How do I prevent people from sharing my spreadsheets

<div>0:01 So how do I prevent people from sharing my spreadsheets by making a copy? I get this question all the time. 0:08 Hi, I'm Andrew I am the resident Google Sheets wizard behind bettersheets.co here.

I've been making Google Sheets for well over 10 years I started in a startup making internal tools and then in 2020 I started bettersheets where I do sell tools templates and tutorials for Google Sheet users And I actually 0:25 came into this problem myself and the worst culprit the person that was most responsible for spreadsheets getting shared was myself and this is gonna sound really weird but I would make a video like this and I would show a sheet that I was selling and then that URL bar of the spreadsheet you can see  0:45 I was my own culprit I was the one that was releasing that URL and if anyone got that URL if you set a URL ah ah spreadsheet to that anyone with a link anyone with that link can share it and so I have here three ways that I think you can do three things to help you prevent people from sharing your sheet 1:05 and one of them is going to be a mindset shift one of them is going to be actual advice on what to do and then third I'm gonna share with you a tool that I made myself that you can buy ah if you want to help prevent people from ah sharing your sheet. 1:21 So first off, ah this is a sheet that is available to everyone.

This is a businesses that started as a spreadsheet . 1:28 It's a completely free sheet. You can go to it at bettersheets.co slash started bettersheets.co slash started and over here in the share button, you can see that this is set to anyone with the link . 1:40 So anyone with this link can see this sheet. If someone wants to, ah they actually go to the sheet, they can copy this URL and they can share it with anyone else and anyone can make a copy. 1:51 But what I did is I created something called Only Sheets.

And Only Sheets lets you sell access to your Google Sheets. 2:05 What it does is it adds every single buyer to API, so they have to buy it from Gumroad , Stripe, somewhere where it can send an API to Google Sheets and then it adds them as a viewer . This allows you to not have to se- this allows you not to have to set that anyone with a link button, uh. So what you  2:13 can do is you can actually set it to restricted and then it will automatically add buyers individually. So only people with bu- only people who buy your sheet will be able to access it.

But of course, the question still is, how do I prevent people when they copy it from sharing it? And that I don't have- 2:23 a very good answer. I have a few answers here. I go through these very much- I go through a lot of these answers here in selling spreadsheets where you want to protect your intellectual property and you want to maybe change your mindset from selling sheets to reselling sheets. I share with you there. 2:27 But, I will tell you the number one first thing you can do is make sure that anyone with a link is not set up on your sheet so you need only sheets to do that.

Two, change your mindset. Instead of trying to sell sheet and only sell sheets, be in the reselling business. Create upgrades to your sheets, 2:36 create a mailing list that people want to be a part of that gets upgrades, new features to your sheets, add automations. And the third thing, and I have to say this is probably the most important, brand the heck out of your sheets. So, I'll share with you now a few places. You can brand your sheets.  2:41 So here, on the sheet itself I have bettersheets.co and I say put, and I say put your brand name on the sheet that people are sharing .

Even in the screenshot if you're sharing that screenshot on Twitter, on social media. Put your branding there. Make sure people see it. Also, have an about page. In this 2:51 case, this, people are going to bettersheets.co so I don't have a better, so I don't have an about page. And I'm not asking people to copy this. This is big year, no, I don't want to say. But what I do suggest is adding an about page, an about tab down below. Have any information you want to add about 3:40 your website. Offerings, any contact information, add it there.

Third, make sure the coloring all matches your, your branding, like your feeling. Make sure that people see the sheet and feel your business. Another fun play. Place you can do if you're selling like scripts, you can add it to Apps Script . 3:08 Here's an example of a freebie. that I made for Josh who created a list of H1s, Subheads, Primary Call to Actions. I added his name and a link to his Podio right here where they copy a sheet. Again, this is a freebie but I recommend this even in a sold sheet.

Looks like your site that has a link to your 3:18 site in there so that when people share it they will share a link to your site. In Apps Script , because he is a developer, I put this comment , Hi, I'm Josh, I made this sheet and he can add a website here, HTTPS slash. And he can also add his website here, joshnewsbomb.com. If you want to get OnlySheets , 4:11 you can get that at onlysheets .bettersheets.co. If you are a member of BetterSheets, you get OnlySheets . sheets for free if you are a lifetime member. If you're a monthly member, it is an extra cost.

But also become a member here at BetterSheets.co where there is a course called Selling Spreadsheets. 3:30 Entirely, entire course about how to sell, brand your sheets, make sheets that people want to buy, all kinds of cool tips and tricks. On sell, sales and marketing of your sheets from someone who's sold spreadsheets before. You can even check out the course, the course outline here at SellingSpreadsheets.com. 3:39 It is a Google sheet, it is a Google doc describing the course and goes through all of the curriculum that I share with you in the course, SellingSpreadsheets.com.

But all monthly and lifetime members get Selling Spreadsheets for free or you can check out Udemy. Ah, Selling Spreadsheets is also on Udemy 4:09 if you want to check that out.</div>

How do I prevent people from sharing my spreadsheets by making a copy?