Writers couldn't write without listening -- listening to way people talk, language they use, their gestures, movement. All that is a part of listening.

What about marketer? You've already heard, I'm sure, that you need to fill your customer's needs. How can you do that unless you listen to them?

"The most important secret of salesmanship is to find out what other fellow wants, then help him find best way to get it." Frank Bettger said in his classic book, "How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success in Selling."

Listening is key to being a successful person. People like to talk about themselves, but they want someone to hear them.

All creative people, all successful people listen, also, to their inner voice. It's inner voice that takes cumulative effect of all that outer lifetime of listening, makes sense of it and tells them how to respond, what action to take.

Doesn't it seem reasonable that if you put your attention on others, help them fulfill their needs that your inner voice will be prepared to fulfill your own?

Here's a few things you can do to improve your listening skills.

1. Close your eyes. Spend a few quiet moments just being with yourself. It's a good idea to do this before you start any new task for day, before you make a phone call, send an email, or write an ad.

2. Each time you pick up phone, whether to answer it or make a call, remind yourself to stop and listen to other person.

3. After contact with another person, write down all things they said to you. Were you really listening, or were you waiting for a break in conversation so that you could speak? Do you find you weren't sure what they said? You will probably start writing reams as you practice art of listening.

4. After you've met a person face to face, write down what you remembered about them, their behavior, what they wore, how their facial expressions changed, their body language.

Before long, you will develop a lifelong habit of listening that will win you friends, enhance your enjoyment your enjoyment of life and, need it be mentioned, fatten your wallet.

You'll no longer have to remind yourself to:

"Shhhhh. Listen!"

So how can you make your online experience like that of hardware store?

While a picture creates an image, it’s very two dimensional. We need to fill it out a little with flesh and bone.

In your sales letter, incorporate anecdotes that you might share with a friend or customer that came into your store. Imagine yourself behind counter selling your product. What would you say to make small conversation?

You might share with some of your dreams. Of course, I’d probably give some anecdotal information that relates to my product. An example is sharing on a personal level how I developed product, how it has helped others, etc.

Sharing personal dreams and experiences with a potential customer endears them to you. It makes them feel comfortable to hear that you have same fears, dreams, and desires as they do. And it creates a real person that they feel they can trust with their money.

Add a friendly face to your sales page, and watch your sales explode and your customers turn into friends.