http://www.bnet.com/blog/ceo/5-ways-to-sell-anything/5796

1. Never waste people’s time. Given that we’re all so overworked, overstressed, and overwhelmed, that means the absolute worst, dumbest  thing you can do if you want to sell anything these days is waste someone’s time. Yeah, I know what you’re going to say, how do you know until you try? Well, I think that if you dig down deep, most of the time, you know.
2. Try making sense. No, not to you, to the person or company you’re targeting or pitching. And that inherently means doing two things that, for inexplicable reasons, people rarely do. First, ask yourself what’s in it for them. Second, actually try it out in advance on the closest thing you can get to the audience or targets you’re trying to reach. Third, iterate until you get the sort of “aha” reaction that means you’ve gotten through their defenses.
3. Differentiate. No, that doesn’t mean yell louder, be more over-the-top, or get more hits. Few of us have the budget or the brand to register above all the noise. What it means is offering an idea or solution that solves a problem better than anyone else does. How do you do that? By doing hard research you really don’t want to do. And if you can’t come up with a truly differentiated value proposition, then ditch the idea and try something else. Seriously, don’t waste your time.
4. Give and get. As sales techniques go, this is a relatively subtle and cerebral approach. First, offer something of value. No, not some dumb self-serving study your company funded or a cheap MP3 player. Something of real value that might actually get folks to engage. Ask them what they think, and then, guess what, you’ve got interaction. I’m sure you can take it from there.
5. Get humility. I don’t know why, but some salespeople think they need to pump themselves up so, when they finally get in front of someone real, we either want to punch them or run away screaming. Understand that you’re just a person who’s genuinely trying to connect with others to offer them something they might really need. If you’re genuine, they’ll react in kind. But if you come off like a preacher on steroids, be prepared for some ugly rejection.