7 Surefire Ways to Get Paid to Make Excel Spreadsheets

Microsoft Excel is a powerful tool. It is the best platform if you have skills for crunching data and tinkering with formulas. So here are the best ways to get paid to make Excel spreadsheets.

Excel has over 30 million users, making it the world’s most popular spreadsheet program. The platform’s intuitive design and functionality have made it a corporate staple. And its fame is no surprise.

Microsoft Excel can run queries on massive amounts of data. And it is able to execute useful functions. Excel is essential that some businesses consider the platform their lifeblood. Without it, their productions fail.

The demand for Microsoft Excel services paved the way for experts with spreadsheet prowess.

Look online, and you’ll find thousands of excel jobs on Toptal, SolidGigs, or FlexJobs. Data analysts, automation experts, and data scrapers are available on these sites. These jobs need a strong foundation in Microsoft Excel, among other skills.

If freelance Excel work isn’t for you, you’ll find other ways to monetize your spreadsheet skills. It includes building Excel spreadsheets and selling them to online stores.

The future is bright if you’re looking to monetize your Excel skills.

We listed the seven best ways to get paid to make Excel spreadsheets with tips on succeeding in the field.

1. Create spreadsheets for small businesses

Excel programming helps several businesses. From turning massive data into information, they can use it to make better decisions.

MS Excel helps you complete manual operations that take hours in seconds. It displays vast amounts of data in a format that is easier to understand.

Do you know some established businesses lack the computer systems to run operations? These businesses are prime targets for selling spreadsheets that could streamline work processes.

You can get paid to make Excel spreadsheet templates by making a business owner’s life easier. It includes pitching templates and providing Excel online courses, among others. Here are some of the businesses you can target.

Landlords and rental agents. You’ll discover a lot of landlords and real estate agencies that only deal with paper, even in today’s modern age.

You can approach them and present a sample spreadsheet that collects their data. It includes the tenant’s name, contact details, address, move-in date, payment type, etc.

Attaching photos of their properties will make the presentation more convincing.

Craft shops and hobby stores. Many stores have owners not interested in integrating technology into their business.

For these people, present an invoicing spreadsheet that could make their lives easier. An invoicing spreadsheet can help do away with loose papers and items filed in drawers.

I used car dealerships or mechanics. These types of businesses often use outdated filing systems and traditional processes. You can propose an Excel-based cost calculator or customer database complete with details.

You can find small businesses that are looking for Excel gurus by joining FlexJobs.

The Secret to Making Consistent Side Income

To offer your services, you must first impress them enough for them to accept and buy your work. But do not give too much. To continue making money, you must budget for enhancements in your work.

As a result, the company will continue to request updates, allowing you to earn more money.

For example, a small rental agency may add properties and clients, necessitating adjustments to the spreadsheet. Of course, there will be times when no maintenance or upgrades are required. Even so, this occurs and disappears in phases.

See Related: Best No Experience Data Entry Jobs from Home

2. Charge for private lessons

If you have knowledge of Excel, get paid by offering consultancy services or tutorials to businesses.

With so many robust features, Excel can be hard to study. As an Excel expert, you can offer crash courses on Excel basics or teach more complex Excel functions.

You’ll have to handle your own personal branding and marketing as a consultant. So make sure to have the following covered.

Master your sales pitch. You should be able to give your potential clients a convincing sales pitch that describes your business and how it would benefit them.

Create your personal website. A good website is essential for a great brand. Clients you meet will turn to your website for information about your credentials. Make sure it is up-to-date, comprehensive, and professional. The quality of your website says a lot about the quality of your work.

Become a thought leader. Establishing thought leadership can be one of the most effective marketing strategies. For Excel experts who are looking into consultancy, make sure to have this trait. Share tips on your website or through channels such as LinkedIn. Once people see that you’re a master in your field, you’ll be able to sell your services.

Once you’ve finalized marketing, there are two ways to make money by selling your skills.

Target businesses or individuals. Businesses look for Excel experts who can train their teams in making spreadsheets.

You can target businesses you know by reaching out to them. Contact them through email, or get in touch with businesses looking for experts in job websites.

Of course, you can also start by reaching out to your family and friends. They may have businesses that could enjoy spreadsheets as well!

Sell a course on Udemy. Millions of people flock to Udemy to learn about solutions to their problems. You can create an Excel course in Udemy and sell them to people looking to learn more about spreadsheet making.

Consider creating a course about Basic Excel and Advanced Excel. You can also offer Excel templates, formulas, data analysis, and pivot tables. The sky is the limit.

See Related: How to Register as a Freelancer

3. Apply for a freelance job

Applying for a freelance job is one of the easiest ways to get paid to make Excel spreadsheets. Excel for freelancers can be lucrative.

You’ll find thousands of job openings on platforms such as FlexJobs and SolidGigs. These sites look for fledgling Excel users who could help manage large amounts of data.

Here are the most common jobs in freelance marketplaces that need knowledge of Microsoft Excel.

See Related: Best No Experience Data Entry Jobs from Home

Financial Analyst

Financial analysts must master MS Excel spreadsheet templates from the ground up. They need to gather insights and recommendations from financial data.

Financial analysts are often tasked to merge, research, and analyze numerical data. These data are used to make informed decisions that can help companies. As such, they need automated accounting sheet skills to show direct costs, sales, spending, and annual revenues.

See Related: What is Freelance Work?

Data Entry Operator

Data entry operators enter customer and account data from documents with time limits. Before computer entry, they must also verify, compile, and sort the information.

Freelancers looking to try out data entry must master Excel. They should have a penchant to review data and check for errors and deficiencies.

It makes for a great online job for college students, allowing them to earn money and learn how Excel works.

Administrative Assistants 

If you’re looking to get paid to make Excel spreadsheets, freelancing as an administrative assistant is a great choice.

The job requires performing tasks that include generating reports and minor bookkeeping. It also maintains computer records and organizes document systems, which require Excel knowledge.

Lead Generators 

Lead generation is the process of attracting potential customers to your business. It’s about finding unique ways to get people interested in the company. After that, lead them to the right purchase path.

Lead generation happens within the second stage of inbound marketing. It occurs right after you’ve attracted an audience and are ready to convert them into leads for the sales team.

As such, lead generators are expected to know how to organize leads within MS Excel. It uses formulas and functions, field validation, conditional formatting, and tables.

Accountants

Accountants deal with specialized accounting software and must be proficient with Excel. It includes formatting, auditing, and using formulas to filter our sums and values.

Project Managers

A Project Manager must remain on top of everything to keep things running. Project managers must navigate through the project duration. It includes working with third-party vendors, assigning resources, managing personnel, and preparing paperwork.

Project managers can use Excel to optimize daily operations. Excel can also help handle financial records, sort vendor lists, generate reports, and construct Gantt charts.

Business Analysts

A Business Analyst is someone who studies an organization or business. They also document processes or systems and evaluate the business operations. And identify solutions aimed at increasing a company’s value.

It necessitates keeping track of a massive amount of data and being able to interpret it. Excel Spreadsheets are one of the best analytical tools for business analysis.

Data Journalists

Data journalists must work with data to integrate credible facts into articles. Before relying on larger database systems, their primary tool is Excel. They use it to analyze data from the information they receive. An Excel spreadsheet is always the starting point for journalists with or without in-depth coding or high-level database abilities.

What Qualifications Do You Require to Work as an Excel Freelancer?

The good news is you don’t have to be an expert in Excel to make a living as a freelancer. While some organizations need advanced skills and Excel knowledge, even Excel certification, data-capture roles only need the fundamentals.

The higher the rate you can charge, the more expertise the client requires. In general, when working in Excel, you must be detail-oriented and exact. It is because even minor errors can derail an entire project.

See Related: Freelance vs. Self-Employed: Key Differences to Know

4. Sell your templates through websites

One of the fastest ways to get paid to make Excel spreadsheets is to sell them in spreadsheet marketplaces. You can sell them on Spreadsheetnut, Sellfy, GoSkills, and GumRoad.

These platforms allow you to sell your spreadsheets on your own terms. And they come with built-in online stores that display your spreadsheets for consumer purchases.

Here’s what you need to know about your choices.

Spreadsheetnut

Spreadsheetnut is an online marketplace where you can buy or sell spreadsheets. There are two ways a spreadsheet maker can earn through this platform.

You can join as an affiliate and sell pre-made spreadsheets. You can get a 25% commission on each spreadsheet sold. And you can get paid to make Excel spreadsheets and get up to 70% commission on each sale. You can sell your spreadsheets on your website, Spreadsheetnut, or any website.

Once your spreadsheet is approved by Spreadsheet nut, you can control your own price. After selling your spreadsheet, it is delivered straight to the customer by Spreadsheetnut.

Do note that the platform has a minimum product price of $5.

If you attempt to sell a spreadsheet for lower than $5, it may not be approved, or the price will be changed to meet the minimum requirement. It can be a great way to make an extra $500 fast if you sell enough.

Join Spreadsheet now and start earning.

Sellfy

Sellfy allows you to build an actual online business out of selling spreadsheets. It allows you to set up your own Sellfy online store “with zero experience” and technical background.

You can sell as many spreadsheets as you want in Sellfy. Unlike Spreadsheetnut, the platform has zero transaction fees. With this, you get 100% of everything you sell.

Selling is as easy as creating an account, adding your spreadsheets, and marketing your store.

GoSkills

GoSkills is an organization dedicated to providing high-quality educational courses. And it ranges from Excel to Six Sigma. They have clients from all over the world and are trying to expand their virtual crew.

It might be the ideal position for you if you enjoy producing spreadsheets for tasks such as:

• Administrative Excel Specialists
• Sales Manager
• Research Analysts
• Credit Officers

You may earn a good living while doing what you enjoy from the comfort of your own home.

GumRoad

Gum Road is an independent consultant website where you may sell spreadsheets and other digital documents.

You can make a lot of money on this platform. Some independent producers have reported generating up to $40,000 in less than a year after submitting their products.

Not only may you sell your digital products, but you can also establish a store on the company’s website.

See Related: Best Freelance Sites Like Fiverr

Your own website

You can also get paid to make Microsoft Excel spreadsheets through your own website. You can start one by joining Bluehost for only $3.95/per month.

Here are a couple of things you need to keep in mind.

Your spreadsheet needs to have robust features. A great spreadsheet offers more than the basic level of development and calculation.

Do note that there are a lot of free spreadsheets on the web, most of which are easy to build. Your spreadsheet needs to offer some value that other spreadsheets do not.

You’ll need good marketing materials. Tutorial videos, screenshots, YouTube walkthroughs, and keyword-rich descriptive text will lead people to your spreadsheet and help communicate value.

You’ll need a good avenue for making your spreadsheet accessible. We recommend creating a website and paying for the domain, hosting, and site security. It will help you get paid to make Excel spreadsheets online.

If you’re new to creating websites, try Bluehost, as it’s easy to use and offers competitive fees.

See Related: Easy Freelance Jobs for Beginners

5. Design Excel add-ins to sell in app stores

Building and selling MS Excel add-ins can be one of the most complicated ways to get paid to make Excel spreadsheets. But they can also be one of the most lucrative.

If you’re an MS Excel expert and know your way around programming, this is a great way to start making money.

Excel add-ins are like graphic plug-ins and smartphone apps. They are separate applications developed by independent programmers. And they offer enhanced capabilities to MS Excel.

Add-ins are diverse, but the main types for Excel include add-ins for data analysis, charts & graphics, and financial & accounting. It also offers marketing, formulas, reports and templates, references, education, and utilities.

Microsoft has offered a comprehensive guide on monetizing your Office add-ins and apps, but here’s a crash course.

Review your submission

Sellers must submit their add-ins to the Partner Center. It ensures their submissions are stable, functional, and free of viruses. It also offers accurate information (e.g., correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, and capitalization).

Get your add-in certified.

Your submission goes through automated checks to ensure it aligns with certification policies. You’ll receive a message that your certification is complete or make changes and resubmit.

Choose your monetization strategy.

You can choose to go full freemium, freemium with gated features, as a one-time buy, subscription-based, or offer a free trial. You can also advertise within the app to monetize without charging your user.

6. Start A YouTube Channel

The term “self-made” is best characterized by YouTube Vloggers. They have garnered millions of views by creating and promoting their own material. Content ranges from instructional to entertainment, business reviews to vlogs.

Microsoft Excel experts can rise to prominence by publishing Excel training videos. Also garnering traction from millions of YouTube users eager to learn Excel. The first step is creating your YouTube channel, which is an easy process that is also completely free.

Next, divide the knowledge in your thoughts into sections (called “Playlist” on YouTube). And plan appropriate videos within each category. It includes having an exclusive YouTube Playlist with training videos on functions, pivot tables, and dashboards.

Finally, to grow your following, you must promote your channel. It includes using relevant keywords in your broadcast profile and each video description.

It also needs accurate and appealing video titles and thumbnails. High-quality media production, interaction with subscribers, and active media presence are also ideal. Additionally, you can do live sessions with subscribers and adherence to community guidelines.

Your training videos will be free for your viewers. And your primary source of money will be YouTube salary, commercials, sponsorships, referrals, and affiliate commissions.

7. Organize Demo Webinars

In the aftermath of COVID-19, which pushed individuals to work from home, webinars have surpassed seminars in popularity.

So, how can you profit from webinar preparation and organization? The answer is by selling your products and services at the end of a free webinar. The introductory webinar will be provided free to all participants with no obligations.

The webinar will be limited to no more than two hours. You can present an overview of the subject which is Microsoft Excel. And you can use this occasion to show your abilities and ability to coach a big group of individuals.

It is essential to answer participants’ queries about the session. After that, encourage them to enroll in your “paid” one-on-one or group coaching programs. Entice them by promoting they will continue their understanding of Microsoft Excel.

Another call-to-action to include in the presentation is to direct your audience to pre-recorded videos or e-books. It is ideal if you have available resources on marketplaces or your own website.

FAQs

Related Resources

• Best Freelance Business Ideas
• Proven Ways to Sell Your Skills Online
• Best Time Tracking Apps for Freelancers 
• Best Jobs Where Your Work Alone

Related Tools

• Best Freelance Sites Reviewed
• What Freelance Site is Best for Me? [Quiz]
• Freelance Forum