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"I worked as an accountant for 8 years and was able to use Microsoft Excel every day for hours," commences Google Sheets and Applications Script expert teacher Ben L Collins. "Almost every aspect of my job was completed using Excel but I didn't have the Excel background. I'd written code, but not worked with spreadsheets before.

"Pretty very early on in my professional career, I was requested by my boss to finish a number of tasks by making use of Excel and Excel "Combine these table" and I did everything myself!" The manager showed him some formulas for reducing duration to a minimum and Ben quickly realized that the primary skill that anyone who is a financial profession is to be able to work using the data.

"The people who can to do this feat will go a long way ahead of the ones who do not," Ben continues. I was thinking "Right right now, I'm going be required to develop my capabilities. I then looked through several websites on the internet such as mrexcel.com as well as chandoo.org It was exactly what I'm doing now with Excel in the past 15 years."

The more Ben was able to understand formulas and spreadsheets and worksheets the more intrigued the man became: "It was this rabbit tunnel that seemed to take you deeper into the deep darkness." He realized that some of the programming education in college could be used together with other databases programming languages like VBA.

Over the course of his career working as the bookkeeper, he was much more interested in technological fields, as opposed to finance and accounting. "After over eight years of working I realized that I had plenty of money for a career!'. I was unsure of the next steps were, however, one of my initial goals was and become an engineer." Ben tells me.

Ben L Collins speaking during an evening party

He attended a few classes before he began to apply for positions. "It did not go as well however, during that time I started my own website as well as writing posts. My first post was about Google Sheets and they're those which were indexed in [GoogleSearch. Search." This led to a lot of client requests, in addition to freelance work.

"In the period between 2014 and the year 2015, we saw a significant amount of an outbound flow of people asking"Hey, would you help me with designing my dashboard with spreadsheets and spreadsheets or spreadsheets?' Or 'Would you like to have an overall view of my business spreadsheets so that I can help me with discovering ways to improve these formulas? ? '."

The work required Excel, Google Sheets, SQL as well as Tableau. "It was not a huge amount of work, however it was an indicator that I should think"Maybe it's a sign of something. It could be that I'm a freelancer rather than returning to the same job I had previously . I had no intention of going back to accounting!" Ben smiles. "I wanted to persevere in my quest to learn and improve my technology."

Goodbye accounting, hello education

The education website General Assembly was just a start-up and offered training courses specifically to developers and data analysts. "They proposed the concept of an all-time data analysis course. As I've attended a class within their course in one of their courses intended specifically for developers, I felt an affinity with the faculty that was there. They first introduced this data-focused course and needed instructors. The course was Excel, SQL and Tableau," Ben continues. "I was thinking, 'This exactly what I've been doing for the last eight years! '." Ben completed the application procedure, was then granted the post and instructed the course in a number of versions in the year 2015.

"That inspired me to get into teaching," Ben recalls. "I'd had a teaching position at the university level, by tutoring younger students in the final year." He began to incorporate corporate training within the online offerings, such as providing courses and tutorials. "As I started to grow an audience, in 2017 I decided to design my own online class and later, to find out what the results were."

) A course on the query function of Google Sheets

The course was a hit and students loved it to the point of being able to inspire Ben to develop a sequel course. "I utilized a website known as Teachable as I was looking to create a lasting connection to my pupils. I wanted to become the one who controls the relationship rather than leaving it up to a marketplace, such the one offered by Udemy."

I did some searching and one name that stayed to me was the man who wrote the magazine for tech called Stratechery, Ben Thompson. Ben Thompson is one of the OG!" Ben is laughing. "I am a member of a couple of accounts myself and have been able to see how other companies like Flowing Data and Craig Mod have been able to accomplish this." Ben is a subscriber to their newsletter free for several months and I wanted to find out what they did to develop their membership services. I thought to myself, "I want mine to have the same experience.'. I was impressed by how easy it was easy to join and the process was effortless - I was thinking, "I'd like that member experience.'

Moving forward in a sustainable manner

To give you a sense of context, Ben's membership package currently offers premium (or 'gated') information that's located on WordPress and a weekly newsletter that sends via email through Kit (formerly ConvertKit). Content is centered on Google Sheets and includes information about product features and updates along with tips for getting maximum benefit from the product.

"The subsequent newsletter offers an in-depth look into the most up-to-date technologies Google launched last year." Ben adds. They are very useful tools which allow you to alter data. You'll find a guide on this, as well as the URL to Google Sheet, a Google Sheet template available for users to download. Additionally, there'll be an online discussion about the topic. "I employ periodic newsletters that inform the public about dates and times, as well as google meet to connect people with the Google Meet link for the live events."

When asked what the future holds for his company, Ben imagines that membership is going to be the foundation of his organization. "I sure would like to draw new members since I'd like to make membership my only option," he says. "I already have an online library of the material for free. After that, you could join a professional membership and help me out to find more content."

HTML0 A game similar to Chess using Google Sheets

The author claims it was possible to offer consultancy services, and even include advertising in his newsletter. He wants to end these: "if I can build an audience sufficient, I'd like to eliminate everything else. There are a few minor aspects that must be focusing on, however increasing the amount of subscribers is crucial. "

He's told me he's looking at a few options to increase his offerings. "I've had some thoughts about the current situation and am thinking of doing better at hosting these live events for members. Also, we have plans to bring members to the next event. The software will be updated. It's not likely to alter much, but we'll be doing more real-time work."

The member also states that he'd love to come to a more efficient method for members to communicate about the data issues they're dealing with and the things they'd like them to do about this - like "That may be done through "office hours' or more convenient way to submit requests" - as long that the process is carried out effectively and in a beneficial manner to all concerned.

Ben says that, for the time being, all the discussions with his followers is done via newsletters that are electronic. "I would actually like individuals to send me notes saying "Hey I'd like to know which projects you're currently doing". It's simple to manage.

The man was known for facilitating discussion forums and "cohort classes" that saw participants work through Google Sheets questions online in an online group. "We had two of these courses in 2021 while they were all the rage. This was a very effective course. However, it was extremely intense over the course of five weeks. The class was like a "firehose of questions. This was my first time participating in a class as yet as I'm apprehensive that once I've turned on the switch, I'll be unable to completely shut it off. It would be nice to think about it and figure out how I can do this in a sustainable manner?

"I did not have any commitments for live sessions when I started, thinking"Just try it live and see what reaction can be. Find out if it is enjoyable to make this happen before I keep making promises after promises.' It's working very good! He seems to be eager to add live sessions "They're entertaining and people enjoy the sessions. It will be interesting to see how this plays out!"

HTML0 Ben hosting the Zoom session for his clients

"Right moment, I'm presenting topics like selecting a subject and we'll cover that for the live lecture," he continues. But in course the past, classes in groups were more like an open forum "People would come in and ask questions, "Hey, I've got an equation I'm struggling to understand.' The issue would then be debated in real time. It is also possible to be observing. The next time we think of doing this, we'll consider it for next year; it's an excellent way for everyone to be involved."

For a last thought Ben is convinced that the idea of a Discord Q&A forum is definitely likely, but Ben declares that "I am trying to make sure I'm capable performing the task with a manner that doesn't overwhelm me." It seems to suggest that Ben has already begun on the road to building the foundation of a solid and ongoing friendship with his group. It is our opinion that maintaining a relationship is crucial to the growth of an organization's membership "Little step by step, we'll slowly build up!" He smiles.

More information

Ben Collins is an educator writer, designer and the founder of The Collins School of Data. He creates online courses and writes articles to Google's Workspace tools. I focus on the analysis of information and automating it by using Google Sheets and Apps Script.

Ben L Collins' website

He loves creating lightweight apps that are data-driven and work together with Google's Google stack. They include Google Sheets, Looker Studio, Google Apps Script, Forms, Docs, Gmail and many others. For more details visit benlcollins.com.

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