A Few Strong Words…

First — apologies. If there is a recession, you sure couldn’t tell from standing in my office. Been running ragged as of late, and this blog has suffered the consequences. Hope to be back to a regular posting schedule soon…

Today, a bit of a departure from the norm — a book review (and my first since Grade 8, come to think of it…! Enjoy!)

I’ve been waiting a long time for this book.

When I first met Casey Hibbard (you know, in the cyber sense), I found out she had a book coming out. I was fascinated. Partly because anyone who puts out a book stirs admiration, awe, and yes a bit of jealousy in me. And partly because this is the first book that I know of that covers case studies.

I’ve written a few case studies in my time, but back when I was learning them I had to discover the formula the old fashioned way — by deconstructing other case studies. A book like this would have been an invaluable resource, if done right.

I’m happy to say that Casey has done it right.

If you are familiar with Michael Stelzner’s Writing White Papers, you’ll easily get into the rhythm of this book. It goes through the whole process of writing case studies from determining when and why to use a case study to gathering information and interview contacts to writing and polishing those studies.

Like Michael’s book too, it is aimed more at the business person than the writer. Don’t get me wrong — writers will get tons from this book including Casey’s little hints on interview techniques, follow-up etiquette, and more. I think that this approach opens her book to a much, much wider audience (a hint for all of us with a book or two in the drawer…)

I do take exception to one of her statements. In a section dealing with spelling and grammar, Casey suggests that you always default to American-style English regardless of which country you are targeting. The theory is that if an American reads it, he or she will assume that the case study is full of spelling mistakes whereas the non-American reader is used to American English.

I can tell you from experience that this is not the case — not completely anyway. Yes, a lot of American English makes its way into other English-speaking countries like Canada, the UK, Australia, etc. But it does look foreign, and it will likely undermine the credibility of your case study if you do not use local grammar and spelling. This is especially true with an educated audience.

Other than that somewhat minor concern, I believe that Casey has put together a solid book at exactly the time where customer testimonials and “success stories” as she calls them are gaining prominence. If you have ever considered creating case studies for your own business or for those of your clients, get this book. (And if you haven’t considered case studies yet, perhaps you should…!)

You can find out more about it here:
http://www.storiesthatsellguide.com/

~Graham

PS - For the sake of full disclosure, please note that this is not an affiliate link — I do not make any money off the sale of this book.

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