlines expire at 23:59 UTC.
3. Review the entry fee for the relevant cycle on the category page. Fees depend on the programme and stage, and each nomination is a separate entry with its own fee.
4. Gather evidence first: outcome data, programme outlines, sample materials and business information.
5. Draft against the criteria, using the five headings above as a checklist.
6. Edit for clarity: remove marketing language, add sources and measurement periods, and keep each claim specific.

FAQ

Is there public voting in the Influencers and Infobusiness category?

No. Every entry is scored independently by at least three appointed jury members, and there is no public voting.

How are winners announced?

Winners are notified by email, announced on the date shown in the category's Awards Timeline and then published on the Winners page. Scores of entries that receive no recognition are confidential.

Can I enter more than one nomination?

Yes, but each nomination is a separate entry with its own entry fee. The same project may not be entered in both Young Innovators and another category within the same cycle.

If your courses have produced results you can document, start by reviewing the criteria, timeline and entry details on the Influencers and Infobusiness category page. For questions, contact the organisers at [email protected].