Atlanta based Merrill-Hall New Media, founded by a former Georgia Institute of Technology professor and a 1999 Georgia Tech graduate, is taking a different approach - make money first, make IPO later. Co-founder Michael Merrill, a former professor of communications at Georgia Tech and UCLA, feels that the air will come out of the more speculative zones of the IPO craze eventually, and that start-ups with solid business plans and balance sheets will be the winners. Merrill-Hall recently redesigned the Web site for Track & Field News the world’s leading publication for the sport of track and field. Also in the publishing niche, Merrill-Hall recently redesigned the Web site for Way South an Atlanta-based Southern literary site. The updated site includes improved navigation, color photos, a mailing list and links to other sites of Southern and literary interest. Merrill-Hall also consulted with publisher Grayson Hurst Daughters on an e-commerce strategy for its site.