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Jim Rutz

by Alex Cohen
9 replies
Jim Rutz passed away on December 10 at the age of 76.

He was considered one of the very top A-List copywriters in the world. In his own words, "The only person I struggled to beat was Gary Bencivenga." So that tells you something.

He did very few interviews. Until recently, the only one I knew about was the one with Clayton Makepeace. But here's one he did earlier this year...

Jim Rutz Interview | Wesley Murph

Alex
#jim #rutz
  • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
    Brian Kurtz paid tribute to him in his email newsletter.

    One story was when he visited him he had no furniture in his lounge,
    just high stacks of ads he collected.

    Paris Prompolous said he could uncover patterns in other
    A-Listers but felt Jim's ads were just powered by raw genius
    that could never be replicated.

    He was so confident he could beat controls he would only charge royalties.
    It was later when he got so in demand that he started adding up front fees
    which kept increasing.

    Fascinating looking at the past A-Listers which only deepens my respect for
    their achievements.

    Best,
    Doctor E. Vile
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    • Profile picture of the author The Copywriting Engineer
      Originally Posted by ewenmack View Post

      Brian Kurtz paid tribute to him in his email newsletter.

      One story was when he visited him he had no furniture in his lounge,
      just high stacks of ads he collected.

      Paris Prompolous said he could uncover patterns in other
      A-Listers but felt Jim's ads were just powered by raw genius
      that could never be replicated.

      He was so confident he could beat controls he would only charge royalties.
      It was later when he got so in demand that he started adding up front fees
      which kept increasing.

      Fascinating looking at the past A-Listers which only deepens my respect for
      their achievements.

      Best,
      Doctor E. Vile

      WOW that is fricking amazing!!!


      He was that powerful he could beat controls. Wow just royalties....


      And he mentored Carlton...
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      Bring In More Cash For Your Business With High Caliber Copy
      www.highcalibercopy.com

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      • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
        Originally Posted by The Copywriting Engineer View Post

        WOW that is fricking amazing!!!


        He was that powerful he could beat controls.
        Gary Bencivenga had the highest win rate of beating
        controls...something like 80%.

        Best,
        Doctor E. Vile
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        • Profile picture of the author The Copywriting Engineer
          Originally Posted by ewenmack View Post

          Gary Bencivenga had the highest win rate of beating
          controls...something like 80%.

          Best,
          Doctor E. Vile
          Ok that's where that fits. I was thinking Jim Rutz was at 90%.




          "He was so confident he could beat controls he would only charge royalties.
          It was later when he got so in demand that he started adding up front fees
          which kept increasing."


          Makes it seem like it was a walk in the park for him
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          Bring In More Cash For Your Business With High Caliber Copy
          www.highcalibercopy.com

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  • Profile picture of the author BrianMcLeod
    One of the greatest of the greats.

    Jim Rutz was one of Carlton's early mentors and chiefs as well as David Deutsch.

    The inventor of the magalog format that's gone on to generate money to the tune of the GDP of small nations.

    Never had the opportunity to speak with or learn from him directly but his work will always reverberate throughout the copywriting world.

    RIP
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    Brian McLeod
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve The Copywriter
    Yes, he really was one of the very best.


    Steve
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    http://www.warriorforum.com/warriors...right-now.html
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  • Profile picture of the author Scott McKinney
    Does anyone happen to have any swipes from Jim Rutz's work?

    Most of the links online are dead.

    Brian Kurtz said he emailed out some swipe files in the memory of Jim, but they don't seem to be anywhere online.
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  • Profile picture of the author gregw
    Here's a swipe called "Read This Or DIE!" reported to have been written by Jim Rutz. http://freeswipefile.com/download/readthisordie.pdf
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve The Copywriter
    In my humble opinion RTOD is one of the best pieces ever written.

    Apart from its overall magnificence it also shows how to use "subjective" humor in copy.

    Better still, slip into the target audiences shoes and read it (and assuming you could) try not to subscribe.

    See what I mean?

    Difficult isn't it?


    Steve
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