Your best public notice customers value simplicity
Every week, newspapers work with customers who place public notices as part of their normal business operations. For foreclosure attorneys, registered agents and government entities, public notice isn’t an occasional requirement—it’s a critical part of serving their own clients.
For Zacchaeus Legal Services, a North Carolina law firm specializing in property tax foreclosures for local governments, that often means coordinating dozens of notices across multiple counties every month. “We work with so many counties,” said Kierra Dixon, Sales Manager at Zacchaeus Legal Services. “Each county could have anywhere from five to 20 to 30 sales in a month. And that’s just one county.”
Each sale requires legally compliant public notice, accurate publication dates and documented affidavits. Accuracy and timeliness are essential.
When managing notices becomes the job
Before adopting Column’s automated placement platform, Zacchaeus coordinated directly with individual newspapers throughout North Carolina. Each notice required its own submission. Each newspaper had different deadlines, proofs and invoices. Staff spent hours sending emails, confirming publication dates and following up to ensure notices were processed correctly. “We used to have to contact every single publisher directly,” Dixon said. “Now, Column does all that work for us. In short, Column now centralizes the operational handoff while ensuring notices continue to be routed to the appropriate newspapers for publication.”
The challenge wasn’t the newspapers themselves. It was the growing complexity of managing publication across dozens of them simultaneously.
As notice volume increased, so did the administrative workload.
Making newspapers easier to do business with
Today, Zacchaeus submits its notices through a single workflow while Column coordinates placement with participating newspapers, tracks publication status, manages proofs and keeps the law firm informed throughout the process.
The result is not less involvement from newspapers—but significantly less administrative friction for everyone involved. “All we have to do now is go into Column to review each notice and make sure it’s in good standing,” Dixon said. “The process is a lot simpler and easier to manage.”
For publishers, that simplicity can translate into stronger customer relationships. When repeat clients spend less time navigating paperwork and email chains, placing notices becomes easier—and newspapers become easier to do business with.
Helping protect recurring revenue
Public notices represent recurring business for many community newspapers. Firms like Zacchaeus place notices continuously, making them some of a publisher’s most valuable long-term customers. Anything that simplifies their experience helps strengthen those relationships.
Column gives high-volume customers one place to submit, review and track notices, while routing publication to the appropriate newspapers and helping publishers continue serving those customers through a more modern workflow. “It takes away a lot of the stress and time we used to spend tracking that part of the foreclosure sale process,” Dixon said. “When you have more time to focus on the cases, you’re able to manage them better and finish with the best results.”
Rather than spending valuable time following up on publication logistics, the firm’s staff can focus on serving clients.
Accuracy matters—for everyone
Legal notices operate on strict timelines. Missed deadlines or publication errors don’t simply inconvenience customers—they can delay legal proceedings. “Especially in a law firm, timeliness and accuracy are what you want,” Dixon said. “These are legal documents, so you want as little room for error as possible. Column definitely helps with that.” She added that improved visibility into every notice has increased confidence throughout the publication process. “Column helps make sure we have the notice in enough time to collect costs, prepare for sale and ensure everything gets posted as expected.”
Technology that strengthens publisher relationships
For publishers, technology isn’t just about improving internal workflows. It can also improve the experience for the customers who rely on newspapers every day.
By simplifying notice placement, reducing administrative complexity and improving visibility throughout the publication process, newspapers can provide additional value to the law firms, registered agents and government organizations that generate recurring public notice revenue.
As Dixon summed up the transformation: “Previously, we would have to place notices one by one. Now, Column lets us submit all at once, ensuring everything is executed correctly and on time.”
For publishers looking to protect and grow one of their longest-standing revenue categories, making public notice easier for customers may be just as important as maintaining the legal process itself.
About Column:
Column builds the technical infrastructure that helps publishers modernize public notice operations, protect recurring revenue and better serve the law firms, governments, businesses and individuals who rely on newspapers for legally compliant publication. Today, thousands of publishers and tens of thousands of agencies, firms, and individuals nationwide rely on Column to keep their communities informed. The platform centralizes notice placement, proofs, affidavits, and billing in one place. By automating high-friction operational steps and standardizing the back office, Column helps publishers protect and grow public notice revenue while making public information easier to access for local communities. We’re reimagining how public information connects people, institutions, and media.
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