James Mills Joins SNEWS Team as Director of Salescraft

With subscriptions growing and the demand for broader news coverage skyrocketing, Specialty News (SNEWS®) has added sales rep James Mills to its team as the Director of Salescraft. That will allow co-publishers Michael Hodgson and Therese Iknoian to focus on what they do best: reporting and writing the news.

Mills not only will direct SNEWS® and GearTrends sales efforts worldwide, but also will contribute stories, with an emphasis on a new SNEWS® feature area that will focus on business. “Business Nerve Center” will provide education, information, and tales-from-the-front for reps, retailers and manufacturers in the outdoor and fitness industries, including topics such as sales tools, marketing know-how, and merchandising savvy.

“We at SNEWS® are pleased that SNEWS® subscriptions continue to grow so strongly. But because of that growth it’s also become clear that Therese and myself can’t begin to reach all the companies that could benefit from receiving SNEWS® while also covering the news,” Hodgson said. “Mills has been a colleague and friend of ours for some time, and we’ve admired his selling skills, as well as his passion to make a difference for the industries and those in them.”

Added Iknoian, “This addition to our team will allow Michael and myself to continue to make SNEWS® the best trade news resource around for both the outdoor and fitness industries. We’ll now be able to spend 100 percent of our time covering the news and planning expansions of our features and special reports. That’s what we love to do. Now, we also know that subscription sales are in the best hands possible.”

Mills, who will operate out of his home base in Madison, Wisc., said he believes both staying on top of industry news and continuing your business education are an important part of running a business, whether a manufacturer, retailer, rep, club, or anything else.

“As an independent sales rep, I was limited to the message of the manufacturers, but as a representative of SNEWS®, I have an opportunity to give more than that,” said Mills. “I have an opportunity to have an impact on where these industries, both outdoor and fitness, can go by educating and helping to link them up with the news SNEWS® offers.

“SNEWS® helps people do business better,” he added.

For more information on SNEWS® and its subscription plans for individuals and groups, as well as the popular flat-rate distribution offer, contact Mills at james@snewsnet.com.