Photo-illustration / ALEX MESSMER
DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS
A weekly look at what’s new, what’s coming on our site …
• We’ve promised for a while that we’d offer some less expensive items at the DK on Pittsburgh Sports Shop, and they’re here a week before Christmas in the form of coffee mugs, mousepads and 8GB flash drives, all available for less than $10.
We don’t make much at all off the merchandise — 10 percent, to be precise — but it’s another way of getting the site’s name and logo out there, and no harm can come from that.
• The far, far bigger deal for the business has been the gift subscriptions, now up to 179 sold in the three weeks since my wife Dali planned the software and Alex Messmer designed the custom cards. We weren’t sure how this would go, but we invested $800 into the programming, and it’s come back many times over. One of the many hidden victories behind the site to date.
If you’re interested in a gift subscription, just click the big box below:
• Great progress has been made on the custom commenting platform that will carry across from the main site to the app, and I can now tell you we plan to submit to Apple and Google by month’s end. Once that happens, expect us to really push the app again. Being candid, I’ve been kind of quiet about the app the past 2-3 weeks because I know it’s about to go to a completely new level, and I’d rather wait to push that version.
• The apps are staying steady in both stores: In three weeks, we’ve had 3,332 downloads from Apple for iPhone/iPad platforms, 1,365 downloads from Google for Android platforms.
• Help is on the way: Our site will have its first full-time employee Jan. 1. Can’t wait to share.
• The number that matters most: As of this writing at 2 a.m. Saturday, we’re at 6,882 subscriptions. We’ll be five months old on Christmas Eve, and our full-year goal is 10,000.
• Travel plans for the semi-long-term future include Penguins in Philadelphia in mid-January, the NHL All-Star Game in Columbus, Penguins on a three-game Western Canada swing in early February, and multiple trips to Bradenton for the Pirates’ spring training.
• Maybe the most common site-related question that comes this way is one that I can finally answer: I’m hoping to take not one, not two, but three consecutive days off in the coming week. The plan is to do the Tuesday 12 Qs and then not write again until the weekend. That means no videos, no Friday Insider and no columns on Christmas Eve, Christmas and the following day. I’ll return to cover Penguins-Capitals next Saturday, Steelers-Bengals next Sunday.
• Thank you so much for reading and for your support.
Super (long) wait finally over
12:00 pm 
Crosby wills Penguins to OT win in Florida
1:32 am 
West Virginia breaks through against Baylor
1:24 am 
Inconsistent Colonials swept by Mercyhurst
11:36 pm Saturday
December 20, 2014
Saturday Site Stuff: Dollar store
by Dejan Kovacevic • Site stuff
Photo-illustration / ALEX MESSMER
DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS
A weekly look at what’s new, what’s coming on our site …
• We’ve promised for a while that we’d offer some less expensive items at the DK on Pittsburgh Sports Shop, and they’re here a week before Christmas in the form of coffee mugs, mousepads and 8GB flash drives, all available for less than $10.
We don’t make much at all off the merchandise — 10 percent, to be precise — but it’s another way of getting the site’s name and logo out there, and no harm can come from that.
• The far, far bigger deal for the business has been the gift subscriptions, now up to 179 sold in the three weeks since my wife Dali planned the software and Alex Messmer designed the custom cards. We weren’t sure how this would go, but we invested $800 into the programming, and it’s come back many times over. One of the many hidden victories behind the site to date.
If you’re interested in a gift subscription, just click the big box below:
• Great progress has been made on the custom commenting platform that will carry across from the main site to the app, and I can now tell you we plan to submit to Apple and Google by month’s end. Once that happens, expect us to really push the app again. Being candid, I’ve been kind of quiet about the app the past 2-3 weeks because I know it’s about to go to a completely new level, and I’d rather wait to push that version.
• The apps are staying steady in both stores: In three weeks, we’ve had 3,332 downloads from Apple for iPhone/iPad platforms, 1,365 downloads from Google for Android platforms.
• Help is on the way: Our site will have its first full-time employee Jan. 1. Can’t wait to share.
• The number that matters most: As of this writing at 2 a.m. Saturday, we’re at 6,882 subscriptions. We’ll be five months old on Christmas Eve, and our full-year goal is 10,000.
• Travel plans for the semi-long-term future include Penguins in Philadelphia in mid-January, the NHL All-Star Game in Columbus, Penguins on a three-game Western Canada swing in early February, and multiple trips to Bradenton for the Pirates’ spring training.
• Maybe the most common site-related question that comes this way is one that I can finally answer: I’m hoping to take not one, not two, but three consecutive days off in the coming week. The plan is to do the Tuesday 12 Qs and then not write again until the weekend. That means no videos, no Friday Insider and no columns on Christmas Eve, Christmas and the following day. I’ll return to cover Penguins-Capitals next Saturday, Steelers-Bengals next Sunday.
• Thank you so much for reading and for your support.