Data Analysis with Google Sheets

Learn how to make data-driven decisions using Google Sheets to transform your business

Are you drowning in data, but not using it to make better decisions?

Do you run a small business and want to use your data to inform your strategy?

Has your business migrated from Excel to Google Sheets, and you're looking to further your skills?


Learn how to use Google Sheets to make data-driven decisions.


This course will set you up to:

  • Understand and describe what your data tells you
  • Predict what things might look like in the future
  • Understand your customers to better serve them
  • Discover what factors affect your business
  • Best practices for doing all of this...
  • ...and much, much more!

Use your data instead of "gut" feel to put your business on the right path.


Each lesson is taught through bite-sized, action-oriented 5 - 10 minute-long videos, covering practical techniques you can apply to your own business.

Working with real-world examples, including example datasets from industries like sales, marketing, real-estate and social media, you'll learn how to make the most of your business data today.

Now you can learn data analysis, using the same techniques and best practices I’ve spent the past 15 years learning.

This course will teach you the key foundational techniques in data analysis, even if you’re new to this topic.

As part of this course development, I had a group of people test-drive the course. This is what they had to say about it:


"I was really excited by the idea of using an application I was familiar with, Google Sheets, to complete data analysis that had seemed so challenging and foreign before.

People like me, who are not data scientists, and want an easy entry level way to start playing with data, would benefit from this course.

I absolutely love this course!"

- Geordie Frost, Bang Digital

"I wanted to learn more about what I can do with Google Sheets to get an idea about how my agency can benefit. My SEO company uses Google almost entirely for all our project management, etc.

I take every course from Ben Collins. I'm always looking to up my data game. If you can understand your Data you can make correct decisions about your business and *almost* guarantee success."

- Devin Schumacher, The Search Marketing Company

"Weekly, I face datasets I have to analyse and deliver insights. This new knowledge will help me get more insights from my data.

Since I've already done three of Ben's previous courses, which were super useful, I knew it would be worth enrolling in this "analytical course". I was right :)"

- Jaume Fàbrega, Trekksoft

 

I’ll tell you more about the course in a moment...

...but first let me reassure you: I began at zero too!

Prior to consulting and creating courses, I worked as a forensic accountant, doing investigations into sanctions violations at large financial organizations.

We used Excel and SQL to manage our project data -- hundreds of thousands of transactions that we would analyze for the legal team.

There was one time I working on the master Excel dataset for a few days, but the unique identifier column was hidden. These unique IDs were therefore omitted from all the filters and sorts.

I had a total panic when I realized that the ID numbers were now totally out of sync with the related data, and there was no way for anyone to now reference the data.

(Thankfully, I was able to create a new unique identifier based on the data, and use that to retrieve the IDs from an older copy of the dataset, where they weren’t messed up.)

I learnt the valuable lesson of being careful with my data and keeping a good audit trail -- something we discuss throughout this course.

It was also around this time that I realized how valuable solid data and spreadsheet skills were, and I’ve taken every opportunity to further my skills since then.

Fast forward to today:

Hi! I'm your instructor, Ben Collins



I'm an experienced data analytics instructor and spreadsheet developer.

I help individuals and businesses better understand their data through analytical insights and visualizations.

Over 20,000 professionals from 1,000+ companies have enrolled in my training courses, including employees from PwC, Netflix, Verizon, Google, the UN and other Fortune 500 companies.

My training has helped these professionals advance their careers. I’ve also guided small and large organizations as they migrate from Microsoft Excel to Google Sheets.

Since 2019, Google have recognized me as a Google Developer Expert for G Suite Technology, one of only a handful worldwide.

I have extensive experience with Google Apps Script, Google Data Studio, Microsoft Excel, SQL and Tableau.

I previously taught data courses and workshops for the education startup General Assembly in Washington, D.C..

Earlier this year I ran a couple of webinars about the QUERY function (which features in this data analysis course), and here’s what some folks were saying about my other Google Sheets training courses:

Josh wanted to be a data analyst, so he took a data analysis course to accelerate his career

Josh was one of my students in the first Data Analysis class I taught for General Assembly in Washington, DC. (In that course, I taught data analysis fundamentals with Excel, but the topics were similar to what I now teach in Google Sheets.)

Today, less than 3 years later, he has a masters degree in predictive analytics and works as a fully fledged data scientist. Wow!

Anyway, I won’t say anymore, I’ll let Josh tell his story.

Thanks Josh!

What amazes me about Josh’s story is how quickly he’s advanced his career, by working hard and grabbing every opportunity that came his way.

For Josh it began by leveling up his Excel skills and learning the foundational data analysis techniques in the first Data Analysis course I taught at General Assembly.

You never know what doors might open when you take that first step, but you can bet that investing in your data skills will pay off in this day and age.

Perhaps you dream of becoming a data scientist like Josh, or perhaps you simply want to extract more value from your business data. In either case, this course will help you learn the foundations of data analysis, in a clear and concise way.

Thanks for sharing your story Josh!


There’s never been a better time to learn data analysis than right now.


Demand for data analysts and data scientists is soaring and will continue to do so for decades to come. It’s fast becoming a necessary skill to get along in today’s job market.

Our jobs, even our lives, are becoming more dependent on data and an ability to understand, interpret and communicate with data.

I love it when I come across examples of data analysis in the real world:

Example 1:

I recently read a brilliant book about paleontology, called The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, by Steve Brusatte. It tells the story of the origin and demise of the dinosaurs, which is absolutely fascinating. Half-way through the book, he included this wonderful correlation example from his line of work:

“Scientists have measured the limb bones of many living animals, and it turns out that the thickness of the main bone in each limb that supports the animal [...] is strongly statistically correlated with the weight of the animal. In other words, there is a basic equation that works for almost all living animals: if you can measure limb-bone thickness, you can then calculate body weight with a small but recognized margin of error”

Example 2:

Another example was an article in the Economist magazine about Netflix’s success. The article mentioned an assessment from Goldman Sachs that found subscriber growth was correlated with the rate at which Netflix added new content.

It figures they have huge subscriber numbers then, since Netflix spend billions on content creation each year (this year they’re launching 82 feature films and over 700 TV shows!).

Example 3:

Even more recently, The New York Times published a super interesting article about their statistical analysis of the new Nike Vaporfly shoes, and whether they made a difference to a runner’s time. Based on exhaustive analysis, using many different approaches, the answer appears to be yes. Yes, these shoes really do make your run faster...


A solid grasp of the fundamentals is 100x more important than keeping up with flashy trends.


There are a lot of exciting new technologies and techniques being applied to data today. Machine learning, neural networks, facial recognition, Tensorflow, etc… but these are designed for big, really big data, and operate at the cutting edge of the field.

However, unless you have a team of data scientists and terrabytes of data, you’re unlikely to want or need the latest and greatest data trends.

What you really need is insights. Answers to questions like what’s the average lifetime value of my customers? What was my churn rate last month? If I spend $100k on marketing this year, what’s my expected ROI?

And to answer questions like those, you don’t need the flashy stuff.

You need a solid grasp of the fundamental techniques of data analysis. Techniques like linear regression, correlation and customer analysis.

And that’s exactly what I teach in this course.

"I will definitely be using the statistical functions to test whether the conclusions of my analysis are statistically significant or not.

I learnt a whole number of little tips and tricks that were dropped in throughout the course.

Ben is a seriously knowledgeable tutor, and presents the information in a way that is easy to follow."

- Charlie Pearson, PricewaterhouseCoopers

"Forecasting, data relationships and customer retention were the items that I wanted to take away from this course. The use of real world examples helped me understand how I can use these techniques efficiently for my job.

Every lecture was great and well put together. I had the benefit of being able to pause the video and rewind it if I needed clarity on something.

12/10 would recommend!"

- Eric Rubio, Rockin' Jump

"I was interested in this course because I have a long background in Data Management. I wanted to be able to share my interpretation of a set of data with the Board, to make certain judgement calls and decisions, thus reducing expensive risks of relying on gut feel.

After this course, you are likely to start looking at data in a completely different way.

You will walk away thinking that it was a very worthwhile and enjoyable course, especially if you are looking at progressing your knowledge on how to view and use data."

- Dave Barnes, G4S plc

About the course

If you want to...

  • Describe and understand your datasets
  • Test your hunches and confirm or disprove what you believe your data is telling you
  • See how to convince your boss of your ideas backed up with rigorous results
  • Predict outcomes based on your existing data
  • Understand trends in your data over time, so you can identify successful events
  • Understand your customers better, to better serve them

...then Data Analysis with Google Sheets is for you.

Inside this course I share all the knowledge I’ve built up over the past 15 years working with data in spreadsheets.

I’ve packaged it all into a series of simple, bite-size video lessons, complete with Google Sheet templates, that anyone can follow.

Enroll now to get:

  • Actionable, bite-size video lessons teaching key data analysis topics
  • All raw datasets for you to follow along
  • All solution files for your own use
  • Access to the private course Facebook group for Q&A
  • Certificate upon completion

Templates Are Included

At the beginning of each module are templates with the raw datasets and solution files, available for your use, saving you hours of time.

Here’s a sample of what you can expect with the templates:



Access To The Private Course Community Group

Your enrollment is backed up with support.

There’s a private Facebook group for students, where you can ask questions, share your insights and knowledge, share your wins, and connect with other students.

I’ll be hanging out there to answer your questions.


Lifetime Access To The Course

Your enrollment in Data Analysis with Google Sheets comes with lifetime access to the course material.

That way you can take a break from the material if you’re out of town, on vacation, or just swamped for a few days.

Interruptions happen, and your course videos will ALWAYS be here for you when you’re ready. This lifetime access also includes all future updates and upgrades at no extra charge.

This is my way of ensuring that Data Analysis with Google Sheets remains an excellent long-term investment for you and your business.

Certificate Of Completion

Want to show off your newly acquired skills?

You’ll automatically get a certificate upon completing the course, which you can share or post on Linkedin.

Ready to join?

 

Course Curriculum


  Next Steps
Available in days
days after you enroll

Frequently Asked Questions


How much time does it take?
I’ve created a lot of content for you… approximately 5 hours of video content. Depending on your experience and comfort with formulas and advanced concepts, I’d estimate that it will take you 10 - 20 hours total time to get comfortable with the material. HOWEVER… I know you’re busy so each topic is divided into a series of 5-10 minute videos so you don’t have to plan days and days around studying this topic. I’d advocate doing the lessons in batches spread across a few weeks or months, to give yourself time to absorb the knowledge.
When does the course start and finish?
The course starts now and never ends! It is a completely self-paced online course - you decide when you start and when you finish.
Will I get copies of the datasets and solutions?
Yes! All the raw data templates and the solution templates are provided, so you can download your own copies. The dataset file links and solution file links are available in the first lesson of each chapter. Clicking on the template links will make a copy on your Drive account.
How do I get access to the private course Facebook group?
When you enroll, you’ll receive the link in an email. It’s also available in the last lesson of the first module. Once you’ve joined, feel free to introduce yourself and let us know how you plan to use your newfound knowledge.
What if I can’t figure out something on my own?
There’s a private Facebook group for students! As a member of this group, you can ask questions, share your ideas and knowledge, and connect with other students.
What if I don’t have a technical (math) background?
Don't worry, you’re not alone! This course focuses on practical techniques and teaches concepts through real-world examples, so that you won’t get lost in abstract theories and dense lectures. As long as you have a reasonable familiarity with Google Sheets (you've used VLOOKUPs before), and aren’t afraid to roll up your sleeves and put some effort in, then you’ll be able to grasp the content of this course. You’re free to watch the lessons in any order and as many times as you like, so you can watch and re-watch topics if you want!
How is this course different from other online courses?
This course is Google Sheets-focused and entirely practical. We start working in Google Sheets immediately and concepts are taught through practical examples.
What if I am unhappy with the course?
We would never want you to be unhappy! If you are unsatisfied with your purchase, contact us in the first 14 days and we will give you a full refund.
How long do I have access to the course?
How does lifetime access sound? After enrolling, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like - across any and all devices you own.
Do you offer Parity Purchasing Power discounts?
Yes, I want my courses to be affordable to folks overseas in developing countries, who would otherwise not be able to purchase them. How does it work? Drop me a line with proof of where you're based and which course you're interested in, and I'll be glad to offer you a PPP discount on the course.
Why am I being charged VAT?
In order to comply with EU regulations, buyers in the EU will be charged VAT at checkout. This money is passed on to the relevant EU tax collection agency.
Can you provide an invoice for my company?
Yes, of course! You’ll receive a receipt after you purchase, but if you need something additional, just drop me a line.

Still have questions? Drop me a line at [email protected] and I’ll get back to you shortly with an answer!