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"I was an accountant for the past eight years and utilized Microsoft Excel every day for long periods of time" commences Google Sheets and Apps Script an expert instructor Ben L Collins. "Almost everything I was working on were completed with Excel however I didn't know anything about. I had written some code, however I didn't know anything about spreadsheets.

"Pretty during the first few months of my employment I was asked by my supervisor to finish various tasks using Excel for example "Combine the tables" as well as "Combine the tables. However, I needed to complete the task by hand!" The boss explained to him how formulas can be used to accelerate the process. Ben immediately recognized that one of the fundamental abilities required by anyone in finance is the ability modify the data.

"The people who have the capability to succeed in this area are at a substantial distance over those that seem to be chaotic," Ben continues. I thought "Right right now, I'm going to need to improve my skills and I discovered a variety of web-based sites like mrexcel.com and chandoo.org Users of the sites were doing exactly the way I work today making use of Excel for the last fifteen years."

The more Ben could look at calculations and spreadsheets, the more the fascination grew was: "It was this rabbit tunnel, which was increasingly captivating." Ben recognized that some of the programming instruction he'd received during his college days could be incorporated by programming languages that connect with databases, like VBA.

During his career as an accountant certified and expert, accountants were most interested in technology, but more so with financial or accounting. "After nearly eight years of working in an industry I loved, I was as if I had finished!. I wasn't sure what my next step was. One of my first thoughts was to become a programmer." Ben tells me.

Ben L Collins speaking at an event in the evening

He took a few courses, then started applying for work. "It was not an all-encompassing campaign, but I started to create my own website, as well as began to write content. The initial few posts I created were about Google Sheets and they're the ones that were discovered in Google Search." Google Sheets brought in a number of client requests and even pay-per-hour work.

"In 2014 and 2015, I received a number of outbound calls from customers asking "Hey could I have assistance in creating my dashboard using spreadsheets, spreadsheets, or other spreadsheets? That is "Can you take a look at my company's spreadsheets and help me determine how to make my spreadsheets more efficient? ? '."

The project comprised Excel, Google Sheets, SQL along with Tableau. "It was not an actual task, but rather an instance of think"Maybe there's something found within this field. It's possible I'll work as a freelancer, rather than being able to return to the role in which I was before . This is not the intention of me to go back to my accounting job!" Ben smiles. "I want to be updated with the latest technological advancements in research and development."

Goodbye accounting, hello education

The site for education that was initially launched by General Assembly was just a venture that was just beginning and had plans to introduce classes for professional programmers along with data analysts. "They are creating a class for part-time students on analytics of data. Because I've taken one of their classes within the one designed for developers, I was aware of the students who took the course. As soon as they had announced the class on data, they immediately began to recruit for instructors. The course was comprised of Excel, SQL and Tableau," Ben continues. "I was thinking"Ooh that's what I did when I was eight years old. ! '." The applicant went through the interviewing process before being hired and became an instructor on the course for a variety of times during 2015.

"That resulted in me becoming again a teacher" Ben recalls. "I'd taught at a college level as a mentor to children before starting my final semester in college." He began by adding corporate training to the online courses, including lessons and tutorials. "As I noticed an increase in the quantity of users who were interested in my website, I thought to create my own course and test to see how feasible it would be to make it work."

) A course on the Query function within Google Sheets

The class's content was highly received, and that inspired Ben to create a second course. "I used the online platform Teachable to find a method to connect with my students and as keep the relationships going rather than transfer the relationship to a marketplace online such as Udemy."

I did a search and discovered that the name which kept popping up in the internet was person who runs the technology news magazine Stratechery, Ben Thompson. Ben Thompson is known as the OG!" Ben is having a good time. "I was a member for a couple of times to find out the ways fellow members use Flowing Data and Craig Mod did similar." Ben was looking through their newsletters for a long time, and I was interested in knowing the methods they used to run their businesses based on membership. I kept thinking, "I want mine to be similar to those that they use.'. I was awed by how straightforward and easy to accomplish. I was thinking"I would like to have this feeling of membership..'

It is vital to keep the rate of development.

This is due to the fact that Ben's current subscription includes top-quality (or "gated") data accessible on WordPress and also an electronic newsletter that's excellent and sent out by emails through Kit (formerly ConvertKit). In terms of the content, the focus is Google Sheets that include features, updates, and other options - and what you can do to maximize the value of the program.

"The forthcoming newsletter will feature an in-depth look at the most current tools Google made available in the past year." Ben adds. They're extremely helpful features that allow you to alter information. This is the reason why there will be an instructional video as well as a URL to Google Sheet. Google Sheet template that people could download for themselves. In addition, the speaker states that there will be an discussions about the topic which will be held. "I use newsletters to provide more information on the subject, as well as to provide you with the Google Meet link for the live sessions."

If asked about the direction in which his company is moving, Ben thinks membership could form the backbone of his business. "I definitely would love to acquire new members and I'd prefer membership to be my only option," he says. "I am currently a member of an online library, with no cost content. If you want to join, sign up as a professional to help me in my work and be informed of any additional info."

Z6fYkdbv3adzawtsO A game simulation of Chess game that was created with Google Sheets

The author claims that he's had the opportunity to offer consultancy services, as well as add ads in his free newsletter. He hopes to improve his approach to the former "if I'm able to increase my membership until it is sufficient, then take away all unnecessary issues. There are a variety of issues to consider, but expanding your membership can be crucial. "

He says he's got various ideas in mind that could aid in expanding the reach of his offerings. "I've considered for a lengthy time about how I'd like to enhance the capabilities of my broadcasting in these live events, especially because we're looking to bring more members this year. The service itself will change. The end product won't alter much, however the service will continue to evolve."

The author also says that he'd like to create a platform that permits members communicate information on what kind of issues they're facing and the problems they'd like to solve Then "That can be achieved via "office hours" or some other method to inquire" providing it's conducted with a reasonable and efficient way for everyone concerned.

Ben affirms that in the moment, all interaction with his customers is by email. "I would recommend you reply with your text message using the subject line : 'Hi, I'd like to hear of your ideas'. This is my preferred method as it's easy to manage.

He was a well-known instructor on forums for discussion and also for his facilitation of 'cohort' sessions' where people solved Google Sheets problems online as part of a bigger group. "We went to two of these sessions in 2021. They are extremely popular. The experience was amazing but it was also extremely demanding for the first 5 weeks. The whole experience felt like an "firehose filled with" questions. This is my first experience in a similar group as I'm worried that once turning on the light, it will be hard to turn it off completely. This is something that I'm considering How would you go about this in the future?

"I hadn't attended the opportunity to live-stream any events prior the beginning when I first began the business, but I thought"Just perform it live to check how it goes. See if it's a pleasure to perform it before I decide to commit to anything.' It's working! The owner wants to consider adding live events to the mix "They're enjoyable and the attendees get satisfaction from these events. Let's find out where this is happening!"

Ben is the person in charge of Zoom sessions for his clients.

"Right at the moment I'm delivering the subject I've selected and delivering in live classes," he continues. But in the cohort courses it was more open discussions "People were in the room to ask 'Hey, this is the equation I'm struggling to get my head around.' We'd discuss the issue on the spot. It would be possible for people to view. This is something we'll think about in the next term. This is a great chance for students to be engaged."

In the end, Ben believes it would be possible to create Discord forums for Q&A to offer another option. But, he says "I only want to make certain that I'm able to take on the challenge in a manner that isn't overpowering me." The evidence suggests that Ben is on the way to establishing the base of a continuous and strong collaboration with his staff. We believe that maintaining this connection throughout time is vital to the success of a involvement in the community "Little events - we'll continue to work to build this up as time goes by!" he smiles.

More details

Ben Collins is an educator and writer as well as a computer programmer. Ben Collins is the founder of The Collins School of Data. Ben creates online courses and blogs about tools of Google Workspace tools. My main focus is studying data, as well as automated processes using Google Sheets and Apps Script.

Ben L Collins' website

He's a fan of creating easy, data-driven applications for be part of the Google stack. This includes Google Sheets, Looker Studio, Google Apps Script, Forms, Docs, Gmail and a host of other apps. For more details, visit benlcollins.com.

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