Toby is one of our two family pets (both cats). He is quite astute, and he has learned one of the most basic tenets of selling - stick with what works!

Many of Toby's days are spent perched on the top of my monitor as I work here on my computer. As a matter of fact, he's here right now as I write this article. Toby is a very personable creature. He enjoys being in the company of humans, and he knows just what buttons to push to get us to do what HE wants us to do!

For example, two of his very favorite pastimes - which of course involve human interaction - are playing the "bathtub game" (don't ask - I still don't know all the rules!) and hitching a ride all over the house in the laundry basket.

How does he manage to get otherwise perfectly sane, intelligent adults to drop what they're doing when he decides it's playtime? Well, I'm not really sure, but I do know one thing - he learned the secrets by trial and error. In other words, he has tested the waters and found what works - and he uses only those tactics that produce results!

We can all learn something from Toby. In order to really be successful in our businesses, we need to learn what methods we're using that work best and get the most response. The only way to do that is to try different methods and analyze the results. I'm not going to go into the mechanics of coding ads to determine which are pulling better, the best web design techniques, or other technical aspects of your marketing efforts. That information is easily available. What I want you to really learn from this is that you DO have to test your methods, record the results, and STICK WITH WHAT WORKS!

Toby does - and he is always successful!