Dear Email Diva:I've been asked to research some e-mail marketing packages for our nonprofit company. Is there any site that provides a good overall comparison of some of the top competitors?

In the world of email marketing and marketing in general, everyone loves to discuss testing. On the surface it seems quite straightforward: test a subject line here and there, maybe a different creative, maybe different offers to different segments. In actuality it is likely the most misunderstood practice in email marketing and the most poorly administered.

Years ago, I followed up on a failed lead generation program by speaking to the salespeople who called the leads. They told me, "I called and asked if they wanted the product, but they weren't interested." When I approached their manager to diplomatically question their sales skills, I was told, "Well, we had other priorities, so we couldn't pay much attention to your program."If you've ever heard statements like these before, you know that creating a lead generation program the sales team will support is a challenge. This is where email can be a real hero. Try an eNurturing program, …

It's interesting to see just how little email seems to have played a role in one of the biggest marketing events of the year. Companies spending millions on one minute Super Bowl spots apparently spent little, if any, time thinking about how email might fit into the overall mix.

How can a company that's doing almost everything right still improve its email program?

What does engagement really mean to an interactive marketer? This is the theme of our monthly newsletter (internal) from several of our thought leaders in search, business intelligence, advance optimization -- and, of course, email eolutions (my group).