I've seen it written a dozen times but after just passing my state exam on the first attempt the only secret (not so secret) is study. Read the manual, invest in an exam simulator and don't just click through, but on each one you are unsure of or answer incorrectly, go back into the manual and read the corresponding section. There are so many little details that will get lost if you just try to cram and memorize so take the time to get comfortable with the concepts. 

Also, I wanted to pass along a review of the resources I used in preparation.

Practice exam at the back of the book: Questions are way more intricate than I saw on the actual exam, but did a great job of pointing out areas I wasn't comfortable with. Use scratch paper to take it and take it more than once.

Andy Beverly exam simulator: This was my favorite one by far. The different formats (flashcard/timed exam) allowed me to use it as both a study aid and assessment tool. The questions were very similar to what I saw on the actual exam.

insurance-schools.com: I picked this one up as well because it came with a free condensed guide (of limited value) and a 3000 question database. Was it worth it? Well I passed. But the questions were different enough and there were a couple of areas where the information differed from what was in the study manual. (I had a back and forth with both the exam provider, my instructor, Jan, and my own research online and am still not clear on whether the information on the simulator was incorrect...but it certainly wasn't the information that was used in the exam). But overall, I was glad I used it if, for nothing else, than the peace of mind. The parts I had questions about were relatively minor details. 

Quizlet/Cram: Be careful of these. They are user created and offer no assurance of accuracy. Besides the format being a little awkward for anything more than just memorizing terms, I had more than a couple that were just flat out wrong (looked like someone copied and pasted incorrectly). And since most people seemed to 'create' their own sets by copying others, errors multiplied. 

Hope this is a help to anyone out there. Good luck!