Ask HN: Would free copywriting assistance appeal to you?
In brainstorming ways that I might remedy this situation, I had a thought. Many startups whose sites I pass by seem to have a common issue - Copy. For a number of reasons, an invaluable sentiment escapes many companies large and small: You can build and launch the greatest product in the world but if you can't tell people about it, it’s all for naught. Companies big and small have this issue - typos, grammatical errors, inefficient structure, verbosity, and so on.
In my eyes, the big guys have no excuse. For small and emerging companies however, money is a huge factor. Hiring a wordsmith is the obviously the last thing on your mind when deciding whether to spend a few hundred dollars on XYZ... Or eat. At the same time, poor copy puts you at a serious disadvantage in your market.
No, I’m not offering to write copy for entire websites free of charge. What I am considering is to take a look at your homepage, marketing sheet, mass email, elevator pitch, or whatever other single item you need the most help on, and refine / polish it. This will be the start of an infinitely more professional image and may even help put some minds at ease just a bit so that focus can be where it should be: On the product. The clear benefit to me will be working with intelligent and technical people immersed in interesting projects, all while expanding my contact list. No I’m not going to pitch people who approach me on my idea, but perhaps you have a talented friend currently looking for the right founding opportunity to potentially break him/her out of a corporate rut. That might be something we discuss while refining that document you’d like me to look at...
So is this something people here on HN might find appealing? This is an issue that I’ve seen mentioned numerous times here and as such, I’m posing a potential solution that may benefit everyone involved. Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.