Our business partnerships, with few exceptions, have been wholly organic at the outset.
How it's generally worked: A business we genuinely like and support sees that or hears about it, then reaches out to us, then we try to find a way to work together. Happened that way with GetGo Cafe+Market, for example. I'd been taking pics of all my GetGo stops on my various hockey trips and, one morning in Philadelphia after the Flyers' skate, I get an email from someone at GetGo.
Still, no example will top this new one.
My friends, please join my wife Dali and I in welcoming the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to our family!
Yes, really.
Back in March, at the early peak of the pandemic, I began a personal campaign here and on social media to raise money and awareness for their cause after seeing miles-long lines of cars in Western Pennsylvania seeking food. On Twitter, I lobbied for people to get 10,000 total followers the Food Bank's Twitter account, hoping for a longer-term awareness, and we got the 2,000 or so needed. I also wrote a column about the Food Bank's efforts one March morning in the lots between PNC Park and Heinz Field, moved by what I'd witnessed. And to show our money was where our mouth was, we donated $500 on behalf of our entire staff.
This wasn't done for any reason but the obvious. Honestly, until we heard from Brian Gulish of the Food Bank a couple weeks ago, I'd never have had a clue the Food Bank engages in promotion of any kind. But they do, and Brian asked if we'd be part of it. So, here we are.
For at least the next year, DK Pittsburgh Sports will be utilizing our various platforms to create awareness and raise critical funds for this organization that's always been dear to us. Even prior to the pandemic, the Food Bank’s mission has served the needy in Western Pennsylvania for 40 years. Even in normal times, 1 in 7 people, including 1 in 5 children, can go hungry. Food is a basic human need. It's something all of us should be able to access.
Through this new partnership, we'll be part of that mission. You'll find some of that messaging here, some on our new podcasts, some on social media.
Here's where to donate to one of our region's most noble, vital causes.
NEXT, LET'S DO RADIO
Get your business onto our new DK Sports Radio podcasts!
And hey, how about starting with mine?
My Daily Shot podcast, which posts very early every Monday-Friday morning, has averaged 3,000-plus listens per day in its first two weeks of existence. It's a half-hour show, with four available spots -- 15, 30 or 60 seconds -- and I'm also happy to do live reads, if that's what works best.
Overall, the new channel had 27,231 downloads for the past week, way up from the 19,440 of a week ago. But we still need substantially more of our existing readership subscribing to the podcasts -- it's all free -- on any of the following platforms:
• Apple
• Spotify
• Stitcher
If you do that, the podcast will arrive automatically into your device, your car, wherever you listen to podcasts. That's a huge help to us on a lot of fronts.
Also, feel free to pass the word. Realistically, we need to be at about 50,000 downloads per week to make this pay. And we need support, too. We're committed to this, and we hope to have lots of others on board, including businesses.
PAGE VIEWS WAY DOWN
One thing I've tried to avoid in this feature is making everything sound super-happy all the time. Our page views on the site are way down, as you can track each week in the bullets below: The 44,485 daily average was the lowest we've had since 2015, our second year of existence.
I'd like to think it isn't the quality, quantity or effort of the work, particularly since even our best stuff really isn't connecting. And my columns are no exception, unless they're about some super-controversial thing, and that's not something I'd ever compromise for the sake of a few more views.
What we need, very obviously, are sports. I'm convinced a huge percentage of sports fans, even the most passionate, have tuned out. They've got fatigue of hearing about coronavirus impact, labor battles, all that same fare. They want real sports, real games.
We'll see, I guess.
WHERE AM I?
If it seems I'm writing less ... that's accurate. I'd been certain I could get back into a full swing this weekend with the Pirates opening summer camp right here at PNC Park, but that obviously fizzled. I'd been further certain the Penguins would be around next Friday, the date the NHL originally targeted for the opening of training camps, but that now looks like July 13 ... or later. And now the NFL's ditching preseason games.
We'll see, I guess.
I've enjoyed the podcasts, but I'm a writer. I want to write. But I also want sports to write about.
WHERE'S THE APP?
The app's still being built. I'm no longer going to predict when it'll be done. That'll happen when it happens.
Sorry, really don't have a lot to add on this.
HAPPY FOURTH!
On this Fourth of July, it's worth underscoring that Josh DeNinno, our great friend at Moon Golf Club who's spearheading the Drive to 1,500 Military Subscriptions, added 25 to the total with a bulk purchase of his own on this holiday. So we're at 888, more than halfway to the hole.
If you'd like to join Josh, that's right here.
***premium***
BACK TO BUSINESS
• Our daily page views, averaged out over the past week, were 44,485, our worst week in more than five years. The general goal with this figure is to average 100,000, but that's obviously not going to be realistic for a while.
• Our most-hit original article of the past week was my column about living/dying with coronavirus at 7,840 views. Overall, the Steelers accounted for 61,038 page views, the Penguins 51,686, the Pirates 45,319, and Pitt 10,373.
• We're at 36,626 (+18) followers on Twitter, we're at 33,666 (+22) page likes on Facebook, we're at 14,573 (+1) followers on Instagram. These figures are just for our official company account on each platform, not for us as individuals.
• Get our free newsletter with a simple signup. We send out a new one Monday-Friday at 7 a.m.