I write marketing materials that help businesses make more money and more friends.
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Meet Gary
Most likely, you’re here to see if I’m someone you’d trust to write copy for you. Here's my best insider information so you can make that decision with confidence.
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I'll mention briefly that my copywriting training is centered around the products of American Writers & Artists Inc. (AWAI). I've worked through their direct response Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting and several of their B2B writing programs. I'm a member of AWAI's Circle of Success, which begins as an intensive two-year copywriting training program.
During AWAI's 2015 FastTrack to Copywriting Success Bootcamp, I won the Copywriting Spec Challenge from Moskel Consulting & Marketing. Ok, here's how I got where I am, why I do what I do, and why you might benefit from working with me. Gary the Music Man When I was 7, my parents signed me up for piano lessons. When I was 20, I had my last lesson just before receiving a bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance from the University of Michigan School of Music. In between, I spent manymanymany hours practicing. My mom says I would turn away my friends at the front door because I'd rather practice. I don't remember it that way ... but I did practice a lot. My identity was pretty much tied to the piano. The highlight came during my senior year of high school. At 17, I won a local competition and earned the privilege of playing the first movement of Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A Minor with the Rochester (Michigan) Philharmonic Orchestra. Very cool. I continue to play the piano with my church’s worship team and in the pit for community and high school musicals. So … why does any of this matter to you? Because of 5 distinctive qualities that directly transfer to the craft of copywriting.
Gary the Family Man I am very much a family man. My parents recently celebrated their 56th anniversary, and my in-laws celebrated their 50th, so I have good models. In 1981, I started dating Tammy. 69 months later in 1987, we were married. We have four grown children and one son-in-law. We have a blast together. I've had many years to think about the role of the family in society. I concluded that families are the basic building block of a healthy society. I could write dozens of pages about why I reached that conclusion. But for now, what matters is that I see both families and businesses as having a fundamental role in the strength of any society. I want to do everything I can to ensure both of them are vigorous and purposeful. Why does this matter to you? Because of 7 characteristics of a thriving family that also shape the values and philosophy behind my copywriting business.
Gary the Business Man After graduating from college with a music degree in 1987, I found I had a knack for working with computers. Those were the days of floppy disks and 20 Mb hard drives (because why would anyone need more?). I worked at the University of Michigan Hospital (Ann Arbor), then at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital (Ann Arbor), then at a healthcare consulting company (Ann Arbor) before being asked by my former colleagues at the U of M to come back in 1994. Every position required more advanced computer skills, but after tackling Chopin Etudes and Beethoven sonatas, it wasn't a huge leap to teach myself word processors, spreadsheets, HTML, relational databases, and SQL. I read a lot of owner's manuals. My musician's mind was well-suited to work with large databases, so I gravitated toward physician database management. As systems became integrated, my role was absorbed by the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system, so I took on some of those responsibilities with my new team. Why is this important? Because working in a professional setting brings opportunities to learn characteristics useful to running a copywriting business, such as customer service, teamwork, strategic thinking, and process improvement. I am able – and wildly motivated – to take care of my copywriting customers … and their customers. Gary the Writing Man After working in healthcare IT positions for 25 years, I learned about copywriting. I quickly realized I was wired to be a copywriter, because
The successful person has the habit of doing things failures don’t like to do. They don’t like doing them either necessarily. But their disliking is subordinated to the strength of their purpose.
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 Why this is so important to me Here's what I want to accomplish as a copywriter: I'm looking for organizations owned or operated by people anchored in integrity. These organizations are providing a useful, quality product or service that makes people's lives better. I want to be a key player in helping them become stronger organizations, which I'll do by writing words that nurture long-term relationships with their loyal customers. In doing this, I help create the kind of world I want to live in. I am primarily a B2B copywriter. That means I write marketing materials for businesses who are marketing their product or service to other businesses. I focus on healthcare IT because that's my background: Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems and physician databases. But I will always consider writing for companies in other industries and even Business-to-Consumer (B2C) companies. Here's a quick test to see if we could work well together. Please answer Yes or No to each of these questions:
If you answered No to any of those five questions, well, we're not a good fit right now. But if you answered Yes to all of them, we are a perfect fit. Better yet, I'm fairly certain you could get ME passionate about what your company offers, and then you've got me throwing MY passion at your customers, strengthening that relationship. If my background, perspective, and passion as a copywriter seem like they might help you achieve your business goals, please jump to my Contact page and start a conversation with me today! 
Guess which one is the son-in-law?
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