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Most entrepreneurs treat email marketing like a sprint. They put massive effort into one perfect weekly email, send it out, and hope for the best. Then they wonder why their carefully crafted message gets lost in busy inboxes and generates little response.
Marc Mawhinney has taken the opposite approach for over eight years. He sends a daily email to his audience without missing a single day. Not one. This isn’t about perfection or lengthy dissertations; it’s about showing up consistently with value, building relationships one email at a time, and understanding that frequency beats perfection in the attention economy.
As a lifelong entrepreneur who has been helping coaches get more clients since 2014 and hosts the Natural Born Coaches Podcast with over 900 episodes, Marc has built his business on the compound effect of small daily actions. His approach challenges everything most business owners believe about email marketing, social media, and building authentic relationships in an increasingly noisy online world.
Whether you’re a service business owner struggling to stay top-of-mind with customers or an entrepreneur looking to cut through the digital noise, Marc’s systematic approach to consistency offers a blueprint for sustainable growth that doesn’t require flashy tactics or unrealistic promises.
This show is sponsored by Blue Crocus Solutions, a web design and SEO agency focused on helping home service companies grow.
• Daily emails beat weekly perfection – Consistent daily touchpoints ensure your message reaches busy audiences who miss sporadic communications
• Batch creation eliminates pressure – Creating emails three weeks in advance removes daily stress while maintaining consistency
• Repetition works better than variety – Guy Kawasaki’s Facebook experiment proved that repeating content reaches different audiences without complaints
• Three questions guarantee success – Who do you help, how do you help them, and where do you find them form the foundation of any successful business
• Flat-fee joint ventures create win-wins – Fixed-fee partnerships allow partners to keep 100% of sales while providing guaranteed promotion value
Marc’s daily email strategy challenges conventional wisdom about frequency and audience fatigue. While most entrepreneurs worry about overwhelming their subscribers, Marc discovered that consistency trumps perfection every time.
“The mistake that a lot of entrepreneurs make is they put all this effort into say, one email a week or every two weeks. Well, that email, as good as it is, it could be the best email in the world, but people are gonna miss it. Busy, it got lost in their inbox, et cetera.”
His solution: split that weekly effort into seven daily touchpoints. Each email is just a couple hundred words… an insight, a lesson, or an “aha” moment followed by a soft call to action. No war and peace novels, no aggressive sales pitches, just consistent value delivery.
The habit becomes automatic after the initial adjustment period. “It becomes like brushing your teeth, you know? It’s habit once you get used to it. It’s getting past the first, I dunno, three weeks or a month. Now, I couldn’t imagine missing a day.”
This approach works because it acknowledges reality: people are busy, inboxes are crowded, and attention is fragmented. A single weekly email, no matter how brilliant, competes with hundreds of other messages. Daily emails create multiple opportunities for connection and ensure your message reaches people when they’re actually paying attention.
“I would rather put the effort into daily emails that you’re splitting them up and they don’t have to be war and peace or some big novel.” – Marc Mawhinney
The biggest objection to daily emails is time management. Marc solves this through batch creation, staying three weeks ahead of his publishing schedule.
“I don’t sit down every morning with a blank screen and think, oh, what am I going to write today? I batch create them. So right now, as we record this, I’m about three weeks ahead in emails and they’re all scheduled out.”
This system provides multiple benefits. It eliminates daily pressure and decision fatigue. It allows for strategic planning and content themes. Most importantly, it creates flexibility for timely content without disrupting the schedule.
“If something time sensitive happens, if there’s a zombie apocalypse tomorrow and I want to write about it, I can bump the scheduled email, write my zombie email, and then work around it that way.”
The batch creation process also improves content quality. When you’re not rushing to meet a daily deadline, you can be more thoughtful about messaging, storytelling, and value delivery. You can also identify content gaps and ensure variety in topics and approaches.
For service businesses, this might mean dedicating one afternoon per month to create all email content, then scheduling it out. The time investment is the same, but the stress and daily management burden disappear.
“It takes the pressure off. If something happens some morning and you’re running around like a chicken with its head cut off, the email still goes out.” – Marc Mawhinney
One of the biggest fears about frequent communication is repeating content. Marc addresses this with a powerful example from Guy Kawasaki, who had almost 500,000 Facebook followers.
“As an experiment, one day he decided to do the exact same post in the morning, and then a few hours later in the afternoon. Out of almost half a million fans, how many people complained about him using the same post twice in the same day? It was two.”
This experiment reveals a crucial truth about online communication: your audience is much larger than the people who see any single piece of content. Different people are online at different times, consuming content at different moments, and paying attention to different things.
“If you have an email list or social media with a couple thousand, you’re probably not gonna get a flood of complaints. And the other thing too is if I want someone to remember an important point that I’m telling them, then repetition can be good just to hammer it home.”
Marc regularly repurposes old emails, sometimes using content from years ago. No one complains because the message is new to current subscribers, and even repeat readers benefit from reinforcement of important concepts.
This principle applies beyond email to all content marketing. The fear of repetition often prevents business owners from reinforcing their key messages, but repetition is actually essential for memory and behavior change.
“Someone with 500,000 people only gets two complaints. Repetition can be important. It doesn’t fly away into the atmosphere.” – Marc Mawhinney
Marc distills business success into three fundamental questions that every entrepreneur must answer clearly: Who do you help? How do you help them? Where do you find them?
“Any coach or any entrepreneur, if you can answer three questions, you’re guaranteed success. And the questions are who, how, and where.”
While these questions sound like basic business 101, Marc’s experience shows that very few entrepreneurs have all three completely dialed in. They might have one or two figured out, but rarely all three with crystal clarity.
“Some people might say, ‘Oh, of course, that’s business 101. That’s not very earth shattering.’ But in my experience with people I speak with, very rarely do they have all three dialed in and perfectly solidified.”
For service businesses, this framework is particularly powerful:
Who do you help? Not just demographics, but psychographics. What specific problems do they face? What keeps them up at night? What are their goals and aspirations?
How do you help them? What’s your unique approach? What results do you deliver? What makes your solution different from alternatives?
Where do you find them? What platforms do they use? What communities are they part of? How do they currently search for solutions?
The clarity that comes from answering these questions thoroughly transforms marketing from guesswork into systematic targeting.
“Very rarely do they have all three dialed in and perfectly solidified. They may have one, maybe two, two and a half. Very rarely, all three.” – Marc Mawhinney
For nearly eight years, Marc published a monthly print newsletter called Secret Coach Club, 5,000 words of original content delivered physically to subscribers’ mailboxes. He recently retired the publication after 92 months, just short of the 100-month milestone.
“I was running it for 92 months. We got almost to a hundred. And I’ll be honest, not that I didn’t enjoy doing it, but it was a treadmill that was very difficult because it was roughly 5,000 words a month.”
The decision to retire the newsletter illustrates an important business principle: don’t stay married to something just because you’ve invested time in it. Marc recognized the sunk cost fallacy and made a strategic decision based on current ROI rather than past investment.
“It’s very easy to stay latched on to things just because you’ve done them for so long. It’s kinda like poker. If you’ve got a hand and you’ve been pushing a bunch of chips in, but the flop hasn’t turned out the way that you wanted, you don’t think you’re gonna win, but you’ve already put this many chips in, so you’re gonna have to just keep going.”
The newsletter faced multiple challenges: US Postal Service delivery issues, rising postage costs, and decreasing profit margins. Rather than continuing out of habit, Marc evaluated the business case and made the difficult decision to discontinue.
However, the content wasn’t wasted. Marc maintains a library of back issues that he shares with clients when relevant topics arise, demonstrating how past content can continue providing value even after a program ends.
“Anything in my business is always on the discussion table to stop doing it if it no longer serves me.” – Marc Mawhinney
Most joint venture partnerships operate on percentage splits—the promoter gets a percentage of sales generated. Marc created a different model: flat-fee joint ventures where partners pay a fixed amount and keep 100% of their sales.
“I do mine different. I do a flat fee JV. So basically means I charge a flat fee and partner keeps a hundred percent of sales, and then I have a whole bunch of things that I do.”
The flat-fee model provides several advantages. Partners know their exact marketing investment upfront. They keep all revenue generated, improving their profit margins. Marc gets guaranteed compensation regardless of conversion rates.
But Marc doesn’t just collect a fee and send one email. His flat-fee partnerships include comprehensive promotion: a week of daily emails, social media promotion across all platforms, a guaranteed podcast spot, three Facebook Lives, and additional posting privileges in his 30,000-member Facebook group.
“It’s not just, okay, you collect the money, then you don’t do anything. You have to promote quite a bit with it.”
This model works because it aligns incentives properly. Marc is motivated to promote effectively because his reputation depends on delivering value. Partners are motivated to convert because they keep all the revenue. The fixed fee removes the complexity of tracking and splitting sales.
For service businesses, this model could work with complementary local businesses, paying a flat fee for guaranteed promotion to their customer base rather than complex revenue-sharing arrangements.
“I got access to humans that I could never have afforded if the only trade I had to offer was compensation.” – Marc Mawhinney
Beyond individual partnerships, Marc created the Coaching Jungle VIP program—a low-cost way for people to promote their offers to his 30,000-member Facebook group while building a network of peers.
“VIPs are allowed to once a week post an offer on the wall. They’re allowed to create events in the group. They get a bunch of other perks. We have a private VIP Facebook group for them to network.”
The program costs $97 monthly or $997 for lifetime access, making it accessible while creating sustainable revenue. But the real value comes from the networking effects: VIPs become affiliates for each other, appear on each other’s podcasts, become referral sources, and even hire each other.
“They’re becoming affiliates for each other, getting on each other’s podcasts, becoming referral sources. Some of them are hiring each other, which is very cool.”
This approach demonstrates how to monetize community access while creating genuine value. Rather than just selling advertising space, Marc created a ecosystem where members benefit from connections with other members.
The lifetime pricing option is particularly smart, it creates immediate cash flow while building a committed core community. Lifetime members have strong incentives to participate actively and help the community succeed.
For service businesses, this model could work with industry associations, local business groups, or customer communities where ongoing networking and referrals create value beyond the initial access fee.
“We’ve got almost a hundred VIPs now, and there’s some just excellent people. So for networking, they’re becoming affiliates for each other.” – Marc Mawhinney
Marc’s storytelling often includes creative business examples that illustrate unconventional thinking. One favorite involves a pizza shop that transformed their boxes into interactive experiences.
“What this pizza place did is the inside of the box when you open the pizza box, they put different drawings on that side of the box. Like one might be an astronaut and then you could punch a circle out to stick your head through, and then you’re encouraged to take a picture and share it with a hashtag.”
Another pizza place designed boxes that could be separated and punched out into plates, eliminating the need for additional dishes. These examples show how businesses can add value and create social media buzz without significant additional costs.
Marc also shared a story about two young entrepreneurs who started a golf ball diving business, getting permission from golf course owners to dive into water hazards and collect lost balls. They created a washing system in their garage and sold the cleaned balls at high profit margins.
“They’re not paying anything for the balls and just the time to collect them and to wash them. Look at the profit margin there.”
These stories illustrate the importance of seeing opportunities others miss and finding creative solutions to common problems. They also show how businesses can create additional revenue streams from existing assets or overlooked resources.
The key insight: innovation doesn’t always require technology or massive investment. Sometimes it just requires looking at familiar situations with fresh eyes and asking, “How could this be better?”
“Those are my favorite things, thinking outside the box. There’s another idea for people too, if they’re looking for something outta the box.” – Marc Mawhinney
Marc doesn’t actively seek controversy, but he doesn’t shy away from sharing opinions either. His approach to handling criticism offers valuable lessons for any business owner building an online presence.
“With the online space, you better be prepared for criticism because any business really, but if you’re not attracting any of those critics, it means you’re not putting yourself out there very much.”
He uses Facebook ads as an example: if you’re afraid of trolls commenting on your ads, you’re almost guaranteed to get them. The fear of criticism often prevents business owners from taking the marketing actions necessary for growth.
“If somebody’s afraid of trolls commenting on their Facebook ads, then good luck. You’re almost guaranteed to get that.”
Marc’s resilience comes from experience and perspective. He went through a public business closure in real estate that attracted significant criticism. That experience, while difficult, built the thick skin necessary for online business success.
“You need to develop a thick skin. And it does get easier too. By the time you’re my age and you’ve accumulated enough battle scars, your skin will thicken.”
The key insight: criticism is inevitable if you’re putting yourself out there meaningfully. The goal isn’t to avoid it but to develop the resilience to continue despite it. Often, the people criticizing aren’t your target customers anyway.
“If you’re not attracting any of those critics, it means you’re not putting yourself out there very much.” – Marc Mawhinney
Marc’s entire philosophy centers on the compound effect, the idea that small, consistent actions over time create extraordinary results. This applies to email marketing, content creation, relationship building, and business growth.
“The compound effect is a very real thing. I would much rather do something smaller every single day, year in, year out, as opposed to that. It’s much more sustainable.”
He contrasts this with the typical entrepreneurial pattern: getting excited about a new strategy, putting massive effort into it for a week or month, then burning out and moving on to something else when results don’t come immediately.
“A lot of people in business will get pumped up and they put this real heavy effort into something for a week or for a month, and then they just burn out and just stop doing it, or they don’t get the results they wanted and they’re off doing something else.”
Marc’s daily email practice exemplifies this philosophy. Rather than trying to write the perfect weekly email, he commits to showing up daily with something valuable. Over eight years, this has built a loyal audience and sustainable business.
The compound effect works because it builds habits, creates momentum, and allows for continuous improvement. Small daily improvements compound into significant advantages over time, while sporadic bursts of effort rarely create lasting change.
For service businesses, this might mean committing to one daily customer touchpoint, one daily piece of content, or one daily business development activity. The key is consistency over intensity.
“One thing that I’ve done is just show up every day and do certain things and that accumulates over years and decades.” – Marc Mawhinney
Marc’s final advice focuses on authenticity and skepticism in the online business world. He warns against judging your progress based on the highlight reels others share on social media.
“There’s a tendency to judge where you’re at based on all the highlights that you’re seeing. Everyone makes it sound like they’re happy 24/7, they’re making a million dollars a day and their relationships are perfect.”
His approach: “I assume someone’s full of shit until they prove me wrong, because there’s some people I have in mind when I look at what they’re saying and I know they’re not doing what they’re saying they’re doing.”
This skepticism isn’t cynicism… it’s protection against the discouragement that comes from comparing your behind-the-scenes reality to others’ curated success stories. Marc encourages entrepreneurs to “stay in your lane, run your own race” rather than getting distracted by others’ claims.
The antidote to online BS is focusing on your own consistent progress and building genuine relationships with real people. Marc’s approach of leading with value rather than high-pressure sales tactics creates authentic connections that last.
“I prefer that approach as opposed to, okay, I got this person on for 20 minutes and I have to close them, and I’m not letting them off zoom until they pay. It’s not my style.”
“I would be very careful judging yourself based on other people that way. Just stay in your lane, run your own race.” – Marc Mawhinney
Marc’s eight-year journey of daily emails, 900+ podcast episodes, and consistent community building illustrates a fundamental truth: the long game always wins. While others chase quick fixes and growth hacks, Marc has built sustainable systems that compound over time.
His approach isn’t flashy or exciting. There are no Lamborghini photos or overnight success stories. Instead, there’s the quiet power of showing up consistently, providing value generously, and building relationships authentically.
“I’m not a very flashy guy, but you just keep showing up every day with your content. You’re not coming in with these wild claims and these unrealistic promises.”
This consistency has created a business that survives algorithm changes, market shifts, and economic uncertainty. It’s built on relationships rather than tactics, value rather than hype, and trust rather than manipulation.
For service business owners, Marc’s example shows that sustainable growth comes from consistent customer communication, regular value delivery, and authentic relationship building. The compound effect of these small daily actions creates competitive advantages that can’t be easily replicated.
The entrepreneurs who understand this don’t just survive, they thrive regardless of external circumstances because they’ve built something real and lasting.
“The compound effect is a real thing. Much more sustainable than putting heavy effort into something for a week or month and then burning out.” – Marc Mawhinney
Want to learn more from Marc? Visit Natural Born Coaches to get his free resources and join his daily email list.
This Podcast is sponsored by Blue Crocus Solutions, a marketing agency offering website design, branding, AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services for Home Service businesses.
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