Thank You: 100+ Subscribers and 200K+ Pageviews

We’ve made it! No, not really, but we have reached a few goals and milestones recently. Thanks in large part to all of you who regularly read the crap we write. When Pete and I first started this blog it was completely on a whim. The conversation went a little something like this…

The Stage: Completely random and uneventful day at work (Pete and I sit right next to each other).

Pete: We should start a sports blog.

Dannie: Get out of here, are you serious?

Pete: Yeah, we can write about Philly sports. You know a lot and are obsessed with basketball and the Sixers, and I am the same with the Phillies and baseball.

Dannie: That’s true, and we can mix in some Eagles, local college basketball and general stuff as well. No hockey though.

Pete: Yeah I’ll probably write about Notre Dame too.

Dannie: Ok, let’s do it…

NOTHING HAPPENED!

Maybe a week or two later I was over Pete’s house and asked…

Dannie: So what’s up with starting that Philly sports blog, were you serious?

Pete: Oh yeah, we gotta do it. (He then looks over to his girlfriend and informs her we are starting a Philly sports blog – she was unimpressed.)

So on December 14th we started this crappy old blog long before we moved here. We came up with a name that best represents us and the fans who support Philadelphia sports – Recliner GM. And that is the birth of this blog in a nutshell.

Fast forward to today…

Over 100 Recliner GM Subscribers

In April we really decided to get serious about growing the blog and moved it to the Wordpress software so we had full control over everything. The goal was to build a community of hardcore sports fans, who know and understand sports and want a place to talk Philly sports with similar individuals. Our biggest focus is on the Phillies and Sixers because that is what we are most passionate about and feel we know thoroughly.

As you can see from that little chicklet above, over 100 people found our blog and have committed to calling it one of their regular destinations for reading and discussing sports. We will keep that running subscriber count icon at the top right hand side of the blog so you can follow our collective growth going forward.

We thank you and will continue to provide good quality posts on topics that matter to our readers.

Surpassed 200,000 Pageviews

We are well over 200,000 pageviews since December. Since we moved to our own domain and hosting the blog has had over 130k pageviews as of this writing. That may not seem like a lot considering what the big mainstream sports blogs and websites get, but for us it’s more than we expected when we first started. I think the only people to read the blog way back when was our moms – literally! So we are pretty stoked about where we are right now.

Thank you again.

What’s Next?

• New goals and milestones: 200 regular readers and average at least 50,000 pageviews per month sounds reasonable over the next 4-5 months. Also, we want to really grow the Phillies audience the way the Sixers group has developed. Increase the number of comments and participation in that area. You guys really need to take advantage of the vast knowledge and ridiculous statistical prowess Pete has with regards to baseball and the Phillies. He worked there for two years for god sake – he really knows his Phillies-ish.
• Improvements: Because the comments section is the most important part of the blog we will be enhancing your commenting capabilities.
  • We will add a feature that will allow you to edit your comments for a limited time after you post it. We see a lot of people who write another comment just to correct a typo. This feature will allow you to go back and do that very easily. Timetable: One week
  • Also, we see people leaving useful links in the comments that are long and end up running off the page. Just so you know HTML functionality does currently exist with comments. If you know a little bit about code feel free to use it. But to make it more user friendly for everyone, we are looking for a solution to make formatting and using different presentation features (bullets, numbered list, bold, blockquotes etc.) as easy as pushing a button. Timetable: Two weeks
  • Finally, if you have any other suggestions (threaded comments, ability to sort comments etc.) for improving the blog please don’t hesitate to let us know.
• Advertising: We’ve started to get contacted by advertisers. Over time you will start to see some text links, new banners replacing the existing house ads we have up now and other types of advertising showing up on the blog. We will make sure they are not overbearing, don’t dilute the content and are typically sports-related. If you think they are getting out of hand or just piss you off, let us know.

How You Can Help

Easy, spread the word. We actively market the blog to attract new readers. The more people we have regularly reading the more comments there will be. More comments means longer, deeper and better discussions. We are trying to build a community of educated, well-versed Philly sports fans who want to really talk sports. Not just act like barbarians and scream “my team is better” or “that player sucks.”

Well-thought-out, insightful and passionate sports talk.

So how can you help contribute to this growth…

• Word of mouth – tell people the same thing you have been telling us on the blog (see quotes below)
• Social media - Submit articles you like to Extra Mustard Hot Clicks (hint: one link here and it sends tens of thousands of visitors), Digg, Yardbarker, Ballhype, Stumbleupon, Delicious etc. We have little icons at the bottom of every post that makes it really easy for you to do.
• If you don’t already have a website or blog, feel free to use ours in your sports forum signatures and website field when you comment on other sports blogs

The list goes on and on. Every little bit helps, and this not only benefits us but you as well. Having many more opinions and viewpoints interjected into what we’ve already started will only make it that much better.

Finally…

I will finish up with a few of your opinions of the blog.

SFW – The passion being conveyed on the blog is off the charts. Very good thing and the season hasn’t even started.

JYurk – Hey Guys, I’m a Deep Sixer transplant who’s been monitoring your blog for awhile now but haven’t commented. Great job. Just like Deep Sixer, the interplay between commenters is top notch with knowledgable, well-written responses. Keep it up!

Dre – I love all the basketball passion from you guys.

Sixerzguy – I usually go to Deep Sixer, but they changed the darn format, people gotta register, I don’t think people are gonna go for that. But I gotta talk my Sixer ball, and of the three non-Deep Sixer blogs, I think yours is the best one, I’m gonna set up camp here. But I gotta let you know why I think yours is the best, so you don’t go changing. I like that you DON’T cover all the bases, and you leave lots of room for debate, although people here generally don’t take the opportunity to fill in the blanks. And you really come off as NOT being a know-it-all, you’re just like another passionate fan talking, and that was the best part of Deep Sixer, being able to talk to other fans, getting insights that you didn’t get, while being able to share yours.

BSKI – I’m glad to see almost all the Deep Sixer guys made it over here and are enjoying it so much. I like it so much better here because you can have a more in depth conversation. Also, you can stay with the topics a lot longer. Dannie and Pete really do a great job.

The Greek – Dannie, great job on the blog man. You have taken Marc’s job and surpassed anything that he has ever done. Keep up the great work!

Mike Ferguson – I have to say that, for once, I agree with Gargs here; I think you guys do a great job of spelling out the facts and thoroughly analyzing the subjects you choose.

Gargs – Pete, once again terrific research. Keep up the great work.

August 17, 2008