Hey, I’m Mark. I’m glad I’ve found you.
In this online world, all the information you need is out there. Just put a few words into Google, and you can find almost anything. This is true for fun facts about your favorite celebrities, finding the cheapest vacation deals, and even solving Excel problems (I’m guessing you found this site through a Google search). However, just because it’s out there does not make it easy to follow, well structured, or accurate. That’s why I’m glad I found you. I want to take you from a beginner/intermediate Excel user to an advanced user. I aim to demystify some of those ‘advanced’ features and show you that it’s not so hard after all. If that sounds OK to you, then you’re in the right place. 🙂
If there is one thing I know about Excel, it is this: nobody knows everything. Even the likes of Bill Jelen and Chandoo don’t know everything. Though I consider myself a reasonably high-level user, I’ve have been shown tricks and methods by colleagues who are terrible (some seriously terrible) at Excel. There are things you know that I don’t, and vice versa. So, by sharing what we all know, it’s got to be a step in the right direction.
My parents tell me that at the age of 7 I declared I was going to become an accountant. I was either psychic or had no imagination, as 17 years later I became an accountant. From my very first day in the working world, I started to develop some Excel skills and it has continued from there.
Over the last 20 years or so, I’ve used Excel almost every day. Excel is my primary tool for manipulation, presentation and analysis of data. I’ve encountered countless problems; some were solved by learning from work colleagues, some by trial and error and others by using internet resources. I would love nothing more than for us to sit down together and work through some Excel problems (probably involving some element of trial and error). But since that’s not an option, here is my internet resource, which is hopefully the next best thing.
Imagine if you could save time just by using Excel better, wouldn’t that be great? It doesn’t have to be huge chunks of time, maybe just a few minutes every day. What would you do with that time? You could:
- Achieve something new
- Get something which is currently out of control under control
- Just go home earlier to spend more time with your family and friends.
All of those would make a difference in your life, right? That is the goal of Excel Off The Grid, to create a resource that might actually make a difference to you.
Better use of Excel might not change the world, but it might change yours.
If you’re a Power BI user, why not check out my Power BI blog: BI Off The Grid