Each February, our cover story focuses on a different aspect of love as it relates to business. This year we tackle a topic that’s near and dear to the hearts of most entrepreneurs—closing those big deals.

Doing this well, however, requires passion and purpose, insists our Entrepreneur of the Month, Lisa Earle McLeod, author of “Selling With Noble Purpose”: “Show up with the true purpose of improving lives for others,” she says. “You’re going to make more money, and you’re going to be happier. And so will everyone around you.” Scroll down for our Q&A.

Also in this issue:

• Author and advertising exec to some of the biggest companies in America, Roy Spence echoes McLeod’s insights in his book, It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For. Just ask his clients—Whole Foods, Wal-Mart, and Southwest Airlines.

• Sales expert David Mattson knows purpose matters. The CEO and president of Sandler Training also knows most sales people have a bad reputation. Learn why this reluctant salesman changed his tune, and how you can use his insights to ratchet up your bottom line in our Sales column.

• Fine artist Felipe Galindo (aka “Feggo”) proves why there’s no reason to be a starving artist. He gives us the inside scoop into his highly successful career as a top NYC cartoonist. And take a tip from this month’s “Networking wisely” column, because the reason we met Feggo was through his business-savvy wife and fellow NYC artist, Andrea Arroyo, who is also featured in this month’s Inkandescent Radio column. You just never know whom you are going to meet when you network well!

• More great tips on managing your money come this month from Certified Financial Planner Bryan Beatty, who after the credit card breach at Target offers tips on how to avoid fraud. And, Hiring expert Barbara Mitchell tells us what we need to know about the art of the deal during the hiring process.

We leave you this month with two parting thoughts on the truth about sales.

The first comes from Sandler Training’s David Mattson: A big reason people often don’t like doing sales is that salespeople earned some unfortunate adjectives, like slimy and pushy. The best way to regain confidence is to reverse the stereotypes by not pushing your message or product, but viewing your role as a problem-solver.

Ad exec Roy Spence adds: To grow your business, look to your organization’s heritage and the reasons why it was founded. Ask yourself: Why you do what you do? Why does your organization matter? What are you passionate about? What can you be best at in the world—something that your competitors can’t? Then talk to your employees, your customers, and your heart. If you listen carefully, you will find your organization’s purpose—and close those important deals.

Here’s to listening well, finding our purpose, and growing our businesses in exponential ways in 2014. — Hope Katz Gibbs, publisher, Be Inkandescent • Illustrations by Michael Gibbs