If you're like me, you believe small businesses will continue to lead the economic climb out of this protracted recession. If your own line of work is as a consultant to small business — be it for marketing, advertising, or what have you — you want to be ready and able to tap this opportunity for growth. To do so, you need to reach out, get connected, and get educated. Reach out to your local SCORE and SBA counselors to get to know them and, in turn, let them know about your offerings to customers. These counselors are helping small businesses head down the right path every day and could refer other small businesses to you as customers or clients. Establishing relationships with influencers is always a good thing; I can't recommend the SCORE folks enough. Get connected to clients and prospects by leveraging the power of social media — in particular Facebook and LinkedIn.