How long should a case study be?

Roughly 400 words: long enough to show what you did, short enough to read in two minutes.

Will Fenlio invent a quote?

No. A quote is copied word for word from the client's own messages or notes, or left out.

Coaching case study template

A coaching case study tells one client's result in full.

Have Fen write yours Or copy the outline

What goes in it

It opens with the result, then where the client started and what was in the way, what you did together in the order it happened, and the results, using only figures the client reported. A quote in their own words carries more weight than any summary, and a short list of what to confirm with the client comes before anything is published.

Roughly 400 words.

1
Headline
The result, with its number if your notes give one.
2
Where they started
Who the client is and the problem they had. Under 100 words.
3
What was done
The actual work, concretely, in the order it happened.
4
Results
from your notes only. Omit rather than estimate.
5
In their words
A client quote copied word for word from your notes, with who said it. Leave empty if your notes hold none.
6
Before publishing
What to confirm or ask the client first.

When to send it

When a client finishes a block with a result worth telling.
For your website or a sales page.
When a lead asks whether you have worked with someone like them.

Common mistakes

Estimating a result the client never reported.
Paraphrasing the client's quote.
Publishing before the client has read and approved it.

Why it works

Most readers scan before they read: in Nielsen Norman Group's eyetracking work, 79% of users scanned a new page and only 16% read word by word. Put the point in the first line.
Nielsen Norman Group, How users read on the web
The inverted pyramid, conclusion first and detail after, lets a reader stop at any point and still leave with the answer.
Nielsen Norman Group, Inverted pyramid

Copy the outline

Paste it into any document.

CASE STUDY

Headline
[The result, with its number if your notes give one.]

Where they started
[Who the client is and the problem they had. Under 100 words.]

What was done
[The actual work, concretely, in the order it happened.]

Results
[from your notes only. Omit rather than estimate.]
1. 
2. 
3. 

In their words
[A client quote copied word for word from your notes, with who said it. Leave empty if your notes hold none.]

Before publishing
[What to confirm or ask the client first.]
1. 
2. 
3.

Let Fen write it

1
Bring the client's record
Their intake, check-ins and messages, pasted, dropped or imported into that client's record.
2
It can't make up a number
Every weight, date and figure Fen writes is checked against the client's own words, and a load or macro target is computed from your rules. One with no source is flagged, never guessed.
3
You decide what goes out
At default settings nothing reaches a client until you press. Email replies go out from your own Gmail when you press Approve and send.

Questions

How long should a case study be?: Roughly 400 words: long enough to show what you did, short enough to read in two minutes.
Will Fenlio invent a quote?: No. A quote is copied word for word from the client's own messages or notes, or left out.