We must bid adieu to the old era of mass e-mail advertising--if not for the sake of our own careers, then on behalf of consumers everywhere who are tired of irrelevant and uninteresting e-mail messages.

Ah, the New Year--a time for reflection and resolution. It's a good time to think about how you are going to improve your e-mail program in 2006. Here are my resolutions to get you started.

It's the end of the year and the holidays are approaching, so nothing heavy this week. Just a little grab bag of this and that, some with a light touch.

Against all good sense, I'm entering the holiday-vs-Christmas, politically correct terminology fray. To all those I'm about to offend on both sides of the issue, I apologize in advance!

David Baker offers more perspectives on the controversial subject of unsolicited e-mail communications.

My esteemed colleague and fellow E-mail Insider David Baker and I thought it would be interesting to indulge in some intra-E-mail-Insider debate. It all started when David posted a job description on a private e-mail discussion group he and I are part of.

"If you're not falling," we told our kids when they were beginning skiers, "you're not learning." By encouraging them to take risks rather than avoid an embarrassing tumble, we helped them develop their skills. Likewise, with e-mail, you'll learn more and learn faster if you try new things and "test big."

Now that's a paradoxical question. Permission means I give you authorization to send me an e-mail, right? And last time I checked, SPAM is the act of sending unsolicited e-mail. This was an interesting week for me, as I had to challenge my own opinion of what constitutes SPAM.

Well, it's that time of year again--time to put on my best Amazing Kreskin imitation and predict the future. My No. 1 prediction: we are going to see a renaissance in e-mail marketing.

Sometimes I give advice you wouldn't expect from an e-mail marketing consultant. So here's one such tip: don't start an e-mail program.