Site stuff

Site Stuff

Weekly shameless promo: Easiest gift ever

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Photo-illustration — ALEX MESSMER

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

These business people keep telling me to stick with what works, so here’s the stupid Santa photoshop again, courtesy of Austrian madman Alex Messmer.

Hey, we’ve sold 152 of our new, personalized gift subscriptions — which now have automated fill-in forms, as well as custom cards created by the madman himself — in the three weeks since we began, and I’m all too happy to chalk that up to the stupid photoshop.

If you’re interested, just click the big box below:

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I’ll be working on several advance things today, then head over to Consol tonight for Penguins-Avalanche and, hopefully, some fodder to finish off the Friday Insider.

Monday planner: Hazmat material

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

ATLANTA — A look at the week ahead on the site …

• Monday: The weekly Steelers PATs feature will be up at 4 p.m. I’ll also cover Penguins-Lightning this evening, albeit in a hazmat suit. Full column to follow.

• Tuesday: Tuesday 12 Qs will take place at 2 p.m.

• Wednesday: We’ll have another Morning Java video, and I’ll pay my weekly 5:30 p.m. visit to the 105.9 the X studios with Mark Madden. Podcast to follow.

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Saturday site stuff: Word balloons

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Photo-illustration — ALEX MESSMER

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

A weekly look at what’s new, what’s coming on our site …

• We’re about halfway through the process of building a custom commenting platform that works exactly the same way on our regular site, our mobile site and our apps. And it’s really cool.

It’s simple, clean, completely free of any type of login, with a one-click ability to upload a pic or video … and I’m exactly geeky enough to confess that I’m most excited that the comments form in the shape of word balloons. (Classy word balloons, of course.) The top priority was ease and simplicity, as we want as many readers as possible to speak their minds without fussing over any logins or other slowdown elements. And on the app specifically, the focus was speed, meaning we want the user to be able to respond at almost a chat pace.

The app, I’ve felt, is incomplete without this. It’ll be a joy to have these comments be part of that.

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Weekly shameless promo: Ho, ho … no!

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Photo-illustration — ALEX MESSMER

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Oh, no.

All too often, Alex Messmer, our resident graphics guru and Austria bureau chief, surprises me with something completely ridiculous when I ask for a promotional visual. But this topped them all.

The objective here was to remind readers about the gift subscriptions we’re selling for the Christmas season, which now have automated fill-in forms, as well as customized gift messages created by the madman himself. In the two weeks the package has been active, the response has been very uplifting, with 72 subscriptions bought.

If you’re interested, just click the big box below:

Screen Shot 2014-11-21 at 1.13.28 AM

And don’t forget all the silly stuff available at the DK on Pittsburgh Sports Shop.

We’ll have our Tuesday 12 Qs chat at 2 p.m., though the floor is open to submissions at noon.

Monday planner: Festive week ahead

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

CINCINNATI — A look at the week ahead on the site …

• Monday: The weekly Steelers PATs feature will be up at 4 p.m. I’ll also be traveling back to Pittsburgh.

• Tuesday: Tuesday 12 Qs will take place at 2 p.m.

• Wednesday: We’ll have another Morning Java video and a Steelers column up by mid-afternoon. I’ll pay my weekly 5:30 p.m. visit to the 105.9 the X studios with Mark Madden.

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Saturday site stuff: Welcome, Baymont Wyndham

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Photo-illustration -- ALEX MESSMER

Photo-illustration — ALEX MESSMER

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

A weekly look at what’s new, what’s coming on our site …

• Welcome to our newest major sponsor, Baymont Inn & Suites, part of Wyndham Hotel Group.

You’ll be seeing advertising from Baymont very shortly on the site, as we just signed an agreement with this globally recognized and respected brand. It’ll be off to the right in our display area, as well as rotating the ad space on our app with our primary sponsor, Allegheny Health Network.

Best of all, though, in this setting, we’ve been delighted to become friends with the good people heading this process at Baymont, as they approached us as true Pittsburghers and Pittsburgh sports fans who want to see this venture succeed. I can’t stress that enough: They came to us. And they’ve offered so much more than financial support, lending an ear on business matters that only real business people — I’m in the prenatal stage there — could comprehend.

We’re beyond grateful on all counts.

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Weekly shameless promo: Gift that keeps giving

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Photo-illustration — ALEX MESSMER

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

A weekly look at one aspect of the business we shamelessly wish to push …

The calendar has turned to December, which is why we rushed to make sure we had automated gift subscription forms, as well as customized gift messages created by our graphics ace Alex Messmer. In the week or so that page has been active, the response has been very uplifting.

Gift subscriptions are important for us, and not just for added revenue. The foundation for long-term success here isn’t short-term dollars but, rather, getting people reading. That’s why we chose the metered paywall — very limited free views — rather than the hard wall. We want new people reading. Sunday’s Steelers column was the second-most visited piece since the site launched, and that resulted in two robust days of subscriptions but also new readers. They might not sign up right away, but at least they know where we are and might visit again.

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Monday planner: Jagr, City Game, Cincy

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Working at Heinz Field. — DEJAN KOVACEVIC

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

A look at the week ahead on the site:

• Monday: The weekly Steelers PATs feature will be up at 2 p.m. Before that, I’ll also post the video podcast of Sunday night’s #1 Cochran Sports Showdown from KDKA-TV.

• Tuesday: Tuesday 12 Qs will take place at 2 p.m. At night, I’ll be over at Consol for Penguins-Devils and a full column. Before any of that, we’ll debut a weekly feature that no one wants but will help us a lot: It will be a promotional post about something we’re brazenly trying to sell, either to you or to newcomers. (Hey, you want honesty here or not?)

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Saturday Site Stuff: These freaky Fridays

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Photo-illustration — ALEX MESSMER

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

A weekly look at what’s new, what’s coming on our site …

• I’m almost hesitant to divulge this but, in the open spirit we’ve had here all along, these Friday Insider features have been so heavily hit and resulted in so many new subscribers every week that I could probably stop writing columns altogether and still make this go.

The Insider is getting 8,000-10,000 unique visitors, and the average column gets 3,000.

Well, I’m a dummy sometimes, but not all the time, so here’s one very small adjustment I’m going to make in light of this: I’m going to try a lot harder to make the Friday Insider good.

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To you and yours …

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Photo-illustration — ALEX MESSMER

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

May you and your families enjoy a happy, healthy and hearty Thanksgiving.

Friday Insider will be up first thing tomorrow.

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