I totally agree with you and I think it apples to a lot more than case studies. I mean telling the world, following through, etc it applied to everything you’d like to market effectively. Keep going! 
How To Run An Effective Case Study
Case studies are probably the most underused and underestimated forms of gathering a following of regular readers, gaining traffic and creating a lot of ideas to talk about. Their power comes from the sheer amount of interest shown from the possibility that somebody might just discover something new, or dispel a myth, and by following it, a reader will be the first to witness this advance and put it into practice.
Case studies are not only a good form of gaining loyal readers, but also make spectacular link bait and viral content, circulating around the blogosphere in the time it takes me to write this post and sending floods of traffic the way of the blogger conducting the case study.
There are 3 main ways in which you can improve the effectiveness and profitability of case studies: telling the world, following through, and publishing every single detail and result there is.
Tell The World
Don’t expect success of any form if you conduct a case study secretly. Let readers follow every step of the journey, so that they feel included in the case study and become more involved, leading them to be much more likely to subscribe to your blog for every update. Create a following before you start the case study, and make clear your intentions, so that readers will know what to expect and the following can grow exponentially along the way.
Follow Through
Once you start your case study, commit to it. As a reader, there is nothing worse then getting excited by an event only to be disappointed by a cancellation of events or a long wait. In order to protect your reputation, maintain your follower base and see results, commit and don’t disappoint.
Publish Every Single Result And Detail
Readers are interested in what you have to say. Don’t set them short of the results they have been waiting patiently for as they have followed your study. Give them every single statistic, observation and detail. Leave nothing to guesswork, and answer all questions. Readers will have a lot more respect for you if you help them out with all of their questions (after all, you are the expert, right?).
And remember, capitalize on the case study. Ask readers to subscribe to the blog on the first post in the case study so that they can get all of the updates and results that they are waiting for as soon as they are available. How can you resist revolutionary results?
17 comments - add yours
Ben Tremblay
November 9, 2008
Mike Collins
November 9, 2008
Very true. I started a couple of case studies at my blog and you’ve reminded me that I haven’t been updating enough about results. thanks
Mike Henry
November 9, 2008
I can’t stress enough the point of “commit and don’t disappoint”. The only website I know of that can get away with never updating is TheBestPageintheUniverse.com.
SuiteJ
November 9, 2008
Hey Simon. Great points. I’m about to start adding some case studies to my site soon. I personally love to follow them myself on other blogs. It’s a great way to learn something new or even just to pick up tips you might not have thought of before.
Cheers!
Jay
Simon
November 9, 2008
@ Mike - better go and finish them, eh? and don’t disappoint 
@ Jay - any hints on what these case studies will be on? can’t wait for them anyway? I think Danny’s the king of the case study blog though
SEO Test
November 9, 2008
Hi Simon, Great post. Usually I love to test my site how fast is google crawling my site by changing the title. But, I’m not write any report on my blog. After read this, I will write a report and hope that can increase my traffic 
Simon
November 9, 2008
haha, funny you mention that, i just changed the title of my blog to attract more se traffic
Norhafidz
November 10, 2008
Nice post Simon, agreed on post as many results and details as possible. That are the sticking-with-it factor for your readers
Dan
November 10, 2008
Hey Simon, I’v not really tried any case studies, but have seen others do it to great potential. Maybe I should try some - Im always ending up undertaking various projects but just not documenting anything! Time to make a change methinks…
Simon
November 10, 2008
yeah, you might as well try some - follow through and commit and it can’t do you any harm, so why not try one
Me Debt Free
November 10, 2008
I really like case studies. There a great one I have been following on jimkarter.com where he is attempting to build a website from scratch that will make him $1000 a month. He has given himself a year to acheive this. Great reading.
jackie sheeler
November 10, 2008
thank you for solving a problem for me. i’ve been collecting information about the drug wars — policy and practice — for a large article that i am planning. wasn’t exactly sure how to position it, but case study is perfect. thanks so much.
Recorder
November 13, 2008
I agree wholeheartedly; nothing better than following a project through the eyes of someone who’s actually going through the steps. It’s a good learning opportunity for newbies like me.
Space Waitress
November 14, 2008
I like case studies; I learn a lot more from being shown something than by being told something.
data entry from home
November 15, 2008
I see some case studies on google adsense program too. Sometimes they sound like show case studies.
eric tan
November 18, 2008
I see you are in the running to win LinkersBlog’s Contest… I joined too… just in case I win here’s another chance for you to win :
If I Win LinkersBlog’s Case Study Contest You Win Too - at my blog
A Review Of The Blog Comment Blueprint
November 19, 2008
[...] Cooper runs a blog called LinkersBlog where he talks about link building and does case studies. If you want to know more about him then I suggest you read his About page. Anyway, his blog shot [...]