At some point in your email career -- maybe even in your last staff meeting -- you or someone on your team wondered, "Are we emailing our customers/subscribers too much?" I can't answer that question for you, because so much depends on the unique characteristics of your own email program. However, you can map out a thinking process that lets you reach your own conclusions. My self-help guide, which follows, can get you started.

There's still time to earn one of the coveted spots on the agenda at MediaPost's April's Email Insider Summit (EIS). The submission deadline for entries has been extended to March 15 to support a new direction in programming that the planning committee believes both presenters and the audience will applaud. Here's an update and tips on what you can do to become part of the program.

Since I work from home, I don't really spend a whole lot of time in the car. But I recently had a stint where I had a lot of driving to do and got to take full advantage of my XM Radio subscription -- and it made me feel old. II was tooling through the stations and found a station that was rocking out some Morrissey, and it made me smile. Then the DJ said, "you're listening to First Wave... Classic Alternative." It did get me thinking, though. Just because something is "classic" doesn't mean it isn't useful or entertaining. …

As marketers are held to higher and higher standards of accountability, it seems logical for all forms of marketing to be held to higher standards as well. This means many email marketers are going to face tough questions about how their programs are performing.

In trying to assert the superiority of email marketing over social, some have asked, "Why would you pour money into building a social presence on a platform that you don't truly own, that you don't control, and that can change without warning and without your input? By investing in email marketing, you are building an email list that you own." While there's no doubt that social is a rented media, I wholly disagree that email marketing is an owned channel. It's an earned channel. It's earned through relevancy.