The temptation is to think, "Hey, that`s way outside my level of expertise. I`m not ready for that."

My advice to you is this: Do it.

When you are faced with opportunities that are larger, more challenging and ultimately `scary`, that`s when you learn fastest, stretch yourself the most and build your inner confidence as a copywriter.

Let me give you a couple of related examples.

Within my first two months as a direct marketing copywriter I was presented with the opportunity to write a mailing for Franklin Mint.

As some of you may know, Franklin Mint is a very, very sophisticated company when it comes to direct marketing. I seriously wondered whether I might end up looking like an idiot, wasting my time and theirs.

But I took on the job. Scary, yes. But it worked out fine. I learned a great deal and continued to do work for them.

Here`s another, related example.

In early 1998 a friend of mine was invited to speak to a few hundred people at a conference about marketing online. He got cold feet and asked me to speak in his place. The problem was, I had only a week to prepare my talk.

I had never spoken to a crowd that large before. I had no idea what to do. I was terrified.

But I did it.

In hindsight, that first talk was not a great one. But it got me started. Since then I have spoken at dozens of conferences and given full day seminars to numerous companies.

Speaking has made me quite a bit of money, and has led to many copywriting jobs I would otherwise have never received. It has also helped establish me as an expert in my chosen field.

And I came so, so close to saying no.

How close? Probably not as close as I think. Looking back, I have always said yes to the scariest challenges.

It`s how you grow. It`s how you find new opportunities. It`s how you make your name as a copywriter worth doing business with.