Recent statistics show that the average person spends three seconds looking at her inbox to decide what to open and only four seconds reading your e-mail. Yet the impact your brand can make in that time can increase an e-mail's lifespan significantly. Whether your e-mail is read or not, it makes a statement just showing up in the inbox. Here are some of the things your e-mail could be saying:

Start somewhere; start anywhere. Even the smallest change you make today will start you down the path to the right strategy.

here's a calculator that allows you to calculate the value of an email address on your list. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Study finds that marketers who successfully grow their subscriber bases are constantly reallocating their budgets from list growth tactics that are not performing to those that are.

Anna Billstrom shares some tips on picking a new ESP

One of the most important things to remember when you communicate with customers is that it’s not all about you and what you find interesting. Your customers are always asking the same question: What’s in it for me?

Lauren Skena talks about how to successfully promote and prove the value of your e-mail program to your company’s decision makers

Mark Brownlow of Email Marketing Reports shares his takeaways from MarketingSherpa's European Email Summit.

another great article by Stephan Pollard

Findings from the study include: E-mail is the most mentioned successful tactic overall ( cited by 89%), followed by pay-for-performance search placement (80%) and SEO/natural search (53%). 88% of retailers listed e-mail as a high priority for the year, largely to retain customers. 71% plan to send segmented e-mails to customers based on preferences and purchase data. 55% will use e-mails to highlight new product availability, while 53% will use e-mails to feature online-only promotions.