In the competitive landscape of franchising, the difference between a brand that scales and one that plateaus often has very little to do with the quality of the product. Success is increasingly dictated by who controls the information. For many companies, the traditional marketing model has left a significant gap. There are compelling stories to tell, but they’re often treated as temporary announcements rather than long-term assets. This creates a missed opportunity where valuable press releases and franchisee profiles sit on digital shelves collecting dust while potential investors search for answers.
Mainland co-founder Nick Powills recognized that modern growth requires a new kind of infrastructure. It’s simply not enough today to just do PR or run an ad campaign. To win, a brand needs a media engine that works around the clock to educate the market. This insight led to the creation of 1851 Franchise and its sister platforms Estatenvy, StacheCow and Room 1903, publications designed not in the outdated traditional manner but as specialized ecosystems built to unlock and accelerate franchise growth.
“These platforms are what we call growth media engines,” Powills said. “They’re not traditional publications and they’re not marketing channels; they sit in the middle. Each platform is designed to help an industry control its narrative, educate its market and create a consistent drumbeat of credibility around the brands that are growing within it.”
The decision to invest in these platforms came from a clear observation of how franchise discovery actually happens today. Because a franchise candidate might spend months researching an investment, a brand needs to show up at every step of that journey. If the brand doesn’t provide the answers, the candidate is going to find them elsewhere.
“We started investing in these platforms when we realized something important: most brands don’t lose because their product isn’t good,” Powills said. “They lose because they don’t control the narrative, don’t promote the narrative and don’t drive home a sense of urgency.”
This strategy led to the development of specialized platforms like Estatenvy for home services, Room 1903 for hospitality and StacheCow for private equity.
“The strategy is simple: build the media authority inside the industries where our clients are growing,” Powills said. “When you own the conversation inside a category, you create an unfair advantage for the brands inside that ecosystem.”
Beyond the editorial content, the platforms function as structured databases. Every interview and brand profile is organized so that it can be easily indexed by the digital systems that drive modern discovery. This ensures that when an investor uses a search engine or an AI tool to research an opportunity, the brand is already positioned with the answers.
“We’re essentially building industry knowledge graphs,” Powills said. “The content isn’t random. It’s organized so that when someone asks a question about franchising, home services or restaurants, our ecosystem has the answers.”
This technical approach extends to the backend, where integrations with Google, LinkedIn and Facebook allow brands to view ad data and traffic insights in one place. By combining editorial authority with structured data, the platforms provide a level of visibility that standard marketing just can’t match.
For franchise leaders, the true measure of a media platform is how well it creates visibility in a crowded marketplace. Scott Oaks, vice president of franchise development for Comfort Keepers, has spent over two decades in the industry and has seen how this approach changes the trajectory for a brand.
“Mainland and 1851 Franchise get us a lot of exposure. Nick always seems to have a fresh take on the changing landscape of franchising and the best way to get our brand’s name and exposure out in front of people,” Oaks said. “They’ve gotten us a bunch of exposure that we weren’t getting before through our franchise development efforts, which has really put us back on the map from an opportunity standpoint.”
A key part of that exposure is the ability to move away from generic, repetitive industry news. BooXkeeping CEO Max Emma notes that the value of 1851 Franchise lies in its ability to highlight the actual humans behind the business, ensuring each franchisee maintains a unique voice.
“My franchisees are all different. Even though we do bookkeeping, everybody's different. They're not copy and paste from one franchisee to another one,” Emma said. “So, what Mainland and 1851 Franchise are doing is providing a PR announcement for all of my new franchisees. They get a chance to tell their story.”
The most effective way for a brand to win is to stop viewing media as a one-time event. Success in franchising comes from a cumulative effect. When a candidate begins their research, they should find a deep archive of leadership insights and franchisee success.
“Growth brands understand it’s a drumbeat,” Powills said. “When brands partner with Mainland and our platforms, they’re essentially building a living archive of their growth story, leadership insights, franchisee success stories, expansion announcements and industry expertise. When a candidate starts researching the opportunity, they don’t find one article. They find a narrative. And in franchising, the brands with the strongest narrative usually win.”
Growing and selling franchises is difficult. Want to learn more about how 1851 helps franchisors grow their franchises with confidence? Visit www.1851growthclub.com and see what we can do for you.
Mainland
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Mainland co-founder Nick Powills explains how proprietary media engines, like 1851 Franchise, empower brands to control their narrative while driving consistent growth through compelling storytelling.
In the competitive landscape of franchising, the difference between a brand that scales and one that plateaus often has very little to do with the quality of the product. Success is increasingly dictated by who controls the information. For many companies, the traditional marketing model has left a significant gap. There are compelling stories to tell, but they’re often treated as temporary announcements rather than long-term assets. This creates a missed opportunity where valuable press releases and franchisee profiles sit on digital shelves collecting dust while potential investors search for answers.
Mainland co-founder Nick Powills recognized that modern growth requires a new kind of infrastructure. It’s simply not enough today to just do PR or run an ad campaign. To win, a brand needs a media engine that works around the clock to educate the market. This insight led to the creation of 1851 Franchise and its sister platforms Estatenvy, StacheCow and Room 1903, publications designed not in the outdated traditional manner but as specialized ecosystems built to unlock and accelerate franchise growth.
“These platforms are what we call growth media engines,” Powills said. “They’re not traditional publications and they’re not marketing channels; they sit in the middle. Each platform is designed to help an industry control its narrative, educate its market and create a consistent drumbeat of credibility around the brands that are growing within it.”
The decision to invest in these platforms came from a clear observation of how franchise discovery actually happens today. Because a franchise candidate might spend months researching an investment, a brand needs to show up at every step of that journey. If the brand doesn’t provide the answers, the candidate is going to find them elsewhere.
“We started investing in these platforms when we realized something important: most brands don’t lose because their product isn’t good,” Powills said. “They lose because they don’t control the narrative, don’t promote the narrative and don’t drive home a sense of urgency.”
This strategy led to the development of specialized platforms like Estatenvy for home services, Room 1903 for hospitality and StacheCow for private equity.
“The strategy is simple: build the media authority inside the industries where our clients are growing,” Powills said. “When you own the conversation inside a category, you create an unfair advantage for the brands inside that ecosystem.”
Beyond the editorial content, the platforms function as structured databases. Every interview and brand profile is organized so that it can be easily indexed by the digital systems that drive modern discovery. This ensures that when an investor uses a search engine or an AI tool to research an opportunity, the brand is already positioned with the answers.
“We’re essentially building industry knowledge graphs,” Powills said. “The content isn’t random. It’s organized so that when someone asks a question about franchising, home services or restaurants, our ecosystem has the answers.”
This technical approach extends to the backend, where integrations with Google, LinkedIn and Facebook allow brands to view ad data and traffic insights in one place. By combining editorial authority with structured data, the platforms provide a level of visibility that standard marketing just can’t match.
For franchise leaders, the true measure of a media platform is how well it creates visibility in a crowded marketplace. Scott Oaks, vice president of franchise development for Comfort Keepers, has spent over two decades in the industry and has seen how this approach changes the trajectory for a brand.
“Mainland and 1851 Franchise get us a lot of exposure. Nick always seems to have a fresh take on the changing landscape of franchising and the best way to get our brand’s name and exposure out in front of people,” Oaks said. “They’ve gotten us a bunch of exposure that we weren’t getting before through our franchise development efforts, which has really put us back on the map from an opportunity standpoint.”
A key part of that exposure is the ability to move away from generic, repetitive industry news. BooXkeeping CEO Max Emma notes that the value of 1851 Franchise lies in its ability to highlight the actual humans behind the business, ensuring each franchisee maintains a unique voice.
“My franchisees are all different. Even though we do bookkeeping, everybody's different. They're not copy and paste from one franchisee to another one,” Emma said. “So, what Mainland and 1851 Franchise are doing is providing a PR announcement for all of my new franchisees. They get a chance to tell their story.”
The most effective way for a brand to win is to stop viewing media as a one-time event. Success in franchising comes from a cumulative effect. When a candidate begins their research, they should find a deep archive of leadership insights and franchisee success.
“Growth brands understand it’s a drumbeat,” Powills said. “When brands partner with Mainland and our platforms, they’re essentially building a living archive of their growth story, leadership insights, franchisee success stories, expansion announcements and industry expertise. When a candidate starts researching the opportunity, they don’t find one article. They find a narrative. And in franchising, the brands with the strongest narrative usually win.”
Growing and selling franchises is difficult. Want to learn more about how 1851 helps franchisors grow their franchises with confidence? Visit www.1851growthclub.com and see what we can do for you.
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