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Feb 7, 2025
Google Sheets expert Ben L Collins

"I worked as an accountant for eight years, working with Microsoft Excel each day for some time" starts Google Sheets as well as AppsScript's seasoned teacher Ben L Collins. "Almost all the things I worked on were completed with Excel however it wasn't any thing I had any idea about. I had written a few applications, but I had never worked with spreadsheets in any way.

"Pretty in the early days of my job, I was instructed by my supervisor to finish many projects using Excel"Combine Tables' and on. Yet, I was able to complete everything myself!" His supervisor gave him a handful of formulas to aid his work. Ben realized that among the top skills required for anyone in the financial profession is the ability to deal with information.

"The individuals who possess the capability to win at this game will benefit far more than people who struggle," Ben continues. I thought "Right today, I'll need to improve my skills which I already have. Then, I started looking for websites like mrexcel.com along with chandoo.org They could have similar capabilities to mine currently, however they're employing Excel more than 15 years ago."

The more Ben explored calculations and spreadsheets and spreadsheets, the more fascinated his mind was this "It was like a tunnel, which was able to go deeper into deeper." Ben was aware that a portion of the data that he had gathered during his time at university could be used in various programming languages that work together with databases such as VBA.

In the course of his career as being an accountant, he was more fascinated by the advancements in technology instead of the accounting or financial aspects. "After more than eight years employed by an acclaimed accounting firm, I felt I'd done enough work to get the job!. It was difficult to decide what I should do next was but one of my first thoughts was to become engineer." Ben tells me.

     Ben L Collins speaking at a private event    

He attended various classes before he applied for jobs. "It didn't go as how I had envisioned, but I launched my own site as well as wrote essays. The first article I wrote about were Google Sheets and these are those that were the ones that were eventually integrated into Google Search." The pieces resulted in a variety of requests from customers in addition to pay-per-hour employment.

"In the period between 2013 between 2013 and 2014., there was just one person saying"Hey I'm in need of your assistance to create my dashboard with spreadsheets Are you able to suggest any suggestions? Additionally, could you take an effort to go at my company's spreadsheets and assist me in coming up with methods to enhance the formulas? '."

The project included Excel, Google Sheets, SQL as well as Tableau. "It was not really the actual work, however it was the foundation for a belief that there was something there. The possibility exists that an individual contractor could operate as an independent contractor, as opposed to having the possibility that of going back to the company that I worked at . It was never my intention to go back to work as a bookkeeper!" Ben smiles. "I strive to stay on top of my game to increase my capabilities and technological skills."

Goodbye accounting, hello education

In the beginning, the website of the Education General Assembly was just the beginning of a new venture and began to launch courses specifically targeted at developers and researchers. "They are currently launching an online course in the analysis of databases, that will include a half-time program. Since my time in their college and a part of one of their classes that was designed specifically for developers, I had good communication with team when I was there. The first time they offered the data-related course required instructors. The course consisted of Excel, SQL and Tableau," Ben continues. "I realized, 'Hey!' was exactly my entire life up to around the age of eight. ! '." He completed the application process and then was offered the position. He was a teacher many times throughout the course of 2015.

"That led me to make the choice to return to the teaching profession," Ben recalls. "I'd had a couple of experiences as a teacher in the university environment, and also when I was an instructor for students when I finished my studies." Then, he began with online training for corporate clients using the platform, along with teaching workshops as well as classes. "As I was beginning to build my following for my classes in 2017 I made the decision to design my own online course to assess the quality of it."

A course on the Query function in Google Sheets

) This course is focused upon Google Query. Google Query is one of the features in Sheets

The course Ben gave was successful. The training was sufficient to inspire Ben to design a brand new class. "I utilized an online platform referred to as Teachable since I wanted to establish a relationship with my students. I wanted to keep this connection rather than moving it onto the web like Udemy."

I decided to conduct some research, and a name that intrigued me was the person who is the editor of the tech-related magazine Stratechery, Ben Thompson. Ben Thompson is among the people they consider are"the OG!" Ben is laughing. "I have joined several memberships to see how the other members of Flowing Data and Craig Mod achieved this." Ben was receiving the newsletter every month, which is free, for many years, and I was fascinated by the methods they'd utilized to develop their business models on base of their subscribers. I replied, "I want mine to be similar to their.'. I was amazed by the way everything went smoothly and I was thinking I'd like to experience the same experience.'

It is crucial to work at a rapid pace

A quick overview of Ben's Membership Service is composed of high-end (or "gated") details found on WordPress and provides an exclusive newsletter that is distributed via email through Kit (formerly ConvertKit). The main subject of the newsletter on Google Sheets and it includes specific details about the capabilities of the application along with changes and other information - and ways to get maximum benefit from the software.

"The coming newsletter will contain specific information about the new features Google has announced in the preceding months." Ben adds. These are highly useful features that permit the manipulation of data. They'll also provide instructions via videos to make use of these functions as well as a hyperlink to Google Sheet. Google Sheet template that people could download for personal usage. The writer also states that the seminar to be centered around this topic. "I distribute periodic newsletters that contain specific information concerning the times and dates along with the Google Meet link for the live conference."

If asked about the prospects of members, Ben was interviewed about his expectations for Ben believes the membership market is set to become the principal source of revenue for his firm. "I will definitely be looking to recruit new members into my business, since I want membership to be the only option," he says. "I have an online library that is open to the public for absolutely no cost. However, you are able to sign up as an official member in order to help me in my efforts and get further information."

Similar to Chess through the use of Google Sheets

The writer also talks about the ways he offered services and included ads in his free newsletter. He's trying to eliminate the practices "if I'm able to expand the base of subscribers, so it's nice to rid of other issues. This isn't finished yet However, there are some issues to address however increasing the number of subscribers is crucial. "

He's able of coming up with numerous ways of developing his service. "I've been thinking about it for the moment to find out if I'm stronger at coordinating these live events and also developing plans on how I can draw more members to this year's events. Software will be upgraded. There's no need to change the way it works, however it's likely to add additional streams."

He also states the desire to come up with a system that lets participants share the details of the current work they're working on and the way they'd prefer to conduct themselves in the future "That could be achieved through "office hours', or way to get participants talking about their concerns and posing questions" so long as it's practical and financially sustainable to everyone.

Ben states that, at current, his interactions with his followers is done through emails. "I would suggest you to respond by text messages which say "Hey Tell me about your actions'. This is the method I prefer since it's simple to manage.

Discussion forums and 'cohort courses', as well as working on Google Sheets issues online together in a group. "We could complete two projects by 2021. Google Sheets were the talk on the streets. It was a great experience, however the stress was a constant throughout the five days students were in the class. It felt like the class was like the middle of a "firehose with questions. It was the first time I've been in a group like this. But, I'm worried that after I've turned off the light and turned off the power, I won't be able to shut off the light bulbs. That's something I'd love to investigate however, how do achieve this without causing damage to the light?

"I wasn't even thinking about stream live until I began. I thought"Just start streaming and watch the results. Review my activities before I commit to commitments constantly. It's working! The host is delighted to add live entertainment "They're captivating and viewers get significantly from the show. We'll see what we can achieve!"

Ben hosting a Zoom session for his members

Ben runs an on-line Zoom session, which is available to customers of his.

"Right moment I'm running courses like these In every class, I'll pick the subject of my study and then discuss it during live demonstrations," He goes on to say. Classes taught by co-teaching were mostly a conversation "People were in attendance asking "Hey, what's my concern. The discussion would be live in real time. The other participants could see. We'll look into organizing similar events at some point in the future. This is an excellent way for children to become involved."

At the conclusion of the day Ben is pondering whether Discord forums for Q&A to be an possibility. But, Ben states that "I am trying to make certain that I'm in a position to carry out my duties in a way which doesn't burden me." It's clear that Ben already has a strong and lasting relationship with his supporters. It is our opinion that keeping these connections with time is vital to the long-term sustainability of his work "Little things to do We'll slowly increase the effort that we invest in this!" The man smiles.

Additional details

Ben Collins is an educator and writer. He is also co-creator of The Collins School of Data. Ben Collins develops online classes and blogs which discuss the Google Workspace tools. My main focus is the analysis of data and automating the process using Google Sheets and Apps Script.

Ben L Collins website

Ben L Collins' website

He's a big believer in the development of lighter applications based on data. They also integrate with the google's Google stack. There are numerous such applications: Google Sheets, Looker Studio, Google Apps Script, Forms, Docs, Gmail as well as many others. For more information visit benlcollins.com.

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