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CEO Spotlight: Dennis Pushkin
Web Wizard
Web WizardDENNIS PUSHKIN, 57
Chairman, CEO, Co-founder / MoreVisibility
Miami
Business: Consulting in search-engine marketing and optimization. Founded in 1999. Helps clients steer more visitors -- and more valuable traffic -- to their websites through keywords and website design and paid exposure.
Anomaly: Neither Pushkin nor co-founder and President Andrew Wetzler is a techie. Born in the hyper-exuberant dot-com era, the firm was profitable by the second year. "We never got caught up in the dot-com craze."
Key clients: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Mayo Clinic, Regal Cinemas, Mrs. Fields.
Employees: 25 full-time staffers, including technical, marketing and administrative team.
Revenue: "Mid- to high-seven figures" with annual growth rate of 40% to 50%.
Search-engine display: "It's real estate. You're renting real estate in prime locations."
Career path: Escaped doldrums of early retirement with a comeback as a high-tech entrepreneur. Former president of Dryclean USA and CEO of its parent, Johnson Group. Former president and owner of Tidy Car, an automobile-detailing franchiser.
Philosophy: "High tech or low, the fundamentals of business are the same. Get your blocking and tackling down. Focus on a quality product and good service and think profitability."
Offline: The Maryland native is an avid fisherman and sailor who once sailed from the Chesapeake Bay to Florida.
