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"I worked as an accountant for eight years and utilized Microsoft Excel every day for many hours," commences Google Sheets and Apps Script expert educator Ben L Collins. "Almost every task I worked on was performed in Excel but I did not have any background. I'd done some coding but had never done any spreadsheet-related work.
"Pretty at the beginning of my job, my boss was asking me to do a bunch of tasks using Excel - 'Combine the tables', etc. and I was doing all of it by hand!" His boss showed the formulas he could use to save some time and Ben realized then and there that one of the fundamental skills for any finance profession is just knowing how to manipulate the data.
"The those who are able to achieve this feat can be miles ahead of all of us who just stumble through," Ben continues. I was thinking, "Right, I need to really gen up with these abilities and I came across a bunch of websites online like mrexcel.com and chandoo.org These people were doing what I'm doing now, but using Excel, 15 years ago."
The more Ben was able to look at formulas and spreadsheets, the more intrigued he was: "It was this rabbit hole that was just getting into deeper and deeper." Ben realized that some of the programming education from his college days could be merged with other databases-related programming languages like VBA.
Through during the duration of his professional career as an accountant was actually more enamored in technological advancements and less in accounting and finance. "After 8 years of working I thought, 'I've had enough I'm done!'. I wasn't quite sure what I could do next, but one of my original ideas was to change careers and become an engineer," Ben tells me.
Ben L Collins speaking at an evening event
He took some courses, and began applying for work. "It did not really take off, however, I started my own website as well as writing posts. A few of the first articles I wrote were about Google Sheets and were those that were included in Google's Search." These resulted in a variety of clients requesting and paying freelance jobs.
"In 2014 and in 2015, there was an inbound flow of traffic saying, 'Hey, can I get help in building this dashboard using spreadsheets?' Or "Can you take a look at my company spreadsheets and assist me with figuring out ways to improve these formulas? ?'."
The task involved Excel, Google Sheets, SQL and Tableau. "It was any work really but it was enough of a sign to say, 'Maybe there's something here. Maybe I can be an independent contractor instead of returning to my old job' . I don't want to go back to the accountant job!" Ben smiles. "I was determined to continue in the field of technology and innovation."
Goodbye accounting, hello education
In the beginning, the education website General Assembly was just a startup and was launching training courses specifically for developers and data analysts. "They had launched an online data analysis program that was part-time. As I'd taken a course in their class as a participant on one of their courses for developers I had a good relationship with the group there. The first time they launched the data course in 2015, they were seeking instructors. The course consisted of Excel, SQL and Tableau," Ben continues. "I thought, 'Hey this is exactly what I've been doing for the last eight years !'." He went through the process of interviewing and got the job and he taught the course for several iterations in 2015.
"That made me want to start teaching once more," Ben recalls. "I'd taught at college, as a mentor for younger students when I was in the final year." He began adding in some company training in his online offering, including selling courses and tutorials. "As I started to grow the number of people who were interested in my content, I decided to try my own course and test the waters."
) A course on the Query function in Google Sheets
The class was appreciated quite well - well enough to encourage Ben to launch a second course. "I used a site called Teachable as I was looking to create an immediate relationship with my audience and own that relationship myself rather than hand that over to a marketplace like Udemy."
I would do some research and the name that kept popping up was the man who manages the tech magazine Stratechery, Ben Thompson. Ben Thompson is known as the OG!" Ben laughs. "I signed up for some accounts myself, to find out how other people such as Flowing Data and Craig Mod were doing the same thing." Ben had been getting their free newsletter since he was a kid and I was curious about how they had created their membership business. I was like, "I want mine to be just like that.'. I loved the sign-up was so simple and effortless - I thought, 'I want that member experience..'
Moving forward sustainably
To give context, Ben's membership offering currently consists of premium (or "gated") content that is hosted on WordPress as well as a premium electronic newsletter sent through emails through Kit (formerly ConvertKit). As for content, it centers on Google Sheets - including products features, updates and other information - and tips to get the most out of the software.
"The next newsletter is an in-depth look at certain new features which Google came out with in the last year," Ben adds. These are extremely useful features that allow you to alter data. There'll be a tutorial about that with a link to a Google Sheet template that people are able to download. In addition, the live session about the topic. "I utilize the newsletters to share details about times and also use the Google Meet link for the live sessions."
When asked what the future holds, Ben imagines that membership will be the mainstay of his business. "I obviously want to bring more people in since I'd like for that membership to be my only product available," he says. "I am able to offer an archive of content for free but you also have the option to become a pro member and help me out and receive the extra material."
Z6fYkdbv3aadzawtsO Simulating a game of chess on Google Sheets
He explains that he used to give consultations and even put ads on his newsletter but he aims to stop doing this: "if I can build an audience large enough, it will be nice to get rid of the other things. There are a few small areas to be worked on, but increasing the number of members is crucial. "
He points out that he's got various ideas for expanding his offerings. "I've had some thoughts at the moment that I could do a better job of broadcasting these live sessions, and we've got initiatives that will bring new members to next year. The service itself will develop. I don't think it'll change much, however, we'll continue to do live-streamed stuff."
He adds that he wants to find a better way for members to share information about the kinds of issues they're working with and the issues they'd like to resolve for the future "That may be through "office hours' or even a more efficient way for them to submit queries" - as long the method is sustainable and valuable way for all parties involved.
Ben confirms that, currently, all the interactions with his audience are conducted via email newsletters. "I recommend that people send me a note saying 'Hey tell me what you're working on'. I love this because it's easy to manage.
He used to offer forum chats and "cohort courses", working though Google Sheets issues online together as a group. "We took two of these in 2021 while Google Sheets were the talk of the town. It was a great experience, but it felt very intensive for the first five weeks of the course - it was a 'firehose' of questions. This is the first time I've participated in a group as such yet, since I'm apprehensive that when I turn on the system, it will be impossible to completely switch it off. It's something I'd like to think through, how can I manage it with a long-term perspective?
"I didn't have any live sessions when I first started, as I was thinking"Just go live and observe what the response is. Check if I like doing it before I promise everything. It's working well! The man is keen on adding live sessions "They're enjoyable and the participants benefit from these sessions. It will be interesting to see what happens!"
Ben hosting an online session with his participants
"Right this moment I'm teaching topics: I'll pick a topic and we'll cover that for the live session," he continues. In the course with cohorts, the structure was more like an open discussion: "People would come in and ask, 'Hey, there's a formula that I'm having trouble understanding We'd go through the issue live, and others could observe. We'll be looking into in the coming year. It's a great way for people to be involved."
As a final thought, he believes there's a possibility that a Q&A-style forum is certainly an option, however he clarifies: "I just want to make sure I can do this in a manner that doesn't overload me." This sounds like Ben is already in the process of establishing the longest-lasting and long-lasting connection with his community. We agree that sustainably is crucial to a successful community membership "Little step - let's build it up over time!" he smiles.
More information
Ben Collins is an educator as well as a writer, programmer and the founder of The Collins School of Data. He creates online courses and blogs about Google Workspace tools. I focus on data analysis as well as automation, making use of Google Sheets and Apps Script.
Ben L Collins' website
He enjoys creating lightweight, data-driven applications for the Google stack. These include: Google Sheets, Looker Studio, Google Apps Script, Forms, Docs, Gmail and more. To learn more, go to benlcollins.com.