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"I was an accountant for eight years and employed Microsoft Excel every day for many hours," starts Google Sheets and AppsScript professional educator Ben L Collins. "Almost all my work was completed by using Excel however I didn't have any previous experience. I'd coded, however I had not completed anything with spreadsheets.
"Pretty at the beginning of my job I was being directed by my boss to complete a number of tasks within Excel such as 'Combine these tables' etc. and I had to do it all by hand!" His boss demonstrated the formulas he could use to cut down on time, and Ben realized then and there that the most important skill to have in any finance-related field is the ability to modify information.
"The those who master it really well are leagues ahead of the rest people who fail," Ben continues. I thought to myself, "Right I'm going to sharpen my capabilities and I found a few websites on the internet including mrexcel.com as well as chandoo.org They have the same skills as I am currently, however in Excel around 15 years ago."
The more Ben looked into spreadsheets and formulae, the more enthralled he got: "It was this rabbit hole that was just entering deeper and deeper darkness." He realized that some of the training in coding that the college he attended could be combined with different programming languages used to create databases, including VBA.
Over the course of his time as an accountant, he was actually more interested in the area of technology, and less in the accounting or finance fields. "After 8 years of working, I was like I'm done! I'm done!. I wasn't certain of next to do, one of my initial thoughts was the field of engineering." Ben tells me.
It's yWYQFjXiawUjOZ9y Ben L Collins speaking during an event in the evening.
He took a few classes and then began applying for jobs. "It didn't really go anywhere at the time, but I created my own site and also wrote pieces. A few of my early pieces I wrote about Google Sheets and they're those which were eventually spotted by Google Search." This led to a range of clients asking for and paying for freelance work.
"In 2014 and in 2015, there was an inbound flow of traffic asking, "Hey, could I get help in building that dashboard in Sheets?' or "Can you go through my spreadsheets for our company and assist me in figuring out the best way to make these formulas better? ? '."
The task involved Excel, Google Sheets, SQL and Tableau. "It was a normal job, but it gave me the chance to consider"Maybe there's something to this. It might be possible to become a freelancer and not return to my previous job . I didn't want returning to the accounting field!" Ben smiles. "I want to keep on top of my game as well as my knowledge of technology."
Goodbye accounting, hello education
The initial phase of the site for education General Assembly was just a startup company and had plans to launch advanced courses for developers as well as data analysts. "They had launched an online program for data analysis which was part-time. As I'd taken a course together as a student at one of their classes for developers, I knew the team that was there. At the time of their first launch this data-related course was when they began to recruit instructors. It was Excel, SQL and Tableau," Ben continues. "I thought, 'Hey it's precisely what I've been doing over the past eight years. ! '." Ben went through the interview procedure and was offered the position and taught the course throughout 2015 for several times.
"That motivated me to get back into teaching," Ben recalls. "I'd taught at college as a mentor to younger students as I finished my year." He added company training in online courses, such as the sale of courses and tutorials. "As I began to build the amount of users who were interested in my content, I decided to create my own course and test the waters."
) A course on the Query function within Google Sheets
The course's teaching was very well received. It was good enough to entice Ben to create a new course. "I used a website named Teachable since I was trying for a way to make a personal connection to my students, and maintain this relationship for myself rather than handing it over to a marketplace like Udemy."
I did some research and found that one name that kept popping up was the person who is the editor of the tech news magazine Stratechery, Ben Thompson. He's known as"the OG!" Ben smiles. "I have joined a few subscriptions to see the ways other companies like Flowing Data and Craig Mod were doing this." Ben had been studying their newsletters since he was a kid and I wanted to know the process they used to develop their businesses based on membership. I thought "I would like my business to be as they do.'. The sign-up process was so simple and easy - I was thinking"I want to have that membership experience..'
Going forward in a sustainable manner
As a matter of fact, Ben's current subscription offer consists of premium (or "gated") content that is located on WordPress and a premium email newsletter sent via email with Kit (formerly ConvertKit). For information purposes, it's based on Google Sheets and contains specific information on features for the product as well as updates - as well as strategies to get the most out of the service.
"The next newsletter will take a deeper dives into the latest functions that Google has introduced over the past year," Ben adds. They're really helpful functions to manipulate data, so you'll find a video tutorial on the features and also an access for the Google Sheet template that people can then download themselves. In addition, he'll host a live chat about the subject. "I make use of newsletters to provide information on the time and date and also using the Google Meet link for the live discussion."
When asked about the future of his company, Ben thinks membership could turn into the heart of his company. "I definitely want to attract many more members, as I would like the membership to become the sole product that is available," he says. "I am offering a library of free content but you also have the option to be an active member in the premium version and help me out to get the added content."
Simulating a game of chess on Google Sheets
He claims that he was capable of giving consults, and even place ads in his newsletter, but the goal is to end these things: "if I can build the number of members to become large enough, it would be great to rid of all the other stuff. There's a couple of small problems to address however, increasing the size of the group is essential. "
He mentions that he has various ideas for expanding his offerings. "I've come up with some ideas that I could do a better job of giving these live events and we've got initiatives to attract members to join us in the coming year. The product itself will evolve. The product will not differ from what's expected, but it will continue to be live streaming of content."
The member also states that he would like to discover a better method for members to communicate their data issues they're working with and the issues they'd like to resolve in the future "That could be done through "office time" or an efficient way to inquire" - so long that it's done in a long-lasting efficient and effective manner for all parties affected.
Ben affirms that, at the moment his interaction with his fans is done via emails. "I recommend that people reply by saying, 'Hey, inform me of the things you're working on'. I enjoy it because it's manageable.
The forum chat would be offered and "cohort classes" that would see participants work on Google Sheets issues online together in a group. "We finished two of these in 2021 when they were the latest trend. It worked really well However it was extremely intense during the initial five weeks of the course that we were taking part in. It was an endless stream of questions. It's been a while since I've participated in this group in the past since I'm worried that when I switch it up, I'll find it difficult to turn it off. It's something I'd like to think through, how can handle it from a longer-term view?
"I didn't have any live streams when I initially started thinking"Just go live and observe what the response is. Find out if it's fun to do it, before I commit to the whole thing. The event is progressing well! The owner is looking forward to including live events "They're entertaining and participants benefit from the sessions. It will be interesting to see what happens!"
Ben hosts the Zoom sessions for his participants
"Right now I'm teaching topics that I'll choose a subject which we'll then cover in the live class," he continues. For the cohort course this format consisted of an open forum "People were able to come in and tell me, 'Hey there's a problem I'm struggling with I'm stuck on this formula I'm stuck on this formula' and we'd talk about the issue in real time. Other people could observe. This is something we'll consider in the coming year. It's the perfect way for individuals to participate."
He concludes that there's a possibility that the idea of a Q&A forum is definitely an alternative, but he says: "I just want to ensure that I am able to do the task with a manner that doesn't overwhelm me." The conversation suggests Ben is already in the process of establishing an ongoing and solid connection to his group. Our opinion is that keeping a connection over time is crucial to the success of a membership "Little actions - we'll gradually grow!" He smiles.
More details
Ben Collins is an educator as well as a writer, programmer and co-founder of The Collins School of Data. Ben Collins develops online classes as well as writes for the Google Workspace tools. My main focus is automated analysis of data using Google Sheets and Apps Script.
Ben L Collins' website
He loves building lightweight, data-driven applications that work together with the Google stack: Google Sheets, Looker Studio, Google Apps Script, Forms, Docs, Gmail and more. For more details, visit benlcollins.com.
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