Becoming financially successful involves more than just doing the right things with the money you currently earn. For many persons, the salary they receive from their regular jobs can just barely cover their basic necessities. The reality is that if you want to achieve a healthy financial status, you need to focus on earning extra income.

This realisation came home to me several years ago as I struggled to turn around my finances from a negative position to a positive one. After recognising the importance of budgeting, saving, managing debt and setting goals, it became quite obvious that I needed to make more money in order to accomplish these basic money management strategies.

It would be impossible for me to meet all my bills, save for an emergency fund, pay off my debts, and put aside money for future goals without another source of income. However, figuring out how to create more money was a challenge. I had a full-time job and family responsibilities, so my free time was limited. I also had no idea of what else I could do to increase my income.

I found the answer to this financial dilemma as I continued to uncover the wealth of information about money that was contained in books and CDs. As I read and listened to the stories of persons who had built big bank balances, I realised that most of them had one thing in common – they had found success in selling products or services.

The secret of selling

Many of these affluent people had initially sacrificed their leisure time, spending numerous hours crafting their skills or developing their ideas into viable products and services. By strategically and enthusiastically marketing their offerings to the public they were able to create a consistent flow of income and eventually created long-lasting wealth.

My research indicated that persons and businesses that excel at selling make the most money. No successful corporation can exist without sales; no money can realistically, honestly and sustainably be created without the exchange of products and services that are demanded by consumers.

Therefore, if I wanted to become an income creator, I needed to think, act and perform just like a profitable business. I had to learn the secret of successful selling.

For many people, the thought of selling conjures up images of annoying insurance agents or unwelcome travelling merchants who push offerings that no one really wants. Selling could mean exposing yourself to rejection from persons who would hurtfully decline your requests, or worse, ignore your feeble attempts at getting them to pay attention to you.

This underlying impression of sales causes many people to avoid the prospect of selling anything to anybody like the plague. Unfortunately, it is also the fundamental reason they are unable to earn the extra income that they require. Unless you learn how to sell something, you will find it very difficult to become truly financially successful.

From failure to success in selling

One essential resource that has been described by best-selling author and sales coach, Dale Carnegie, as “the most helpful and inspiring book in salesmanship that I have ever read,” is How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling by Frank Bettger. This book is a must-read item if you want to discover the secret of selling.

Whether you wish to develop a career in sales or you just need to find out how to create some extra income part-time, Bettger’s timeless masterpiece will help you to get the right framework for selling success. In simple language and with relevant stories, he describes how he changed from failing in retailing to becoming a sensational sales superstar.

Bettger goes through the process of how he discovered the principles that helped him to exponentially multiply his income, and how you can replicate his success. The first key, he reveals, is to act enthusiastically about whatever you are selling. When salespeople have enthusiasm, “they get customers excited, and we get business.”

One of the challenges that hinders people from selling effectively is their fear of approaching people. If you have this problem, Bettger advises you to join a public speaking course where you’re required to speak at every meeting. “When you lose your fear of speaking to an audience,” he confirms, “you lose your fear of talking to individuals, no matter how big and important they are.”

Another principle that’s vital for success in sales and life is efficiency in carrying out multiple tasks. Bettger recommends that you should set aside a fixed time each week to organise the things you have to accomplish in their order of importance. “The whole secret of freedom from anxiety over not having enough time lies not in working more hours, but in the proper planning of hours.”

Bettger outlines in great detail everything he did to make a fortune from selling. His book inspired me to focus more on sales as a route to financial prosperity, and can help you to learn essential strategies to increase your income.

Please email cherryl@financiallysmartonline.com if you wish to find out where to get the books that we have been recommending for your reading list.

Cherryl is a financial consultant and money coach, and founder of Financially S.M.A.R.T. Services; she is currently writing her first book, “The 3 Ms of Money.” Get more practical financial advice at www.financiallysmartadvice.com and free financial tools at www.financiallysmartonline.com.