It’s one thing to have a portfolio, it’s another thing to have an effective one that contains case studies to help covert those shoppers into buyers.
I was speaking with some Feast members, and then again over the weekend when I was emailing my cousin’s friend who was looking for a job. They asked me about what goes into a great case study. In all the conversations we dove pretty deep into what makes a great case study with examples, workshopped some, and even outlined some initial ones.
The one thing that all these conversations had throughout was to keep in mind that it is all about the reader.
Write so your ideal customer can relate to the case study
If you have an ideal client in mind, then your case studies should only be about those types of clients.
The reason for this is that you want the reader to identify with you and trust that you can solve their problem.
The goal of a good case study is:
- Show that you understand the industry
- Show that you know the problems of that industry
- You can solve those problems with specific results
Writing the case studies specifically to your ideal client will highlight all these.
Write a beginning, middle, and end
A great case study will tell a story. A great story has 3 parts, the beginning, middle, and end.
You want to share why the client came to you in the first place. Who they are and what their goals is the start of that story.
The middle part of the story is all about highlighting their problems and building the solution to reach the goals.
The end are the specific set of results of the project. Including real numbers is almost critical. It’s not always easy to get, but these numbers help in the first impressions of your case study when someone is glancing through.
Include before and after pictures, charts, graphs, points within a timeline of certain milestones.
All these help in crafting your case study.
Make the case study easy to follow and followup
Remember that it’s easy to write in long paragraphs but these will be read online and most people just scan things online.
Break up the case study with your photos and pull quotes from the client.
You can appeal to the masses if you have video or audio in a podcast form as well. But you’ll want to make sure that the client is comfortable in these mediums before making the attempt.
After you show the end results, make it super simple for the reader to contact you. Give a specific call to action that’s related to what they just read.
Don’t assume that they’ll go searching for how to contact you. Make the decision for them.
[optin-monster-shortcode id="bzuygihht1q3oswohwvi"]
Marketing for Freelancers
More episodes in this topic:
10
Social Media Marketing, is it worth it to do?
11
What social media platforms to spend time on?
14
How to get clients when I have no portfolio?
35
How to get the messaging right to attract customers?
39
Have advice for soliciting podcasters to be a guest?
49
Should I focus on SEO or Paid Ads to gain new clients?
56
Do you get any leads from your content? And what traffic acquisition methods have worked best?
72
When creating a new freelance service what’s the best way to send cold emails?
75
What is my second most successful lead generation tactic?
76
Why is an email list important for a freelancer?
79
What is the best way to attract larger clients?
82
How do you market your business to local clients other than attending networking meetings?
89
How do I pitch some big companies in my niche?
90
Imagine I was going to bring you $100k in revenue
93
How does a freelance web designer build a client profile when preparing their marketing plans?
103
How do you price your services on your site?
110
How important is branding?
114
What are some useful tools that you use?
121
What makes a great case study?
122
How do you turn the things I do into benefits?
124
How do you decide what to start blogging with if you’ve never blogged before?
125
How often should I write a blog post?
131
Should I put pricing on my website?
138
How to overcome objections people have about you?
150
What is the best lead generation strategy?
151
What is your cold outreach strategy?
153
How would you get into the corporate business as an independent professional?
160
What is the difference between warm and cold outreach?
161
How to answer objections and get clients to say “yes”?
166
How to grow with word-of-mouth marketing?
175
How to ask?
203
All my work has been word of mouth, how do I find work on my own?
211
How do you handle a good fit for you that doesn’t really fit for your marketing message?
213
What do you say when a lead comes to you from a bad experience with another freelancer?
214
What to say when a potential client says you are too expensive?
215
How do I find the time to create content for my business and what do I write about?
217
Is this going to get me clients fast?
224
What is the #1 business trend for 2019?
227
How to sell on Twitter?
231
How do you make it simple for a lead to sign?
239
Why did I move my business from Drip to ConvertKit
240
Why ConvertKit?
243
How do you sell strategy?
244
11 Lessons on How to Find Clients
245
Finding Clients Lesson #1: Targeted Referrals
246
Finding Clients Lesson #2: Zero Line Item
247
Finding Clients Lesson #3: The Client Sandwich
248
Finding Clients Lesson #4: The Sneak Peek
249
Finding Clients Lesson #5: Buy a cup of coffee
250
Finding Clients Lesson #6: Get Yourself On A Podcast
251
Finding Clients Lesson #7: Your Up Level Skills
252
Finding Clients Lesson #8: Brag about your clients
253
Finding Clients Lesson #9: Are you priced right?
254
Finding Clients Lesson #10: Who do you hang with?
255
Finding Clients Lesson #11: Group Coaching for Leads
258
Is Instagram a better vehicle for visibility? Sales?
Related episodes from
Live in the Feast Podcast

Best of Season 3 - Get out of the comfort zone

Best of Season 3 - Building Relationships

S06 E12 - Undercharging, Targeting the Wrong Audience, and What You Should Do About It with Alex McClafferty

S03 Bonus - Tom McFarlin on Blogging, Balancing Work and Family, and Building a Business that Lasts

S09 E11 - Differentiation, Reputation, and Pivoting From the Top-Down with Peep Laja

S01 E11 - Kai Davis helping freelancers get more clients with outreach