Ask HN: Would free copywriting assistance appeal to you?

As I said in the OP, I will be more than happy to assist startups with one piece of marcom at no charge. No I'm not a dealer handing out free fixes, I just don't have the time or independent wealth right now to be able to offer more assistance. Believe me when I say that I love to be challenged creatively and I love variation. If I did have the time and independent wealth, nothing would make me happier than to do this for a living. The sentiment behind yan's / ia's suggestion above is something I've wondered about plenty in the past.

So here is what I ask of you:

1. Please send me an email and introduce yourself. Tell me a bit about your company, your core product(s), your target audience, your ideal customer and so on. Then tell me about the one problem item that we'll be tackling, be it product sheet, homepage, elevator pitch, mass email, etc.

2. Please be thorough. No one knows your product better than you so highlighting key features is of the utmost importance. When you've been eating, sleeping, breathing and living something for XX months, it becomes very easy to forget how to look at it from an outside perspective (this very fact is half the reason marcom people have jobs). Make sure you think about the key messages / features that you are hoping to highlight with this particular piece.

3. Please be patient. I promise that I will respond to each and every email sent. In fact, if you don't hear from me a few days after sending an email then by all means resend it. Regarding deliverables, please be understanding if I estimate a turnaround of six days and you haven't received anything from me on the seventh. I have no reason to believe that keeping an open line of communication will be difficult but at the same time, I do have other things on my plate. Re: time zone, I'm just outside of Manhattan (EST).

4. Please be clear. If there are elements of any job that should be considered confidential please ensure that you make me aware of them. I will not be sharing anything we discuss or work on but this relates to item 1 below.

5. Please include your HN username in your intro email.

What I ask in return:

1. Portfolio building - In the event that my own project does not pan out, I will likely end up re-entering the marcom world at some level. Your permission to include whatever we work on in a future portfolio would be greatly appreciated. If for any reason this is not a possibility, just make sure to specify that (item 4 above).

2. Friends and family plan - Please keep a few things in mind as I perform this service for you. I am in fact hoping to find a technical co-founder to work with me on my own SaaS so if you know talented and motivated people who might fit the bill, an intro would be greatly appreciated. I'm not going to ignore people who don't open their intro email with, "Hi. My buddy is ready and waiting to build your vision!" At the same time, bear in mind that networking is indeed my not-so-ulterior motive. Even if all you can do is connect to me on LinkedIn and write a two-sentence recommendation that might help me sometime in the future, I would appreciate it.

3. Your ear - Once my work for you is complete, feel free to ask me about the SaaS I am considering. The opportunity to bounce ideas off of intelligent people "in the thick of it" is something I will never refuse. It is perfectly understandable if you are too busy with your own business to chat along these lines. No harm, no foul and good luck to you in your endeavors. I hope I was able to make a difference for you.

4. 2% equity - Calm down, that was a joke...

So with all that behind us: My name is Zach, I have nine years of small-company marcom experience under my belt, I'm now seeking more out of life and my email is in my profile. Looking forward to doing what I can to help.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rational_Decision-Making_Model

In addition, there are also wicked problems, which require entirely different problem solving models:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_problem

Here is a visualization of one model for solving Wicked Problems:

http://www.idiagram.com/CP/cpprocess.html

I would definitely pick up the book Wicked Problems and Social Complexity that they cite. I haven't read it myself, but the first chapter is online for free in a PDF and it is pretty good. I can't really justify paying to buy it out of print, but you should since it's your area of business (assuming you find the first chapter useful).

The obvious thing to do is to have some sort of tool that matches the problem people are trying to solve to the best problem solving model for that type of problem, and then to force them to decide within the constraints of that model. If you can do that then you may have a pretty lucrative business on your hands.

My advice? If you need help, email me and we'll talk. As I tried to make clear above, I won't be pitching anything to anyone unless they specifically ask me to. In my experience I find that entrepreneurs generally enjoy talking shop. In discussing my idea (with someone who I have just helped with their own startup, mind you) I am not expecting them to flip a switch, close up shop and found a business with me. I am looking for valuable feedback from active founders and leads in the event that someone has a contact who may be interested in working on such an endeavor.

That said, I'm also perfectly happy helping with the job at hand and going our separate ways. "That's ridiculous," you might think. It's not though. I've just helped an entrepreneur move one small step closer to his/her vision, challenged myself in the process, added an item to my portfolio and gained a contact that may prove valuable in the future on any number of levels. I've also just begun to build a solid reputation here on HN, which is hardly a trivial thing to do. That may sound crazy to some and it may be unconventional but the fact is no one has anything to lose.

So if you email me and I try to sell you on my "million dollar idea", go on about your business and you've lost five minutes of your life. If I help you, then you've gained the assistance of an experienced marcom voice and you might just benefit from it. You have also gained a contact yourself who may prove useful again in the future.