It never fails that whenever I take on new students to teach about being home based marketing consultants, one of them always asks if there are any other ways to get a flood of clients beating down their door -- besides getting on the phone or hiring someone else to get on the phone.

And one of the "hidden" ways of getting clients I like to use -- and I recommend my students use too -- is simply examining what relationships you might have already developed in your community and leveraging off of those.

For example, if you worked at all with the local printer or your accountant at some point in the past, those are two businesses or entities that have businesses as clients, and you can immediately go to them and simply say, "Could I offer a free consultation to your clients? ?

That way you both win:

You get a steady stream of good, qualified leads, and your accountant (or whoever you do this with) has yet another "service" they can offer to his small business owner clients without spending any money.

This is especially powerful if you have no money and are just getting started. Forming alliances and partnerships costs you nothing but time and effort.

And you can realistically build a HUGE marketing consultant business simply by leveraging any relationships you already have with people.

I did this a lot early in my career, too.

I got leads from my accountant. I got leads from a local printer. I went to the local Chamber of Commerce and starting joining a couple of the lead clubs that cost zero to join.

And best of all, besides the obvious advantages of you making money right away, a lot of the businesses you do this with are only too happy to help you out. In fact, many of them will probably even want to regularly share leads with you in exchange for you sharing leads with them.

That way, you feed each other's businesses and make more money than you would have by yourselves.

This kind of fast and easy way of getting leads and making money is just one of many reasons why I believe starting a marketing consultant business right from your own home is one of the best and most profitable home businesses you can possibly have.