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"I employed as an accountant for the past eight years and utilized Microsoft Excel every day for many hours," begins Google Sheets and Apps Script professional educator Ben L Collins. "Almost everything I did on was performed using Excel however I didn't have a background. I'd coded, but had never done anything related to spreadsheets.

"Pretty in the first week of my job I was being asked by my boss me to perform a number of things using Excel such as 'Combine the tables'. but I was doing every bit of it manually!" His boss showed his formulas to save some time and Ben was able to see it was one of the fundamental skills for any finance profession is the ability to work with information.

"The those who are able to accomplish this feat will outdo everyone else who has to stumble through," Ben continues. I thought "Right it's time to really gen up with the skills I have and came across a bunch of websites online including mrexcel.com and chandoo.org They did exactly what I do now, but employing Excel, 15 years ago."

The more Ben was able to look at spreadsheets and formulas the more intrigued he was: "It was this rabbit hole which was just becoming deeper and deeper." Ben discovered that a portion of his programming knowledge from school days was able to be merged with other programming languages that deal with databases such as VBA.

Through during the duration of his professional career as an accountant was actually more in love with technological advances as opposed to the field of finance and accounting. "After 8 years of working I concluded that I've had enough I'm done and I'm finished!. I was unsure of what I could do next However, one of my first thoughts was to switch careers and become an engineer," Ben tells me.

     Ben L Collins speaking in an evening function    

He attended a few classes, and began applying for work. "It didn't take too long to get off, however, I started my own website as well as writing posts. The first articles I wrote were about Google Sheets and were those that Google included in its Search." This led to a range of clients asking for and paying freelance jobs.

"In 2014 and 2015, we had an outbound flow of people asking, "Hey, could I receive help with creating this dashboard using spreadsheets?' Or "Can you to look over my spreadsheets for the company and assist me in figuring out how to improve these formulas? ? '."

The task involved Excel, Google Sheets, SQL as well as Tableau. "It isn't much work at all but it was an indication to think, 'Maybe there's something here. It could be possible to become an independent contractor, instead of returning to my old job' . I don't want to go back to an accountant's job!" Ben smiles. "I am determined to keep pushing to advance the technology and innovation."

Goodbye accounting, hello education

The education website General Assembly was just a start-up and it was offering training courses specifically for developers and data analysts. "They have launched an online program for data analysis that was part-time. As I'd taken a course within their course as part of one of their classes for developers, I developed an established relationship with the group that was there. At the time of their first launch of the data course in the year 2015 They were in search of instructors. The class consisted of Excel, SQL and Tableau," Ben continues. "I thought, 'Hey this is what I've been doing for the last eight years ! '." He completed the procedure of interviewing to get the job. He also was the instructor for several versions in 2015.

"That made me want to return to teaching," Ben recalls. "I'd taught in college and as a tutor for the young students, during my final year." He began adding in some corporate training into his online offerings, such as offering tutorials and courses. "As I started to grow the number of people who wanted to learn more about my work, I made the decision to develop my own online course to test the waters."

) A course on the Query function within Google Sheets

The course was well-loved and appreciated thoroughly - enough to inspire Ben to create a follow-up course. "I used a site called Teachable because I wanted to create an immediate relationship with my audience and own that relationship myself instead of transferring it to a marketplace like Udemy."

I decided to do some digging and one name that kept coming up was the one who manages the tech journal Stratechery, Ben Thompson. Ben Thompson is known as"the OG!" Ben laughs. "I signed up for some accounts myself, to find out how other individuals such as Flowing Data and Craig Mod were doing the same thing." Ben was receiving their newsletter for free since he was a kid and I wanted to know how they had created their membership company. I thought, "I want mine to look like theirs.'. I was impressed by the process of signing up. It it was easy and quick - I thought, 'I need that membership experience..'

Going forward in a sustainable manner

In order to give a an overview, Ben's subscription service currently consists of high-end (or "gated") content that are located on WordPress and an electronic newsletter that is sent through emails through Kit (formerly ConvertKit). As for the content itself, it is based around Google Sheets - including products features, updates and more - as well as tips to get the most from the application.

"The next newsletter is an in-depth look at certain new features which Google came out with in the last calendar year." Ben adds. These are extremely useful features that let you alter the data. There'll be a tutorial about this, along with a link for the Google Sheet template that people are able to download. In addition, the live session about the topic. "I use the newsletters to share details on times and use the Google Meet link for the live sessions."

When asked what his plans for the future are, Ben imagines that membership will be the mainstay of his business. "I certainly want to get new members in as I'd like for that membership to become my sole service," he says. "I am able to offer archives of material for free but you also have the option to become the pro member, which will contribute to my efforts and get more content."

Z6fYkdbv3adzawtsO Playing a game of Chess with Google Sheets

He explains that he used to offer consultations or even put ads on his newsletter but he aims to end this practice "if I have the ability to create an audience large enough that it is possible to cut out the other things. There are a few minor areas that need to be focused on, but expanding the members' base is essential. "

He says it's possible to think of different ways of the expansion of his service. "I've had some thoughts currently about how I'd like to be more efficient in broadcasting these live events as well as we've put together initiatives to attract more members in the coming year. The streaming service will evolve. It's unlikely to alter much, but we'll still stream live content."

The member also states that he would like to find a better way for members to exchange information on the kind of problems they're dealing with as well as the questions they'd like to address in the future "That might be done through "office times', or the most efficient method for them to submit queries" insofar as it's a sustainable and beneficial for everyone involved.

Ben confirms that, currently all interaction with his followers is conducted through emails. "I suggest that you send me a note saying 'Hey tell me the things you're working on'. This is a great idea because it's very easy to keep track of.

He would offer forums chats as well as "cohort course" in which participants worked through Google Sheets issues online together as a team. "We attended two of them in 2021 while Google Sheets were the talk in the city. The experience was great, but it felt very demanding for the initial five weeks It was like a "firehose of questions. This was my first time participating in a class as yet, since I'm apprehensive that once I switch on the device, it'll be impossible to completely switch off. It's something I'd like to think through, how can I manage it with an eye on the long term?

"I did not have live sessions when I first started, as I was thinking"Just do it live and watch how people react. Make sure I am enjoying performing it, before committing to everything. This is going well! The owner is interested in having live sessions "They're enjoyable and the participants benefit from these sessions. It's going to be interesting see what happens!"

     Ben is hosting an online session with his participants    

"Right now, I'm teaching topics: I'll pick a topic and we'll cover that for the live session," he continues. For the cohorts course it was more of an open-ended discussion "People came in to say, "Hey, there's some formula I'm having trouble understanding We'd discuss the problem in real time, while others be observing. The issue will be explored in the coming year. It's a great opportunity for individuals to get engaged."

In closing Ben believes that there's a possibility that a Q&A-style forum is certainly an option, however Ben says: "I just want to be sure that I'm doing this in a manner that isn't overwhelming me." This seems to suggest that Ben is already working towards establishing the longest-lasting and long-lasting connection with his community. The idea of sustaining your relationship is the key to successful community membership "Little step - Let's make it bigger over the course of time!" He smiles.

Additional information

Ben Collins is an educator and author, developer and director of The Collins School of Data. Ben Collins creates online classes and blogs about the Google Workspace tools. My focus is on analysis of data as well as automation, making use of Google Sheets as well as Apps Script.

     Ben L Collins' website    

He loves creating lightweight, data-driven applications that work with using the Google stack. This includes: Google Sheets, Looker Studio, Google Apps Script, Forms, Docs, Gmail and many more. For more information, go to benlcollins.com.

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