How did a former law student take a staid but iconic brand like Jim’s and make it a social media marketing phenomenon? In this podcast Joel Kleber reveals the content strategy that not only brought the Jim’s Group TikTok success but won him the top spot in this year’s Top 30 Franchise Executives listing.

Joel Kleber has leveraged Jim’s Group founder Jim Penman’s forthright approach in an Ask Jim video series which has sparked a string of social media initiatives for the brand.

Joel talks in this podcast about the importance of trust and transparency and shares his accidental journey to chief marketing officer. As forthright as Jim himself, Joel talks about how growing up with a bi-polar parent taught him resilience and empathy, and the importance of going to uni to please his mum.

He reveals the challenges of delegation, of working with diverse business owners, and producing engaging content on a tight budget.

Joel’s approach has not only drawn praise for Jim’s social media marketing content, it has had a clear impact on the decision-making of new Jim’s franchisees. 

Joel outlines his goal of extending Jim’s brand awareness beyond the mowing business, the target of boosting the group to 6000 franchisees and the latest Jim’s innovation. 

He reveals he treats the business as his own baby, and loves having the freedom to follow his own creativity.

Show notes

The Jim’s Group was founded by Jim Penman in 1982 as a part-time mowing business. Since then the Jim’s brand has diversified across 50 business concepts from bookkeeping to mobile mechanics to test and tag. The latest iterations of the Jim’s brand are Jim’s Beauty and Jim’s Life Coaching.

Joel talks about working with Jim, and Rocky. Rocky Aloi is the chief operating officer; he has been with the business six years. Here he explains why the Jim’s Group is tough on brand rules.

Potential franchisees participate in Observation Days where they trial the job they are wanting to sign up to before they undertake training.

Jim’s Jobs is an upcoming app designed to streamline processes and help avoid complaints.

Joel also references audio books and mentions American entrepreneur and best-selling author Gary Vaynerchuk‘s book ‘Crushing It!: How Great Entrepreneurs Build their Business and Influence and How You Can, Too’.

Joel mentions ‘the magazine’; the Top 30 Franchise Executives 2024 report featuring high performing franchise professionals is free to download.