For 45 years, serial entrepreneur Marilynn Deane Mendell, now president of WinSpin CIC, Inc. has contributed to the worlds of business and arts. She is a national keynote speaker and has authored two books, numerous business articles, and works of poetry. She is also a botanical illustrator, abstract artist, and fungi expert.

Her awards include those received for her writings from the Virginia Writers Club, Golden Nib; a National Conservation Gold Medal from the Daughters of the American Revolution; and Woman of the Year (WOY) awards from Washington Women in Public Relations, NY State Department of Labor, and Everywoman Opportunity Center. She has a BA in Philosophy from the University of Buffalo and is a former adjunct professor at Georgetown and George Mason Universities.

We talk about:

- The unexpected advice that inspired Marilynn to pivot from a successful catering business into marketing and strategic planning for architecture firms.

- Why architects struggle with business development, how firms unintentionally market to other architects rather than clients, and practical strategies for communicating value to decision-makers.

- We talk about generating leads in economic downturns and why firms that continue investing in marketing often emerge stronger from recessions than their competitors.

- The importance of small actions: handwritten thank you notes, memorable client gifts, and thoughtful newsletters. And secondly, how firm owners and employees can maintain lifelong client relationships including scheduling regular outreach, tracking personal details in contact lists, and ways to build more meaningful personal relationships rather than just calling and asking for work.

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Connect with Marilynn:

Website: ⁠https://www.winspincic.com ⁠

LinkedIn: ⁠Marilynn Mendell⁠

Instagram: ⁠marilynnmendell⁠

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Thank you to our sponsor:

The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) is a not-for-profit technical institute for structural steel. The Architecture Center is an initiative of AISC, and was created for architects by architects. It provides resources to help architects save time and money, reduce risk, and achieve their project goals.

Website: ⁠⁠www.aisc.org/architecture-center

⁠⁠LinkedIn: ⁠⁠www.linkedin.com/company/american-institute-of-steel-construction⁠⁠

Instagram: ⁠⁠www.instagram.com/aisc⁠⁠

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