Darlene Tedesco-Cullen

TAPinto is a network of more than 90 franchised local news and digital marketing platforms in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Florida with more than 20,000,000 readers during the last year. The media industry is undergoing dramatic changes resulting in a growing void in local news coverage in thousands of communities across the United States. Meanwhile, more than $400 billion was spent on digital marketing in 2022. Local and regional businesses are looking to connect more deeply on the local level than ever before. TAPinto is helping to fill the void in local news by applying proprietary technology paired with a franchise business model to the local news space. TAPinto is also enabling local and regional businesses to meaningfully communicate with the residents of their town, improving customer loyalty and providing support for the small and medium-sized businesses that are integral to our communities. TAPinto's local owner/publishers include salespeople, businesspeople, hardcopy newspaper publishers, public relations professionals, journalists, nonprofits, and Universities, which own and operate TAPinto local news sites in their communities. TAPinto enables its franchisees to share content with each other with a click of a button and sell advertising into each other's local news site, creating a scalable, sustainable content and advertising network that continues to grow as TAPinto's franchising model expands to communities throughout the United States. TAPinto provides local owner/publishers with a blueprint for success that includes technology, training, continuing education, and ongoing support. TAPinto franchisees are able to establish their own work hours and have maximum flexibility. Because TAPinto franchisees own the business, they are able to build equity in it, have the right to sell it, and are completely invested in its growth. For more information, visit www.starttap.net