I always get a chuckle when my e-mail marketing colleagues push "relevance" as an industry best practice. If we as marketing experts have to remind the common practitioner to ensure their message matches their market, it proves e-mail marketing is an institution with bottom of the barrel admission standards.

As waves of jittery economic and financial reports wreak havoc on financial markets, CFOs are starting to put pressure on department heads to cut anything and everything that doesn't contribute directly to top and bottom lines.

The one-size-fits-all mentality simply doesn't work anymore, especially when it comes to selling online. Just when you think you're aiming your marketing and creative efforts at the right target market, think again and think smaller.

In a perfect world, your e-mail service provider is flexible, responsive to your needs, knowledgeable of new technology and cost effective. It is not a perfect world, and working with an e-mail vendor can be frustrating as you negotiate contracts and customize service plans.