As a freelance writer, it’s worth checking out the lesser known yet lucrative niche of case study writing. There’s an increased demand for this type of writing as companies have seen its enormous potential for bringing in leads and converting them into customers.
Writing a compelling case study as a freelance writer can get you a steady source of substantial income. This type of project pays 2 – 4 times more than the average pay for the more popular types like blog posts and articles. And you have the option to work for only a few select clients that need them on a regular basis.
When you’ve mastered the technique of writing powerful case studies, you can send your application as a freelance writer to businesses. Along with your resume, include your cover letter showcasing your skills and proficiency in this particular section.
The term case study is off-putting for many. It conjures up images of scientific research journals and complex methodologies. But for businesses, a case study is the story of a company or product, the challenges met and solved, and the success achieved. You walk the reader through the emotions and experience with persuasive storytelling in about 800 – 1200 words. Your objective is to sway the reader to use the product or the company in the study.
Websites That Pay You to Write
Case studies are becoming an important part of companies’ marketing strategies. Online coaches, such as MyConsultingCoach, are available to teach you how to create forceful and effective case studies for your clients. To get you started, here are the fundamental steps to writing one:
Know and vet your case study subject.
In most cases, the client will pick the subject they want you to write a case study on. It could be an event, a campaign, product or service in any industry. Whatever it is, make sure that it’s a completed project with successful and provable results. You simply can’t write about something that’s still in the pipeline, with hopes that it will produce favorable results.
Go on a fact-finding mission.
Gather information through interviews by asking questions that you have prepared beforehand. As the interviewer, it’s your job to listen carefully and put the subject at ease. To minimize waste of time, present your questions to your client for approval and then to the interviewee before the interview to give them time to remember details, prepare data you’re asking for, and formulate their best responses. Your questions should be comprehensive and cover all aspects of the story, including questions about:
- Challenges that had to be solved, and if a previous solution has failed to meet changes in customer behavior
- Search for a solution, standards to be met, and other solutions considered that were rejected
- The client’s product or service and why it was chosen over others, the obstacles and difficulties encountered in using the product, and what quality in the product/company made the customer choose it
- Results and benefits of using the product in terms of ease of use, savings in effort and money
Write your draft.
Okay, so you know about writing. But for case studies, you should be persuasive and powerful. It should make the reader feel like you’re talking to them directly. Here are some guidelines to follow to write a compelling case study:
- Highlight mathematical data, client testimonies and quotes to indicate authenticity
- Avoid trivia and streamline your story. The reader isn’t interested in the clothes the interviewee was wearing unless the apparel is the subject of the case study.
- Write convincing copy that will remain in the reader’s mind. Make use of adjectives to describe the customer, product, challenges and results that they can relate to.
- Use figures of speech, such as metaphors and parallelisms for a better understanding of a product or situation.
- Use power verbs, or action words that convey dynamism and positivity, because readers remember and react to them.
Designing your work.
A case study, no matter how well-crafted, will not be effective without a visually appealing design. The use of white space, creativity with fonts, hi-res images, and graphs of data are just as important as the story. If you don’t have the skills for designing, seek the help of people who do.
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