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 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.

Obviously using a teaser marks envelope as containing a commercial solicitation. This will insure it gets tossed unopened by 95% to 98% of recipients who have no interest in buying an airplane. But that's OK, because my goal isn't to convince unconvinceable. I want to reach real prospects, 2% to 5% who could be in market for this kind of product.

There are plenty of times when using a teaser is not appropriate. If you aren't sure to use one or not, you can always test. In that case, perform an A/B split test using a small part of your mailing list. Then, whichever version gives better result is used when rolling out complete mailing.

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