Comments on: How to write great case studies http://www.badlanguage.net/how-to-write-great-case-studies Writing, marketing and technology Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:56:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Post on writing case studies on Bad Language http://www.badlanguage.net/how-to-write-great-case-studies/comment-page-1#comment-617646 Post on writing case studies on Bad Language Fri, 28 Aug 2009 10:19:43 +0000 http://www.badlanguage.net/how-to-write-great-case-studies#comment-617646 [...] then, lo and behold, Matthew Stibbe came to the rescue at Bad Language with this great post on writing case studies last [...] [...] then, lo and behold, Matthew Stibbe came to the rescue at Bad Language with this great post on writing case studies last [...]

]]> By: Useful links about writing plain English — Bad Language http://www.badlanguage.net/how-to-write-great-case-studies/comment-page-1#comment-574574 Useful links about writing plain English — Bad Language Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:11:59 +0000 http://www.badlanguage.net/how-to-write-great-case-studies#comment-574574 [...] How to write great case studies [...] [...] How to write great case studies [...]

]]> By: Matthew Stibbe http://www.badlanguage.net/how-to-write-great-case-studies/comment-page-1#comment-513943 Matthew Stibbe Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:09:52 +0000 http://www.badlanguage.net/how-to-write-great-case-studies#comment-513943 Hi Bruce - nice to hear from you again. Actually, everyone struggles to find case study candidates. In many cases, I have to run campaigns to recruit them and do some cold calling myself. In other cases, I have to work with sales people as far upstream in the sales process as possible to line up suitable candidates. As with writing, the personal touch is important in recruitment but that's the subject of another article! :) Hi Bruce – nice to hear from you again. Actually, everyone struggles to find case study candidates. In many cases, I have to run campaigns to recruit them and do some cold calling myself. In other cases, I have to work with sales people as far upstream in the sales process as possible to line up suitable candidates. As with writing, the personal touch is important in recruitment but that’s the subject of another article! :)

]]> By: Bruce Pilgrim http://www.badlanguage.net/how-to-write-great-case-studies/comment-page-1#comment-513942 Bruce Pilgrim Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:58:09 +0000 http://www.badlanguage.net/how-to-write-great-case-studies#comment-513942 Matthew: Great stuff, as always, but I have one caveat: case study opportunities are few and far between, so sometimes you have to take whatever you get. It is not easy to find a customer who has a) Experienced documented, measurable success, and b) Is willing to do the interview, with b) being the especially tricky part. Because the number of candidates for case studies is relatively small (I'd guess at 2% tops), you may have to settle for less-than-ideal candidates. Nonetheless, there is always a good story there, even if you have to couch it as a "chooser" story, explaining why the customer chose your product and their plans to implement it. I know you have done a lot of work with Microsoft, which given its worldwide marketing dominance, can select from a relatively large number of case study candidates. Smaller outfits and start-ups have to work a lot harder to find quality case study fodder, yet need them desperately for "proof of concept" validation. Bruce Matthew: Great stuff, as always, but I have one caveat: case study opportunities are few and far between, so sometimes you have to take whatever you get. It is not easy to find a customer who has a) Experienced documented, measurable success, and b) Is willing to do the interview, with b) being the especially tricky part.

Because the number of candidates for case studies is relatively small (I’d guess at 2% tops), you may have to settle for less-than-ideal candidates. Nonetheless, there is always a good story there, even if you have to couch it as a “chooser” story, explaining why the customer chose your product and their plans to implement it.

I know you have done a lot of work with Microsoft, which given its worldwide marketing dominance, can select from a relatively large number of case study candidates. Smaller outfits and start-ups have to work a lot harder to find quality case study fodder, yet need them desperately for “proof of concept” validation.

Bruce

]]> By: Peter Cooper http://www.badlanguage.net/how-to-write-great-case-studies/comment-page-1#comment-512636 Peter Cooper Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:25:06 +0000 http://www.badlanguage.net/how-to-write-great-case-studies#comment-512636 This is going to get mentioned in my talk tomorrow at Think Visibility.. awesome! Especially tip #1, that's a biggie. This is going to get mentioned in my talk tomorrow at Think Visibility.. awesome! Especially tip #1, that’s a biggie.

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