Do you know your CONCATENATE from your CONSOLIDATE?
You could make extra money with your spreadsheet skills.
Kate Snyder spent years working with Excel as a management consultant.
Spreadsheet templates aren’t the only digital product you can sell online. Read our guide to sellingdigital downloads.
I got a little burnt out, she said.
I made alotof data models.
Today,Franky Template Designhas sold thousands of spreadsheet templates.
Some coaches make millions showing other people how to use Excel!
More realistically, there are plenty of data entry jobs to go around.
All you need is skill and software.
Excel starts at $6.99 per month and Google Sheets is free.
No Interest Til Almost 2027?
Think you have what it takes?
Get inspired by this list of spreadsheet side hustles.
Sell Spreadsheet Templates
People use Excel for everything from bookkeeping to wedding planning.
They try, anyway.
Sometimes, people struggle to build a spreadsheet that meets their needs.
Thats where templates come in.
A customer can pay for their ready-made workout tracker or financial forecaster just add data.
Did you know?
She didnt let that stop her.
They werent of the quality that I could do, she said.
To stand out, pick a template you know how to make and make it well.
If youre an animal lover, make a pet budget.
If youre a mental health advocate, make a mood tracker.
Create a template that is truly worth buying.
Then, post your product.
A lot of my sales volume is on Etsy, Snyder said.
Peek at your competitors storefronts to get an idea of the right price.
If its too high, it wont sell.
If its too low, it wont seem trustworthy, Snyder said.
And dont freak out if you end up listing the spreadsheet you spent five hours on for $2.99.
You put in the effort up front and recoup over time, she said.
How about the freedom to work remotely while helping others succeed?
You dont have to be an accountant or even really good at math to be successful in this business.
In fact, all you need are spreadsheet skills and a passion for helping business owners tackle real-world problems.
The ability to stay moderately organized is helpful, too.
If you stick with the classes, you could be running your own business in just a few months.
She also sells courses on her website.
At one point in 2021, she made six figures in one day.
Reality check: You probably wont make your millions teaching people how to use spreadsheets.
But it shows just how much demand there is for quality Excel training.
before you roll, be honest with yourself.
Do you have the skills to teach another person Excel?
If you dont know your way around a pivot table, dont offer expert-level Excel training.
If you are confident, competent, and ready to go, its time to find some students.
There are two main routes you could take: online and offline.
you’ve got the option to also go the content creation route.
It doesnt make you money immediately, but it can direct more students to your courses.
Dont sleep on in-real-life opportunities.
Ask around at local businesses.
Could they use an office coaching session?
Advertise on Craigslist for in-person tutoring sessions.
Are there college students in your area who could use a marketable skill?
What kind of tasks?
Anything a spreadsheet can handle.
Send a cold email.
You might end up with a $1,000-job.
Data Entry
Not interested in starting a business?
Go back to basics.
Get a data entry gig.
The work is simple: enter data in a spreadsheet.
The pay is often low: according to Payscale, the median rate is$15.27an hour.
But data entry is a place to start.
The median salary for an Excel Analyst is$75,300.
And there are plenty of opportunities out there.
Data analysis is one of the most in-demand skills for employers in2023.
Thats unlikely to change anytime soon.
Not just anybody can make an elegant, time-saving macro.
Go get that money.
Contributor Ciara McLaren is a freelance writer with work in HuffPost, Insider and The Penny Hoarder.
it’s possible for you to find her on Substack (@camclaren).
(Can you sense my millennial sarcasm there?)
You know which ones were talking about: rent, utilities, cell phone bill, insurance, groceries…
