Each Monday morning for the last 23 years, marketers around the world have opened their inboxes to find a new cartoon from Tom Fishburne aka the Marketoonist. What began as a simple blind-CC email to 35 colleagues at General Mills in 2002 has grown into one of the longest-running and most recognizable cartoon newsletters in marketing.

"It started as a creative outlet," Tom recalls. "I was in business school, working in marketing, and drawing helped me process what I saw around me."

Back then, email platforms weren’t what they are today. 

Tom literally blind-CC’d those first subscribers, but it didn’t take long to outgrow that format. Over time, he cobbled together better systems and turned that creative ritual into a habit that has endured for over two decades. 

"Even now, the main way I connect with my audience is the newsletter," Tom says. "It’s how clients find me, too."

Tom Fishburne first started drawing cartoons on the backs of business cases at Harvard Business School.

From his General Mills cubicle, he started emailing a weekly cartoon called Marketoonist that poked fun at his day job. 

Somehow, he wasn’t fired for that and kept drawing cartoons inspired by senior marketing roles at Nestlé, Method, and HotelTonight.

He eventually expanded Marketoonist into a creative studio to work with companies like Google and Adobe. 

Since that first cartoon, Tom has sent a new installment nearly every Monday. It’s a cadence that has become part of his identity and part of his readers’ routines. 

"People write in if I ever miss one," he says with a smile. "There’s real value in that expectation."

Tom doesn’t wait for inspiration to strike. He has a daily creative routine. Each morning starts with deep work time—a quiet few hours spent brainstorming, sketching, and refining ideas. His go-to soundtrack? Kind of Blue by Miles Davis.

"It’s exactly 44 minutes," Tom explains. "Listening to the same album every day is like a Pavlovian trigger. When it starts playing, I know it's time to be creative."

Tom's creative flow is well-practiced. He blocks out time each day to generate ideas, and he sets timers to stay focused. "You can’t just tack creativity onto the end of a week," he says. "It has to be part of your daily structure."

That structure feeds not only his weekly cartoon but also a portfolio of client projects, keynote talks, and internal marketing campaigns. Drawing has become the way he understands and critiques the business world. "I think humor is a superpower in business," he says. "It holds up a mirror to our work."

And while the cartoon is published across social channels, the newsletter is the core. Sent like clockwork at 6:30 AM PT on Mondays, the cartoon has become a regular moment of levity for his readers.

"Cartoons lend themselves well to a serialized format," he explains. "The weekly cadence creates a relationship."

Tom never focused on list-building tactics. No pop-ups, lead magnets, or ad funnels. Just cartoons that earned their way into inboxes.

"I never chased virality. I never did growth hacks," he says. "I wanted people to subscribe because they genuinely liked the work."

Over time, his reputation grew organically. He’s never tried to inflate numbers—just deliver high-quality work to readers who care.

As a result, his open rates remain unusually high. "I regularly see open rates over 55%, which is rare for a list of this maturity."

Tom’s email list is a reflection of his audience-first philosophy. "It’s not about the list size. It’s about connection."

When asked about social media, Tom is clear: it's a distribution channel, not the foundation. "The algorithm giveth and the algorithm taketh away. The newsletter is where I have a direct line."

By 2023, Tom decided it was time to move to a platform that better fit his workflow.

"I was looking for something simpler. I needed a creator platform."

He landed on beehiiv. What drew him in?

"I had a lot of domain credibility built up over the years. It was important the migration didn’t jeopardize that."

He worked with beehiiv’s smart warming system to gradually scale sending from his custom domain. He also informed subscribers ahead of time, asking them to open emails regularly to stay out of Gmail’s Promotions tab.

The newsletter isn’t just a content channel for Tom. It’s the centerpiece of his business.

Tom doesn’t run ads. He doesn’t sell merch. The newsletter itself isn’t monetized directly.

Instead, it’s his primary visibility engine.

From it, he books:

"It’s amazing how many clients come from the newsletter," Tom says. "They’ll say, ‘I’ve been reading for years and would love to work with you.’ That’s the magic."

Tom describes his business model as deep work with fewer clients. "Some people fish for thousands of minnows. I fish for a few whales."

He prefers longer, strategic collaborations over broad monetization. It’s a model sustained entirely by the reach and reputation of his newsletter.

Asked what he’d tell someone starting a newsletter in 2025, Tom doesn’t hesitate.

"Be patient. The beginning will be slow. And that’s okay."

He explains that it took time for him to find his voice. "I had to get the reps in before I felt comfortable. Don’t obsess over monetizing too early."

Instead, he says:

And when it comes to platforms?

"Pick one that lets you focus on the work. Beehiiv feels like it was made by people who’ve actually run newsletters."

For Tom, beehiiv gives him the control, simplicity, and support to keep sending. Every Monday. Like he’s always done.

"The newsletter is the engine that drives my business. And beehiiv is the engine behind that."

Tom Fishburne didn’t build his audience with gimmicks. He built it with rhythm, humor, and relentless consistency.

Every cartoon. Almost every Monday. For 23 years.

The result? A newsletter that’s become part of marketing culture—and a business that proves deep connection beats flashy growth.

If you're a creator, there's a lesson here: your voice, your ritual, and your audience are your greatest assets.

And if you're sending that newsletter? Do it with a platform that respects the craft.

👉 Start your free trial on beehiiv and build your own Monday ritual.