Spore

My skills in spore have retarded... I have not got the skills to befriend any new species, I've been finding it a lot easier to just annihilate an entire species, rather than befriend them. Don't get me wrong, I'm TRYING my HARDEST to befriend them... unfortunately I just don't have enough "charm", "pose", "dance" or "sing" items, and every time I try to befriend them, my level isn't rising high enough.

I think I'm just going to wander around and collect as many items as possible.

Suggestions? Or should I just keep killing?