How to Turn Your Expertise Into a Digital Product (Even If You're Not an Expert)

The number one reason people don't create digital products isn't lack of skills. It isn't lack of time. It's the belief that they're not expert enough.

"Who am I to teach anyone anything?"

I've heard this from people who've been doing their job for 10 years. I've heard it from skilled tradespeople, experienced professionals, and talented hobbyists who've spent thousands of hours developing their craft.

Here's the truth: you don't need to be the world's leading expert. You need to know more than the person you're helping.

The Expertise Myth

When someone buys a "how to get started with Notion" guide, they're not looking for a Notion power user with 10 years of experience. They want someone who can clearly explain the basics and help them get set up without overwhelm.

When someone buys a "freelance pricing guide," they're not looking for a Harvard Business School professor. They want someone who's done freelance work, made pricing mistakes, and figured out what works.

The gap between where your buyer is and where you are — that gap is your product.

You don't need to be at the top of the mountain. You just need to be a few steps ahead.

How to Identify What You Know That Others Don't

This is the exercise that cracks it open for most people.

List your job and skills. What do you do professionally? What tools do you use? What problems do you solve regularly?

List your hobbies and self-taught knowledge. Where have you invested significant time learning something on your own?

List problems you've already solved. What frustrations did you work through — and come out the other side with a system or insight that works?

List questions people ask you. What do friends, colleagues, or internet strangers ask you about? If people are already asking, there's a market.

At the intersection of those four lists is your digital product.

The "Intermediate Knowledge" Opportunity

Most beginners want to learn from beginners, not from experts.

If you're six months ahead of someone, your perspective is often more useful than the expert's. You remember what it was like to be confused. You know which mistakes are common. You can explain things in language that doesn't assume background knowledge.

Experts often can't do this. They've forgotten what it's like to not know things. The curse of knowledge makes them worse teachers for absolute beginners.

Your intermediate knowledge — whatever you've figured out that beginners haven't yet — is genuinely valuable.

Product Formats That Work for Everyday Expertise

Not all expertise becomes a $500 course. Here are the formats that work at every knowledge level:

Checklists ($9–$17) — "The 20-Point Freelance Client Onboarding Checklist." Specific, practical, immediately useful. Low price, low friction, high conversions.

Templates ($9–$49) — A tool, system, or framework someone can use in their own work. Your Notion workspace, your Canva social media kit, your Excel budget tracker.

Short guides ($17–$47) — A 20–50 page PDF on a specific, narrow topic. "How to set up a home studio on a $300 budget." "The Beginner's Guide to Cold Email for Freelancers."

Mini-courses ($47–$97) — 3–7 video lessons walking someone through a process from start to finish.

Workshops ($97–$197) — A recorded group session or live event where you teach something specific in 60–90 minutes.

Full courses ($197–$497+) — Only needed if the topic is deep enough to warrant it. Don't start here.

Start with the smaller formats. The checklist or template is your proof of concept. If it sells, you know the topic has demand. Then you can invest in building something bigger.

The Packaging Question

Expertise alone doesn't sell. You need to package it correctly.

The key elements:

• A specific problem — "This product helps X person do Y thing"
• A clear outcome — What will the buyer be able to do after using this?
• An appropriate price — Priced to the value of the outcome, not the time it took you to create it

The title and description of your product do most of the work. Spend real time on them.

"Notion Template Pack" doesn't sell. "The Freelancer's Client Management System in Notion — Never Miss a Follow-Up Again" sells.

Where to Start Selling

MadeThis is the simplest path to your first sale. Upload your file, write a description (the AI co-founder helps with this), set a price, and go live. The platform handles checkout, delivery, and payment — you focus on the product and the marketing.

I detail the full process in my beginner's guide to MadeThis if you want a step-by-step walkthrough.

You have something worth selling. The only question is whether you'll do the work to package and share it.

Turn your expertise into income on MadeThis →