Vertical marketing prospers within the b-to-b list rental marketplace. There is a publica­tion for every business, and every aspect of business. How can these publications maximize list rental? What generic selections can be offered to entice new mailer use, and expand testing oppor­tunities? Where shall we position the list for the greatest exposure, and how can we bring excitement for the out of market users?

Online shopping has migrated from an increasing trend to a way of life for most consumers — and traditional catalogers who once ruled the mail order landscape know this. However, this doesn't mean catalogs aren't a viable and valuable communication channel driving substantial phone and online responses.

Kermit was wrong. Despite the emerald Muppet's protests to the contrary, it can be easy being green. There is great opportunity for companies to strengthen their image by demonstrating a strong commitment to the environment and leading by example, but they need to act quickly. A good database strategy and intelligent marketing can go a long way toward reducing the environmental impact of an organization.

It's a Web 2.0 world, and CRM has to live in it. Originally, CRM was all about centralizing customer information; that is, recording all customer interactions in one place for easy reference. It's easy to forget how revolutionary that is, but I can remember frustrating phone calls to customer service representatives who clearly did not have access to all my information.

Chances are your organization has already made a significant investment in the IT infrastructure needed to support a mar­keting database. To maximize the return on your investment and truly unlock the power of database marketing, the next step is to implement a database analytics program that will return measur­able and actionable results.

The Internet has forever changed the way all companies do business. This has been especially true for small and midsize retailers (SMRs). Internet business can be a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it gives SMRs the same reach as the large chain stores and because of this allows them to compete more successfully. Unfortunately, these smaller companies are often ill-equipped to face all of the challenges that coincide with taking the business beyond bricks-and-mortar.

Author Robert Burns once wrote that "the best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry" — and that can be the case when it comes to analytics. Without proper planning and organizational engagement, it can be difficult to secure funding and resources needed for analytics.

Do you know why customers buy your products and services? Chances are the answer isn't in the tangible descriptions of your products. Those attributes tend to be short lived. They are important only until your competitor matches your product's features.

You can have the best sales pitch in the world, but if you don't know who your audience is, or what they are looking for, your strategy is based on chance. That means the potential impact of your communication is decreased.

In direct-to-consumer marketing, we track consumer behavior with software cookies, CRM databases, data and other whiz-bang tools. Yet few of us realize the small steps that lead individuals to embrace new products or procedures.