78. Master the tools of the trade - Excel edition

07/24/18 • 16 min

Unleashed - How to Thrive as an Independent Professional

You wouldn't hire a plumber who isn't comfortable using a wrench, or a lumberjack who can't handle a chainsaw. A professional needs to master the tools of the trade.

For independent consultants, a fundamental tool is Excel. For most, it isn't necessary to program in Visual Basic or write macros, but it is essential to master all the basic tools, including, for example, pivot tables, vlookups, if functions, date functions.

In this short episode, I share some suggestions on how to sharpen your Excel skills if they are rusty, and some particular Excel tools to prioritize learning.

You wouldn't hire a plumber who isn't comfortable using a wrench, or a lumberjack who can't handle a chainsaw. A professional needs to master the tools of the trade.

In this short episode, I share some suggestions on how to sharpen your Excel skills if they are rusty, and some particular Excel tools to prioritize learning.

Previous Episode

77. Per Sjofors on measuring a customer's willingness to pay

Per Sjofors runs a firm called Sales for Profit – they have developed survey tools to measure a customer’s willingness to pay, and the help their clients

determine what marketing method is most effective in their market
which advertising targets the company should focus on
which product features drive the highest willingness to buy
and the optimum price of a given product or service

In this episode, Per gives an overview of his firm’s methodology and how they work with clients.

One thing Per told me that surprised me is that he is getting a substantial number of leads from Quora. He’s been answering questions on Quora, establishing himself as an expert there, and it is actually leading to business.

You can learn more about Per’s firm at https://www.sales4profit.com/

Next Episode

79. Insights from a doorman's shoe

Asking questions with the mind of a child can yield new insights. Here's a short episode on what a friend learned when his daughter asked a doorman why the soles of his shoes are so thick.