That line’s been stuck in my head ever since an editor said it last summer – and it’s 100 percent wrong.

The editor and I were talking about a story I’d done, a case study involving some relatively new and complicated technology. I’d finished writing and, at her request, sent the draft to one of my sources – I know, bad editorial practice but totally not my call – to check that the convoluted tech stuff was factually accurate.

Only when I emailed the story to the source, I’d forgotten to remove some notes at the top that I’d written to the editor, notes that included some less than flattering comments about the source – nothing defamatory, nothing horrible, but embarrassing nonetheless.

That’s what prompted the editor’s comment to relax and forget about it because I’d never be talking to that person again.

It’s advice I promptly ignored.

Maybe that’s the way she does business. But it’s not how I operate.

To make a proper go of it as a freelancer, you’ve got to be a beat reporter, keeping up on the latest news and events in fields you cover. That means keeping in touch with a ever widening circle of contacts, because you never know when you’ll need to talk to someone or ask for a referral to someone they might know.

Over the years, I’ve prided myself in my source list. A friend and former co-worker still talks about the extensive list of contacts I left when she took over my newspaper beat while I went on maternity leave.

These days I use LinkedIn, Twitter and Google Desktop to keep tabs on sources and manage contact information online and within my computer files.

Sources are my pot of gold, my secret weapon. They’re the reason I can take 500-word assignments that only pays 50 cents a word, because I can tap into my source list to turn a story around in less than a day, making it financially feasible when calculating the work on an hourly basis.

I may treasure my sources, but I’m no pushover.  The only times I’d let a source see quotes before they’re published, go off the record or talk anonymously is if the editor asked or the circumstances warranted it. And asking tough questions is par for the course.

After I realized what I’d done and called the editor, I picked up the phone again and called my source. Even from across the the country, I’m sure they could tell my face was red. Luckily for me, they were pretty good about the whole thing and there were no lasting repercussions.

Moral of the story: Never, ever, include notes on a story that you wouldn’t want the world to see. And whatever you do, be good to your sources.

Twitter

Here are some of my favorite ways to use LinkedIn to find sources:

1. Use LinkedIn as a contact manager. If you meet someone in person or online you think might make a good source, invite them to connect on LinkedIn. When you’re writing a story, look through your LinkedIn connections for potential sources and email them through the network to ask if they’re available for an interview. In LinkedIn’s Contacts section you can email one message to multiple recipients, so you can send the same interview request to several potential sources at once. Another feature of the Contacts section lets you sort connections by geography or industry, so you can send a group email to potential sources in a certain city or with a specific job title. If you use Microsoft Outlook, you can use LinkedIn’s Outlook Toolbar to manage your LinkedIn contacts in Outlook.

2. Ask a question in the Answers section. When I was a newspaper reporter, if I needed “man on the street” comments for a story I’d go to a local shopping center, sports arena or other place where I was bound to run into a lot of regular Joes. Today, I post a question on LinkedIn’s Answers section. If you use the Answers section to solicit quotes, word your question so it’s easy to understand and doesn’t elicit simple “Yes” or “No” answers. Always identify yourself as a reporter so people know whatever they say may be published. It’s a good idea to follow up with anyone who responds by email or telephone to verify they’re who they say they are, get additional information or comments and to make sure they understand you’re going to quote them.

3. Use the Advanced Answers Search. Another way to find sources is to use LinkedIn’s Advanced Answers Search feature, which uses keyword searches to dig deep into the backlog of Answers material to find what people have written about a particular subject. If a keyword search turns up one or more discussion threads on the topic you’re researching, scroll through the answers to determine whether any LinkedIn members in the discussions could be potential sources. If they are and you subscribe to one of LinkedIn’s premium service levels, send the prospective source an InMail requesting an interview. If you can’t send free InMails, check out the person’s LinkedIn profile for an email address, or track down their company Website and search for an email address for them there or contact the PR department and ask them to set up an interview.

4. Use the Companies profiles. This spring, LinkedIn overhauled its Companies section to include more information on businesses whose employees use the network. You can use the Companies section to search for employees at a specific company, or do keyword searches to search for companies by geography or industry. Once you find a prospective source, go through the same routine I outlined in step no. 3 to contact them.

5. Look up sources by their job title. – Need to interview IT managers or corporate HR directors? Use the People section of LinkedIn’s user database to search for sources by their specific job title. When you find prospects, go through the steps outlined above to contact them. Note that if the person works for a large company, they may request that you go through their company’s PR department to set up an interview.

I’ve blogged extensively on other ways writers can use LinkedIn.

What’s your favorite way to use LinkedIn to find sources?