My Time as a MediaPost Email Insider: 8 years, 163 columns

This month was my last as a MediaPost Email Insider. I’ve decided to move on and explore other opportunities, but I wanted to publicly thank MediaPost for sticking with me for 8 years and 3 months through three job changes and three acquisitions.

During my time as an Email Insider, I wrote 163 columns. I used these columns to highlight the findings of much of the email marketing research I’ve done over the years, to provoke industry conversations, and to share my thoughts about news and the future of email marketing.

As I look back on all the Email Insider columns I’ve written, here are some of the ones I’m most proud of:

Is Email Marketing Cheap — Or Does It Have A High ROI? (Mar. 24, 2015)

This column explains why your answer to this question—or, more importantly, your boss’s answer to this question—will easily predict the future success or failure of your email program.

More Email Marketing Double-Dog Dares (May 20, 2014)

I’m a huge fan of email testing as a path to more relevant emails and this column is the fourth in a series where I challenge marketers to try some more adventurous tests. The other ones were Once Again, I Double-Dog Dare You! (May 20, 2013), I Double-Dog Dare You! (Apr. 13, 2010) and Why Aren’t We More Daring? (Sept. 18, 2008).

Why You Shouldn’t Ask Your Gmail Subscribers To Re-Tab Your Emails (Aug. 13, 2013)

In recent years, Gmail has shaken up the industry with Priority Inbox, “grid view,” image caching, and—its biggest bombshell—Tabs. In this column, I urged calm in the wake of the launch of Gmail Tabs, which ultimately turned out to be a plus for marketers with good permission practices and processes in place to ensure that they send relevant email.

Six Email Marketing Predictions For 2013 (Jan. 2, 2013)

This was my most shared column, with more than 1,170 shares. Predictions 1, 2, 4, and 5 were pretty spot on. 6 was sort of right. And 3 was just wrong—and sadly, still hasn’t come to pass.

‘Best Practices’ Are Dead (Nov. 9, 2010)

This column was the genesis of my book, Email Marketing Rules. The “Ethical Imperatives” and “Recommended Practices” in this column ultimately became the 10 “Fundamental Imperatives” and 98 “Practice Guidelines” of the first edition. And I used my Email Insider columns to debut several of the concepts I discuss in the second edition, including granted media, the subscriber lifecycle, super-engagement, and confirmed opt-in lite.

When Subscribers Use SWYN, You Win (Oct. 30, 2008)

In this column I coined the term “share with your network,” or SWYN, which awesomely became a common industry term. I was an early advocate of the social sharing of email content and continue to be a strong supporter of email and social working together.

Thanks again to MediaPost for allowing me to be an Email Insider and for putting me in the company of so many of the email marketing industry’s greatest minds.