Quote:
Originally Posted by gambler9674
barb, I emailed Ted yesterday about the demo, and he told me that the demo was no longer available. I'm hoping someone on the board will be able to help me out.
|
Welcome Gambler. Your question, both privately to me and now publicly here about a free evaluation of RDSS, raises a fair but also interesting question about 'what it costs' in terms of expenditure of both time resources and financial energy - versus 'what you get'.
As you know, I replaced the 30 day free software evaluation with a 60 day money back guarantee - no questions asked. (Further, as you know, TrackMaster offers a full 30 day money back guarantee on any data you purchase to use with RDSS.) Why did I do that? After 8 years or so of a free evaluation offer, approximately 25% of those who conducted the 30 day free trial chose to subscribe. Each free evaluation took me some time to set up their account, follow up about the subsequent subscription, and in many cases, direct folks to find information published on the website or placed in front of their face in welcome emails and other website Help and Reference resources. Or in some cases, answer questions by phone, email and remote computer connection about my opinions of best practices. Then ~ 25% of all those people paid me $100 for the year (at that time) and some of them continued on for years afterwards; another 25% responded at the end of the evaluation period saying either they could not make it work (despite asking for no help, and making no public queries), or did not get around to actually using RDSS more than 1 or 2 times, or DID study it carefully and determined it was just not for them (fair enough!). The other ~ 50% of evaluators chose to not even respond to a follow up email to subscribe - not a word, not an email, not a thank you for the opportunity, not a kiss good bye ... Just 'tire-kickers'.
Sometimes I am embarrassed that I chose to conduct business like that for so many years.
Of course, I did wish that people were in general more appreciative of my efforts to place useful tools in their hands, but I consciously chose a 'scatter seeds widely' approach and tried to work with those who found themselves and the tools at a mutual meeting point in time. The rest of the effort DID cost me a lot of time though.
Thus - new year/new plan (and new price)! If all someone expects to get out of RDSS (and the Sartin Methodology) is $150 in winnings, then this collection of ideas is not for them. If they expect FAR MORE, they must expect to pay
far more: part in an upfront 'admission fee' if you will (the $150), but the vast portion of the payment in TIME, intellectual and emotional curiosity and commitment to study. Their 'cost' will be far more than $150 (per year), but like some recent newcomers have reported, those costs will be recouped (often many times) as the education process proceeds. In effect, RDSS will pay for itself. But there is no 'getting of value' without 'paying the price' - not in handicapping, not in nothing, not in this life we lead. In fact, the converse is perhaps more true:
what you put out relates directly to
what you get back (I think I also read that in an old
Book somewhere).
As part of my new plan, someone wishing to understand and implement the Sartin Methodology using RDSS as a set of tools puts up some good faith energy (e.g. $150 subscription up front), and I put it to you that then the 'doors get opened to you' - the volumes of Follow Up writings can begin to make more sense, the formulas elaborated in
Pace Makes the Race and
Modern Pace Handicapping are calculated for you so you spend far more time assessing contenders on non-public measurements, the videos make more sense because you can follow along in your own software, you can get valuable assistance on this website from many savvy members by asking good questions from your own hand-on experience. You can get some private mentoring if you ask for it.
And if it all turns out to be either a) hogwash, b) not your cup of tea (really, any of several distinct approaches) or c) more than you can handle currently - then no worries: your money is cheerfully refunded. I must make the presumption that there is not a trust issue (i.e. that I will argue and NOT refund your money). I must also, however, make the presumption that people have sufficient financial resources to invest in their education and practicums in the Methodology. If $150 is too much money to put down (risk-free) over a 60 day period - again, I suggest this is an inappropriate endeavour.
And just a technical comment - it is not really possible to 'borrow' RDSS for a period of time from someone else. One opens a personal TrackMaster data account to obtain RDSS data from within RDSS and then that operating copy of RDSS becomes keyed to YOU. A friend or family member who uses RDSS might let you borrow their download credentials to get the software and let you use their TrackMaster data account, but then they would have to break their Usage Agreement to do so and I suspect very few would be willing to do that.
Anyway - just a few words to explain my point of view on why I feel I deserve to be paid upfront in return for a commitment to help you get on your feet quickly. I believe this community will rally around anyone who demonstrates a sincere interest and effort to discover how this all works.
I must point out however, that the RDSS software is NOT necessary to put the ideas of the Sartin Methodology and particularly The Matchup into practice. There is a wealth of knowledge on this site, accessible to all, to pursue whatever flavours of the great ideas put out by these teachers over the years and decades. Sure, software helps, even a spreadsheet, but the ideas are free.
Thank you for reading, and I wish you all the very best in your handicapping and all other adventures!
Ted