Before you can hit the pavement and "sell, sell, sell", you need to understand what it is you really are selling. Business people often get caught up in the service or product they are pushing, when in fact, as David points out, we really need to understand the emotion or situation that is the underlying product.

We've all been there. You meet with the client and they love you. You create a great proposal and put your heart in it. Then you play the waiting game to hear back from them. One week. Two weeks. Three weeks go by and no peep out of the prospective client. Ilise gives us some of the things she uses to help guide her through this process and also offers some advice on when you should cut your losses and move on.

Building a design studio, like any other business, is obviously a daunting task. Eric Karjaluoto shares some thoughts and tips on what has helped his firm, smashLAB, remain on the path of success no matter what obstacles try to stop them.

How well do you know your prospective new clients? Do you often feel like they are from a completely different world than you? Ilise Benun serves up a delicious dish of explaining who your prospects are and the essentials you need to keep in mind when working with them.

Studio owner and marketing maven, Wendy Maynard, points out the reasons you should define your niche and gives you several ways to figure out exactly what it is for you.

No matter how easy new projects come to you, you still need to have a solid business development process in place to consistently reach out to existing clients and new prospects.