Terms
"I was an accountant for 8 years, and used Microsoft Excel every day for lengthy periods of time." The course begins with Google Sheets and Apps Script an instructor with years of experience Ben L Collins. "Almost all of my work was done within Excel however I did not have prior experience. Even though I was a programer however, I hadn't completed anything that involved spreadsheets.
"Pretty in the early days of my career as a professional my boss demanded that I do several things with Excel"Combine with tables' on - yet I was completing everything with the help of my fingers!" The boss provided him with formulas to simplify things and Ben instantly realized that the most important ability required of anyone working in finance is knowing how to manipulate the data.
"The individuals who have the capacity to pull off this feat will be miles ahead of all others who seem to be a mess." Ben continues. I thought "Right. I'll have to learn what I know and came across numerous websites including mrexcel.com and chandoo.org The exact websites which did the same thing I do today by using Excel 15 years ago."
The more Ben could look at spreadsheets and formulas, the more fascinated he was: "It was this rabbit tunnel that appeared to go further and farther." Ben realized that the coding lessons he learned during his time at college could be utilized together with other programming languages that could be integrated into databases, such as VBA.
Through over the span of his life being an accountant, he began to be increasingly involved with the world of technology as opposed to the accounting or finance. "After almost eight years of working in the field, I came to the conclusion that "I've achieved enough in order to be able to do enough!. I was unsure of where to take the next step. One of my first ideas was to change my career direction to become a developer." Ben tells me.
Ben L Collins speaking in a special event
He attended a handful of classes prior to applying for positions. "It was not received well, however, I was developing my own web site and creating essays. The first article I composed was written using Google Sheets and were those which were found via Google Search." These articles led to a variety of customers looking for and paying for freelance work.
"In 2014 and 2015. The year 2014 and the year 2015 there was an inbound stream of users asking "Hey do you want to help me with the creation of my dashboard with spreadsheets?' or "Can you look at my personal spreadsheets to see if they are suitable for use by my business? And help me find how to improve the formulas? ? '."
The project was made up of Excel, Google Sheets, SQL and Tableau. "It was not really anything to do, but it was a sign that I was able to say"Maybe there's something to this. Perhaps it's possible to work as a freelancer rather than going back to the position that I was previously employed in . I didn't plan on returning to the accounting job!" Ben smiles. "I really enjoy staying on top of the latest developments in technology and research."
Goodbye accounting, hello education
The website for the education General Assembly was just a business that was only beginning and was planning to offer classes specifically targeted at researchers and developers. "They are currently launching their Data Analysis part-time program. Because I took classes at their school while I was an instructor for a couple of their courses for developers and I had an excellent relationship with the group back then. They launched their Data course and was seeking instructors. The class was comprised consisting in Excel, SQL and Tableau," Ben continues. "I thought, 'Hey, it's exactly my job for the past eight years. ! '." He was able to pass the test and be appointed and to instruct on the course a variety of occasions throughout 2015.
"That led me to teach in the future," Ben recalls. "I'd taught in the college classroom as a tutor for the young students while I was at the end of year." He started incorporating an element of corporate training in online courses. This included lessons and tutorials. "As I began to gain an following in 2017, I decided to create my own online course in order to explore the possibilities."
) A course on the function of queries in Google Sheets
It was an absolute success and the students thoroughly enjoyed the class thoroughly. This was enough to inspire Ben to create a second course. "I used Teachable the website I found via Teachable because I was looking for a way to create a rapport with my students, as and also manage the relationships instead of leaving it up to an online marketplace comparable to Udemy."
I was inspired to conduct some digging and discovered that the name that kept showing up in the results was a person who runs the publication for technology known as Stratechery, Ben Thompson. Ben Thompson is the OG!" Ben is having a good time. "I have joined a couple of accounts for myself to find out how other people such as Flowing Data and Craig Mod had been doing the same thing." Ben is a subscriber to their monthly newsletter at no cost since the age of a baby and I was fascinated by the method they used in establishing their membership-based business. I was thinking to myself "I would like my business to look exactly like the ones they have.'. It was simple to sign-up and I could think"I'd be awestruck by the experience of being an active member.'
A sustainable manner
As a matter of fact, Ben's subscription service offers high-quality (or "gated") information which is hosted on WordPress and is in addition to an electronic newsletter delivered via emails through Kit (formerly ConvertKit). To give you more information The service is based upon Google Sheets and includes information on new features in the application as well as strategies to maximize the benefits out of it.
"The coming newsletter will be an in-depth look at some of the features which Google has launched during the previous year's calendar." Ben adds. It is an extremely useful feature for manipulating data. The demonstration is provided on this topic, with the link to the Google Sheet template that people could download. Also, the author mentions online discussions on the topic. "I utilize newsletters to convey information regarding dates and times in addition to share details concerning the Google Meet link for the live event."
When asked about the future of his venture, Ben thinks membership could be the main source of revenue for his venture. "I sure would love to gain new members since I'd like to see membership be the most important item of our business," he says. "I am able to provide archived material at no cost which you can then sign up as a premium member and aid me in my efforts and get more details."
An exercise in the game of Chess made easier by Google Sheets
He claimed that he had the capability of offering consultation services in addition to placing ads in the newsletter but he wants to end that "if I can build a sufficient audience, it will be ideal to eliminate all other things. There's a couple of small points to improve, but growing the number of people who sign up for the newsletter is crucial. "
He says he's thought of various ideas for how to increase the range of services offered. "I've thought of some thoughts on how we can improve the efficiency of delivering these live events to customers as well as plans to introduce members for the upcoming calendar year. The software itself will be changing. The software itself won't change drastically However, we'll be able to keep live streaming."
He's said he'd like find ways for members to talk about their current challenges currently working on and also issues they'd like to tackle soon "That could happen through "office hours' or an improved approach to asking questions" provided that they're conducted with a long-term and sustainable manner for everyone that are involved.
Ben states that, as of time, all communication with his subscribers is through emails. "I really would like people to connect with me via a text an email saying, 'Hey let me know what are you currently making progress on'. like it because it's manageable.
Forum chats will be provided in conjunction with "cohort instruction" that will allow participants to work on Google Sheets issues online together in small groups. "We had two of them in 2021,""" the man stated. Google Sheets were the talk of the town. This course was extremely effective, but it was also very intense in the beginning of five weeks when participants were in the "firehose" of inquiries. There's been some time when I've attempted this course independently, and this is the reason I'm worried that after I've turned on my computer, it'll not be possible to turn it completely off. This is something I'd like consider, but how do I do this by looking at the longer term?
"I wasn't sure regarding live streaming, so I was first thinking 'Just go live and see how it reacts. Be sure that I'm comfortable with it prior to committing to each day.' However, it's working well! The host is eager to include live sessions "They're entertaining and participants benefit a lot of these workshops. Let's see what happens!"
Ben hosts Zoom sessions for his clients.
"Right this moment, I'm offering things to students like picking topics that we'll be discussing during the live sessions," he continues. However, in the classes that were in groups, it was more of an open-forum "People would come in and inquire, "Hey, this is my concern.' It was then discussed the topic in real-time, and the other students were permitted to observe. The issue will be investigated over the course of the year. It's an excellent occasion to motivate the people around you to join in."
The writer concludes that a Q&A forum in Discord could be a viable alternative, however Ben declares that "I just want to be confident that I'm capable of accomplishing this in a manner that doesn't overwhelm me." There is a sense that Ben is trying to establish the longest-lasting and durable connection within his group. We think that keeping relationships over the course that is long enough to ensure a successful experience "Little move - we'll grow the amount as time passes by!" The man smiles.
Additional details
Ben Collins is an educator and author, programmers and the creator of The Collins School of Data. Ben is the designer of training online courses as well as writes about Google Workspace tools. My focus is on the analysis of data and automating it using Google Sheets as well as Apps script.
Ben L Collins' website
He enjoys creating light-weight apps using data to be integrated with the Google's Google stack. These include: Google Sheets, Looker Studio, Google Apps Script, Forms, Docs, Gmail, etc. For more details, go to benlcollins.com.
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