We've had 61 unique users from Afghanistan in the past month.
It's easy to lose sight of a figure like that in the blur of information we can cull from Google Analytics, but it's amazing to me. Same goes for the 36 unique users in Iraq, and many others in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the Korean peninsula, throughout Europe and so many more places across the planet where our active U.S. military men and women are based.
I checked these out after last week's Site Stuff that introduced our latest military subscription drive -- a goal of 1,500 in 2020, -- and it got me to thinking about all the passionate, grateful emails and other outreaches I've received these past five-plus years from both active military and veterans ... and how my wife and I are usually the only ones who get to read them.
So let's change that right here: I'm asking anyone who's ever received one of these gifts from our readers, whether active military or veteran, to use the comments section below to share your experience. Tell us about yourself. Tell us how you got here, why you stayed, etc. Tell us whatever you'd like, actually. And thank you, as always, for your service.
To reiterate: Josh DeNinno, our great friend at Moon Golf Club, is challenging our subscribers to step up with 1,500 veteran subscription purchases in 2020, commemorating his club's 15th anniversary. And in the week since he's done so, our count is at 23, including a bulk purchase of 15 by Nick Shanayda in Washington state.
(UPDATE: We sold 29 more Saturday, including bulk purchases by Ron Vassel, Ronald DiFrango and Rhonda Weiland. So we're at a total of 52.)
We've obviously got a very long way to go, but here's how we'll get there:
1. We've reduced the cost of these to half-price, now $19.99 for an annual, as we've done with other gift subscriptions.
2. Moon Golf Club will match 30 of these each month.
Let's do this. Here's where. Or, if you’re interested in making a bulk donation the way Nick did, please email me directly: DK@DKPittsburghSports.com
NEW APP UPDATE
All of the design work, all of the framework, all of the funding are complete. Now, it's just a matter of creating the thing, a process that'll began in earnest this past Monday. If all goes well, we'll have a ground-level beta version for testing by month's end.
Another thing to share: You'll see a lot of swipe.
Glancing at that display above, for example, when one pushes any of the five elements across the horizontal blue stripe -- ALL, BREW, GRIND, etc. -- everything that's below it will slide across to the left. (Or to the right, once you're navigating back.) The top story, or the Jared McCann mockup up there, will stay anchored while you do this, so you can always be aware of what we consider to be our main focus.
Think of it as a very active lower half to the app. That's where you go through all our material, at least at a glance. From there, once you thumb up, of course, that horizontal blue stripe just zips up to the top for easier use and display.
It's really easy, really smooth.
I can't wait for this. All of it.
WEEKLY FEATURES
Beginning Monday, our weekly features will have a mildly modified new rotation: Our anchor tenants, Friday Insider and Saturday Site Stuff, will stay put, of course. The three Xs and Os features -- Mound Visit, Drive to the Net, Classroom -- will be assigned days of the week, Monday through Wednesday. And Cartoon Canon, befitting the spirit of the Sunday comics, will be there for you each Sunday morning.
Nothing cosmic about the moves. Just works best in each specific case.
FEBRUARY STINKS
Such a bad, bad month for business. Always. And I'm told that's pretty much the case everywhere, but it's still no fun.
Ever since we launched, our February revenue in every regard is roughly half of what it is for the next-worst month, which is usually June. Completely new subscribers are virtually nonexistent -- only 24 halfway through this month, if you can believe that -- and, thus, there aren't renewals to follow them in subsequent years, so it's just ... awful.
As a result, we don't really fight it. We don't push or promote much. Just kind of let it ride and wait for March to arrive. Baseball's a help in that month, as is the NHL stretch drive.
Oh, and people get their tax-refund checks, too!
NO, IT REALLY STINKS
And the gross irony of this is that February also happens to be our most expensive month to operate, with the Pirates' spring training consuming nearly 15 percent of our total annual travel budget, plus travel for the Penguins and now Pitt hoops.
It took us quite a while to get smart enough to stock up on the November/December gains and patiently ride out these Februarys, but we're there.
Still stinks. Boo.
BACK TO BUSINESS
• New paid subscribers for 2020 -- not including gifts, military, returning/renewing subscribers -- are at 54.
• Our daily page views, averaged out over the past 30 days, are at 91,711, albeit boosted significantly by the Troy piece. I've been citing here for months now that the goal with this figure is to average 100,000, a number we've achieved regularly only during the two Stanley Cup runs. We had our lowest month since the summer.
• Our most-hit original article of the past week was last week's Friday Insider, led by Dave Molinari's one-on-one with Jim Rutherford, at 20,390. The Penguins accounted for 182,558 page views, the Pirates 118,277, the Steelers 91,645, and Pitt basketball 9,471.
• We're at 35,703 (+87) followers on Twitter, we're at 32,061 (+13) page likes on Facebook, we're at 13,352 (+64) followers on Instagram. These figures are just for our official company account on each platform, not for us as individuals.
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