Can you sell a course without proof of expertise?

Building apps is very different from building a hit app.

If you are selling a course on "how to make a hit app" then I would expect you to have had success but "how to make apps" is totally fine.

I don't care if the person making and selling gold panning equipment has every found a huge nugget, I care that his equipment is good.

I started selling Better Sheets before I sold a google sheet on it's own. I had worked on google sheets in a company and made that the main thing. I was literally paid $75k a year to make google sheets.

and still to this day I don't say I made a hit, with google sheets. But I do talk about adding $100 a month or $1k a year to your pocket selling google sheets.

I think you do have to have proof of expertise but you don't need to be an expert

You have to start with some credibility though.

By credibility, I mean you have to have a demonstrated ability to do the thing you're teaching.

If you can help your friend or your co-worker do something, you've got credibility to that person.

You don't have to be an expert in their eyes.

You helped them.

That's enough.

Expertise implies you've got all the answers figured out.

But it can be intimidating to learn from someone who has all the answers.

If you think back to your mentors, the people you've learned the most from, often, they're in the process of learning. They're figuring it out. And you learn so much more by being close to that process, learning from someone who's learning.

You don't have to be an expert.

You can literally learn in public.

If you get a question from someone who's got a different perspective, or deeper experience, you don't have to have the answer.

It's okay to say, I don't know, I'm going to research this for you.

The time and effort you put in to do that stand out to people.

And guess what?

You've added another piece of content to your course.

Another step forward for future students in the journey.

I'm a software developer myself, and for few months I'm building my own online courses.

I recommend "Telling Ain't Training" - it gave me a better understanding of what our job is as trainers, and should help you clarify if you really need this kind of 'proof' for building a valuable course.