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Having been on my new realm for a good 2 months now, I managed to propel myself fairly quickly. Part of what has helped is that I already had several high level toons on a different server. That allowed me to quickly create a Death Knight, who could bring in fast cash through mining (I could've added herbalism but ended up making him a jewelrycrafter simply to allow him to focus on just one gathering profession). This certainly aided my Paladin who was able to focus more on his blacksmithing rather than the materials needed, allowing him to advance this skill fairly fast.

However, the real trick to being able to pull this game play off was simply understanding what would sell on the auction house (like wool cloth), taking the highest cost quest rewards that I didn't need and selling them to vendors and eventually hitting 85.  Once I hit level 85, I could easily solo fast money making instances like Mana Tombs and the Shadow Labyrinth, averaging 100 gold per run.  Then on occasion I would save the rune and netherweave cloth that would drop for future usage.

All that paid off today when my Shaman, who was easily leveling up his enchanting and tailoring professions, hit level 50, enabling him to get masters in tailoring. Now, with all that netherweave I saved up, I made 40 netherweave bags, which I mostly distributed to my toons. Even my newest level 1 mage already has netherweave bags and enough to fill up her bank account (once she arrives in a city). But when I was leveling up my Shaman's tailoring, if I needed wool cloth, I simply took my Paladin to Shadowfang Keep, doing two runs which supplied enough material to take his skill to expert level.

This tale of using one character's fortune to aid others doesn't end there. Since my Paladin had been collecting materials like spare ore, gems, the occasional herb and cloth, I would distribute them to each of my toons, who had an appropriate skill.  For instance, I have a druid who has near grand mastery level for herbalism.  At level 60 with instant flight form, I can use her to grab herbs for my warlock, who has started with alchemy (my druid already has 300+ in inscription and just needs to start farming Outlands to begin leveling that skill up further). Similarly, my Death Knight's jewelrycrafting skill took little time to advance to 300.  Sure, I could've focused on him right from the beginning as opposed to my Paladin since Death Knights start at level 58. But in either case, I still managed to quickly boost my Death Knight's jewelrycrafting skill, partly from spare materials provided (ironically) by my Paladin and focusing on his mining skill.

So why do all of this?

Easy: Self-sufficiency.

The auction house tends to be a rip off for the most part when it comes to buying materials or goods.  For instance, a minor glyph on my auction house might start out at 70 gold.  Why pay for a cruddy glyph when I can take my Druid to scribe it herself? Or take enchanting. Eventually, you'll hit a point where you'll require an arcanite rod. How do you acquire that? You'll need a blacksmith and an alchemist who can transmute thorium to an arcanite bar. Considering that someone was on trade chat a few nights ago desperately looking for an arcanite rod tells you that these things don't magically appear.

At the moment, my toons cover every profession except for engineering. By doing this, I effectively have isolated myself for the most part from the lower to mid end of the auction house. Sure, I'll have to spend some time getting materials myself. But when it comes to being able to craft items, for the most part, I can handle that all by myself. What happens if your friends join your server and start with a level 1 toon? Well, in my case, they'll automatically get 100 gold, netherweave bags and some starter weapons/armor. Not to mention if they ever want to conquer any lower level instance, it won't be an issue.  Any item up to say Wrath of the Lich King instances (probably Heroic) is obtainable.  Then you can help them level to 85 and in turn they can help work on your next toons.

You can add to this list too.  Take rogues and mages for instance.  By having a high level rogue, you'll be able to handle locks.  Or with mages, you can create ports for others and make some easy gold. Or if you have a warlock, you can port your friends over.  Again, all of this is about taking complimentary characters to help each other and feed each others' needs. It's a profitable strategy that goes beyond the simple raid or PVP end game goals some people might set.