SNEWS® rings in New Year with new look, feel and features

After years of covering rumors about everyone else in our industries, we are now the proud owners of our very own rumor, and we are having quite a good chuckle over it. Seems we are either for sale or teetering on the edge of financial ruin. Ahhh, we feel so special. Unfortunately, we’re going to have to burst the tiny bubble of hope a competitor is apparently floating out there because we ain’t goin’ anywhere anytime soon. Well, other than onwards and upwards that is. SNEWS® has been publishing industry news since 1983, and we’ve been online with the current format, including publishing GearTrends® magazine, since 2002. We’ve been profitable since day one, owe no bank, and are coming off of our best year ever.

So to celebrate, we are bringing you, our loyal readers, a completely redesigned site with features that make SNEWS® easier to search, easier to read, and, to a point, personalized so you can decide how you want to receive and view your SNEWS®.

SNEWS® your way

Before exploring the new site too thoroughly, however, the first thing you will want to do is to update your site preferences by going to your Manage Account page. You will access this via a link located at the top right side of every page in our site.

From the Manage Account page, full-access subscribers are now able to choose which SNEWS® News Digests they wish to receive notices for by email: outdoor only, fitness only, or both outdoor and fitness. The default is both outdoor and fitness. You are now also able to select which landing page you want to view after you have logged in to our site (or where you want to go immediately if you opt for a cookie so you don’t have to log in each time). The default is your Manage Account page, but you can also select the main SNEWS® home page, the outdoor headlines-only home page, or the fitness headlines-only home page.

If you are a Law Review-only subscriber or FREE SNEWS® retail staff subscriber, you will be unable to modify Digest or landing page choices.

The Manage Account page is also where you will go to update your contact record information so that we send your GearTrends® magazine to the correct address, and where you update your email address should it change. You’ll also find our SNEWS® FAQ here. If you haven’t, take a moment to skim this since it contains just about everything you’ll want to know about using and reading SNEWS®, including answers to common questions, how to navigate the site, ways to contact us if you need to chat, and a news tip link so you can send us emails about news items you think we should be looking into (and yes, you can send anonymously if you choose.)

Article pages in SNEWS® just got bigger and better

Yeah, we heard you. Cramming all of our meaty stories into a relatively narrow column in the middle of our website pages was a pain to read. No more. Now, all content pages in our site display in a clean, white background, and wiiiide format column that begins at the left edge of the site. No more squinting. No more moaning about narrow text columns that scroll on for eternity. You’re welcome! And thanks for asking.

Remembering who you are just got easier

Forgot your username or your password? We’ve made it easier than ever as long as you have established a security question to answer. Now, as long as you remember your email (and if you have forgotten that you’re in deeper trouble than previously imagined) our system will automatically send a reminder email containing both your username and password to the email we have for you in our system. Yet one more reason to ensure the email for you is current, and not blocked by SPAM filters.

Posting your own press releases for everyone to read

One very noticeable and significant change for us is our launch of a Press Release section separate from SNEWS® news, reports and features. There, PR representatives for companies, stores, associations or anyone who wants to reach the outdoor or fitness industries with news and information will be able to “do it yourself,” i.e. post their own news releases. This means that if you are a SNEWS® subscriber, you will no longer have to go through us, and then wonder if or when the release or information will make it in. And, yes, the press release you post will be included as a Press Release headline in the next scheduled SNEWS® News Digest.



Not to worry about any lessening of the insider news and reporting for which SNEWS® is known! As you know, SNEWS® always goes way beyond press releases and will still do that in headline stories. Therefore, if you think your news or information– not the everyday personnel or new product PR, for example — warrants that extra SNEWS® touch, by all means reach out by email (news@snewsnet.com) or phone (530-268-8295).



Meanwhile, acquisitions, bankruptcies, mergers, industry trends reports, human interest stories, special reports…any story that demands additional investigation and a SNEWS® View will still run as a headline in the SNEWS® News section. It will also be very clear, on both the SNEWS® site and in your SNEWS® News Digests, which story is researched and written by SNEWS® and which item is a Press Release item authored by someone other than a SNEWS® editor.



Why are we doing this? Well, we’ve heard loud and clear the information you glean from company press releases about day-to-day business is still valued, but that you want it separate from your SNEWS® news – the news delivered only as we can do it, with insider insight and analysis. By allowing you, our subscribers, the opportunity to post press releases yourselves, it not only gives you control over when your news appears, but it frees up our editorial team so that we can better serve you with more in-depth stories, reports, and features.

And what if you aren’t a SNEWS® subscriber but want to send us news releases? The “post your own release” system will only be available to SNEWS® subscribers, although anyone can send in a release via the normal email channels (news@snewsnet.com). In those cases, we’ll do our best to post releases to our site as time permits, but without guarantees. For those of you who are not yet subscribing, perhaps now is the time. By doing so, you put yourself in the driver’s seat when it comes to getting your company press releases published – and you get a direct connection to the voice of the industry. One extra: the Press Release section is open for public access. No password required and is guaranteed to become a one-stop shop for media and others in the industry.

That is not to imply we will only write news about SNEWS® subscribers. Oh my, no!! That’s not like us and you know that! We will continue to passionately cover any and all news that we feel is useful to the industries we serve, no matter what its source. We remain committed to our coveted position of the most widely respected online source of real industry news for the outdoor and fitness markets.



Subscribers can access the press release posting page linked to your account by clicking on www.outsidebusinessjournal.com/prpost. If you are not already logged in to our site with a cookie, then the system will ask you to log in before you can view or post your company press releases.



It is worth reminding eager beavers that we have but one rule when a news release or two is posted — NO ALL CAP HEADLINES! Or the SNEWS® editorial police will get quite cross, and you don’t want us to get cross now do you?

SNEWS® Classifieds and SNEWS® Chat now display on every page in the site

We’ve just made our valuable SNEWS® Classifieds section even more visible, placing the five most recent postings in a display box located at the bottom of every page in our site. Now, no matter what page a reader is on, including Press Releases, eyes will see the jobs you want filled.

In addition, SNEWS® Chat, your place for industry discussion and sounding off, has its place at the bottom of every page in our site. We want to ensure that this discussion forum offers you every opportunity to participate in ongoing debate that is not only healthy for our industries, it is essential. Best of all, the Chat area is open only to SNEWS® subscribers so there is no worry about public prying or participation in a discussion forum that really isn’t anyone else’s biz but our own.

Your SNEWS® News Digest has been improved too

You’ll notice that when your SNEWS® News Digests arrive each week (be it fitness, outdoor, or both) they will contain much more information than before, selectively placed to ensure you don’t miss any news or information you might find important. SNEWS® headlines (with stories authored by the SNEWS® team) will always appear first. Items that appear in our Training Center, including Merchandising Hub stories will appear next, followed by Extras, Reviews, Press releases (you will see the headline and a short summary paragraph, not the entire release), and the latest Classifieds postings. Each headline grouping will appear under a subhead for easy scanning, and will include links from summaries directly to the content online in SNEWS®.

We hope you enjoy all the changes. And we look forward to hearing from you about how they look and function.