As with many entrepreneurs’ stories, Johnny Mathis, Jr. reached bottom just before he found success. With the last $150 he and his wife, Lisa, had to their names, Mathis started Livemercial with an idea to solve an everyday problem.

Mathis saw that marketing companies lacked a convenient way to extend their television advertising to online video. Before widespread broadband access, only a fraction of online shoppers were willing to commit the time needed to download a video advertisement over a dial-up connection. To solve that issue, Mathis taught himself the computer programming skills needed to create a precursor to instant-on streaming video. To convince clients to try an unproven concept with an unproven company, Mathis offered a no-risk, arrangement where clients would pay nothing up front in exchange for paying a commission on each online sale Mathis delivered.

The video player was an instant success at increasing video views from less than 10 percent to almost 100 percent. But, Livemercial’s pay-for-performance arrangement focused on sales, not video views. To convert more traffic into sales, Mathis quickly shifted his business from a technology provider to a marketing company that used in technology to drive sales.

Using data analytics and design testing, Livemercial developed what has become the standard in the Direct Response industry for converting traffic to sales: A single-page microsite that generates interest through instant-on video and supporting content and drives consumers directly to the purchase opportunity on the same page.

With this format, Livemercial sold more than $44 million worth of products online in 2003, the first year Livemercial was incorporated. Since then, Livemercial has marketed more than 3,000 brands, and delivered more than $1 billion in online sales by the end of 2008.

And in the process, Mathis fundamentally changed the Direct Response industry. In 2002, approximately five percent of Direct Response sales were processed online. Today, as much as 70 percent of Direct Response sales are completed online – many delivered by Livemercial’s e-commerce platform.

Today, Mathis is committed to growing the culture of Livemercial, and contributing to the surrounding community of Valparaiso, Indiana. With approximately 100 employees, Livemercial has outgrown their current 20,000 square-foot office suites. To accommodate projected growth, the company will soon move their headquarters to a 60,000 square-foot monolithic dome in Valparaiso.

Mathis envisions the new Livemercial headquarters serving as a catalyst for a new technology corridor in Northwest Indiana. To begin cultivating a technology community in the region, Livemercial and the Digital Alliance have begun hosting Digital Cocktail Hours to foster networking and to showcase new technology businesses in the region. Livemercial is also very involved with local universities and economic development agencies to develop the talent and infrastructure resources needed to qualify Valparaiso as a Certified Technology Park by the State of Indiana.

Mathis is also an accomplished violinist and composer, as well as a certified pilot. Mathis lives in Valparaiso with his wife Lisa, daughters Tori and Gwyneth, and sons Michael and Cody.