[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":175},["ShallowReactive",2],{"industry-community-newspapers":3},{"id":4,"alternativeSection":5,"capabilitiesSection":19,"extension":54,"faqSection":55,"finalCta":83,"hero":89,"meta":100,"order":101,"painSection":102,"relatedSection":123,"seo":139,"showcases":148,"slug":171,"stem":172,"workflowSection":173,"__hash__":174},"industries\u002Fmarketing\u002Findustries\u002Fcommunity-newspapers.yml",{"eyebrow":6,"title":7,"subtitle":8,"cards":9},"OUTGROWING THE PATCHWORK","When you've outgrown a stack of point tools.","Many community papers run a standalone CRM, a billing system, a classifieds vendor, and a pile of spreadsheets. Consolidating onto one platform means one vendor, one invoice, and one source of truth.",[10,13,16],{"title":11,"description":12},"From four systems to one record","Replace the separate CRM, order entry, classifieds tool, and billing package with one platform where the advertiser, the order, the proof, and the invoice share the same record. Enter it once; the rest of the workflow already has it.",{"title":14,"description":15},"One vendor, one invoice, one source of truth","A patchwork stack means juggling logins, contracts, and support lines that point fingers at each other. Bringing classifieds, payments, and production in-house means a single team that built the whole system answers when you call.",{"title":17,"description":18},"Built for your size, priced for your size","AccountScout has no per-seat fees, so a small staff that wears many hats isn't penalized for the number of people who need access. Give everyone an account; pricing is scoped to your operation in a consultation.",{"eyebrow":20,"title":21,"subtitle":22,"columns":23,"items":24},"ONE PLATFORM","Everything a community paper runs on, in one place.","AccountScout was built for the newspaper workflow - book an order, send the proof, lay out the page, bill it, collect it - so your whole team works from the same advertiser record.",3,[25,30,35,40,45,50],{"icon":26,"title":27,"description":28,"href":29},"Newspaper","One screen for every ad type","Book retail and ROP, classifieds, legals, inserts, and digital from one order screen, priced by modular or column inch the way your paper actually sells.","\u002Fproducts\u002Faccountscout",{"icon":31,"title":32,"description":33,"href":34},"Users","CRM and sales from anywhere","Reps pull up advertiser history, balances, and recent orders, then quote, rerun an ad, and log a visit from the road with SalesScout on a phone or browser.","\u002Fproducts\u002Fsalescout",{"icon":36,"title":37,"description":38,"href":39},"ListChecks","Classifieds without re-typing","ClassifiedScout takes orders and payments online and syncs them straight to AccountScout - no CSV exports, no manual import, no walk-in re-keying.","\u002Fproducts\u002Fclassifiedscout",{"icon":41,"title":42,"description":43,"href":44},"CheckSquare","Production that doesn't fight you","ProofScout, AdScout, PageScout, and DAM carry the order's specs and assets into InDesign, so designers stop chasing copy and pages place themselves from booked ads.","\u002Fproducts\u002Faccountscout\u002Fproduction-suite",{"icon":46,"title":47,"description":48,"href":49},"CreditCard","Get paid faster","Statements, recurring billing, and ePayments by card or ACH with automatic surcharge compliance, plus electronic tearsheets and affidavits that speed up collections.","\u002Fproducts\u002Faccountscout\u002Fbilling",{"icon":51,"title":52,"description":53,"href":29},"BarChart3","Reporting that's already built","300+ built-in reports cover ad sales, A\u002FR, aging, production status, and rep performance, so the publisher sees what's sold and what's owed without a spreadsheet.","yml",{"eyebrow":56,"title":57,"items":58},"COMMON QUESTIONS","Community newspaper software questions, answered.",[59,62,65,68,71,74,77,80],{"question":60,"answer":61},"What software do community newspapers use to manage advertising?","Community newspapers use AccountScout by Fake Brains to manage advertising from first sale to paid invoice. It combines CRM, ad order entry, classifieds, production, billing, and reporting on one platform, so a single advertiser record drives the sale, the proof, and the invoice instead of living in four separate tools.",{"question":63,"answer":64},"What is the best ad management software for a community or weekly newspaper?","The best fit is software built specifically for the newspaper workflow rather than a generic CRM or billing package adapted to it. AccountScout has been built for community weeklies, small dailies, shoppers, and free papers since 1991, so it already handles ROP, classifieds, legals, inserts, modular and column-inch pricing, proofs, tearsheets, and statements the way papers actually work.",{"question":66,"answer":67},"How do small newspapers handle ad billing and collections?","They bill straight from the order data their team already entered, then collect with statements, recurring billing, and online payments. AccountScout connects invoices, statements, A\u002FR aging, holds, and ePayments by card or ACH back to the advertiser record, and electronic tearsheets and affidavits give advertisers the proof of publication that speeds up collection.",{"question":69,"answer":70},"What software lets advertisers pay invoices and approve proofs online?","The Advertiser Portal lets your advertisers view invoices, pay by card or ACH, and approve ad proofs online without calling the office. It embeds on your own website under your branding, and every payment auto-credits in AccountScout with no manual reconciliation.",{"question":72,"answer":73},"Can advertisers approve ad proofs online without calling the office?","Yes. With ProofScout and the Advertiser Portal, advertisers review their proof, request changes with comments and file uploads, or approve it directly online. The approval writes back to the order and the change history records who said what and when, so nothing gets lost in an email thread.",{"question":75,"answer":76},"How can a community newspaper accept classified ads online?","ClassifiedScout lets readers browse and place classified ads, including legal notices, directly on your website. Orders and payments sync live to AccountScout, so there are no CSV exports and no re-typing phone, email, or walk-in orders by hand.",{"question":78,"answer":79},"What should I look for when choosing newspaper advertising software?","Look for one platform that covers the whole workflow - CRM, ad sales, classifieds, production, billing, and reporting - so your small staff isn't re-keying the same ad across tools. Also weigh pricing that fits a small team (no per-seat fees), real built-in reporting, and a vendor that answers the phone. AccountScout was built around exactly these needs.",{"question":81,"answer":82},"How do community papers lay out pages and place ads using InDesign?","PageScout and AdScout work inside InDesign and read the booked ads from AccountScout. PageScout creates page plans and auto-places ads by section, color, and percentage fill, then exports to InDesign with one script, while AdScout loads each ad's size, instructions, and assets onto a correctly sized artboard so designers aren't guessing at column widths.",{"headline":84,"body":85,"ctaLabel":86,"ctaHref":87,"phone":88},"See AccountScout run on your publications.","We'll walk through ad sales, classifieds, production, and billing using the way your community paper actually works - book an order, send the proof, lay out the page, and collect.","Book a Demo","\u002Fcontact","Or call us at 303-791-3301",{"eyebrow":90,"headline":91,"subheadline":92,"primaryCta":93,"secondaryCta":94,"image":96,"imageAlt":97,"imageWidth":98,"imageHeight":99},"FOR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS","Software built for community newspapers, not borrowed from another industry.","AccountScout by Fake Brains runs the whole shop for community weeklies, small dailies, shoppers, and free papers - ad sales, classifieds, production, billing, and collections on one platform that already speaks your language.",{"label":86,"href":87},{"label":95,"href":29},"Explore AccountScout","\u002Fimages\u002Fproducts\u002Faccountscout-sales-dashboard.png","The AccountScout Sales Dashboard: a year view pacing at 87% of goal, with booked revenue charted month by month against goal and target-to-date lines, beside a rail breaking out print, classified, and digital revenue, open price quotes, expiring orders, dormant advertisers, and activity, email, and deal counts.",1448,1086,{},1,{"title":103,"subtitle":104,"items":105},"The pains of running a small paper on a patchwork of tools.","When ad sales, classifieds, production, and billing live in separate systems, your team spends the week re-keying what they already entered once.",[106,109,112,115,118,121],{"icon":107,"text":108},"Layers","Your CRM, ad order entry, classifieds, production queue, and billing live in different tools that do not talk to each other, so the same ad gets entered three or four times.",{"icon":110,"text":111},"Clock","A small staff wears every hat. The same person who sells the ad also chases the proof, runs the statement, and makes the collection call.",{"icon":113,"text":114},"Banknote","Advertiser A\u002FR drags on because the only way to pay is to mail a check or call the office during business hours.",{"icon":116,"text":117},"Mail","Proof approvals get lost in email threads, and copy changes show up after the page is already built.",{"icon":119,"text":120},"FileSpreadsheet","Classified orders come in by phone, email, and walk-in, then somebody re-types them into the system by hand.",{"icon":51,"text":122},"Reporting means exporting to a spreadsheet and stitching numbers together, so the publisher never sees a clean picture of what is sold and what is owed.",{"title":124,"subtitle":125,"links":126},"Products community papers lean on most.","Start with the platform, then add the pieces that match how your shop runs.",[127,130,133,136],{"title":128,"description":129,"href":29},"AccountScout","The platform community papers run on - CRM, ad order entry, production handoff, billing, A\u002FR, and 300+ built-in reports.",{"title":131,"description":132,"href":34},"SalesScout","Web and mobile CRM for reps and sales managers - account history, pipeline, quotes, and activity from the road.",{"title":134,"description":135,"href":39},"ClassifiedScout","Online classified and legal-notice ordering and payment that syncs back to AccountScout with no manual import.",{"title":137,"description":138,"href":49},"Billing & Collections","Invoice from order data, manage A\u002FR and aging, collect with ePayments, and speed collections with tearsheets and affidavits.",{"title":140,"description":141,"keyFacts":142},"Software for Community Newspapers | Fake Brains","AccountScout by Fake Brains runs ad sales, classifieds, production, billing, and collections for community, weekly, and free papers on one platform. Book a demo.",[143,144,145,146,147],"Built for the newspaper workflow since 1991, 100% in-house in Colorado","One platform for CRM, ad sales, classifieds, production, billing, and reporting","300+ built-in reports out of the box","No per-seat fees — accounts for your whole staff","Delivered from the Fake Brains cloud — no server to maintain",[149,161],{"eyebrow":150,"title":151,"description":152,"bullets":153,"image":157,"imageAlt":158,"imageWidth":159,"imageHeight":160},"CLASSIFIEDS","The classified counter, open with nobody standing at it.","Phone, email and walk-in orders all end up re-typed by somebody on your staff. Put the counter on your own site and the reader does that typing - and pays while they are there.",[154,155,156],"Readers browse your categories and place their own ad, with photos straight off a phone","The order lands in AccountScout already paid, with the images attached","Staff still take phone orders in the same system, so there is one queue rather than two","\u002Fimages\u002Fproducts\u002Fclassifiedscout-marketplace.png","The ClassifiedScout marketplace on a desktop monitor: a Local Marketplace directory with a category rail down the left listing categories and their ad counts, and classified listings with photos, prices, and locations.",2400,1800,{"eyebrow":162,"title":163,"description":164,"bullets":165,"image":169,"imageAlt":170,"imageWidth":159,"imageHeight":160},"GETTING PAID","Stop being the only way to pay you.","A small paper's receivables age because the only routes to paying are a cheque in the post or a call during office hours. This is the third option, and it works at nine at night.",[166,167,168],"Advertisers see their open invoices and balance and pay by card or ACH","Payments auto-credit in AccountScout, so nobody re-keys a cheque","The same login approves ad proofs, which takes that thread out of email too","\u002Fimages\u002Fproducts\u002Fadvertiser-portal-devices.png","The Advertiser Portal on a desktop monitor and two phones: an account overview flagging a past-due balance with quick actions for invoices, payments, and proofs, beside a card payment screen and a proof approval screen.","community-newspapers","marketing\u002Findustries\u002Fcommunity-newspapers",null,"NGnlPu7uADSV_4JS1OLkOfSar2je6RO0On2PymBigpc",1791402836731]