High school classmates. College friends. Work colleagues. Former agency clients. Fellow Little League coaches. What do they all have in common? It's where my work comes from.

As a freelancer, I get asked all the time about my work -- or the lack thereof. "How do you get it?" "How do you keep it?" "Don't you get scared?"

“There’s one answer that covers it all — people. My network of people.”

There's one answer that covers it all -- people. My network of people. When it comes to my livelihood, they're my lifeline. From birth announcements to brand launches, there isn't one bit of work I've done that wasn't based on a good relationship -- either directly or by having someone I know well refer me. My freelance career started literally 27 minutes after I sent an e-mail to all my close contacts that I had been laid off.

Twenty. Seven. Minutes.

That's how long it took for my reputation and my network to give my idle hands something to do. Eight years later, I could not be more thankful. Thanks to people who know me and what I can do, I have a living. It still has ups and downs and ebbs and flows (I'll cover this panic in another entry), but I never feel like I don't have somewhere to turn.

So my point to budding freelancers is this: keep a good contact list (LinkedIn is OK, but I still prefer my personal contacts app), don't burn bridges, and don't be afraid to ask for work. If that former co-worker doesn't have anything, he or she might have a colleague who does.

It's great to have a sparkling portfolio, technical know-how, or tons of creative or strategic experience, but it doesn't mean much if no one knows about it.

It IS who you know.

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