Face-to-face selling skills and prospecting skills will never be replaced by online social media.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a fan of social media and online networking with LinkedIn, Digg, Twitter, and all the rest, but these are tools to the salesperson, not a replacement for sales skills. Yet, I see lots of chatter on the internet about traditional selling methods being replaced with social media instruments.

Sure, you can sell items online, but not everything can or will be sold online. As long as human beings are buying from other human beings, skills that help turn shoppers into buyers will always be in demand. No amount of whiz-bang technology will every replace those skills.

There's no shortcut to selling; if you sell for a living and want to do it better, learn how to do it better. Use all the web 2.0 sites you want to supplement it, but learn how to sell.

Maybe sales training is the answer! Read a book! Listen to a podcast! Subscribe to a sales blog! Soak up the sales knowledge that will help you be more effective with people.

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Skip Anderson is the founder of Selling to Consumers a sales training and consulting company whose clients are companies and individuals that sell to consumers (in-home selling, retail, financial/real estate, etc.) to maximize sales performance. Get the free Selling to Consumers sales tips newsletter. Visit www.sellingtoconsumers.com/subscribe.