In the end she said, "Well, send me the proposal."

I knew I'd lost her. No point in even putting it in the mail.

I lacked so much confidence in my ability. How could she have confidence in me? Why would she trust me with her business and its r

Well, I didn't want to write the letter for nothing. So I picked a restaurant in Toronto that I liked and decided I would approach them about being paid on performance.

I wrote up a nice 2-page proposal. The problem was I couldn't find the restaurant owner's name on the internet. So I picked up the phone and called. Lady answers. I ask if I could have the name of the business owner.

"Why?" she asks.

"I have a proposal," I say.

"Oh," she says, "no problem. She's right here - one moment."

I wasn't at all ready. I didn't want to talk to her. I wanted to hide behind the proposal I'd worked hard on.

Anyways, the business owner comes on the phone.

I sound nervous. I don't know how to approach this. I try giving her a crash course in direct-response which exhausts her. She keeps on asking when was the last time I'd been to their restaurant (who's selling who here?).

In the end she said, "Well, send me the proposal."

I knew I'd lost her. No point in even putting it in the mail.

I lacked so much confidence in my ability. How could she have confidence in me? Why would she trust me with her business and its r

I wrote up a nice 2-page proposal. The problem was I couldn't find the restaurant owner's name on the internet. So I picked up the phone and called. Lady answers. I ask if I could have the name of the business owner.

"Why?" she asks.

"I have a proposal," I say.

"Oh," she says, "no problem. She's right here - one moment."

I wasn't at all ready. I didn't want to talk to her. I wanted to hide behind the proposal I'd worked hard on.

Anyways, the business owner comes on the phone.

I sound nervous. I don't know how to approach this. I try giving her a crash course in direct-response which exhausts her. She keeps on asking when was the last time I'd been to their restaurant (who's selling who here?).

In the end she said, "Well, send me the proposal."

I knew I'd lost her. No point in even putting it in the mail.

I lacked so much confidence in my ability. How could she have confidence in me? Why would she trust me with her business and its r

"Why?" she asks.

"I have a proposal," I say.

"Oh," she says, "no problem. She's right here - one moment."

I wasn't at all ready. I didn't want to talk to her. I wanted to hide behind the proposal I'd worked hard on.

Anyways, the business owner comes on the phone.

I sound nervous. I don't know how to approach this. I try giving her a crash course in direct-response which exhausts her. She keeps on asking when was the last time I'd been to their restaurant (who's selling who here?).

In the end she said, "Well, send me the proposal."

I knew I'd lost her. No point in even putting it in the mail.

I lacked so much confidence in my ability. How could she have confidence in me? Why would she trust me with her business and its r

I sound nervous. I don't know how to approach this. I try giving her a crash course in direct-response which exhausts her. She keeps on asking when was the last time I'd been to their restaurant (who's selling who here?).

In the end she said, "Well, send me the proposal."

I knew I'd lost her. No point in even putting it in the mail.

I lacked so much confidence in my ability. How could she have confidence in me? Why would she trust me with her business and its r

In the end she said, "Well, send me the proposal."

I knew I'd lost her. No point in even putting it in the mail.

I lacked so much confidence in my ability. How could she have confidence in me? Why would she trust me with her business and its reputation.

But I knew I was capable of increasing her profits. Her current website was ineffective in countless ways.

So I spent several months working on this confidence problem. I received coaching from three different people. I struggled with approaches that would never work.

It wasn't until March that my clients suddenly went from writing me $250 cheques to $2,500+ cheques.

If you know basic direct-response guidelines, there are businesses who need your help and will pay you nicely for it. Even if you don't think you're copy isn't "there" yet...

Don't aim too high. Start with businesses you don't even want to work with. That way you'll feel more confident, simply because you don't want the job. You can dare yourself to ask for as much as it takes to make it worthwhile.

Main point, though, if you mess up, you won't mind.

Practice with the prospects you don't mind losing. Get used to losing! When you aren't afraid - and not "needy" - then the work starts coming. Good luck.