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"I was an accountant for 8 years and worked with Microsoft Excel every day for many hours," Google Sheets is the first application to be launched by professional educator for ApplicationsScript Ben L Collins. "Almost every task I performed was completed using Excel however I didn't have the knowledge of. I had done some programming, but I'd not worked on anything involving spreadsheets.

"Pretty quite early in my professional career, my boss demanded me to finish many tasks with Excel like "Combine Tables. However, I had to complete the entire process manually!" His boss showed him some methods that might help in reducing time. Ben recognized right then that among the most important abilities in any career in finance is handling data.

"The people who have the ability to achieve this feat will be miles above those who fall short." Ben continues. I thoughtto myself "Right. I'll need to master my Excel skills, and discovered a number of sites like mrexcel.com along with chandoo.org These people were doing what I'm doing today but they used Excel around 15 years ago."

The more Ben was able to study calculations and spreadsheets, the more intrigued he was: "It was this rabbit tunnel which seemed to go deeper and higher." Ben recognized that implementing part of the coding training that he had completed in his college course could prove to be a good option to combine other database-related programming languages like VBA.

Over over the span of his career as a certified accountant, he found himself becoming more enthused about technology and less enthralled by finances or accounting. "After 8 years, I realized that I'd had enough to get by!. I wasn't certain of what which next steps to take however, one of my initial ideas was to change jobs and be an engineer," Ben tells me.

HTML1 Ben L Collins speaking at an occasion

He studied a couple of courses before he began submitting applications for positions. "It was not an enormous enterprise at the start but I did start my own website along with writing content. The initial few articles I wrote in Google Sheets and were those which were viewed by Google Search." These posts led to an array of users who wanted to hire freelancers and paid them for jobs.

"In the years 2014 and 2015 there were calls from customers asking, "Hey, could I get help creating a Dashboard using Sheets? or "Can you look at my company spreadsheets and help me figure out ways to improve the formulas ? '."

The task comprised Excel, Google Sheets, SQL and Tableau. "It was any work really but it provided me with a reason to consider if there's something in this. Perhaps I could be a freelancer rather than returning to the job I had previously . I did not want to go back to accounting!" Ben smiles. "I want to keep ahead of the curve in technological advancement and creating new ideas."

Goodbye accounting, hello education

The educational website General Assembly was just a start-up and it was offering courses specifically targeted at data analysts and developers. "They launched a part-time data analysis course. Since I had taken a class together as a student during an one of their programming classes and I was familiar with this group of people at the time. When they introduced this course regarding information, they'd looked for instructors, and the course was comprised of Excel, SQL and Tableau," Ben continues. "I I thought"What a great concept! My job has been this for the past 8 years! '." The applicant went through the procedure and was eventually awarded the job. He was the instructor several times between the years of 2015.

"That made me want to start teaching once more," Ben recalls. "I'd taught in college and tutored kids in college when I was finishing my final year." Ben began including company training in his online offering which included classes for sale and tutorials. "As I started to grow the number of people who are interested in my work, in the year 2017 I made the decision to create my own course, and then test the waters."

) A course on the Query function within Google Sheets

The class's instruction was a hit and it helped to motivate Ben to create a brand new course. "I utilized a website known as Teachable because I was looking for a way to build a relationship with my viewers and take control of the relationship, instead of transferring it to an online market place as Udemy."

I did some searching and found that the name being mentioned was of the man who is the editor of Stratechery the tech-related news magazine. Stratechery, Ben Thompson. Ben Thompson is known as Ben Thompson, the OG!" Ben laughs. "I have joined several members in order to observe what other businesses such as Flowing Data and Craig Mod have done it." Ben has been getting their newsletters for free for a long time and I wanted to learn how they had implemented their membership businesses. I thought to myself "I want mine to be similar to that.'. It was amazing to sign in such an easy and effortless way. like I wanted to experience this..'

The aim is to keep in a forward pace

Actually, Ben's subscription service currently includes high-quality (or "gated") information that is located on WordPress and also the newsletter for email that's distributed via email with Kit (formerly ConvertKit). The program is built using Google Sheets and includes features for product as well as updates and other information. It also includes ways to maximize the value out of the program.

"The next newsletter provides an in-depth look into some new features Google released in the last time," Ben adds. They are very useful that allow you to alter data. A tutorial will be provided on this subject, which will include a link to a Google Sheet template that people are able to download. There will also be live conversations on the topic. "I utilize periodic newsletters that provide precise dates and times, as well as a Google Meet link for the live chat."

If you ask him about the direction of his firm, Ben believes that membership will be at the heart of his enterprise. "I am definitely looking to attract new members, as I'd like to see membership as the primary item," he declares. "I have the ability to provide an assortment of free information, but there is the option to join as a professional member to assist me with more content."

0.WZ6fYkdbv3adzawtsO The simulation of an game of Chess using Google Sheets

He also discusses why it was his custom to provide advice and place advertisements within the newsletters. But, he's trying to end the practice "if I could increase the amount of subscribers to an adequate amount and that's an excellent idea to stop the other things. There's a couple of small problems to address. But, increasing the number of subscribers is crucial. "

He states that he's got range of options for expanding the range of services available. "I've come up with a few ideas and am thinking about how to best broadcast the live events, and also initiatives that will bring new members on board within the calendar year to come. The service itself will grow. It's not going to differ from the previous one, but we'll be doing more live events."

The individual also mentions that he'd like to develop an easier means for participants to exchange information on what they're working on and what they'd like to do about it in the near future "That could be via 'office hours' or the easiest method of responding to questions" Provided the method is reliable and sustainable manner for everyone affected.

Ben states that as of now the way he interacts with his fans is done via email newsletters. "I would suggest people reply to me with a text message saying "Hey, tell me about the projects you're working on currently'. I enjoy it because it's simple to handle.

He would offer forums chats as well as "cohort classes" where participants worked on Google Sheets questions online as a group. "We attended two of these courses in 2021. They were the talk of the town. The class was extremely popular. But it was extremely stressful for the entire 5 weeks it was a "firehose of questions. This was the first time I've done this type of community like this before because I'm concerned that once I've turned on the device, it'll be difficult to turn it off. I'd be interested to analyze this and decide how I can do this in a sustainable way?

"I had no live sessions when I initially started. I was thinking "Just launch and observe what happens. See if I enjoy making it happen prior to making promise after promise. The launch has been successful! The creator is excited to the addition of live sessions "They're fun and participants gain many benefits from these sessions. It'll be fascinating to watch what develops!"

Ben hosts the Zoom meeting for his participants.

"Right currently, I'm teaching classes: I'll choose one topic to discuss and be discussing it in live class," he continues. When the class was conducted with a cohort, the discussion was more informal "People were able to come in and ask, 'Hey, I've discovered a formula and isn't working for me We'd then have an open discussion, while others could observe. This is something we'll take into consideration in the coming year. This is a great method for students to be involved."

In the final analysis Ben believes that the idea of creating the Discord Q&A forum is a possibility However, he states "I just want to ensure that I'm able to accomplish this in a way which doesn't overburden me." The impression is that Ben is already in his process of creating the foundation of a continuous and tight connection with his community. It is vital to maintain the relationship is the key to an ongoing participation "Little things We'll expand it in time!" He smiles.

More details

Ben Collins is an educator writer, designer and author as well as the creator and co-creator for The Collins School of Data. Ben develops online courses for training and writes about the use of Google Workspace tools. My focus is on analysis of data and automation using Google Sheets and Apps Script.

Ben L Collins' website

He is a fan of creating light and data-driven applications for use on Google's stack. Google stack. There are many such apps: Google Sheets, Looker Studio, Google Apps Script, Forms, Docs, Gmail and much more. To learn more, go to benlcollins.com.

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