Managing your e-mail reputation might feel overwhelming. But when clients focus on sound infrastructure, good list hygiene and collection practices and respect for subscriber interests, their IPs remain within acceptable limits for inbox acceptance. Here's a list of some maladies.

E-mail marketing has become a staple in today's marketplace. Unfortunately, the proliferation of spam and identity theft scams has drastically reduced the effectiveness of the practice and has buried the applicable e-mails under mountains of garbage. While many people still get excited to see junk postal mail arrive in their mailbox, that sentiment typically does not carry over to an inbox full of junk e-mails.

Though the economy is declining, things are still looking up for e-mail marketers. Whether it's due to the medium's affordability or the fact that it is measurable in a time when budgets are being more carefully scrutinized, e-mail has proven itself as a channel for good ROI.

As "sexy" channels such as social media and mobile emerge, the more traditional digital channel, e-mail, continues to thrive. E-mail fared well in the poor economy, thanks to its cost-efficient model and ability to deliver ROI. Account wins, such as Body Glove's selection of Lyris and Bebe Stores' move to CheetahMail, show the business is still alive and kicking.

It's almost a new year and time for resolutions. For e-mail marketers that have been meaning to up their e-mail program, it's a great time to do so.

It's time to invest in skills, processes and technologies to boost e-mail marketing communications. A February Forrester Research report stated that 77% of retailers see e-mail becoming a more important marketing vehicle over the next year, outranking other marketing tactics.

Here are some top New Year's resolutions to help small businesses improve e-mail marketing performance in 2009.

You feel ready to launch a sophisticated campaign, leveraging the low cost of e-mail to saturate your active file. But do you realize that every consumer or business receiving your e-mail has an e-mail profile that they use to segment incoming mail? That most companies sending e-mail either don't know their customers' profiles or ignore it with their "spray and pray" campaigns?

It's 10am. Do you know where your executives are? If not, rest assured that I do know one place that they aren't. They aren't somewhere talking about the finer points of your e-mail marketing strategy and how it plays an integral role in customer retention and loyalty.

This holiday season, nonprofits have been working hard to help raise money for their causes — and using e-mail to do so.