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by Greg Weimann and Doug Plesh
Marketing. It can mean different things to different people. But marketing in its truest sense is the lifeblood of any practice. No matter what your setting—whether you work in a school, clinic, hospital, or private practice—how you market yourself and your services can affect all aspects of your professional life. Marketing can help reduce or increase your caseloads; educate colleagues, administrators, referral sources, and consumers about the role of audiologists or speech-language pathologists in the treatment of communication disorders; secure funding; improve relationships with colleagues; and build support within institutional settings for the services you provide.
Marketing is awareness, marketing is swaying public opinion, marketing is educating, and marketing is about thinking outside of the box.
Like providing professional services, there is not always a clear-cut answer on how to market. Often marketing is ignored or takes a back seat because of the rigors of daily work responsibilities. But, to remain successful, you must market your professional services. Without marketing, you may find you have less control over everything—from your caseloads and funding, to public opinion and reimbursement issues.
We think this issue’s special focus on marketing will have something for everyone to learn from, whether you’re a seasoned professional or someone just starting out. You’ll find articles from ASHA members on unique ways to market. There are also articles from the marketing professionals working at ASHA providing insight into everything from marketing planning; using ASHA products, the Web, and e-mail to market your services; and working with the media. We hope you enjoy our focus on marketing.
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Greg Weimann is ASHA’s director of marketing and communications. Doug Plesh is ASHA’s manager of marketing and communications. Contact them by e-mail at pr@asha.org .
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