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"I was an accountant for eight years and worked with Microsoft Excel every day for hours," starts Google Sheets and Apps Script professional teacher Ben L Collins. "Almost all the tasks I worked on was done using Excel but it was not something I know anything about. I'd coded a few times however, I had not actually used spreadsheets in any way.
"Pretty when I started my work, my boss required me to complete various tasks with Excel"Combine the tables' the list goes on - but I was doing all on my own!" The boss gave him some formulas that could assist him in his work. Ben recognized right then an important essential abilities in any financial profession is the capability to manipulate data.
"The people who can excel at it have a head start over people who are just struggling across," Ben continues. I was thinking "Right now, I'm going have to learn the skills I have. So I checked for websites like mrexcel.com along with chandoo.org These people were able to use similar skills to what I have today but using Excel fifteen years ago."
The more Ben explored formulas and spreadsheets, the more intrigued he got: "It was this rabbit tunnel that seemed to be going into deeper and further." Ben realized that some of the knowledge gained from his college days can be made available to different programming languages that work with databases such as VBA.
Through the course of his career as a professional accountant, he actually became much more interested in technological advancements as opposed to the accounting or finance. "After 8 years of working at a professional accounting firm, I realized, 'I've had enough to get enough I'm done!. I was unsure of what my next step was, but one of my initial thoughts was becoming an engineer," Ben tells me.
Ben L Collins speaking in a special event
He attended a few classes before applying for jobs. "It did not go as well but I did start my own web site, as well as writing pieces. The first few articles I wrote were about Google Sheets and they're those that ended up being included in Google's Search." They led to a number of client requests and pay-per-hour work.
"In the years 2014 and 2015, it was only a small amount of inbound traffic saying"Hey, could help me create the dashboard on spreadsheets?' Also, 'Can you take a look at my company spreadsheets to assist me in formulating ways to improve those formulas ? '."
The work encompassed Excel, Google Sheets, SQL as well as Tableau. "It wasn't really work at all but it provided the evidence to say that maybe there's something to it. Maybe I can be an independent contractor instead of returning to the previous job' . I did not wish to go back to the job of an accountant!" Ben smiles. "I want to keep up to develop my skills and technology."
Goodbye accounting, hello education
At the time, the website for education General Assembly was just a startup and was launching training courses specifically for data analysts and developers. "They had launched an online database analysis course which was a part-time program. Because I'd done a course with them as a student for one of their courses for developers, I was in good contact with the team there. The first time they offered this data course and were looking for instructors. It was a combination in Excel, SQL and Tableau," Ben continues. "I realized, 'Hey!' that's exactly what I've been doing since the age of eight old. ! '." He completed the application process and was eventually offered the job. He taught the course for several times during the year 2015.
"That led me to want to return to teaching," Ben recalls. "I'd experienced a few experience as a teacher in the college setting, in the role of a mentor to young students as I finished my year." Then, he began to include corporate training in the online platform, as well as teaching tutorials and a variety of courses. "As I began to build audiences, I decided in the year 2017 I thought I should create my own online course to try it out."
) A course on the Query function within Google Sheets
The course that Ben taught was received very positively. The course was enough to encourage Ben to create a follow-up course. "I made use of a platform that is known as Teachable because I wanted to create a personal relation with my customers and keep that connection in place instead of transferring it to an online platform, like Udemy."
I set out to do some research and one name that stuck in my thoughts was the guy responsible for the tech-related newsletter Stratechery, Ben Thompson. He's among those who are the OG!" Ben laughs. "I had signed up for a couple of memberships myself to see how other people like Flowing Data and Craig Mod had done this." Ben was getting their free newsletter for quite a while and was curious about the ways they'd developed their businesses based on membership. I said, "I want mine to be like theirs.'. I really loved how the process was easy and smooth - I thought I want to have the same experience.'
It is important to continue in a forward pace
To give an overview, Ben's Membership Service is currently comprised of premium (or "gated") information that is located on WordPress as well as a premium electronic newsletter sent by email via Kit (formerly ConvertKit). For the content the focus is on Google Sheets and includes specific information on the product's features, updates and other information - and how to make the most from it.
"The subsequent newsletter provides an in-depth look at some innovative features Google has released in the past calendar year." Ben adds. They're extremely helpful features to manipulate data, so there'll be a tutorial about the features, as well as the hyperlink to the Google Sheet template that people could download for their own use. Also, the writer mentions an online seminar will be held will be on this topic. "I send out newsletters in order to provide details about the date and time, as well as the Google Meet link for the live events."
When asked regarding the future of membership, Ben believes that membership is going to be the mainstay of his company. "I certainly want to bring more people in as I want the membership to be the sole option available," he says. "I offer an online library with free content but you also can choose to be an official member to support me and get additional information."
Playing a game like Chess using Google Sheets
He also explains the ways he used to offer consulting and also included ads within his free newsletter. However, he is now trying to get away from this "if I can build the number of subscribers enough to be large enough that it's nice to be rid of the other things. There are some small areas to work on but growing the number of subscribers is vital. "
He has diverse ways of expanding his services. "I've thought about it in the present: I can do better at broadcasting these live events in addition to having plans that will bring new members to next year. The software will be updated. It's not likely to alter much, however there will be more live streaming."
The person also says that he would prefer to devise an effective way for members to exchange information regarding what they're working on and what they'd like to address it for the future "That could happen through "office hours' or a more convenient method to ask questions" insofar as it is in a sustainable and valuable way for everyone concerned.
Ben says that in the present his conversations with his followers are carried out via email. "I recommend that people respond by sending a message that says "Hey, tell me the things you're doing'. I prefer this because it's easy to manage.
He'd offer forum discussions and 'cohort courses', and work through Google Sheets issues online together as a group. "We had two completed in 2021. Google Sheets were the talk of the town. The experience was great, but it felt very stressful for the entire 5 weeks students were in the class. It was like being a "firehose of questions. It was my first time in a group as such but I'm concerned that once I've switched the knob the lights, I'll not be able to truly switch off. This is something I'd like consider, and how do be able to do this without causing any harm?
"I was not even pledging live streaming when I first began, since I thought"Just go live and see what reaction it gets. Determine if I'm keen on doing before I make promises all the time. The system is working well! He's excited to add live events "They're entertaining and participants enjoy a lot from the sessions. Let's see how it goes!"
Ben hosting an online Zoom session with his clients
"Right currently I'm teaching classes like: I'll pick a subject and cover it in the live lecture," he continues. But in the cohort courses it was more of an open-forum: "People would come in to say, 'Hey Here's the problem I'm having with We'd go through the problem live. Other people were able to view. We'll be looking into doing this again next year. It's the perfect way for students to be involved."
In conclusion, he believes that maybe a Discord Q&A forums is an alternative, but he states: "I just want to make sure I can do the job in a way which doesn't burden me." It sounds like Ben is already in building the longest-lasting and long-lasting relationship with his community. It is our opinion that keeping the relationship going with time is vital to the success of participation "Little steps - we'll slowly increase our efforts!" He smiles.
Additional details
Ben Collins is an educator, writer, developer and co-founder of The Collins School of Data. Ben Collins develops online classes and write about the Google Workspace tools. My focus is on data analysis and automation, using Google Sheets and Apps Script.
Ben L Collins' website
He's an avid enthusiast of creating light applications which are based on data and work in conjunction with using the Google stack. A few of these include Google Sheets, Looker Studio, Google Apps Script, Forms, Docs, Gmail as well as other. To learn more, go to benlcollins.com.
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