This is the first in a series of posts based on my participation in Casey Hibbard’s six month case study mentoring course for copywriters.

Special Offer for IT Marketing Managers - Get 50% off a 2 page or 4 page case study. Click the link above for details. Only two per month available.

Week 1 - Things started groggily as I got up at 2am Tokyo time only to hear Casey wrap up the call! Yes, despite going to bed at 9pm I fluffed the time zone look-up… Sheesh.
Anyway, the mp3 download of the call fixed that error.

This Week’s Learning Points:

(These are just a summary of the main points I was interested in. Other topics were also covered on the call.)

1- Definitions: Case study vs Success story vs Testimonial.
Casey shared her experiences, including the length of a success story.

2- Why success stories work. How companies use them as ‘web summaries’.

3- Customer Stories - Casey’s generic phrase. (Note: copywriters distinguish between clients who hire them to write stories about customers.)

4- Why effective success stories must deliver on these three things (C.E.V.)

5 - Assignment: An examination of the differences between 4 real-life success stories and case studies.

- Mark ‘case study copywriter’ McClure