First, I was out of work on Friday. With my schedule thrown off, the unthinkable happened: I didn't write this email. It was the first one I've missed on a weekday since August.

Me on Saturday morning

I'm now over it, and ready to keep writing.

Second, earlier in the week a founder was sharing the great list of testimonials he has from teachers and students who have used his product. We got to talking about using the bare bones of these testimonials and turning them into case studies.

For some, the case study can seem like a big task to take on. However, I've noticed that if you're working with a small team and looking to get something passable out the door and in front of your prospect, it need not be complicated.

Here are some simple questions you can ask educators, parents, and up-skillers. You can leave their answers in this order, and with a little light editing, and some narrative thrown in, you'll have a case study that highlights the benefit that your product or service brings.

Introduction👋 :

1) Can you tell me a little bit about yourself, your current role, and your school/family/job situation?

This answers the who/what/when/where that you need to establish for the case study to make sense to the reader. I like it when this information is presented in bullet-point form below the case study subject's head shot.

Problem ❓❗:

2) What challenge were you facing that you needed solved?

This is the classic first section of a case study. You simply want to hear as much about the problem they were facing as possible, so others can relate to it.

Process 🎨:

3) From the moment you first heard about us, up until right now, can you tell the story of what it was like working with us?

This might highlight two (or more) positives for your company. Here, you can get them talking about how great your team was to work with, and you can get them talking about how easy your product or service was to get started with. If both aren't true, you don't have to highlight both. Just stick with what they naturally want to discuss here.

Results 🏆:

4) Thinking back to before we ever connected, how are things different for you right now?

Here, quantitative data is often viewed as the gold standard. However, a powerful, even emotional quote about the way a product or service has improved someone's job and therefore their quality of life works awesome. Again, just go with what the results actually are, and highlight the best information.

The one extra piece you can add to this is a Summary at the top of the case study. In this part, you can basically write a one sentence summary of each of the previous sections. You more or less give away the whole story, and put that at the top of the study.

For example, here is a case study I wrote in the past. You'll see that it's just a more developed version of those four questions listed above:

Case study for K-12 assessment platform Freshgrade:

https://freshgrade.com/case-study-library/bullis-charter-school/

Questions about case studies? Reply and let me know.

Thanks for reading,

Gerard Dawson

###

Need help with your copy? Book a one hour call.

Want to read more about marketing to schools? Here's my book on Gumroad.

Looking to hire teachers for part-time work? Check out EduHustles.