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"I was an accountant for 8 years and worked with Microsoft Excel every day for many hours." starts Google Sheets and Apps Script an expert teacher Ben L Collins. "Almost every task I was working on were completed by using Excel however I didn't possess any understanding of. I'd written code, but I'd not completed any work with spreadsheets.
"Pretty quite early in my career, I worked for an employer who demanded me to perform various tasks using Excel"Combine the tables' etc. - however, I had to do it all by hand!" His supervisor demonstrated some formulas to simplify things and Ben was able to see that one of the fundamental capabilities for any professional in the field of finance is simply having the ability to modify the information.
"The those who have the capability to achieve this feat will be miles ahead of people who just stumble along." Ben continues. I decided, "Right. I'll have to work on the skills I've acquired and found a number of sites such as mrexcel.com as well as chandoo.org The websites were able to do what I'm currently doing, but employing Excel fifteen years before."
The more Ben looked into formulas and spreadsheets the more intrigued he got: "It was this rabbit tunnel that seemed to go farther than." Ben realized that some of the coding education from his college days could be integrated with different programming languages for the creation of databases, such as VBA.
Through his profession as an accountant professional in his professional career, he became more interested with technological developments and fewer in the accounting and finance fields. "After more than eight years working in the field I decided"I'm tired and over it!'. I wasn't certain of what to do next, but among my first thoughts was to change careers to become a software developer." Ben tells me.
This is YWYQFjXiawUjOZ9y Ben L Collins who spoke at a celebration.
He enrolled in a few classes, and began applying for jobs. "It wasn't a great experience, but I did start creating my own website and began writing content. The first article I created was on Google Sheets and these were those that were spotted by Google Search." They triggered a lot of queries from clients as well as the possibility of paying freelancing.
"In the years 2014 and 2015, we had plenty of outbound stream of users requesting, "Hey, do you want to help me create this dashboard using Sheets?' Oder "Can you go through my company's spreadsheets and assist me in finding how I can make these formulas better ? '."
The work required Excel, Google Sheets, SQL and Tableau. "It wasn't a genuine task, but rather a way that I should say"Maybe there's something discovered here. There is a possibility becoming an independent contractor instead of being able to return to the job I had previously held . It was not my intention to return to my Accounting job!" Ben smiles. "I will continue to enhance my capabilities and technologies."
Goodbye accounting, hello education
The site for education General Assembly was just a business in its early stages and was planning to offer training programs specially designed for developers and analysts who worked with data. "They had launched the possibility of a data analysis part-time course. Since I had taken a class inside their curriculum as part of one of their classes designed for developers, I gained trust and respect for the group from its beginning time. When they first introduced their Data course in 2015, they began looking for instructors. The course was Excel, SQL and Tableau," Ben continues. "I am thinking 'Oh it's precisely my job from the age of eight old. ! '." He passed the being interviewed and was hired. He was the instructor of the course over various versions throughout 2015.
"That got me interested in becoming a teacher" Ben recalls. "I'd had a few experience as a teacher in the college setting and as a mentor to students at my end of the year." Ben has begun to incorporate the company's training programs into his online courses, which include classes and tutorials. "As I began to notice an increase in the number of customers who were interested in my work, I decided that I'd try my own course to see what results came out."
) A course on the Google query feature. Sheets
The teaching of the course was received positively, which made it enough for Ben to offer a third course. "I employed a website referred to as Teachable as I was looking to build a direct relationship with my students and keep that connection going instead of leaving it in the hands of a marketplace, such as Udemy."
I did some research and found that one mention that kept coming up was that of the man who is the editor of the tech magazine Stratechery, Ben Thompson. Ben Thompson is one of the OG!" Ben is smiling. "I joined a few subscriptions in order to see how other members thought of Flowing Data and Craig Mod did this." Ben had been receiving their free newsletter for some time, and wanted to know what they were doing to create their membership business. I thought "I would like my business to be just like that.'. I was amazed by how easy it was to sign up and easy to join. I was thinking"I want the feeling of membership..'
The goal is to continue moving forward with a steady speed
In order to give you an understanding the Ben's Membership service currently composed of premium (or "gated") content that is hosted by WordPress and an exclusive email newsletter delivered via emails using Kit (formerly ConvertKit). This site is focused on Google Sheets which includes products enhancements, news and other information and ways to get maximum value from the software.
"The coming newsletter will include detailed information on the latest features that Google has released over the past 12 months," Ben adds. They're extremely helpful instruments that allow you to alter your data. The demonstration will provide information on this subject, and includes a link to Google Sheet, a Google Sheet template that people are able to download. Additionally, there will be a live discussion regarding the topic. "I make use of newsletters to inform people of the dates and times, and I also utilize google meet to provide the Google Meet link for the live stream."
If asked about the future of membership, Ben imagines that membership could be a key focus for the company. "I obviously wish to attract more people in because I'd like to make membership my main service," he says. "I can offer an online library with completely free. You then can upgrade to an upgraded member. Additionally, you can become part of my team, and gain access to more information."
0.WZ6fYkdbv3adzawtsO Simulating a game of Chess with Google Sheets
The author also describes the ways in which his newsletter has provided services and ads in his newsletter but he aims to eliminate this method "if I could increase the amount of subscribers sufficient, it would be nice to get rid of the other aspects. There are a few small areas to work on but increasing the number subscribers is essential. "
He points out that there are a variety of possibilities to increase the scope of his services. "I've thought of some ideas in the present and I'm considering ways of enhancing the experience of delivering these events to members live and also have initiatives to attract new members to the service over the coming years. The services itself will evolve. It's not certain if it will be radically different however it's likely that we'll be operating things live."
In addition, he's stating that he'd like to think of coming up with a more effective way for members to communicate about data-related concerns they're working on as well as the issues they'd like to address in the future "That may be done through "office hours' or a more efficient means of communicating concerns" as long as it's sustainable and is beneficial to everyone.
Ben states that, in the moment, all communication with family and friends is done through email newsletters. "I think it's best if individuals respond by sending a message that reads "Hi, please let me know what you're currently working on This approach to be easy to regulate.
He was known to facilitate forums and "cohort classes" where participants worked through Google Sheets issues online together in a group. "We had two of these classes in 2021 at a time that Google Sheets were in fashion. It was a great experience, however, it created a lot of stress for all five months - it was like a 'firehose of questions. This is the first time I'm in group, however I'm worried that once I turn the switch on, it will be difficult to truly turn off. I'd like think this through, how can achieve this from a long-term view?
"I wasn't even promising performances live when I initially began. I thought, 'Just launch and see how the reaction will go. Check if I like working on it before I continue to make promises over and over. It's working very well! The owner is interested in adding live events to the schedule "They're fun and the attendees gain lots of value out of these sessions. Let's see how it goes!"
HTML0 Ben hosts the Zoom sessions for his participants
"Right currently, I'm giving lectures on the subjects. I'll select the topic, and we'll discuss it during the live class," he continues. In the course with cohorts it was more informal "People came in to say, 'Here's a formula I'm having trouble understanding I'm not understanding it the formula,' and then we would tackle the topic in real time. the audience could view. We're planning to do this the next time. It's a great way for people to be active."
At the end of the day, Ben is of the opinion that a Discord Q&A forum is definitely an option, but Ben says "I am certain that I'm able to accomplish the work without having to overload me." This discussion indicates Ben has started his quest to establish an ongoing strong and durable friendship with his community. Our opinion is that maintaining relationships are crucial to the longevity of a community membership "Little step, let's make to it as we go along!" He smiles.
Additional information
Ben Collins is an educator and journalist programmers and co-founder of The Collins School of Data. Ben Collins creates online classes and write on Google's Workspace tools. My main focus is the analysis of data and automating the process employing Google Sheets as well as Apps Script.
Ben L Collins' website
He loves building lightweight and data-driven apps that can be included in Google's stack. Google stack. These include: Google Sheets, Looker Studio, Google Apps Script, Forms, Docs, Gmail and many more. For more information, go to benlcollins.com.
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