iPublish presented the AdPortal Public Notices platform at Florida Press Association’s conference this month to rave reviews.
James Allen told attendees that the platform automates, rather than outsources, their public notices franchise.
A key concern of Florida publishers is ensuring they will own these customer relationships in the future.
When a newspaper outsources customer relationships to another company that directly contacts a city or county to set up self-serve order entry, there is an inherent risk that, over time, the third party may be incentivized to provide the service directly, cutting out the role and revenue stream of the newspaper.
This has been especially unnerving due to attempts—often politically motivated—to remove public notices from newspapers and put them on government-owned websites, dramatically reducing website and print audiences—reneging on their commitment to transparency, accountability, and their good faith to adequately inform the community.
Self-serve public notices customized to each market are vital for making the case that newspapers have applied continually iterative modern technology to supply the best user experience possible.
iPublish Media’s AdPortal, Allen said, is also designed so that public notices stay in-house and the publisher maintains direct contact with institutions and other community members placing notices.
The world-class 360 automation also reduces the time publishers spend managing public notices to a bare minimum.
Allen pointed out that new features this year have continued to reduce and simplify steps in the workflow. These include next-level software for automating 360 affidavits management and a bulk uploader so anyone can input, say, 500 orders at a time.
With flat-fee pricing, rather than a revenue share, publishers also wind up with higher profit margins.
The goal of iPublish Media for the last two decades has been to support newspapers’ revenue growth, and this aim guides our business model now and in the future, Allen said.
After his presentation, several newspaper publishers in attendance expressed appreciation for the upgrades and the commitment to newspapers.
Many thanks to the Florida Press Association for an outstanding conference this year.
TIP: The Public Notices Resource Center has designed and distributed this illustrative one-sheet that clearly outlines the value and benefits of publishing public notices on the newspapers website and printed in the newspaper. Check it out.
