His work with technology companies began in 1981, when he was hired by a New Orleans agency to create advertising for a vendor of IBM System 38 software. Later the same year, IBM would roll out its first "personal computer," marking the dawn of a new age in consumer technology - and in advertising.

The following year, Lyman joined a New Orleans technology company to help with the introduction of the world's first consumer color-screen computer. His work there led to an offer from the company's advertising agency to join their Dallas office, where he wrote articles and worked with the media to garner publicity for the agency's technology clients.

In 1984, Lyman joined John Rizzuti's burgeoning Dallas high-tech ad agency, where he worked first as the director of public relations, then as a copywriter. The agency's success led to its acquisition by Ogilvy & Mather in 1985, where he continued to work on technology and business-to-business accounts.

Lyman subsequently worked for two other offices of Ogilvy & Mather: in The Netherlands, where he was assigned to the Philips Electronics account as a senior writer, and in Houston, where he was named associate creative director on the Compaq Computer account.

In 1990, Lyman left Ogilvy & Mather to form his own business in Dallas, continuing to assist with Compaq's product introductions while signing on new clients, including consumer electronics giant Uniden and pay telephone manufacturer Intellicall. In 1992, he partnered with Pat Beckman and John Rizzuti to form Rizzuti, Beckman & Lyman (RB&L). Together, they became America's best known planners and creators of direct response advertising for technology products, applying their bold new brand of advertising first to technology magazines, then in-flight and business magazines, and finally to radio, newspapers and other media.

In 1993, the agency executed a breakthrough direct response campaign for ACT! contact management software, the success of which led to its purchase by Symantec for $50 million.

Following the ACT! purchase, RB&L were hired by an impressed competitor to introduce its Maximizer contact management software to America. In 1994, the agency won the prestigious Plan of the Year award from Adweek's MediaWeek magazine for Lyman's extraordinarily successful introductory campaign, which included the first-ever direct response radio spot for a software product.

In 1995, the agency was hired by chip-maker Cyrix to help sell its overstocked 386-to-486 upgrade chips. In the first-ever consumer media campaign for a technical product, Lyman's direct response radio and USA Today print ads generated over 30,000 inbound telephone calls.

In 1996, Los Angeles-based software giant CyberMedia hired RB&L to launch a series of major advertising blitzes designed to move thousands of packages through the retail channel. Lyman's memorable radio and newspaper campaigns helped propel three of CyberMedia's products (First Aid, UnInstaller and Guard Dog) to the software "top ten" list.

1997 saw the addition of several more key clients. Chicago-based Signature Group hired Lyman and his partners to introduce TeleRewards, a new telecommunications loyalty program. And Cupertino-based Symantec tapped the team to handle their Internet Tools division, where Lyman's ads significantly outproduced those of the prior well-known technology agency.

In 1998, the team was hired to launch the Resumail Network, an on-line job search service, with an award-winning radio and billboard campaign that quickly propelled Resumail to the first rank in this explosive business. The group was also hired to create radio and print advertising for GoldMine, the leader in customer management software. And Lyman expanded the scope of his strategic consulting for Thomson subsidiaries Computer Language Research and RIA Group.