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How We Will Write Up Our Projects (and What We Won't Claim)

Writer: Jonathan G. Browning
Jonathan G. Browning
Oct 7
4 min read

Case studies are some of the most useful things a small business can publish. They show how work actually gets done. They are also easy to get wrong. A case study that implies results nobody measured, or quotes a happy client without context, stops being information and starts being advertising.

This category will hold our project write-ups. Before the first one goes up, here is how we plan to write them, and the rules behind that plan.


Why honesty is not optional

Three sets of rules point the same direction.

Federal endorsement rules. The Federal Trade Commission's Endorsements, Influencers, and Reviews guidance points businesses to the FTC's Guides Concerning Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, revised in 2023, and to the Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials. If a case study quotes a client or describes their experience, those rules are relevant.

Tennessee advertising rules. For real estate licensees, Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1260-02-.12 says no licensee shall advertise in a false, misleading, or deceptive manner, and that unsubstantiated selling claims and misleading statements or inferences are strictly prohibited. Real estate licensees are among the people who use property imagery, and anything we produce may end up in their marketing.

Realtor ethics. Article 12 of the NAR Code of Ethics says Realtors shall be honest and truthful in their real estate communications and present a true picture in their advertising, marketing, and other representations.

The common thread: say what happened, back it up, and do not imply what you cannot show.


The template

Every project write-up in this category will follow the same structure.

  1. The place. What kind of property, in general terms, and where in the region. No addresses unless the owner wants them published.

  2. The question. What the client needed to know or show. One or two sentences.

  3. The constraints. Airspace, weather, access, timing, budget, or rules that shaped the plan.

  4. The plan. Which Layers we chose, and why. Ground photos, aerials, maps, video, measurements.

  5. What we delivered. The Stack: what files and formats, how they were organized.

  6. What we learned. What worked, what we would do differently.

  7. What we did not do. Anything outside the scope, anything we could not capture.


Hand checking items off a handwritten list on a notepad

What we will not claim

This part matters most. In our case studies, we will not:

  • Claim outcomes we did not measure. If a property sold, we will not imply our photos are why unless there is real evidence.

  • Use client quotes without permission. And when we do use them, we will not edit them to change their meaning.

  • Present edited images as unedited. Any virtual staging, sky replacement, or significant edit will be labeled.

  • Blur the line between a concept and a record. A rendering of what a site could look like is not a photo of what it does look like.

  • Show private property without consent. Owners decide what gets published.


How to read anyone's case study

The same lens works for evaluating any provider's case studies, including ours:

  • Does it say what was actually delivered, or just how great it was?

  • Are results stated as facts with a source, or implied?

  • Are client quotes attributed and in context?

  • Are edited or generated images labeled?

  • Does it mention any limits or problems? Real projects have them.

A case study that answers those questions well is worth reading. One that does not is a brochure.


What comes next

As projects are completed and owners agree to share them, they will appear here using this template. Before a write-up goes up, the owner will see it first, including every photo and every sentence that describes their property. If they want something changed or removed, it gets changed or removed.

Some projects will never appear here at all, and that is fine. Plenty of good work is private. The ones that do appear should teach something: how a constraint was handled, why a certain Layer mattered, or what we would do differently next time. Until the first one is ready, this post is the standard we will be held to.


Practical takeaways

  1. Case studies should inform, not just promote.

  2. Follow FTC endorsement guidance when using client experiences.

  3. In Tennessee real estate marketing, avoid unsubstantiated claims and misleading inferences.

  4. Use a consistent template: place, question, constraints, plan, delivery, lessons, limits.

  5. Label edits and never claim results you did not measure.

If you have a project and want to talk about how it could be documented, contact 48 Pegasus, serving properties within 75 miles of Macon County, Tennessee, across Middle Tennessee and South Central Kentucky.


Sources

Photos: cover by Chris Lawton / Unsplash; inline by Jakub Zerdzicki / Unsplash. Free to use under the Unsplash License.

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