The Franchise Marketer Podcast

Rhianna Clavering manages a seven-figure national marketing fund across 150 franchise offices, and she breaks down exactly how it works.

Rhianna is the National Marketing Manager at Caremark, a UK home care franchise and BFA Franchise of the Year.

She joined eight months into the fund's launch and has spent the time since refining the strategy, improving conversion, and building the systems to make national marketing work at a local level.

In this episode, Joel and Rhianna cover the 60/40 awareness-to-activation budget split, the five-channel and seven-touchpoint framework Caremark uses across TV, radio, Google, Meta, and door drops, and why the local fifth channel is what makes the whole fund actually deliver.

They get into how to explain ROI to franchise owners who do not trust impression numbers, how Rihanna built an email nurture funnel that drove 300% growth in referral traffic, and what authentic video actually means when your CEO's lawyers are in the room.

Joel also shares how he grew Jim Penman's LinkedIn from 3,000 to 45,000 followers in three months using podcast content and AI.

If you run marketing for a franchise network, this one is worth a full listen.

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Introduction

1:35 How Rihanna got into franchising

3:21 Caremark and the BFA award

4:11 The 7-figure national marketing fund

5:48 The fifth channel: local area marketing

9:14 Customer lifetime value and the ROI case

11:45 Quality over quantity strategy

15:13 The 60/40 awareness split explained

16:29 5 channels and 7 touchpoints

17:50 TV and radio vs digital debate

20:13 Managing franchise owner opinions

21:22 Consultative group approves strategy

27:37 BrightEdge SEO and AI overview prep

33:42 Franchise recruitment marketing

36:01 Email nurture funnel for prospects

40:29 What authentic video really means

42:48 Ghostwriting CEO LinkedIn content

51:41 Young people and franchising careers

In this episode, I pull back the curtain on the exact AI tools I and my team rely on daily to run marketing for franchise brands.

No sponsored mentions, no affiliate links — just the real stack.

I break down how I use Opus Clip to repurpose long-form content, Google NotebookLM as a research powerhouse, ChatGPT as an underrated all-rounder, and why Claude is my go-to for writing. I also cover lesser-known tools like WisprFlow (which helped me draft an entire book), Genspark, Super Grok for deep research, and Repurpose.io for smart content distribution.

Whether you're a franchise marketer, business owner, or just trying to get more done with AI — this episode will give you a practical, no-BS look at what's actually worth your subscription dollars.

Tools covered: Opus Clip, Google NotebookLM, ChatGPT, WisprFlow, Claude, Descript, Google Gemini, Genspark, Super Grok, Repurpose.io

Most people jump straight into AI tools without setting up the one thing that makes them actually work for you. In this episode, I'm sharing my number one AI tip — building your AI brain.

Your AI brain is a structured folder system of your knowledge, voice, and expertise that you can plug into any AI platform. No more starting from scratch every time a new tool takes over.

I walk you through exactly what's in mine:

Set it up once, use it everywhere.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it with a fellow franchise marketer, and leave a 5-star review.

James Farquhar built a full franchise management platform on Replit for around $90 a month. A dev team would have charged $400,000.

In this episode, James Farquhar walks through how he and Troy Nathan are building Footy Nippers, an early years sports movement program for kids 18 months to 7 years old, from zero. We cover the franchise model, the content strategy, and the complete tech build.

Specific things you will hear:

Why they chose franchising over employing coaches directly.

How they started building a content library before their first franchisee signed.

The 8-week onboarding system and 52-week curriculum James built from scratch.

The exact workflow for prompting ChatGPT and Replit to ship platform features in a day.

What James learned from multiple startup failures and how it shaped Footy Nippers.

Guest: James Farquhar is the co-founder of Footy Nippers and has a background in sports tech, HR AI, and startup building across New Zealand, London, and Amsterdam.

Resources: https://www.franchisemarketer.co/ check out the vibe coded franchise here - https://pilot-footynippers.replit.app/

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Brent Dowling has seen franchise growth from every angle. Franchisee, franchisor, advisor, and yes, former pro snowboarder.

In this episode, we get practical about what actually moves the needle going from 0 to 100 franchisees: lead flow, validation, sales process, onboarding, support, unit economics, and the stuff people don’t want to admit when growth stalls.

If you’re trying to scale a franchise brand without breaking the model, this one’s for you.Learn more about Brent's new venture here - https://www.spirefranchise.com/

Susana Hands (The Franchise Lady) breaks down how to attract better franchisees, not just more leads.

We cover ideal franchisee avatars, founder-led sales, content-first trust, and simple nurture that actually converts.

To learn more visit - https://susanahands.com.au/

Most franchise brands still try to grow behind a logo.

Darcy Ellis went the opposite way.

At 29, Darcy has built HitFit into a fast-growing boxing fitness franchise by putting the owner back on the gym floor, going all-in on local content, and using his personal brand to attract franchisees before they ever touch an info pack.

In this episode, we unpack:

If you’re building a franchise, thinking about franchising, or wondering whether founder-led content actually moves the needle, this episode is a must-listen.

Big thanks to Darcy for coming on the show!

Learn more about https://www.hitfit.com/

What does it take to scale a lawn care business from a single mower to more than 150 franchise locations?

In this in-depth interview, Mike Andes, founder of Augusta Lawn Care and one of the leading voices in the home-services industry, breaks down the systems, mindset, and strategies behind his rapid franchise expansion.

Mike shares how he went from starting college at 13, to nearly pursuing a medical career, to ultimately building an eight-figure lawn care empire. In this episode, we cover:

• How Augusta grew from zero to 150+ locations• Why leadership becomes more important than sales at scale• The most common mistakes small operators make when expanding• How the P4P (pay-for-performance) model increases labour efficiency• The role of content, branding, and media in franchise growth• What Mike learned from attending Jim’s Mowing training in Australia• The impact of simplifying services and tightening route density• Where AI and robotics will reshape the industry over the next decade• Practical steps any operator can implement immediately to improve profitability

Whether you’re a franchisee, a franchisor, or an independent operator aiming to grow, this episode offers clear, actionable insights into building a scalable and sustainable service business.

In this episode, I break down how to build trust when no one knows your franchise brand yet.

I unpack Google’s 7-11-4 Rule—7 hours of content, 11 touchpoints, 4 locations and show how I’ve used this approach at Jim’s to consistently attract high-quality franchise leads.

I also talk about why personal brand content matters more than ever, how founders like Mike Andes and Michael Black have leveraged it, and what newer brands can do right now to create trust fast.

If you're struggling to convert leads or just starting out, this episode gives you a simple, practical roadmap to follow.

If you’ve got questions or topics you want covered, message me on LinkedIn. Enjoy the episode!

Work with me - https://www.franchisebuyermarketing.com.au/invite-only

In this episode, I chatted with Andy Baker, founder of Sesimi, the creative automation platform that’s transforming how franchise brands produce marketing content.

If you’ve ever struggled with slow approvals, inconsistent branding, overloaded creative teams, or frustrated franchisees, this episode will feel like a breakthrough.

Andy walks us through the early days of Sesimi, how it evolved from a basic print tool into a full-scale AI-powered content engine, and why franchises of all sizes are turning to automation to stay competitive.

We explore how franchisees can instantly generate videos, social posts, print assets, localised ads, and more without using agencies, complicated design tools, or waiting on head office.

You’ll also hear a live demo breakdown from the episode, showing exactly how Sesimi creates brand-safe marketing in seconds.

🔗 Try Sesimi or learn more here:

👉 https://www.sesimi.com