Do you know that video and audio transcription always have highest content ranking? In this situation, I usually use this mp3 to text converter. https://audext.com/mp3-to-text/. Additionally, this software can also improve your SEO.
Now that you've established a strong readership and SEO, do you ever think about expanding your beat into other accounting based software like Excel, or do you think that would be a bad strategic idea?
Hi Mike, I do think about expanding into other topics. There is still so much for me to write about in Google Sheets itself though, so I have a lot more I want to cover with it. I do write about other Google tools that combine with Sheets, like Apps Script, Google Forms, BigQuery and Data Studio and I want to create more tutorials and courses on those topics in due course. The other question I think about a lot is how to apply Sheets to different industries. For example, Google Sheets has 50 built-in finance functions and over 130 statistical functions, and I'd like to cover those topics in some depth (finance and statistics) using Sheets as my lens.
This is a thoroughly enlightening interview, Simon! Ben's transition from forensic accounting to becoming a Google Sheets expert is a testament to how diversifying one's skill set can lead to unforeseen success. His strategy of offering free courses as lead magnets is ingenious and clearly effective. It's a great reminder that value-driven content can help grow an audience. On a side note, as someone who frequently engages with long-form content, I've found transcription software, for instance https://rythmex.com/, to be incredibly helpful in capturing and organizing information from interviews and podcasts. It might be something worth exploring for those wanting to repurpose their content in different formats.
Hi Jessica. Individual courses are priced between $99 and $299, depending on the topic and how comprehensive the course is. This is similar to other online technical courses. I have pricing options for students from developing countries to make the courses more affordable for them and offer discount to non-profit organizations. Pricing is a huge topic and a strong signal of value. Psychologically, if two identical items were price at $10 and $1000, we'd all be convinced that the $1000 is better. I wanted to price my courses to indicate that they're high value, but hopefully not too expensive that folks can't afford them.
Do you build out any community features for your readership, like a Facebook Group or Slack channel? Seems like the kind of thing where readers could create a lot of value by asking and answering each other's questions about specific Google Sheets functionality.
Hi Emily. Yes, I have a Facebook group for students of my paid courses, which provides a space for students to ask questions and help each other out with answers. I check in too, to add my perspective if it helps. On the website, many of the tutorials have comments where readers ask questions and help each other. I used to answer them all but it's not practical any longer. I try to answer when I can and my readers often post solutions to each others problems too, which is great to see.
Do you know that video and audio transcription always have highest content ranking? In this situation, I usually use this mp3 to text converter. https://audext.com/mp3-to-text/. Additionally, this software can also improve your SEO.
Now that you've established a strong readership and SEO, do you ever think about expanding your beat into other accounting based software like Excel, or do you think that would be a bad strategic idea?
Hi Mike, I do think about expanding into other topics. There is still so much for me to write about in Google Sheets itself though, so I have a lot more I want to cover with it. I do write about other Google tools that combine with Sheets, like Apps Script, Google Forms, BigQuery and Data Studio and I want to create more tutorials and courses on those topics in due course. The other question I think about a lot is how to apply Sheets to different industries. For example, Google Sheets has 50 built-in finance functions and over 130 statistical functions, and I'd like to cover those topics in some depth (finance and statistics) using Sheets as my lens.
This is a thoroughly enlightening interview, Simon! Ben's transition from forensic accounting to becoming a Google Sheets expert is a testament to how diversifying one's skill set can lead to unforeseen success. His strategy of offering free courses as lead magnets is ingenious and clearly effective. It's a great reminder that value-driven content can help grow an audience. On a side note, as someone who frequently engages with long-form content, I've found transcription software, for instance https://rythmex.com/, to be incredibly helpful in capturing and organizing information from interviews and podcasts. It might be something worth exploring for those wanting to repurpose their content in different formats.
How do you price your courses? How price sensitive are your customers?
Hi Jessica. Individual courses are priced between $99 and $299, depending on the topic and how comprehensive the course is. This is similar to other online technical courses. I have pricing options for students from developing countries to make the courses more affordable for them and offer discount to non-profit organizations. Pricing is a huge topic and a strong signal of value. Psychologically, if two identical items were price at $10 and $1000, we'd all be convinced that the $1000 is better. I wanted to price my courses to indicate that they're high value, but hopefully not too expensive that folks can't afford them.
Do you build out any community features for your readership, like a Facebook Group or Slack channel? Seems like the kind of thing where readers could create a lot of value by asking and answering each other's questions about specific Google Sheets functionality.
Hi Emily. Yes, I have a Facebook group for students of my paid courses, which provides a space for students to ask questions and help each other out with answers. I check in too, to add my perspective if it helps. On the website, many of the tutorials have comments where readers ask questions and help each other. I used to answer them all but it's not practical any longer. I try to answer when I can and my readers often post solutions to each others problems too, which is great to see.