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About PinellasLife.com
It's where you go for everything in Tampa Bay Florida!
Our Mission: To create community in a global world!
The Web is not a hobby for
PinellasLife.com and we didn't learn how to built Web pages from a "just for
dummies" book! Deirdre Cavener, owner and founder, earned a B.S. degree in Management Information Systems from
the University of South Florida graduating with high honors and holds
a professional certification from Microsoft in Analyzing Requirements
and Defining Solutions Architecture. With over 20 years of
computer, marketing, and business experience we have the knowledge necessary to
provide successful Internet Marketing Solutions for all of our members.
Our business is to grow your business.
We understand the Internet, Marketing, and putting your business in front of
YOUR target market! Come grow with us!
PinellasLife.com was born July 9, 2001
by Deirdre Cavener. Deirdre had a vision that the Web, although global, would
have a huge local appeal! Now 7 years later that is definitely a fact!
The Web Portal receives millions of
visitors every year and is a leading community resource for Pinellas County
Florida and the entire Tampa Bay Florida Metro Area.
Pinellas Life is locally owned and
operated. We are local business owners and residents of Tampa Bay Florida who
wanted to create an affordable online member community to connect local
customers with local businesses.
Deirdre
Cavener
Deirdre has over 24 years of diverse and high level experience in
business, marketing, and information technologies. She has lived in
Pinellas County Florida since 1984 and has a strong attachment to the
community.
Deirdre is a visionary, strong leader and global thinker.
She has worked in several industries including finance, education,
networking, telecommunications, architectural, housing, recruiting,
and accounting.
In Information Technology she has experience in computer programming,
database design, data warehousing, system analysis and design, and web
application development.
Prior to founding KISS Marketing, Inc., Deirdre was the Vice President
of Application Development for a local Clearwater technology company,
managing the division. She has held positions in Data Management at
Lucent Technologies, she gained management experience in a fast
growing tech firm servicing a wide array of data centric architectures
ranging from mainframe integration, data warehousing, and data
cleansing into small data marts. Prior to joining Lucent
Technologies, Deirdre held a faculty position at the University of
South Florida managing Florida Mental Health's Data Center.
Deirdre earned a B.S. degree in Management Information Systems from
the University of South Florida graduating with high honors and holds
a professional certification from Microsoft in Analyzing Requirements
and Defining Solutions Architecture.
What does it take to run your own
company and achieve your dreams?
High ethical values, quality, patience, determination, hard work,
dedication, support from friends and family, and a passion for what
you do. God gives us the ability to do whatever we wish. Open your
eyes and ears and realize that every day and every minute you are
given opportunities that will alter your life experience.
Pay
attention to every detail and the road traveled is paved for you!
Patty Sebok
KISS Marketing Vice President Patty Sebok likes to refer to herself as “the
fixer.”
Whatever needs to be done to keep PinellasLife.com and the other KISS Marketing
businesses on track with the highest level of efficiency, and providing
customers with service excellence, Patty makes it happen. Though she is someone
who prefers to stay below the radar, Patty is always prepared to step up and do
whatever it takes to keep the business on a steady course.
Several years ago, as the owner of Inn the Weeds bar & restaurant in Seminole,
Patty was PinellasLife.com’s very first client and she became well-acquainted
with Deirdre Cavener.
Seeking a change in her life after working in restaurant management and
ownership for a number of years, Patty was looking for her next challenge.
Deidre realized that Patty had exactly what it takes to help PinellasLife.com
grow and prosper. Deirdre provided Patty with a wealth of knowledge about
working with computers and Internet business. It was a perfect fit, and the two
soon became business partners.
“I am sort of the Director of Stuff,” said Patty, who has embraced the
opportunity to learn something new every day in the expansive world of Internet
sales and marketing.
“We are all so excited about what we do. More importantly, we do what we say
we’re going to do. We are local, personal and actually answer the phone and talk
to people. We get our customers the traffic they want. When you enjoy what
you’re doing, it’s easy to sell.”
Patty looks forward to the explosive growth anticipated by everyone involved
with PinellasLife.com, as well as the rewarding opportunity to help others
through philanthropic causes.
“I feel like I’m sitting on a volcano,” she said. “All is stable while ready to
explode.”
Jen
Seaman
In the case of Jen Seaman it can be said that two wrongs do make a right!
A native Floridian who as born and raised in Jensen Beach, Jen has returned to
the state she loves and has taken on an exciting new adventure as Director of
Sales and Marketing for PinellasLife.com.
After graduating from high school in Jensen Beach, Jen devoted the next four
years of her life to the Army. Stationed at Ft. Benning, Georgia, Jen devoted
the next four years of her life to the U.S. Army as a truck driver, 60-gunner
and jumped out of airplanes. Afterward, she graduated with a Bachelor of Science
degree in Business from Troy State University.
Next, Jen headed west, accepting what she calls her “dream job” working as a
financial analyst for Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Over the next several years
in Vegas, Jen worked in printing sales and as a sales manager for the Las Vegas
Yellow Pages before starting her own business endeavor – launching the Las Vegas
Restaurant Guide in 2000. A very successful, single entrepreneur, Jen was
honored as a Heritage Registry Who’s Who and as a Distinguished Woman for
Southern Nevada.
Leaving the single life behind, Jen fell in love and married. She and her
husband, John, later welcomed their son, Jacob, into the world.
Deciding to sell the Las Vegas Restaurant Guide, the family was vacationing in
Indian Rocks Beach when they took a wrong turn and stumbled upon Seminole. They
knew the quaint, family-oriented community was just where they wanted to be and
decided to relocate.
The wrong turn that led Jen to Seminole was followed by a wrong phone call
mistakenly made to KISS Marketing and PinellasLife.com creator Deirdre Cavener.
The two got talking, and Jen’s destiny became clear.
“The wrong call turned out to be the right call,” said Jen, as Cavener offered
her the chance to come on board overseeing sales and marketing for
PinellasLife.com.
Jen and her family are loving life back in the Sunshine State, spending their
spare time shelling on the gorgeous Pinellas beaches, and enjoying the enormous
opportunities ahead at PinellasLife.com.
Blurb from Pinellas Life Web Site
2001 ... some things change, some don't ...
What is the Internet missing? A sense
of community and organization. There is so much data and diverse sources of
data that it is almost impossible to find local information that encompasses the
area in with you live. Even the yellow pages have gotten out of hand. A phone
book that claims it covers Clearwater, Largo, and Dunedin has phone numbers
listed from Tampa and Bradenton. If you are looking for a dentist would you
actually drive to 30 miles out of your way when a good dentist is within a mile
of your house? Of course not. Time is valuable and people are busier than
ever. You now have a place to find local news, real estate, classifieds, school
menus and calendars, utility company phone numbers and anything that involves
your local community. PinellasLife.com is an effort to bring the community back
together.
TV Interview ... 2004, Meet
Internet Market Expert Deirdre Cavener
Deirdre
Cavener’s gumption and three years straight working 18-hour days has
taken her from a divorced, single parent on food stamps, tutoring
statistics at USF for $5 an hour, to owner of a booming, leading edge,
Website-based marketing business already valued at more than $1.5
million. The Website she founded, PinellasLife.com, had 5 million hits
last year and is doubling its business every month, thanks in part to
its affiliation with Google. “The ranking we have on Google, you can’t
buy,” Deirdre says. PinellasLife.com is quickly becoming the star of
Web portals.
It all started in early 2001.
“Everything is timing,” Deirdre says. “And it turned out to be just the right
time for my vision of a Web ‘portal with a personality.’ It was just before the
dotcom bust, just before 9-11, and after those events, all the competition
left.” Four years later, PinellasLife.com has gone global, after a well-planned
effort to expand its reach by stages. Businesses from India and Argentina have
recently become members, adding to the growing numbers of members from across
the United States. Assisting small businesses with their marketing strategies is
what first drove Deirdre to create “Webit’s Green Pages.” Now an extensive guide
to business all over the Tampa Bay area, where you can search for businesses by
type, name or city, PinellasLife.com also includes a local calendar and
classifieds.
Deirdre is a database guru – her
degree is in management information systems and, additionally, she is a
Microsoft Certified Professional, Analyzing Requirements and Defining Solution
Architectures – who successfully implements her own sage marketing advice.
Following are a few of her hard-won marketing soundbites:
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Marketing should be targeted, affordable and professional.
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Spend your revenue where you live.
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It is much more efficient to direct mail to a 3-mile radius of your business
than to spend $4,000 a month for a full-page ad in the Yellow Pages.
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You don’t have to spend a lot on advertising – you just have to reach your
potential customers.
Deirdre, who moved
to Florida 20 years ago from the Washington, DC area, considers
herself to be a blessed single mom with two beautiful daughters.
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