Maven is now The Arena Group

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   Kenna McHughposted 3 years ago

   Did you get the email? I guess we can abbreviate it as TAG, which I like much better. TAG! You're it!
   
   TAG's a group because there are now three arenas: sports, finance and lifestyle. ToughNickle falls into finance, and HowTheyPlay is under sports. The other niches are under lifestyle. I hope it pays off!

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      Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Great!

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         Kenna McHughposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         What's great about it?

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            Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

            The bottomline of your summation. Thanks.

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      bravewarriorposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      I have four articles in ToughNickel. I'll have to keep a watch on them to see if they perform any differently than they have been.

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      OldRosesposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      This is just a desperate effort to rebrand and save a failing business.

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         Kenna McHughposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Failing? Are they trying to compete with Google? Improve?

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            OldRosesposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            Maven was a penny stock.  Penny stocks are stocks of companies that are nearly worthless.  Failing companies often try rebranding as a way of breathing new life into their companies.  It rarely works.

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               Kenna McHughposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               I agree. That's scary for us.

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               PaulGoodman67posted 3 years agoin reply to this

               Companies rebrand for a variety of reasons, but when it's accompanied by a 40 million injection of capital, it's usually a positive.
               
               As I understand it, the absolute value of a share often doesn't matter as much as whether the value is increasing or diminishing. I haven't been following it closely, but it looks like the development has been treated positively by the market when I looked?
               
               While the article does present a positive spin, I see no reason to doubt the key information.

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      EricFarmer8xposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      I have been so busy recently writing for my own blog and website I have not checked HubPages in a while.
      
      These changes are interesting, but for now, I just will wait and see what happens.
      
      Either way, my plan for HubPages remains the same. I plan on using it as a part of my growing online writing portfolio.

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         Kenna McHughposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Same here, but is it effective?

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            Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

            Same here too. Only yesterday, I checked my mail box and saw hubpages email on the  Arena Group.                                         Thank goodness, we should be  watching developments.

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         2. 63

            EricFarmer8xposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            The earnings I make every month are pretty small. I make payout about every three months. But I am happy for it so I would miss it if that was gone.
            
            I also hope to write enough to get enough views to get paid every month eventually.

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               Kenna McHughposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               You write about gaming, so that should generate you some revenue. Just keep at it, and you'll hit monthly payouts.

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   5. 85

      NateB11posted 3 years agoin reply to this

      I'm just interested in seeing the results of these changes. Obviously they were done to improve things, will be interested to see if changes affect traffic and income. It makes sense to me to that the site(s) should be re-organized, put into a simpler structure, so I get the logic of the change.

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         Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Those changes and improvements seems to be common trends after every two years?                                                I believe web masters are being current with Google updates to keep they webpages alife online. A dead site will lost visitors.

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   bhattucposted 3 years ago

   Will it be a better situation for the authors, any Idea?

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      Kenna McHughposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      It might be better for those who have articles in ToughNickle and HowTheyPlay. It seems to separate them from the rest a bit. What do you think?

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         Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

         I think same as you.

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      Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

      It might be. I think it would mean hard and smart work. Generalizations will be thrown out of the window. Go specific.

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   FatFreddysCatposted 3 years ago

   (shrug) Good for them, i guess.

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   PaulGoodman67posted 3 years ago

   I really don't think that the business-speak in the email is particularly useful. A phrase like "scalable media verticals" means nothing to the average reader. The only reason I have any idea what they're trying to do is from reading/watching other sources previously.
   
   What they're describing was always the general intended direction with the Maven thing, as far as I'm aware, so no big surprises. I thought it would happen quicker, but I suppose there was more to sort out than I guessed.
   
   I welcome the change. The publishing world is unpredictable, so whatever a business does is a risk, but they have chosen their path to advance and I hope it works out.

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      Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

      'A pharase like "scalable media vehicles" means nothing to the average reader.' Nor do I think it means much to a well educated Englishman as  I'm made to understand in my English.                                      Seriously, marven, now 'arena" is on high horse, like any other progressive media vehicle. Good for them,  hubpages, and us.

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         Kenna McHughposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         The idea is to get advertisers. Marketing folks use words like this to attract them.

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      Kenna McHughposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      It appears unpredictable, but things just don't happen. They are planned. It's making sure the plan works.

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   eugbugposted 3 years ago

   Why are they buying up so many websites? Just so they can be sold of at a profit?

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      Kenna McHughposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      I missed that part. Where did you hear they are buying up so many websites?

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         eugbugposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         It wasn't in the email, but every time I look at financial news reports about Maven, they seem to have acquired a new online company,
         There's a recent article on Forbes here:
         https://www.forbes.com/sites/andymeek/2 … 3bdd6a7d55

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            PaulGoodman67posted 3 years agoin reply to this

            I'm not a business expert, most of my knowledge comes from books and watching Dragon's Den, but I believe that there are both commercial and technological advantages in what they're doing.
            
            Rather than there being, say, a sports site here and a sports site there, they're drawing a number together under one "sports umbrella". They've got three of those. It's not necessarily an uncommon strategy in the business world, especially tech, although I think it might be new for tech publishing company.
            
            I think it's also part of the concept of "scalability", although the email doesn't explain it well for non-business people, like me and presumably you.
            
            Buying more websites is also probably one of the reasons why they've accumulated an extra 40 million in capital? If they're attracting more capital to do it, that's a good thing.
            
            That's my take anyway. It's based in part on watching interviews with people like Paul E on his ideas on YouTube in the past.

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               eugbugposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               A figure of $142 milion dollars revenue was mentioned too. Maybe all these sports sites will be merged in the future?

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                  PaulGoodman67posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  I don't know, but I very much doubt it.
                  
                  It's more like being the Murdoch corporation owning multiple newspapers, they cover different parts of the market by owning, say, both The Sun and The Times. It wouldn't make sense to merge them. That would be defying the reason they own them.
                  
                  Sports Illustrated and How They Play will likely serve different parts of market, but there are still advantages in owning both.
                  
                  That's how I understand it.

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                     PaulGoodman67posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                     I think they're trying to take elements of the traditional publishing model, how the companies that own big newspaper, books, magazines worked and structured themselves, and combining it with contemporary tech ideas to create a new model.
                     
                     That's maybe an oversimplification, but it's what I glean, rightly or wrongly.
                     
                     It should also be remembered that one of the main general aims of a large-scale business is market domination.

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                     Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                     Makes some sense. Thank you.

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                        Kenna McHughposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                        But, do you think it benefits HubPages?

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               Kenna McHughposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               Using the word "scalability" is a marketing ploy. The key is the revenue that is being invested. It puts a future there for the company. An article from the NY Times headline says "Sports Are the Internet's Secret Key" dated March 2021. I don't subscribe so I couldn't read the whole thing.

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            Kenna McHughposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            Interesting. Here is one I found from the same journalist:
            
            https://www.forbes.com/sites/andymeek/2 … 6f3a2220f3

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               Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

               Interesting likewise.

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      Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Facebook did it. Marven  I think under Google still doing it. What motivate the profit?

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   Sue Adamsposted 3 years ago

   The site looks impressive.
   The Arena Group
   
   Nice Youtube video
   Introducing The Arena Group
   
   Quote from The Arena Group fast facts
   "Across all verticals, The Arena Group says it’s grown digital subscribers by 18% over the last 12 months. And on a trailing 12-month basis, the company has generated more than $142 million in revenue through June 30. That’s up 53.7% compared to the same period through June 30, 2020."
   
   So how come my income, as a content creator, has gone down by 300% to less than a dollar a day? Who says that capitalism is not based on slavery?

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      Kenna McHughposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Your income is down by 300%! That's atrocious! It looks like the money is from Sports Illustration and The Street. The article doesn't mention HubPages. I wonder why?

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         Sue Adamsposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         HubPages only appears on the image in the article but even there, visually, it looks like cinderella trailing behind her two sisters.
         
         
         
         The grey disk behind the HP logo is out of sink with the red-white-black color scheme and the lettering looks insignificant. Could the logo get a facelift perhaps by enlarging the font as follows?
         
         

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            Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

            I like the modify logo of Hubpages you suggest. It looks eye catching.

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      tsmogposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for links. I like that they are inclusive of HP in the scheme of things.

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         Kenna McHughposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         I agree. It's good to see HP aligned with SI.

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      OldRosesposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Revenue is gross income.  The more important number which they don't mention is the profit after expenses.  So revenue of $142 million is meaningless if their expenses are more than that.  It is possible to have millions of dollars in revenue and not be profitable.

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         Kenna McHughposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         True. For us, it's the revenues we earn that matter. Of late, they're down.

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            hclpdposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            So is the traffic. I've lost more than 30% of my traffic in the last 2 months.

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               Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

               You're not the exception. Every one is affect. Even income slide down.

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   Revirioposted 3 years ago

   It's a good time that we ponder how to link the Nobel Prize of Literature with the Arena Group.
   
   Behind the scenes of the Nobel Prize in Literature ~ YouTube

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   Rachelle Williamsposted 3 years ago

   Chhhhhiiild please.... so many changes - I've been here for more than 10 years at this point, I've always made payout, but I'm gonna pour more effort into my own assets - blog, YouTube channel, social media, etc.

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