Good Stuff
It sounds like you're well and truly on the way to a prosperous career. To my mind you're doing all the right things, and you clearly love what you are doing. It might not be immediate, but you will definitely be successful because of this.
That's something to add - don't expect immediate success if you are young or just out of uni. You have to work your way up, and show you can successfully maintain a small network before the big fish will take you on.
Something else to consider for anyone that knows they have the skills but can't land a job - consulting. I work for (basically) a consultancy firm. I look after about ten local small businesses. It's brilliant in terms of experience since I see all sorts of technologies (and different applications of those technologies). It certainly keeps you on your toes. I'm a generalist and not really a network guy, but I can tell you there are plenty of times where I would have happily called in a network guy and paid a good hourly rate because it would save me wasting time doing something I don't specialise in. It's also better for the client. I think you will find most consultants have this attitude. If it saves time and gets the job done properly, they will do it. A lot of my clients have Cisco gear (mainly because that's what Telstra provided at the time with business broadband accounts). So even small companies may have this specialist need.
There's always a chicken and egg problem. It's hard to get a start until you have experrience, and you can't get experience until someone gives you a go. You have to know people, so contact local consultancy firms and see if they would consider using you. Offer them discounted rates - if you would normally charge $100/hour, charge them $70/hour and let them on-charge your labour to the client at $100/hour. That way you both win (and it doesn't hurt the client either - it costs the same as if you did the job for them directly).
You could also try dropping in to businesses to see if they have the need for your expertise. This is always hard, so don't expect a lot of return. Stick to slightly larger businesses too - ones that have dedicated IT guys (but not too many that they would have a specialist network guy). Although you won't get a lot of hits this way, you only need one to make a start.
You will be surprised how many referrals you get once you get started. I have dabbled a little on the side doing PC repair and the like, and I get people from all over the place calling. It's almost enough that I could quit and do it full time if it was what I wanted.
Whatever you do, best of luck. Hopefully you are assertive and cooperative in person, because you have all the technical stuff under control.
