MIVA, Inc. Completes All-Cash Asset Sale of MIVA Media Business to Adknowledge

MIVA, Inc. Focuses on ALOT Search-Related Products; Streamlines Ongoing Operations; Defines 2009 Strategy Thursday March 12, 2009, 1:54 pm EDT Buzz up! Print Related: MIVA Inc. NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–MIVA, Inc. (NASDAQ:MIVA – News) today announced the completion of the sale of assets relating to its MIVA Media operations to advertising network, Adknowledge, for cash consideration of approximately $11.6 million, plus assumption of certain balance sheet liabilities, and subject to certain retained assets and liabilities and post-closing adjustments. Related Quotes Symbol Price Change MIVA 0.23 +0.09 The transaction further streamlines MIVA, Inc.’s operations and accelerates the company’s strategy of developing and expanding its high margin, consumer-oriented toolbar, homepage and desktop search-related products. As a result of the transaction, MIVA, Inc. has reduced total headcount from 129 on December 31 2008 to approximately 50, which includes the transfer of approximately 75 MIVA Media and certain corporate staff to Adknowledge. MIVA, Inc.’s remaining employees will work predominantly out of the company’s New York offices, with a small number remaining in Fort Myers, Florida. MIVA, Inc. intends to use the proceeds from the sale of the MIVA Media business to focus on the expansion of its ALOT product portfolio. Peter Corrao, MIVA, Inc.’s President and CEO, commented: “We believe that consolidation is required in the Pay-Per-Click sector and that Adknowledge is extremely well positioned to take advantage of MIVA Media’s assets.” “MIVA, Inc.’s ongoing strategy is to focus on developing and expanding our ALOT products and monetizing the high value type-in search they deliver. The transaction delivers increased capital and, importantly, will enable us to focus our technology, business development and product marketing teams on the growth and expansion of our ALOT brand.” MIVA, Inc.’s common stock continues to trade on the NASDAQ under the trading symbol ‘MIVA’. MIVA, Inc. intends to change its name and ticker symbol in the near future. The investment bank Petsky Prunier LLC acted as financial advisors and Baker & McKenzie LLP and Potter Anderson & Corroon LLP acted as legal advisors to MIVA, Inc. in connection with the sale of the MIVA Media business. www.alot.com www.mivainc.com About MIVA, Inc. MIVA, Inc. (NASDAQ:MIVA – News) is an Internet company that owns and operates the ALOT product portfolio. ALOT’s products are designed to ‘Make the Internet Easy’ by enhancing the way consumers engage with content online. The company’s millions of active users utilize ALOT to discover ‘best-of-the-web’ third party content, display that content through customizable toolbar, homepage and desktop products and deliver high value search traffic to MIVA, Inc for in-house and third-party monetization. Forward-looking Statements This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that are based upon current expectations and involve certain risks and uncertainties within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words or expressions such as “anticipate”, “plan,” “will,” “intend,” “believe” or “expect’” or variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond our control and difficult to predict and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements, including (1) our planned use of proceeds, (2) our ability to successfully execute upon our corporate strategies, including our plans for the MIVA Direct business and the ALOT products, (3) our ability to develop and successfully market new products and services, and (4) the potential acceptance of new products in the market. Additional key risks are described in MIVA’s reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Form 10-K for fiscal 2007 and our most recently filed Form 10-Q. Contact: MIVA, Inc. Peter Corrao, 239-561-7229 President and CEO

The Power of the Quick Win

Since I started here at Miva Direct, we’ve been pushing our team internally to execute in the most expeditious manner possible.  All hands on deck brainstorming sessions, long hours and full commitment from everyone involved. The results have been better than anyone could have expected with this down economy.  Here’s why;

Quick Wins

The executive team spend a full day at an offsite meeting outlining the quickest way to generate our desired results (revenue) in the most efficient manner using all resources we have at our fingertips (ie, no new hires). It worked well, and we’re reaping the rewards as we approach mid-Q1

Here’s how we did it

1.      Made people believers not bystanders – we engaged the help of everyone from Account Managers to Directors and VP’s.  Everyone has had a hand in this success, and taken ownership.

2.      Understood uncertainty – Moving forward in this manner, we didn’t sugar coat things with the team. They understand the implications of this economy and understand they can have a hand in their own destiny.

3.      Show humility – The executive team has had to ask for help. Ideas that may not have been touched on during the meeting were add

4.      Learn about your team – We’ve had to ask people to take on roles and responsibilities that may not have been in their job description and this has been a huge success.  Our team is so talented. I’m surprised and impressed by them daily. We’ve given them the opportunity to shine.

 

What we didn’t do – that could have destroyed our efforts:

1. Focus too heavily on details – we used the theory of Occam’s razor – or the Law of Economy.

2. Reacting negatively to criticism – We understood that we needed to improve. We put our heads down and did.

3. Intimidating others – We didn’t used idle threats to motivate. We enlisted the help of our teammates, and empowered them to move.

4. Jumping to conclusions – We stayed open to suggestions and guidance from the team, and didn’t assume anything.

5. Micromanaging – We trusted our people to execute.

Go get some quick wins!

We did..

Making ALOT relevant

A huge challenge for our team here at Miva Direct is to continue to delight our consumer with relevant topical content.  It’s our responsibility to not only ensure that our interface is usable, but applicable.  Sometimes when developing a page companies tend to err on the side of selling as much inventory as possible. You’ll notice however that on the ALOT home page white space is abundant, and the easy navigability enhance the user experience.  We’re proud of our home product, and hope you take a minute to check it out here: ALOT

While interacting with the ALOT home page you may drag and drop any widget you feel you may want to keep track of – for example Accuweather powers our Weather widget.

Happy configuring!

A gift for you today.

Today is the beginning of a new life. Today, you can start over. All good things are coming to you today. You’re grateful to be alive today. You see beauty all around you. You live with passion and purpose. You take time to laugh everyday. You are awake, energized and alive. You focus on all the good things in life. You give thanks for them. You are at peace and one with everything. You feel the love, joy and the abundance. You are free to be yourself. You are magnificence in human form. You are the perfection of life. Be grateful to be you. Today is the best day of your life.

I know I am.

Exciting!

MIVA Direct Appoints Chris Dessi as VP of Sales and Business Development
Tuesday December 9, 7:28 am ET
Appointment Follows the Launch of MIVA Direct’s Customizable ALOT Toolbar and Homepage Products

 

NEW YORK, NY–(MARKET WIRE)–Dec 9, 2008 — MIVA Direct, Inc., the toolbar, homepage and content division of digital media and advertising company, MIVA, Inc. (NasdaqGM:MIVA – News), today announced the appointment of Chris Dessi as VP of Sales and Business Development.Chris’s appointment is intended to enable MIVA Direct to capitalize on opportunities presented through its recently launched customizable ALOT toolbar and homepage products. In his new role, Chris is responsible for negotiating co-branded toolbar agreements; selling sponsored homepage and toolbar widgets; and managing online ad sales across MIVA Direct’s portfolio of consumer destination sites.

Chris joins MIVA Direct from performance marketing firm, Zanox, where he worked as VP of Advertiser Sales. Prior to Zanox, Chris served as Director of National Advertiser Sales for AzoogleAds, Inc (now Epic Advertising, Inc). He has also held senior sales and business development roles for companies including Responsys, Inc. and Mediaplex, a division of ValueClick, Inc.

“We believe that the launch of our customizable ALOT toolbar and homepage products in October presents potentially significant opportunities for MIVA Direct and that Chris, with his depth of industry experience and proven track record, is the perfect candidate to help us leverage these opportunities,” commented Peter Corrao, MIVA’s President and CEO.

Added Chris Dessi: “This is an exciting time to be joining the MIVA Direct team. I believe that the ALOT brand is continuing to gain traction in the market and as its scale and reach increase, it opens up a wealth of opportunities for brand and direct response advertisers.”

http://www.alot.com

http://www.miva.com

About MIVA®, Inc.

MIVA, Inc. (NasdaqGM:MIVA – News) is a global digital media company with a mission to deliver valuable digital audiences to advertisers. MIVA has two focuses to its business: owning and operating a growing portfolio of consumer destination sites and interest-specific toolbars, through its MIVA Direct division; and running a third-party contextual Pay-Per-Click ad network focused on key vertical sectors, through its MIVA Media division. MIVA, Inc. operates across North America and Europe.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that are based upon current expectations and involve certain risks and uncertainties within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words or expressions such as “anticipate,” “plan,” “will,” “intend,” “believe” or “expect’” or variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond our control and difficult to predict and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements, including (1) our ability to successfully execute upon our corporate strategies, (2) our ability to attract and retain qualified key personnel, (3) our ability to develop and successfully market new products and services, and (4) the potential acceptance of new products in the market. Additional key risks are described in MIVA’s reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Form 10-K for fiscal 2007 and our most recently filed Form 10-Q.

®Registered trademark

 

Contact:

     MIVA Contact:
     Alex Vlasto
     (212) 736-9151
     Email Contact

Online Ads are Alive and Well

Despite our current financial crisis, US Internet ad revenue rose in the 3rd quarter of 2009 according to Yahoo Finance AP Writer Rachel Metz.

Metz goes on to say “The report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP said that online advertising revenue totaled almost $5.9 billion in the third quarter, up 11 percent from the same period last year. It marked a 2 percent rise from the second quarter.”

Seeing an increase regarding any economic activity these days is a good thing, but it’s certainly encouraging for the online world to see stories like this.  The manner in which online advertisers can performance (when a consumer clicks on ads) is a direct indicator of it’s success.  Other media doesn’t offer the ability for the advertiser to track ROI.  Online advertising is truly Direct Marketing on Steroids.

FINALLY – Good news!

F.A.S.T.

Day two at Miva, and things are going really well.   I’ve found the coffee, met most of the team in the New York office (if I haven’t met you yet, come by!), and found the men’s room (very important).  

Now it’s time to get things moving in the right direction as quickly as possible and with as little interruption of current business being conducted.  I’ve already identified a few things that need to be remedied that will help to streamline our process and assist our team as we grow the Alot.com brand and cultivate relationships with large branded advertisers like Better Homes and Gardens. 

Credit to Harvard Business Review for the acronym F.A.S.T.  I’ve taken some great points make in the last issue, and customized them some that apply to the issues we’ll be dealing with in the coming months.

Focus

Review all current processes with the team.

Accelerate

Identify operation initiatives that can be implemented in relatively quick and easy fashion – ie, road map an internal process, and formalize each step.  This will assist in stream-lining all aspects of Account Management, and assist in the implementation of additional deals.

Strengthen

Identify two to three obstacles that may have hindered the team in the past, and address each as soon as possible.  Address the steps that need to occur in order to get things running as smooth as possible in preparation for additional new business.  We’ll make sure that we can handle explosive growth.

Tie it All Together

Integrate our new streamlined process and refine as we go.  I’m communicating to the team that this will be an ongoing strategy and that I’ll need their full commitment and cooperation.  We’re already off to a great start!

Alot.com

Next week I’ll officially start at MIVA, Inc.  I’ve been reading as much as I can about MIVA Direct, and Alot.com so I can hit the ground running.  Since I’ve never been exposed this type of sell specifically, I’m really looking forward to learning from everyone involved.  I thought I’d share some preliminary details about Alot.com:

• Vertically Focused toobar brand launched in Q4, 2007
• Over 3.3 million live users as of Oct. 2008
• Fully configurable toolbar and homepage product launched Oct 2008 – Beta versions launched July 2008
• Flagship brand of MIVA Direct, a dvision of MIVA, Inc (NASDAQ:MIVA)

The more I get settled in, the more information I’ll share. Right now, I’m looking to expand relationships with any brands that would like to partner with us for their own personal toolbar. There are over 35 verticals thus far.

Media and Wedia

Last week I ran into my daughter’s room and excitedly told my wife that I thought I may have coined a term (this heady little insight is on my list of things to “do before I die”)….I was thrilled.  I’ve been immersing myself in everything Web 2.0, ever since attending the Web 2.0 Expo.  I was thinking about MIVA, Alot.com, and how interactive Media is being effected by the wave of Social Media.  I was feeling relatively pleased with myself after having labeled my Miva project (We)iva – so that I can track my first 100 days at the company  - and it hit me…this isn’t MEdia, it’s WEdia!  

WEDIA!

I did it! I coined a term…the euphoria was short lived, after I did a quick Google Search and realized the term has been around for a while now.  

Bummer. 

I’m not discouraged – I’m sure some day I’ll coin a term – either way – Wedia is a term I’m diggin’ right now.