Multichannel Surfing

A few years back, maybe even during the 2004 Presidential Election season, I opted in to receive e-mail messages from the Democratic Party. Now that I’m trying to opt out, the Democratic Party doesn’t want me to.

The latest e-mail I received from the party seemed like it was going to make it easy to unsubscribe if I just clicked a link. more

Long before Catalog Choice, long before the DMA’s initiative to cut mailbox clutter, comedian Andrew Kennedy’s father had this whole whole junk mail removal thing all figured out.

Here’s a clip from Kennedy’s Comedy Central special (scroll down, the coding is a little funky!). Not sure if this worked, but the idea was brilliant, and I’m sure the postman in New Canaan, CT was a little confused.

By the way, Kennedy in in Comedy Central’s Stand-up Showdown. You can vote for his video here and see his entire special on Jan. 31.

Hemisphere Marketing president Gina Valentino was on MCM Radio earlier this week to talk about what she learned (and taught) at ACCM.

Valentino had a busy week at ACCM, with the Medical Center and the Catalog Critiques and speaking in sessions and all sort of good stuff like that. And the vibe she got from the show: Merchants are eager to get back on track. Industry gloom and doom was hardly on the mind of attendees. more

Let my loss be your gain, readers!

Once in a while we close an issue of MULTICHANNEL MERCHANT, some content hits the cutting room floor. Really, it happens, it’s just just what some guy at a bar told you about being in a deleted scene in Star Trek (that’s just a pick-up line!).

One piece that hit the floor came from Steve Spangler of Steve Spangler Science. And it came from an ACCM session about social media. And if there was ever a reason why merchants should blog, it’s this figure right here: more

Geoff Batrouney of Estee Marketing Group was our guest Monday on MCM Radio, and you can listen to and download the podcast here.

So what did Batrouney have to say? Well, for starters, he says the list industry is not deal. Sure, some shops have closed up and there has been some consolidation, but merchants are still renting lists. As for who’s representing mailers on Capital Hill, Batrouney has a few choice words, too. But I won;t play spoiler, listen for yourself.

ACMA executive director Hamilton Davison will be our guest at 1 p.m. today on the first-ever episode of MCM Radio, Multichannel Merchant’s new Internet radio show, streaming live to your PC or Mac on BlogTalkRadio.com (and soon at MultichannelMerchant.com).

So why is Multichannel Merchant launching an Internet radio channel? We feel it will help us bring Multichannel Merchant’s coverage of today’s news stories to a whole new level. Not only that, we’ll bring in multichannel retail experts who will offer their tips and advice on everything from streamlining your costs to building a better Web site to keeping your operations under control. more