This copywriter really pisses me off...

Isn't this the same wording Scott used..?



AC

Fair dibs, it is different wording.


AC

As a student of copy writing, out of curiosity, I contacted Rick Duris and first had a long chatting session on skype. After hearing my present position, Rick informed me that he will call me next day. Unfortunately, I could not make that prefixed time and I was sad about that. But the same day after six hours later the moment I started my comp, Rick jumped out of skye and asked me "Are you ready to talk now?" I was astonished and I apologized for my failure in keeping the prefixed time. Right away he started explaining in detail what I need to do to progress from my present position.

He had clearly laid out a strategy I need to follow. And the path he has laid down for me was after exactly taking into account my education background, skills, experience level etc. And the ideas he gave me are absolutely brilliant which I am going to implement. And he has assured to help me out in future also.

I can say form the forty minutes talk we had, Rick is hundred percent professional, abundance of knowledge, full of energy, motivating and encouraging, and really passionate about helping others. I am glad that I had contacted him. Definitely, I feel that the conversation I had with Rick Duris will be a turning point in my life.

Thank You Rick

agni

The sad thing is Rick, it would serve some people far greater to find out WHY people are talking you up so much... rather than anything else.

It amazes me what people focus on, or should I say, choose not to focus on in this world, and in this business in particular.

We're all smart enough to know that you're building a name for yourself. We're all smart enough to know that somewhere down the line, you might ask if we are interested in your services on the backend of your clear expertise and free time given out.

Heaven forbid someone could pull that trick in a copywriting forum within a marketing forum... I mean, of all places.

You deserve your growing reputation around here Rick. You're one of the few people who have the chops to back up the claims... but at the same time, knows how to treat people and connect on their level.

It's about time the pretentiousness and arrogance was kicked to the curb in this business. I don't care who you've worked for, or how much you earn.

Pet Peeve... (not that anyone cares)

changing the standard (and very readable) sans-serif forum font to a less decipherable serif style.

I'm just saying

Hi Kids, I wrote up a flyer to promote my copywriting services to small biz in my area.
I asked for input on this forum and posted a link to the flyer.( it was terrible, I'm going to yank it down before anyone else sees it!).

Several people took their time to look at it and give constructive criticism. Rick D went so far as to PM me and we ended up talking on skype for over an hour.

He took his time to help an unknown move forward. I now have not one, but two strategies to get my business into 2nd gear.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that some individuals find it sooo hard to believe that there are still people around that truly do want to help others.

With no ax to grind.
lighten up folks , we'll all be worm food soon enough,

Eric

Interesting the way this thread has turned out.

You see, I was genuinely curious as to why the first poster seemed to be copying Scott's post?

Was he thinking that it made Scott look good, through being so humble (along with piking how he'd become so much wiser and better since the Holy Contact)?

It seemed a curious form of self-promotion, so I was indeed curious. Simple as. It just didn't strike me as realistic.

Now we know why...

See, before visiting today got an email about (another) PM, where the "gusher" told me that he'd gushed because Rick ASKED him to post such a thread.

And regretted doing so.

Now you could just say that's great marketing. As Halbert said, the reason he was the world's greatest copywriter was because he said so, every week in his newsletter. If you can get someone to post how great you are on the WF each week, perhaps the same effect?

Great, right?

Except I'm still curious...

Tell me Rick, how many of your gushers did you feed the line you fed me, which I didn't buy back then, and since you're still alive and posting, I still don't buy now?

Maybe I'm out of line but you see, my older brother Nigel really is dying, has about 2 months to go now, so I'm a little touchy on the subject.

I just don't see him going out of his way to manipulate people into building his long-term reputation?

So I'm still a little curious?


Are you a truly magnificent guy, spreading the lurve before you go - or are you taking reciprocity to a whole new low?




AC.

Wow!

ASKING for a testimonial, truly shocking... you maniacs!

Colm

1. Rick the real deal?

Some wonderful members (and even some skilled copywriters) think so.

Seems to me that is the underlying subtext with some responses here...

To those objecting:

Have you even spoken with him?

If you haven't, where's your proof?

Others have spoken with him...they have something to base their opinion on.

You...

No experience= speculating

So call him and if you won't then your opinion is made up fear/ jeolousy/ anger aimed from some other negative experience you've had in life...

Because let's face it: you've never met Rick nor have you spoken to him.

Rick being "defensive"?...He's a copywriter and pre-empting objections is in his blood.

Even I could sense people were going to start complaining and attacking from previous threads...and look at where we are now!

After a while one can sense when the objectionable (objections too) start to come out. Sign of a great copywriter IMO.


2. Not having "thank you threads" on the forum:

That's a whole other thread / topic. Talking about that here is off topic in my opinion.

Start another thread about that and discuss it there.

This to me is a good thread. It's nice to see quality testimonials about someone who can help out other copywriters.

This is hardly much different than when people chime in aboout who to mentor with (Raydal, Vin, etc)?

Plus, I find it interesting:

Someone gets great personal advice and wants to let people know about it and that this person is the real deal...

You'd think that this would be positive.


How's a guy supposed to thank someone using a thank you button when the help they received is more than just from a post?

And would I feel good just thanking them with a thank you button after they spent 1-2 solid hours of free advice and help?

People seem to not be sure about Rick. What better way to reciprocate than by letting others know he's the real deal.

I don't know about you guys but this is a GREAT thread...

Doubt, speculation...intrigue.

Don't you guys find it fascinating?

I mean look at this:

Rick hasn't been here all that long and he's getting (out of their own free will mind you...also I spoke with Rick too and quite frankly after 2 hours I was sad to get off of the phone)..lots of great people up and say

"Hey this guy really helped and he was great!"

Lesson:

How many of you are offering 100% FREE one on one advice to others?

There are so many members I personally would love to thank here on WF (if you would like list, PM...some great copywriters here)

I noticed something though...

This guy is getting people to open up and thank him personally...raving fans if you will. (think of your clients)

Why?

Personal unselfish and outrageously valuable advice.

That's missing in today's society.

The personal touch. Not behind a post or an email but taking the time to be there with and for someone. That's a lost art IMO.

Talking to Rick was like talking to a really good friend. I didn't even realize we were talking about business or copywriting until after the call. He's just that in love with what he does.

If he is the real deal...guess how he's finding clients.



PS - free advice would not work as a marketing tool if:

1. The advice wasn't outrageously valuable and

2. The person was the real deal

Because if there wasn't tremendous value or some person were shifty, the model would crash around him. If Rick isn't who he says he is, it will reveal itself down the line so you naysayers out there can just let it go because 6 months from now you'll find out the truth...

or you could just call him and decide for yourself.

It amazes me how some people can escape the real issue.

It has nothing to do with the ability, character or helpfulness
of Rick. It has nothing to do with being thankful.

The real issue in discussion is how does it help the board
to post threads thanking other members for help they
provided PRIVATELY other than to promote the 'thankee'?

It's wonderful being thanked, and thankfulness is a great
virtue but let us SEE what you are thankful for, otherwise
the "thanks" becomes a mere promotion.

-Ray Edwards

I just had a talk with Rick & I would like to say that he is a really helpful person. I did not expect him to help me & give me free advice at 2.00am in the morning but Rick did so & we talked for around an hour.

He listened to my problems and laid out some strategies for me. He did not ask for a single penny yet taught me some proven strategies that he himself used.

He has a great quality of motivating people to achieve goals. He challenged me in a positive manner to stop procrastinating and start taking action.

I just want to thank Rick for taking some time out of his busy schedule and guiding me in the right direction.

I am not a copywriter.

So don't drop bombs on me, I don't have any "special view" on this issue.

Point is: I am a user of this forum and I expect some kind of integrity here. I don not expect anyone to open a thread praising other user just because he/she provided help.

There is a Thank You button for that.

IF we're going to start threads praising people for what they have done for us privately, we're going to lose our battle with integrity. You know it.

No one said Rick is not good in what he does, no one said he's not a giver.

Rick is just the name behind this discussion: should we or should we not allow this kind of threads in a public forum, known for integrity?

Personally, this is my side of all this issue.

This is the central problem, if we all do what Rick did, the whole forum would be awash with Thank You threads and this place would go to hell

There are so many copywriters a person can thank. Hell I could spend all day thanking all the people who've contributed great value. The unspoken silent appreciation and "thanks" in threads that used to work here was fine and dandy.

OK...wow!

This needs to stop. Both sides. It's going nowhere.

Two eternal differences of opinion. Funny thing is from what i can tell Rick's only posted 2-3 times on this forum...

It's the rest of us how are making a big deal about this.


You might all be experts at copywriting but I'm an expert in tactical confrontation;

I've spent 13 years of my life training/ training with tactical confrontation management leaders in relation to LEO (police) and swat training.

Rule 1:

You want a fight, then talk back and fight.

Rule 2:

Don't want to fight, don't talk back, appeal to ego and then shut up.

Harsh wording but hey, cops like things short and to the point.

So let's get on on with this:

You guys raising a stink about the "no thank you on forum" policy? The more you argue, the more people are going to defend...

It's the classic psychological principle of debating makes people more likely to solidify their beliefs.

Same goes for the "defenders"...just egging some one to prove you wrong.


There keeps being talk about pointlessness of thanking someone and how it's wasting time on this forum....

Well this is wasting time!

Now there are all sorts of people (including people I have respect for) are making mock posts "proving" how stupid it is...and not making themselves look so good in the process quite honestly.

To everyone who posted, for and against, and gave careful thoughtful posts, your contributions have been insightful and valuable.

I still think this was a great thread...got to see human nature at it's best pop out.

Fact is: This isn't a right or wrong thing yet. It's a debate. Was getting productive and now it's turning into childish "well you said"


This is a forum. Rules are posted by admin and staff. Only they can decide if it's wrong or OK.

Anyone trying to make it wrong is trying to make the forum conform to their personal philosophy IMO.


It's neither wrong or right. It's neutral until staff choose otherwise.


Frankly if you guys really wanted to change things, instead of posting like mad men and attacking, you can use a simple principle from my tactical training:

Closest weapon, closest target...

Meaning:

What's the fastest and most effective way to get the result I desire with the least amount of energy?

Did any of you think to just PM or email Rick and say:

"Hey Rick, I appreciate you helping others, but could you maybe not ask everyone you help to personally post a thank you...here's why..."

Did any of you do that? If not...there might be some cause for some self reflection.

I'm not point fingers but I'll tell you something:

In a fight, EGO is almost always present.

Attacker most of the time and yes, at times, even the defender...more rare though.


This was IMO was shameful...this became a mob.

An actual mob...and I thought those days were over.

Why haven't we all instead dealt with the situation in a mature manner:

You have a problem? Why not take that person aside privately and work it out.

Now I haven't been here long, but I've been a forum mod for 3 years now on several other unrelated forums and I would have warned some people at this point (which I'm sure is coming; these mods must be massively busy) although

...this hasn't been that bad. Seen( and read) worst. Much worst.

You poor wonderful mods have yourm work cut out for you.

Still might be a great idea to tone the whole thing down now.

I'm not sure what Rick is thinking but if I were him I would probably have already decided to not get people to thank him personally on the forum from now on because of all of this trouble.

So again, thank you to everyone for your thoughtful posts...really got me thinking.

Note to Mods: Might be a great idea to close the thread.

This forum is divided. We must make it whole again.

Many people have been hurt, lots of nasty things have been said, im not innocent myself.

At the end of the day, we all want to succeed. We all wish to become better copywriters. We all want to help our brothers and sisters.

We are all trying to do well in our own marketing. Each and every one of us is passionate about copywriting, about marketing, about business and the entrepreneurial spirit.

We people, are an unusual sort. Most people go to school, get a job and work for 40 years. For many of us, we may have only one or two serious other direct marketers in our city. Let alone direct response copywriters.

We are, a small, unique, elite group who exist outside the normal bounds of business. We know things most people will never learn about advertising, about marketing and about business.

If we go cutting each others throats, with such a small group of us, how are we to survive under the overwhelming weight of madison avenue advertising? of piss poor marketing? We need to look out for each other, work together, there is SO MUCH money out there. So much money we can make.

And if we work together all of us can become richer, happier and more free.

Imagine the power if all of us joined together to help each other become enormously wealthy. If all the minds on this forum were to combine to take on an industry, we would unstoppable. The combined marketing and copywriting knowledge between all of us is probably a thousand years worth.

This is the principle of the mastermind. The very thing which propelled Andrew Carnegie to being worth some 384 billion dollars in todays money.

At the end of the day, we are all looking for the same thing. We all want to be financially free, we all want to have successful businesses and believe very strongly in good advertising.

The people on this forum are unique, they are rare, there are tens of thousands of people with degrees who know next to nothing about scientific advertising. We are a rare lot. The last thing we need is infighting over such a small group of rare people. People who have put in countless hours to the mastery of copywriting, of channeling and fulfilling peoples desires.

What is important, is that really, we all want the same things. We all believe very strongly in advertising, in copywriting and in direct marketing. Its what we live and breath. Were all very passionate about it. Our enemies are not among us, but in large ivory towers where advertising is nothing more than a sham. Where results are unimportant. Those people are our enemies.

We should not fight amongst each other, there are so few of us, and so many of them. If we work together we can make all of us ridiculously wealthy. Everyone here is here because they care about good advertising. They care about results. About excellence, about the truth.

Such intelligent people, with so much knowledge about succeeding in business, should not fight with one another. We should be best friends, because we all understand good marketing and want to do more of it. Not many people have a clue of what good marketing even is.

This is a small, rare, exclusive group of people. We are stronger together than apart.

Like I said, im no angel myself, which should be rather clear if you've been on here for long. I speak my mind with little censorship. What im saying is, we've all been rather nasty to each other at times over the last while. Its no good, this is a place for helping each other make more money and achieve their dreams not a place for hammering each other.

OK, here's the thing folks:

Let's all just breathe. Like a deep cleansing breath. And then let's exhale together.

Thank you to everyone who's contributed to this thread. (Moderators, please do not close this thread. It's valuable. No matter which side your on.)

I don't care whether you're a moderator, or you're for me, or you're against me or you're just watching. It doesn't matter.

Regardless of your position, I'm sorry.

I am sorry, and I personally apologize to *YOU* reading. I am sorry I lit the match and I set the fire. It's my gift and my curse.

The ONLY reason, and you can ask any one who has talked with me, I just wanted to get the word out. That people online here have a friend in me who really can help them. There's nothing more. Just someone who wants to see them succeed and can help them in a major way.

Right now, given this thread, I don't know how to do that in this context. I don't want to sell anything here, like no WSO.

So help me. Please. I am calling on you, I'm counting on you. In the sincerest and most heartfelt of ways.

Like anyone, I have my quirks. One of my quirks is when I am at my best, I TALK with people. Sure, I can chat and email and post, but it doesn't land the same. Talking to people... lands.

I admit, I am NOT forum-etiquite appropriate. I can see that now.

There's an island off the coast of Florida. Sannabelle. It's beautiful. There's a hotel there which is very old fashion. As in ultra-Southern fashion. It's like stepping back in time. At night, at dinner, we would have assigned seats. Every day. The women would have to wear nice dresses and the men would have to wear blazers or suits. And if you didn't have a blazer, they would give you one for the evening. In your size.

I feel like I came into the Warrior Forum without a blazer. I'm sorry.

I never set out to "game" the Warrior Forum for my own benefit. I never thought of it as "self-promotion."

I never gave it a thought. I am naive in this respect. I am green as they come forum-wise. Please don't hold other people's nice posts against them.

Again, I apologize.

I meant no disrespect to anyone specifically or the general forum. There is no contest or dispute or challenge on my end. None. Absolutely none.

If you like me, you like me. If you don't, you don't. However you feel, I have no other intention other than to contribute.

Right now, people are struggling financially. I see it. I hear it. And I know it.

If it's wrong to get the word out this way, please tell me, show me, the right way. But let's do it quickly, ok? Because there are people who need help right now. And as copywriters and marketers, we can help them.

Thank you for listening. I have been a forum idiot. Please forgive.

Meant with all sincerity,

- Rick Duris

PS: Paul, you'll notice I did not use the courier font. That at least, has to show you something of my intent.