{"85491":{"#nid":"85491","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Former EarthLink Executive Becomes ATDC Entrepreneur-in-Residence","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPersonal computers have become ubiquitous, using the Web is as common as driving on an Interstate highway, and new generations of wireless phones have capabilities scarcely imagined ten years ago.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nBut the principles of customer service, targeted marketing, partnership-building and frugality that fueled MindSpring\u0027s growth remain just as relevant today, says Lance Weatherby, former executive vice president of EarthLink -- whose merger with MindSpring three years ago created the nation\u0027s third-largest Internet service provider.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nWeatherby, who joined MindSpring in 1995 as market development manager, is the newest entrepreneur-in-residence at the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), Georgia Tech\u0027s business incubator.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u0022You\u0027ve got to reach busy people and things are getting more fragmented, but good marketing is still good marketing,\u0022 explained Weatherby, who joined MindSpring when it was getting started in the ATDC.  \u0022Like two plus two equals four, the principles don\u0027t change.\u0022\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIn its early days, MindSpring focused on reaching \u0022references\u0022 -- people to whom others would turn for information about technology -- specifically, how to access the World Wide Web that was just gaining broad public attention.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u0022We were very conscious of the fact that word-of-mouth marketing with new technology products is key,\u0022 Weatherby noted.  \u0022Who are the people that are your reference group for the product or service you are selling, and how do you influence these people?  That\u0027s why I ended up hanging out with people at local PC users groups all around the country.\u0022\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAll of MindSpring\u0027s marketing activities were evaluated for their return on investment, which drove subsequent marketing decisions.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u0022If you can\u0027t measure it, it\u0027s not marketing,\u0022 Weatherby said.  \u0022Just like having discipline around a quality assurance process, you must have discipline around the marketing process.  You have to know what your return on investment is from marketing the same way that you need to know your return on investment from buying a new server.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"The technology business world has changed dramatically since MindSpring Enterprises began providing easy access to the Internet back in 1994.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2003-02-05 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:41","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2003-02-05T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2003-02-05T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.atdc.org\/news\/february62003.html","title":"Marketing principles still key"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=\u0022\u003EContact  \u003C\/a\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}