Bill Murphy
Copywriter, Direct Marketing Guru,
Strategist,
Advertising/PR Pro
Before Jack Lemmon stepped onto a set, he spoke two words that became his mantra…and the stuff of Hollywood legend: “Magic time.”
When the director yelled “action!” Jack was ready with the indefinable magic that set him apart from all others of his generation.
When Bill Murphy’s clients yell “Action!” Bill brings his own kind of magic to bear. Bill is a strategic thinker and gifted copywriter, who has worn a lot of hats in his nearly thirty years in the business of helping clients reach their sales and marketing goals.
Bill holds a masters degree in communication and a bachelors degree in journalism, both from Grand Valley State University. In addition, he was an adjunct professor at GVSU in the School of Communication for a number of years, teaching students how to write powerful, effective copy. Over the years, his clients have included some of the largest companies in the world (Philips Medical Systems, Komatsu America, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Kansas City, the Dow Chemical Company, Siemens DeMatic/Rapistan, Six Flags)…as well as actors, authors, artists, and musicians, and non-profits such as the Humane Society of Kent County. Also, he worked with Zondervan on many projects, providing copy for back-ads, websites, and catalogs.
Bill’s expertise covers business-to-business, as well as business-to-consumer markets.
He specializes in strategy and copy for direct marketing (brochures, websites, letters, catalogs, influencer mails, e-mails, direct-response ads), but he has also served as Global Director of Publicity for an American rock band, and creative director for his consulting group. So he can write ad copy like nobody’s business, as well as press releases and radio spots.
Like the famed actor, Bill also begins his projects with a mantra; only Bill’s is “What is the purpose of advertising?”
Claude C. Hopkins, universally recognized as one of the greatest copywriters who ever lived, answered that question nearly ninety years ago in his landmark book Scientific Advertising: "Advertising is salesmanship," he wrote. "The only purpose of advertising is to make sales." Bill agrees. (Incidentally, so did advertising legend David Ogilvy, who said Hopkins' book "Changed the course of my life.") And that sets Bill apart from most other copywriters today…and separates him from the good-enough-is-good-enough syndrome—allowing “good enough” copy to fill space, rather than reach sales goals, a practice that often arises when budgets are tight and a professional copywriter is deemed an unnecessary expense.
It takes great skill to write copy that sells, but if clients want to reach sales goals, good enough is never good enough.
That's why, with Bill, it’s always magic time.