Similar to what frequently occurred during the Gold Rush in days of yore, business people who wish to obtain sales prospects or viable and potential customers made use of business leads (as gold prospectors identified sites that were teeming with valuable ore that contained gold). The importance of leads to almost any type of business cannot be stressed enough, as leads such as these help provide the seller with prospective customers, with which he or she can close deals and finalize agreements towards sales of a companies products or services. Sales or business leads are conventionally thought to be the initial step in any sales procedure or process.As an increasing number of profitable small-scale and large companies in the world today have been started from many an entrepreneurs home, home based business leads are also applicable to these types of businesses. Home business leads may be found in the form of a single individual who can potentially do business with ones company, or by way of another entity that ones company can work with. Sales people, whether these are individuals who work from home or within the confines of an office, may choose to locate business leads independently through various means. Accumulating more home based business leads may result in an actual sale, a business agreement between two companies, or simply the opportunity for one entity to give another a business proposal via a presentation.Leads can also be amassed or accumulated via various modern methods, such as those comprised by Internet lead generation. The marketing term ‘lead generation’ may be defined as the process of creating a list of possible customers or leads through evoking interest in a company or in business products or services, or encouraging any business-related inquiries. Simple lead generation may be accomplished by contacting potential business partners or customers through the phone, or more contemporary means such as e-mail newsletters but the end goal of methods like these is to acquire more revenue with new business contacts such as individual customers or numerous companies.Home based business leads may also be found in sign-up or opt-in forms that advertisers use, as these may require the potential lead to input his or her full name, company or business name, related contact information, and demographic data (which the inquiring company or entity can use not just for purposes of lead generation, but also for the streamlining of the companies promotional or advertising campaigns, and the improvement of ones offered services or products). Home business leads also comprise marketing leads, aside from sales leads.