From the monthly archives:

November 2009

Freelance speechwriter uses press release to jump-start business

by Cynthia J. StarksNovember 26, 2009

In a recent series of blogs, I’ve written on the steps I’m taking to revive my speechwriting career after a four-year hiatus. 
In terms of marketing, I’ve written and distributed a press release to the Zionsville Times Sentinel, my local weekly paper, the daily Indianapolis Star and the weekly Indianapolis Business Journal.  To date, the Times Sentinel has run the press release, verbatim. I plan to [...]

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Speechwriters: How to establish and extend your personal brand

by Cynthia J. StarksNovember 24, 2009

After posting my last blog, in which I touched on personal branding tools (your biz card, your letterhead), I realized I didn’t discuss how your Web site, Linkedin, LinkEds & Writers and the Quintilian Speechwriters Group can help establish and extend a speechwriter’s personal brand.
 
Let me do that now.
 
When I first began looking for speechwriting assignments in Indiana, I [...]

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From fear to focus: “one speechwriter’s journey” remains a work in progress

by Cynthia J. StarksNovember 17, 2009

Part 3 of 3
In two previous installments, I wrote about the steps I’m taking to revive my speechwriting career after a four-year break and in a new city where I have no contacts, no credibility and no name recognition. 
Those steps included joining the national and local chapters of trade groups such as PRSA and [...]

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From fear to focus: one speechwriter’s journey continues

by Cynthia J. StarksNovember 8, 2009

Part 2 of 3
In my last post, I wrote about my freelance speechwriting career after leaving IBM in 1993, about feeling burnt out and stepping back from it in 2005, and about how my husband’s IBM lay-off in March of this year spurred my return to speechwriting, but this time with an added challenge:  Could [...]

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From fear to focus: one speechwriter’s journey

by Cynthia J. StarksNovember 2, 2009

Part 1 of 3
Half my speechwriting career has been spent in a corporate setting, and half – since leaving IBM in 1993 – has been spent as a freelance speechwriter.
Truthfully, there was no break between the former and the latter.  Before I even left IBM, colleagues lined me up to continue writing speeches for a variety [...]

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