How Do I Get Clients to Agree to Case Studies?

By Henry DeVries, CEO of Indie Books Intl.

 

Congratulations, the trade journal editor says the publication will consider publishing your case study article to promote your book. Now what? When you write your article, here is something to ponder. Most trade editors are always looking for interesting case histories. Most want solid numbers to back up the story, but are willing to accept percentages (e.g., sales increased 44 percent over the previous year, expenses were cut by 56 percent, two out of three customers are now experiencing gains).

Perhaps the most difficult part of obtaining trade journal publicity may be selling your best customers on the idea of agreeing to be interviewed. The time commitment on their part is probably three to five hours during the next four weeks. They will want to be assured they won’t be giving away any trade secrets. Based on my research, probably about 1 in 4 will agree to share the information, data, and procedures that you need.

Before you submit your article, be sure to spell check and fact check the document. Having someone else read and edit your article also is a must. Finally, be sure the word count matches the guidelines of the publication. If everything checks out, send that article.

Once you write that book, you can use chapter excerpts for articles. Conversely, published articles can help build your next book.

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