Terms
"I was an accountant for 8 years and used Microsoft Excel every day for hours," begins Google Sheets and Apps Script expert educator Ben L Collins. "Almost all my work was performed using Excel however I didn't have a background. I'd coded however I had not completed anything with spreadsheets.
"Pretty at the beginning of my job the boss had asked me to complete a variety of stuff using Excel such as 'Combine the tables', etc. - and I was doing it all manually!" His boss showed him some formulas that could help save some time and Ben was able to see that one of the fundamental skills in every financial profession is simply knowing how to alter data.
"The those who are able to do it really well can be miles ahead of the rest of us, who just stumble through," Ben continues. I thought, 'Right, I'm going to need to brush up on these skills So I looked up a bunch of websites online like mrexcel.com as well as chandoo.org They had the same skills as I am today, only using Excel about 15 years ago."
The more Ben studied formulas and spreadsheets, more enthralled he got: "It was this rabbit hole that was just getting into deeper and deeper." He recognized that some of the programming education from his college days could be combined with other databases-related programming languages like VBA.
Through during the duration of his career as an accountant, he actually became much more interested in technology and less interested in finance and accounting. "After 8 years of working I thought, 'I've had enough to have enough!'. I wasn't sure of what to do next however one of my initial ideas was to move into becoming a developer." Ben tells me.
It's yWYQFjXiawUjOZ9y Ben L Collins speaking at an event
He took some courses, then began to apply for jobs. "It didn't really go anywhere at the time, but I was creating my own website and writing pieces. Some of the early articles I composed were on Google Sheets and they're the ones that got picked up in [Google] Search." This led to a number of clients requesting and paying freelance job.
"In 2014 and in 2015, there was enough of some inbound calls asking, "Hey, could you help me build the dashboard using sheets?' or "Can you review my spreadsheets for our company and help me figure out ways to improve these formulas? ?'."
The task involved Excel, Google Sheets, SQL and Tableau. "It was any work really but it was enough of an opportunity to consider"Maybe there's something to be found here. It might be possible to become a freelancer instead of going back to the old job' . I didn't want to go back to accounting!" Ben smiles. "I would like to stay up in the field of technology and innovation."
Goodbye accounting, hello education
The education website General Assembly was just a company that was just starting and had plans to launch vocational courses for developers and data analysts. "They introduced an online data analysis program that was part-time. Since I had taken a class with them as a student for one of their courses for developers and I was familiar with the staff at the time. The first time they launched this data course, they were recruiting for instructors. It was Excel, SQL and Tableau," Ben continues. "I said, 'Hey this is exactly the job I've done since I was eight years old. !'." He completed the application process, and was offered the position and taught the course for a couple of times in 2015.
"That made me want to start teaching again," Ben recalls. "I'd done some teaching at college as a mentor to younger students when I was finishing my year." He began adding in some company training in his online offering, including selling courses and tutorials. "As I started to grow an audience, in 2017 I figured I'd create my own course and test the waters."
) A course on the Query function in Google Sheets
The teaching course was received quite well - well enough to encourage Ben to launch a second course. "I utilized a platform named Teachable because I wanted to have an immediate relationship with my audience and manage that relationship rather than hand that over to an online marketplace such as Udemy."
I did some searching and the name that kept coming to mind was the person who is the editor of the tech news magazine Stratechery, Ben Thompson. Ben Thompson is known as the OG!" Ben laughs. "I have signed up for a couple of memberships myself to see what other members like Flowing Data and Craig Mod did the same thing." Ben had been reading their newsletters for a long time and was interested in the ways they'd created their membership business. I thought, "I want mine to have the same experience.'. I was awed by it was easy to sign up and easy - I was thinking"I would like that membership experience..'
Moving forward sustainably
To give context, Ben's membership offering currently consists of premium (or 'gated') content located on WordPress and a premium email newsletter delivered via emails using Kit (formerly ConvertKit). As for information, it's based on Google Sheets which includes new features for the product, as well as updates and how to make the most out of it.
"The next newsletter is an in-depth look at some of the new functions which Google introduced in the last season," Ben adds. They're really helpful functions to manipulate data, so there'll be a tutorial about that with a link to a Google Sheet template that people are able to download. In addition, the live session about this. "I utilize the newsletters to share the time and to share the Google Meet link for the live sessions."
If asked what the future holds, Ben imagines that membership will become the core of his business. "I certainly would like to draw more people in since I'd like for the membership to become the primary product," he says. "I am able to offer an archive of content for free which you then can become a pro member and support me and get more information."
0.WZ6fYkdbv3adzawtsO Simulating a game of Chess using Google Sheets
He also explains how he has used to offer consulting and publish ads in his free newsletter. However, he is now trying to move away from this: "if I can build the number of subscribers to become large enough, it'd be nice to get rid of the other things. There's a couple of small issues to be worked on, but increasing the membership is key. "
He mentions that he has various ideas for expanding his offerings. "I've had some thoughts at the moment that I could do better at broadcasting these live sessions, and we've also got plans to attract members coming to next year. The service itself will develop. It's not going to change much, however we'll be doing more live things."
He also says he'd like to come up with a more effective method for members to share the sorts of data problems they're working with and the issues they'd like to resolve - "That might be through 'office hours' or a better method to ask questions" - so long as it is in a efficient and sustainable manner for everyone concerned.
Ben confirms that, at the moment his interaction with his followers is carried out via emails. "I actually encourage people to reply saying, 'Hey, tell me the things you're working on'. I enjoy the idea because it's manageable.
He used to offer forum conversations and 'cohort courses', working though Google Sheets issues online together in a group. "We did two of them in 2021 when they were all the rage. The course was very successful, but it felt very intense for the five weeks of the course It was like a "firehose' of questions. It's been a while since I've done a community as such yet, because I'm wary of when I turn it on, I can't truly shut off. I want to think it through and figure out how to accomplish this sustainably?
"I wasn't even promising live sessions when I first started, as I was thinking"Just launch, and see what the reception will be. See if I enjoy doing it before I promise all the time. It's working great! He seems keen to add live events "They're entertaining and people enjoy a lot from the sessions. Let's see how it goes!"
Ben hosting an online session with his participants
"Right right now, I'm teaching subjects such as: I'll choose a subject and then we'll discuss it in the live session," he continues. In the course with cohorts, the structure was more like an open forum: "People would come in to say, 'Hey there's a formula that I'm stuck on We'd go through the issue live, and others could observe. This is something we'll consider in the coming year. It's an excellent way for everyone to be involved."
As a final thought, he believes there's a possibility that a Q&A forums is an option, however he clarifies: "I just want to be sure that I'm able to handle it in a way which doesn't overwhelm me." This sounds like Ben is already on the road to building the longest-lasting and long-lasting friendship with his group. We agree that sustainably is essential to the success of a participation "Little actions - we'll build it up over time!" he smiles.
More details
Ben Collins is an educator author, designer, and founder of The Collins School of Data. He develops online courses and writes about the Google Workspace tools. I concentrate on analysis of data as well as automation, making use of Google Sheets and Apps Script.
Ben L Collins' website
He is a fan of building light and data-driven apps to the Google stack: Google Sheets, Looker Studio, Google Apps Script, Forms, Docs, Gmail as well as other. For more details, visit benlcollins.com.