There's nothing like a good laugh -- especially when things are tough. Hard times for consumers mean soft sales for retailers; so now, more than ever, we need humor to lighten us up. And because we're glued to the computer, we need humor delivered directly to the inbox. How to send laughs effectively via email? We gathered some giggle- (and groan-) inspiring examples to find out.

Since Gutenberg's introduction of movable type in the 1450s, information has yearned to be free. The U.S. Constitution codified the legal basis of copyright in 1787. As long as the printed word and art have been monetized, their producers have been protected from free distribution and compensated for their work. Today, that model is under attack by the transformational technology of the Internet and its ability to simultaneously distribute content. This shift in distribution has forced content companies to devise entirely new business models to maintain profitability. Can newspapers follow?

In the Hawaiian language, "Aloha" means both "Hello" and "Goodbye." In email, "Hello" and "Goodbye" are associated with two different ends of the digital relationship -- but, done well, they both help increase engagement and minimize subscriber churn.

Our industry is currently facing one of the most significant threats to its health and continued existence. I'm not referring to the threat of social networking, video marketing or other emerging marketing channels. What has me concerned is self-inflicted by those of us within the email space: the rampant over-mailing of promotional messages.

It's 6:45 a.m., and I just had the most startling revelation of my professional career: I am personally responsible for the deterioration of open and click-through rates for email marketers! I am staring at three days worth of email in my personal account, and of the 106 messages, I opened nine.

While many of us cooked a Thanksgiving turkey last week, there are signs that many retailers have already started cooking the golden goose -- the email goose. Email is a wonderful tool -- measurable, cost-effective, easily deployable and convenient -- all gold in the marketing world. My guess is you agree, or you wouldn't read this column. However, as the economy falters it is easy to lose track of the fact that while email is a wonderful relationship-building tool, it can do major damage when used incorrectly.

Particularly this year and at this time of the year, you don't want to squander any selling opportunities. But that's exactly what retailers are doing when they take forever to honor subscription requests.

We have a covenant with our email subscribers. They provide their email address (and hopefully, permission) and we provide valuable content that they find worthwhile. Unfortunately, we email marketers have broken this covenant time and time again. We don't always get explicit permission. Many of our messages are untargeted, poorly timed and irrelevant. We don't bother to customize or take into account the job title, ZIP code or lifecycle stage. We send way more frequently than is meaningful or welcome.

David Baker's recent "Fab 5" article inspired me to choose my own favorite mailers. I get hundreds of marketing emails and many of them impress me individually, but my Fab 5 is made up of marketers who keep me consistently engaged.

I was inspired by David Baker's article last week about his recent "Seat at the Table" meeting in San Francisco. Specifically, this line caught my attention: "thinking outside your channel and into the minds of your customers." After reading the article, I realized I had the perfect segue. Email marketing, as we probably all agree, is not the be-all and end-all. As David said, it's simply one piece of the puzzle: a piece integrated with many other pieces, working together, to build a consumer experience with a brand (online or off).