Align and illustrate a passionate product vision to new audiences—from ecosystems to titles to geographies—and give them fresh reasons to commit.
Scale your open source && cloud native startup with messaging and copywriting
Most open source && cloud native projects and products require a heavy dose of commitment just to get through the "getting started" guide. We're talking big steps, like reconfiguring a production environment or CI/CD workflow, for your target audience get a proper demo and figure out whether what you do is right for them.
Inspiring that first commitment can go wrong in so many ways:
- Your project doesn't stand out among the crowded landscape of open source && cloud native
- Users don't understand the difference between your open source project and commercial product
- A vague monetization strategy and ongoing commitment to open source tarnishes developer trust
- You're getting free users, but not product champions within external developer communities
If any of these sound familiar, messaging and copywriting are your path toward generating commitment. We're not talking hard-sell "conversion copywriting" (aka suckering your target audience into clicking on a call-to-action button or filling out a form), but rather messaging and copywriting that captures and uplevels your stand-out product vision for the unique qualities of the open source && cloud native communities.
Let's start increasing conversions and growing your startup with ready-to-launch messaging and copywriting that gets developers and engineering leaders to care about what you do before they click.
Brand and product messaging
Not sure how to talk about your tech? Let's find the source of what makes you unique and develop a messaging playbook that defines what makes your products worthy of immediate committment.
You walk away with ready-to-deploy messaging your people can leverage to communicate cohesively no matter their role or where they show up:
- Developers engaging with your open source community through GitHub issues and Slack/Discord messages.
- Salespeople and technical engineers demo-ing your open source project and commercial counterpart to prospects.
- Product marketers writing consistent copy in high-value assets like your homepage, GitHub README, and landing pages.
- Content leads developing product-led strategies that highlight product pillars in technical essays and tactical how-tos.
- DevRels and advocates presenting about your open source ethos and technical prowess at conferences or in podcasts.
- Founders and executives pitching your product for venture capital and strategic partnerships.
A messaging project results in research collateral and a comprehensive framework document with the following strategic assets:
- A guiding and inspiring brand story
- Company values, mission && vision statements, and voice && tone standards
- Detailed personas based on Voice of Customer/Developer research
- Example messaging built on your value pillars, supporting evidence from your project/product, and reflected through the needs of each persona
- Ready-for-you marketing boilerplate to use on your website, GitHub, ProductHunt, Hacker News, or anywhere else your tech brand shows up
Featured messaging project:
Copywriting
Let's transform your tech- and features-driven website into an engaging vision of what your ideal customers become when they have your product in their back pocket.
When you lead with inspiration, education, and problem-solving—not marketing gimmicks—you generate the commitment your developer marketing plans demand. Commitment to sign up. To champion your product. To not just be a one-off conversion, but a long-term partner.
A website copy project includes:
- Exhaustive research into the real business problems your ideal customers face via competitive research and interviews with internal stakeholders and existing customers
- Copywriting for all of your key pages, including two rounds of revision
- Full coordination with your marketing and/or development teams to properly implement your new messaging
Key samples of my messaging and copywriting work:
More samples available upon request.
Jennifer Briston • Marketing Manager, Netdata
Joel did an amazing job with collaborating on creating the Netdata website. He has a unique skillset of understanding technical products with the ability to translate the value to a wide range of audiences. I'd gladly work with Joel again, he goes out of his way to provide his team support and the materials needed to execute projects.
Super professional, friendly, and overall delightful to work with. He is really knowledgeable in the tech space with the skills of a great writer, a rare gem. He'll go above and beyond your expectations!
Need copy right now? Not ready for a full copywriting project?
The One-Day Commit
A short timeframe can pack a big punch.
The One-Day Commit is perfect if you're a founder or a marketing professional that needs to tap the strategic expertise of a copywriter who understands your unique challenges around messaging your products to open source && cloud native communities... right now.
Once you commit to a day, we start with an intake form for you, a survey for your customers/contributors, and a 90-minute call to dial in your goals. I customize the deliverables of your One-Day Committ to those goals, but here are a few examples of what we can do:
- A website copy audit, with suggested improvements, for 5-10 pages
- Website copy for 2-3 pages (homepage, product, about)
- Content for your upcoming Show HN or ProductHunt launch
$1,495
