Even if it is only a game, it sucks to be poor. Professional gamers like Luke Brown claim that it is possible to make fast World Of Warcraft gold - even up to 200 gold per hour. Obviously, this depends on how strong your character is & how experienced you are. Newbies will just have to set your expectations lower.
The typical adventurer's strategy - go out, complete the quest, slay the monster/ villain/ hero (for Horde players), earn some fast gold at the end of the quest. Pick the right quest for your level - don't get in over your head. Don't try to finish off every quest in the area. Do the simple quests in the area, then move on to the simple quests in another area. Slowly work your way up, making some fast gold along the way.
Another quick world of warcraft gold tip is grinding for gold. It is by far the easiest yet most boring way to quick gold. If you are going to use this method, be sure to have plenty of empty space in your bags and pick up everything and I mean everything your opponent drops. Alot of what is dropped can be resold either at the auction house or to merchants. More gold for you.
A frequent strategy for quick world of warcraft gold is to get 2 gathering professions (choose two of these three - skinning, mining, herbalism) in order to make fast World Of Warcraft gold. Currently, the crafting professions don't pay off as well.
A side effect to questing is the drops. You can find some great drops when questing. Most of these you can sell at auction and make even more money for your character. Keep an eye out for mobs when you are questing because they tend to drop the best items (the only exception being the high level bosses).
Humanoids tend to drop items such as cloth and wool. You generally won't find those items on say a bear or spider. So depending on what you are collecting will dictate what you kill.
Get the biggest bags you can - the bigger, the better. You can stay out longer before having to go back to sell your stuff.