Marketers Take Flight
Welcome to Marketers Take Flight, the podcast that empowers AEC marketing professionals to elevate their careers and personal lives. Hosted by Lindsay Diven, CPSM, an industry veteran and Full Focus Certified Pro, this show goes beyond traditional marketing tips to cover productivity, mindset, personal development, life planning, and managing people—all tailored for the AEC industry.
If you're ready to transform your approach to work and life, tune in for insights and strategies that address:
*How to boost productivity and achieve work-life balance
*Personal development techniques for AEC marketers
*Life planning and goal setting inspired by Michael Hyatt’s principles
*Effective strategies for managing and leading marketing teams
*Building a growth mindset for career success
*Enhancing personal and professional development in the AEC industry
*Tips for training new AEC marketing coordinators and managers
Join me as we explore holistic strategies to thrive both professionally and personally, helping you take flight in your AEC marketing career.
Marketers Take Flight
141: Stand Out in an AI World with Client-Focused Case Studies
In this episode, I had the pleasure of chatting with the brilliant Leslie Blaize about the transformative power of case studies, especially for our AEC pals. Leslie dropped some serious wisdom: while many AEC firms are pros at highlighting their technical know-how, they often overlook the heartfelt stories of their clients.
Together, we unpacked the art and science of creating case studies that resonate on a deeper level than your typical testimonial. And here's a fun twist: we also dove into the world of AI tools, like ChatGPT, and their role in content creation. But the real magic? It's all about blending cutting-edge tech with that authentic human touch.
If you're eager to elevate your storytelling game and stand out in an AI-driven landscape, you won't want to miss this. Dive in with me!
Want more AEC marketing goodness?
- New to proposals? Download my FREE “RFPs for Beginners – The Ultimate Proposal Management Checklist.”
- Stop planning, start creating with my FREE “Ultimate AEC Content Marketing Starter Kit.”
- Follow Lindsay on LinkedIn and Instagram.
- Collaborate with other AEC Marketers in our Facebook Group.
- Purchase bite-sized, on-demand templates and training at the Marketers Place.
- Enroll in online training: The Proposal Pro or Content Marketing Clarity.
Hey there, I'm Lindsay Divan and I'm passionate about everything marketing, productivity and career growth. With over 17 years of experience in the architecture, engineering and construction industry, I know firsthand the ins and outs of this exciting field, from my early days as a marketing coordinator to becoming an award-winning marketing professional. In firm principle, I've learned the ropes through countless late nights and challenging deadlines. Now I'm thrilled to bring you the AEC Marketing Strategies Podcast. Here I'll be sharing simple yet powerful, step-by-step marketing strategies that you can implement to achieve the same level of success. Consider me your go-to marketing mentor, someone who truly gets the unique challenges you face in the AEC industry. Whether you're an AEC Marketing Pro or industry newbie, this podcast is your personal coffee date with your marketing bestie. Together, we'll navigate the ever-changing landscape of online marketing and digital trends, ensuring you stay ahead of the curve. If you're ready to unlock the marketing secrets they never taught you in college and tailor them specifically to the AEC industry, then you're in the right place. Now let's get started. Well, hey there, my friend, welcome back to another panty miss episode of AEC Marketing Strategies.
Speaker 1:I'm Lindsay Divan, your go-to gal for all things marketing in the AEC world. You know I always say if you're not telling your story. Someone else is telling it for you and, trust me, you want to be in control of that narrative. You are in for a treat today. Imagine being able to spotlight your firm's projects in a way that's not just showing off your incredible technical skills, but also pulling at the hurt strings of your audience. My friend, that's exactly what we're diving into today. I have the brilliant Leslie Blaze with me, the Queen of Crafting Compelling Case Studies. She's the mastermind behind Blaze Communications and let me just say she knows how to make words work for you.
Speaker 1:Today, we're answering these burning questions what makes for a great case study, specifically for our AEC firms? What's Leslie's preferred process for developing a compelling case study? And get this. We're also diving into how chat, gpt and other AI tools are shaking up the marketing scene, and this is big Yep, you heard me right. We're going to look at why, in this AI-powered world, stories and testimonials are not just a nice to have, but an absolute must have to stand out. So, my friend, get cozy, grab that cup of coffee, grab a pen, grab a piece of paper, because you're going to want to soak in every single nugget that Leslie has to share. Let's get started. Okay, well, welcome to the show. Today. I have on Leslie Blaze, with Blaze Communications. Nice to see you and talk to you again, leslie.
Speaker 2:Oh, it's wonderful to be here. Thanks very much for having me.
Speaker 1:And we crossed paths a couple of months ago at the SMPS Pacific Regional Conference in San Diego, and so Leslie reached out and she proposed a great topic which I haven't covered yet on the podcast. So I was like, yes, please come on, Tell us all about case studies, particularly in case stories, and so I can't wait to dig into today's topic. But first, for those of you who don't know Leslie Leslie, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, how you got into the industry, your career path and how you helped firms today?
Speaker 2:Okay, great. So I'm a certified professional services marketer through SMPS and also a case study specialist. So I spent many years in the corporate communications for a multidisciplinary firm and then I started my own freelance writing business in 2017. And along the way, I took some courses in case studies because I like to interview people. I thought that would be a good match for me and it was.
Speaker 2:But I discovered that customer focused, client focused case studies aren't really used that much in the AC world. So then, from then, I decided you know what this is going to be my mission. I really want to promote this marketing tool in our industry. So that's what I've been working on. I started publishing a LinkedIn newsletter, ac Connect, that covers case studies and storytelling topics, and now, lately, with the explosion of a platforms like chat, gpt, I discovered that telling stories and developing human connections are going to become even more important in the world ahead, so that human content stands out from AI generated content. And so my line is one case study equals three wins, so and I'll explain that in the in our conversation here but it's really a versatile marketing tool and I really like how the way it features happy clients, because prospects want to know what it's like to work with firms.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love it, and it's before we hit record. I was telling you like, as a professional marketer, I know that it is such a powerful marketing strategy case studies but it's just so overwhelming to me and so I always put it to the back, even though I'm telling people and I'm telling other marketers case studies, case stories, client stories. So I'm so glad that we're going to dig into it. So hopefully not only I will get some inspiration and some motivation, but the listeners will do today. Right, and something to note that when you were talking about your history was you took some courses on case studies, so I thought that was really interesting. I'm sure they weren't AEC specific, but just to know that those are out there for marketers if they want to dig into this further or they can just call you, but they wanted to get further on their own.
Speaker 2:I actually took two courses. One I became the certified case study specialist through the AWAI, so that's as a writer. There's lots of courses. Yeah, Okay, that's great. American Writers and Artists.
Speaker 1:Incorporated. Yeah, nice, okay, I know that there's always. I do have a lot of the listeners and marketers come to me and they're like what are writing resources? What are writing resources? We need to get better at writing. So that was. You've already given us a little nugget there, so Go to AWAI.
Speaker 2:You'll find lots of books, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love it. I love it, so let's dive into today's topic. So Today we're talking all about case studies or case stories. What makes for a great case study, specifically when it comes to AEC firms and AEC clients?
Speaker 2:Okay, well, architecture, engineering, construction firms have wonderful stories to tell. That's why I've spent most of my career in AEC. I think it's inspiring. They improve the quality of life for their clients and their client communities. But all too often on websites you read the project updates. They focus on the technical solutions. That's not surprising. That's what professionals a lot of them got degrees in technical areas. But what's missing is the client's side of the story. You might have a few testimonials, you might have some pictures, but they used to be a show with the rest of the story, and that's what you want case studies to tell the rest of the story.
Speaker 2:So what is a client-focused case study? That's where a happy client explains the challenges they face, how an AEC firm helped them solve it and the results of this solution. And so case studies can give professional services firms a way to differentiate themselves because they offer a high level of social proof. So most firms use references and testimonials. But case studies can go into more detail, and that's what's great about that. And also references. The reference can leave the firm or the prospect catches them on a bad day. They might not remember the details. Testimonials are pretty short. They give you a flavor. Case studies go into more detail, and so my line is a one case study equals three wins. It's a win for the AEC company, the happy client who gets free publicity, and then the prospect who finds out what it's like to work with somebody. Love it, I love it.
Speaker 1:And I like that you differentiated between a reference, a testimonial and a case study, because, coming from the proposal, world right, we're asked for give us three references, or give us some letters or recommendation, or in the federal government I forget what that form was, but they would ask for that reference form. And so the letters of recommendation or the testimonial letters they're just so generic and formulaic, like, yep, the project was completed and it was here, and here's my name, here's what the project was called. It was completed to our satisfactory and then signed. And so I like how you did that distinction between it, because the case studies, using the client's own words, go way beyond that and, like you said, it's a story of beyond just a letter of recommendation or if somebody calls for a referral and they catch them on a bad day.
Speaker 2:We'll get into the process. But once you have a case study, everybody's approved it. It's there. One thing that might happen is you might say it's the former, whatever the person's title, if they leave the company. But what they've said has been approved and that's just kind of reassuring, because I know a lot of times proposals you have to do it at the last minute. You've got a lot to do and sometimes who knows if references are even confirmed. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So we won't tell anybody. Yeah, they're always approved, leslie, they're always approved. We can hope, yeah, yeah. So now that we distinguish kind of what it is what makes for a great case study and how it's different from just providing a reference or providing a testimonial, walk us through, like, what is the process or the preferred process for developing this powerful case study that you've described?
Speaker 2:OK. So the first step is you want to develop a system for identifying strategic projects. That could be case studies and that could be in a strategic retreat, or perhaps the marketing, business development seller doers have ideas. In the professional services world you often know there's a big project coming up down the road and so what are some case studies that can help support that effort? So that's a way of prioritizing what the case study should be. There's lots of great projects, but what makes the most sense? So you've got a project. I mean, in an ideal world, if you get hired for a great project, you might drop hints to the client and say, hey, this would be a great case study at the end, or perhaps that's not appropriate. So you decide OK, here's some projects we want, and then you have to get approval from your happy client. So the person that knows the contact the best should make that request. And the crust isn't. It's not really huge. You're going to say, hey, we would like you to participate in a 30 to 45 minute interview. You'll get the questions in advance and you'll get to see the draft of the case study before it's published. So you don't really have much to worry about. And so that's the first step. So you've come up with your idea of the case study. So the second step is writing the case study. So you've got the approval from the client and the company should meet with the writer either your internal writer or you can hire a freelance writer like myself and say OK, here's our goals for the case study. Make sure you emphasize this particular part of it, or you can share some good stories for a minute or whatever. Then the writer knows what you want to achieve and the writer should develop a list of questions that the hand of the company say these are the questions I'm going to ask your happy client Do you have any additions or changes or whatever? Then, when that's done, you send the questions to the happy client, you set up an interview, you conduct the interview and then at that time you can ask the happy client if they have any relevant metrics, graphics, photos, ways to tell the story. Sometimes the company also will have some photos. Then you write the draft. The first draft goes to the company how does this sound? And they might say change this or that. And then it goes to the happy client and they get their opportunity and then it's ready to be designed.
Speaker 2:Some you can either have an internal designer or an external designer. Some just put it on their website without doing too much design. I promote the idea of designing the narrative because it looks more attractive when you send it out, but it's not essential. But that's another step. Once you have your designed case study, or it's finalized, then you want to repurpose the contents. The first goal might be for business developers to use it for prospects. So you've got your finalized case study, or a few of them, and you can send it to a prospect. And you go to a meeting and say, oh, you know what? We've got a case study that covers a project just like yours and send it out. So that's one way you've got the whole case study. Another way is to put it on your website. You can either put the whole case study or maybe you have a short project summary and say link to the design case study. So that's another way.
Speaker 2:You can use elements and proposals, presentations, newsletters. You can take the written case study and turn it into a video script, or you can share highlights in the social media or you're from your email signature, you can write blog posts. You can see there's lots of different things. So once you've got the case study and you put all the different pieces where you want, then it's oh yeah, let's go there, let's use that in our client interview. We've got a good quote, we've got a good picture, let's include that in a client presentation where we're going after a similar project. So I like to consider case studies like treasure chests. You can dig in there and pull out these jewels, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And one other thing I'd like to mention is there's alternative writing approaches. So I've taken video interviews and turned them into a written case study. You can take an award narrative where you might have a good story and then you might need to elaborate, but you can turn that into a case study. And I've got a client who really wins lots of awards and he suggested that maybe I'll do that with some of his award narratives.
Speaker 2:And the other thing is the marketer could interview the happy client and hopefully they'd ask the writer for question ideas, so the writer's part of the process, even if they aren't conducting the interview, and then you could take the transcript and give it to the writer. And that doesn't really save much time for the writer. But the marketer might say we really want to develop rapport with the happy client and we'd like to conduct the interview. So I think writers might feel like they really like to be able to have the opportunity to ask follow-up questions. But if that's the marketer's goal, then that's fine. They can do it that way. So you can see it's really case studies. Up are so many opportunities, and so that's what I really like about them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I think that the biggest thing is being proactive in the planning. What you said like the first step is identifying these strategic projects to prioritize. So I think this is airing in October. A lot of us are thinking about our marketing plans for the following year and our marketing strategies and our marketing efforts. Now is probably a good time to look at all the projects that are probably wrapping up or near completion or going to be complete next year. It's probably a good idea to probably those you're going to submit for awards are probably those that probably will make good case studies. Then you can use the content. You can use the client interviews for your awards, middles and the case studies. I'm all about working more efficiently, right.
Speaker 2:Right, she's promising. Yeah, that's the way.
Speaker 1:You have to only interview the client once and you can use it a lot of different ways.
Speaker 1:Now might be a good time as part of your marketing planning for next year, but to look at all those projects, talk to your project managers, talk to your business developers, talk to your principals and say what's coming up like, what's completed this year, what's going to be completed next year.
Speaker 1:Let's start getting these on the calendar and prioritizing these efforts, because I think that to me, that was the hardest thing, because somebody would just come to me and be like oh, we need to do a case study on this project, and it's like next week they need it. And it's like well, it doesn't work like that. We need to be a little bit more proactive. We need to familiarize this idea with the client. The client probably needs to get proper permissions, depending on what type of project it is, and then we need to schedule it. Like scheduling can take a while to get on some of these calendars. So I think that first step in being proactive to that, I know would make me feel me personally and I'm sure some of the listeners would feel less overwhelmed with it Like if you have a plan for it.
Speaker 2:I've done lots of awards when I worked for the professional services, where I worked on awards, and I know it's a big deal. You have to get the professional photography, or you want to, if it's that big a project, and get all your ducks in a row and get everything, and so if you're already doing that in, the client probably is happy because they're going to be in an award. It's a great time, and then you're killing two birds with one stone. You can be aware of the award requirements and what you want from a case study, and that's what we're all about. We're all about repurposing and being efficient right.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love it and I like how you said also that there's a couple of different approaches you could take. Like, working with a writer is good because you know what questions to ask as the writer, and then ideally if you could have the writer interview, I think also. I think sometimes when you have that separation too, it's more of an objective person. The client might be a little bit more open to be, because they won't feel like you're going to go back and tell the project manager or something I don't know. So I sometimes feel like when you bring in somebody outside as an objective person, that is not part of the project, sometimes you get some better results. But I can see your other side, where you've experienced it, where the marketers would want to interview the client to build that relationship, especially if they're working with them already on getting photography and press releases approved and that kind of stuff. So a lot of different scenarios and I think it depends. It's a case by case. It might be different for your firm for each different client, but I think it's just a case by case situation.
Speaker 1:And then I also like what we've started doing, when we've started doing our client stories is recording them on camera, because then, like you said, some of the repurposing we could slice those videos up and put them on different website pages or use them in social, but then we can also write. So I feel like in the vein, especially if your clients are remote, just jump on a zoom and record it and get the video on and then that way you also just have more material to work with. I mean, obviously, let them know and then any final video edits get the client to approve that as well as the written. So they just come.
Speaker 1:Some of my experience too, as we've gone into the zoom era it's in. And it kind of leads me to my next question, because with AI and chat, gpt, writing is going to be coming a lot more quote unquote easier but video I feel like video and stories and like what you alluded to when we were in the introduction is going to become way more important to decipher AI generated content versus actual human content. So talk to us a little bit about what you're seeing and how chat, gpt and other platforms are disrupting our marketing for AC and or other industries.
Speaker 2:Well, first I'll say that I'm letting they use chat GBT, and I know there's lots of others, but my approach has been well, let's get to know chat GBT and that's worked out pretty well for me. Yeah, ai is definitely changing the way businesses operate, and the question is going to be how can you leverage AI while still celebrating the human connection? And so there's a lot that AI can do, but it has limitations. It is a human. Thank goodness there might be some robots that look human, but it isn't human. I have a quote here from McKinsey Research and they say nearly all industries will see the most significant gains from deployment of the technology in their marketing and sales functions, and the biggest concerns are inaccuracy, cybersecurity and intellectual property infringement. So, and the advice is to include a human in the loop to mitigate risk. So isn't that the truth?
Speaker 2:Here's a fragment those of catalytic says Gen AI has enormous potential. Approach it with creativity and caution. Don't put your organization at risk. So I think those are shows that it's got power, but there's. You have to have some caution. So AI doesn't have emotional understanding and empathy that engage readers, and that's what you want in content to have content that engages readers and not be just too straightforward. It can't add creativity and originality. It may offer biases. I understand that biases are being worked on, but there's still going to be some biases. And you can ask it to write in the company's desired style and tone, but may not be quite right. I think you're always going to have to have a human oversight. So what I like is that chat GBT is my writing buddy. I can ask it for ideas on outlines, research, brainstorming ideas, headlines, developing personas, and here's one that I get a kick out of is Role Plane. So, like here, I can say I want you to be a business owner of a manufacturing company, right in your diary what are my concerns about heating and ventilation systems of my new plant, so you can set up that maybe when you're working on questions for your case study. And so the chat GBT told me this is a substantial investment in every decision I make now will shape our future success. And another line was there's a lot riding on the success of this installation, not just for the efficiency of our operations but for the well-being of our workforce. So yeah, and it might give you little things like the workforce idea. Of course the machines have to work the right way and everything. But you want it to be comfortable for the workforce, so it can just give you some ideas to develop questions, to ask a happy client and while still emphasizing the firms' strategic goals.
Speaker 2:And for me, I like it for headlines. So coming up with good headlines is a challenge, and so I love it where I can say give me 10 headlines, then I can say keep going, and then maybe I'll mix and match or that all will inspire me. And then just lately I had two headlines and I said, okay, here's two headlines which would resonate better with my readers and I've already told it about the scenario and it picked one and I'd say what do you think about this headline? So it's fun that way.
Speaker 2:And so, of course, the concerns I can create marketing campaigns or for writers writers may be focusing more on the strategy of what kind of content to develop. So for marketers, they can't really create the big idea. You always hear about the big idea of campaigns and that's often where you're taking maybe your market share, your competitors, the direction you're heading, and all of that what's a good slogan for your industry? And you come up with a big idea and a strategy. And so humans are still needed for that, yes, so that's comforting and for the case study world.
Speaker 2:Ai can't interview subject matter experts, so you still need humans to interview subject matter experts and establish rapport, and it can't ask the probing follow-up questions to get the best results. So AI can offer good first drafts, but humans really are needed to take the drafts to the next level. Otherwise your copy might be dull and lack the details and the personal anecdotes that show you understand the reader's challenges. And I think that's another area where writers are going to be asked to say OK, here's some copywriters, can you jazz it up, add some details? And I think that'll have to be figured out as we go on. But maybe here's a transcript of an interview with our CEO. Bring some of that in. Or here's some examples from the field, bring that in. So I think that's where writers are going to, that people are going to turn into writers because they're going to realize well, this is accurate from chat GBT or maybe it's not, but let's say it's accurate, but it just is lacking something.
Speaker 1:And it's that lacking something.
Speaker 2:Writers can come in and add something. So I guess the chat, gbt, the stories and testimonials are becoming more important. They can help readers relate to companies. I have Ed Gandia as a business coach and strategist for writers and he says as more and more content is AI generated, the human content will stand out.
Speaker 1:So thank goodness, yeah, you'll be able to tell. I think we'll be able to. I mean, you're already starting to tell.
Speaker 1:I use chat GPC quite a bit, but then it's always like there's always a couple words. I'm like I would never say that we would never use this word, it for our firm or for our brand, and so you always have to adjust a couple of things or add to it a little bit because it's like well, it's got there, but I need to really specify Because in our industry there's some nuances in it. Right, it's like some certain ways we talk about certain project types or firm types or situations and I don't know that chat to BT knows. So I wouldn't call it jargon, because I try not to use jargon, but if we were talking about a region it would be like a colloquialism, but it's like for our industry. So I always try to add those to and adjust that. So I use it quite a bit Like what you said.
Speaker 1:I haven't used it to test headlines. I've used it to identify headlines and brainstorm headlines. But I'm going to use your trick to be like which one would be better for my reader, describe the reader. So a little bit of AB testing, but you don't have to put them out there to AB test. You can AB test them in chat to BT. And I love the role playing. I feel like we could even do that and even almost like write a blog article, like as a role playing or scripted out, or and get some ideas and some fun video ideas for that with the role playing. So my ideas are just the thoughts are just swimming in my head.
Speaker 2:It adds a little levity and it's like you have a little partner there next to you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I definitely call it my assistant. You said it your writing buddy, my assistant. I call it like my writing assistant because I do have it open pretty much every day. I'm using it for various things. Just before we started interviewing, I was working on some invitations for a client event we have coming up and I needed it to rewrite. I had this sentence that just didn't sound right and I was running out of space too on the invitation. So I'm like rewrite this sentence, make it punchier and more succinct. And it brought it down. I was like, okay, I just changed one or two words, so it wasn't so succinct, like it's got some confidence or some articles, and I was like, yeah, we need the in there and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:So there's choices and offers different word choices. Like I'll take my edited document, I kind of go through this whole process of editing but I'll put it in chat GPT and see what it says. So it doesn't know what to do with case studies, cause there's all these quotes but there might be a few word choices here or there. That's good. I'll say that I use Grammarly. I have the computer read it to me out loud. I have a proofreader that looks at my stuff. Just she might see a few things. So I take that all very seriously to have the best content I can.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely I can play a role in there and it's good, especially when it's like a Friday afternoon, but you got to just get this one thing done and you're just a brain dead. It could be like, okay, give me some ideas for this. Yeah, yeah, this looks so, especially since I do work by myself at home.
Speaker 1:When I used to work in an office with my team of marketers in there, I could just go out into our like our cubicle area and be like okay, who has some ideas for this, where a lot of us are working remotely now, so we're missing that office energy.
Speaker 2:I'm alone as well, so I think, working alone at home it's nice to have input in an easy way.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, Well, this has been great. I know I'm definitely jazzed up about our approach to case studies, client stories, whatever you want to call them, and I hope our listener I hope you are too, especially as we're going into the next year. So, before we wrap up today, I want are you ready to answer some of my rapid fire questions that I asked?
Speaker 2:Oh, bring it on, of course.
Speaker 1:Okay, All right. Question number one what is your number one piece of advice for marketers who are new to the AEC?
Speaker 2:industry. Okay, well, I'm going to give a two pronged answer that's been updated now. So the first one is know your client, who are you trying to reach and what are their concerns, what are their fears, frustration, so you can address those in your writing. And now I think people need to know how are you using AI to achieve your goals. Have you used it to increase your efficiency and generate ideas? So I think you're starting to see that out there in the world, hr departments or owners or whatever, want to know what, how are you using AI and how can you use it to help our company.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love that two part answer. Okay, Question number two what has been your favorite or most memorable win?
Speaker 2:So I'm in my second year now of my LinkedIn newsletter called AEC Connect that focuses on case studies and storytelling, and so my readers are marketing directors and managers and business owners and others interested in AEC and content creation, and so through that it's given me an opportunity to talk to AEC thought leaders and others and interview them and ask them what are some ideas, what should I cover? And then I quite frequently interview people and if related to the topic I'm working on, so that's been fun for me, it's not saying okay, I'm coming at it through a thought leadership perspective, I want to know your thoughts on this, and so that's been interesting.
Speaker 1:That is an interesting take. I like it and I've been a subscriber, so make sure I'll link it up in the show notes. So you got everybody that's listening can subscribe to AEC Connect LinkedIn newsletter. Okay, and then question number three what are you excited about?
Speaker 2:Well, I am going to have the opportunity to go from Billings, montana, where I live, to Madison, to an American Marketing Association meeting where I'm going to present on AI as a friend or foe for your writing projects, so that should be interesting for me. I used to attend these, this craft marketing, the Madison meetings, so I'll get to see everybody and then I'll get to share with the topic that I'm interested in.
Speaker 1:That's nice. Yeah, I think that's a great way to get to know people and talk about their own topics. Should be some heated debates in the end of the session, so I love it. And then my last question for you today if people want to learn more about you or connect, with you.
Speaker 2:what's the best way they can reach out to you? Well, they can connect with me on my LinkedIn profile. I'm Leslie Blaze or I have a website, blazecommunicationscom. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I'll put all those links in the show notes so anybody listening can just go to the show notes page and I will link them up, all right? Well, thanks so much, leslie. This has been so fun to talk to you today and so inspiring and motivating, and I hope everybody out there goes and starts to plan their case studies for next year. That would be wonderful.
Speaker 2:That's my mission.
Speaker 1:Wow, wasn't that some great information. Leslie, you are on fire today. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and giving us a playbook for creating these client-focused case studies that will truly make us, in our firm, stand out, even in this tech-driven, ai-infused world. Now, if you're sitting there thinking this was amazing, but where do I even start, don't sweat it. I want you to pick one strategic project. It can either be something already completed or maybe a project that will be completed in the next 12 months. Start with Leslie's step number one Identify your strategic project or projects. Then start talking to your project manager or your clients to begin familiarizing them with this process. Creating a list of potential case studies proactively and then adding it to your calendar or your marketing plan is a great way to not feel overwhelmed when it comes to this marketing strategy. As we mentioned earlier, these stories and these human connections are going to become even more important than ever before in our future AI-driven world. You know I've got your back right. All of the resources and the tips Leslie shared will be over in the show notes. Be sure to check those out over at marketerstakeflightcom. Forward slash 141-141.
Speaker 1:Before we wrap this up, I just want to give a huge shout out to all of you who've been sharing the podcast and leaving reviews. You're the reason I keep bringing rock stars like Leslie on the show, so keep them coming, my friend. Okay, that's a wrap for today's hopefully inspiring episode for you. I can't wait to see how you apply these insights and elevate your marketing game. Remember, we're not just building structures or designing roads here. We're building legacies, one incredible story at a time. So until next time, bye for now.
