Email marketing is still very powerful. Though social media has more of our attention lately, it doesn't compete with the fact that the messages sent to a double opt-in list do actually drop in the personal inbox of the prospective reader. Like direct (snail) mail, it is a very successful methodology for marketing. Unlike direct (snail) mail, it is not very expensive.

There are a few rules you must follow for email marketing if you want to avoid the [spammer] label.

People complain about getting mail from people they don't know when they don't have a reference point.

Mentioning someone is an important social act. It's a good way to get on their radar as well as give credit for links or help. If someone does a good job, telling the world about it boosts their ego, helps the community know about their service of offering and also increases your recognition to that person. Telling tens of thousands of people you appreciate someone gets their attention.

Using Google Buzz for networking and business communications.

Beginning this month, I'm going to hold a Q&A session which is open to anyone. Add your question to this blog post as a comment and I'll consider it for answers. If I choose not to answer your question, I will address it. So, please share!

The theme this month is online stores, but it's a free for all. So, ask anything you like.

Questions already selected for answer(s) this month:

You will have a lot of services enabled over the course of your internet presence. All this stuff can easily become overwhelming. The easiest thing to do is create a schedule and a disciplined list of tasks. I'm going to work on creating a practical tutorial on this process this week. I hope you'll have time to review it when I post.

Inserting a teaser break tells the system where you want to break your page up so that a smaller portion of it shows up at the front page of your website or perhaps the stream, whether it be a blog, news bulletins or even product descriptions.

The system makes some assumptions about where you may want to place a break. Sometimes you may have a very specific idea about where you would like to see a break. This is where the insert break button helps.

Learn how to build a TASC driven web presence. TASC is your one stop store and content mangement system. Most of TASC is designed for novice internet users. If you can surf, you can build. This series of tutorials will lead you through the process of building a website through point, click, type and publish. If you can send an email you can control your website.

It's important to make finding things as easy as possible for your Facebook fans and friends. Links help. You can add several links (URL/websites) to your Facebook profile.

Click on the edit icon in the "Information" box of your profile. You can choose to show or hide any portion of your recorded personal information by checking or unchecking it here. To show websites, check it.

To add or edit your links, click on "Edit Information."

The Facebook profile view is the part people see both before they friend you (the parts you make public) and when they land on your profile after they've clicked on your name somewhere in their feed, post friending. It's important to avoid clutter or messiness, but include relevant information like your website, blog and Facebook fan page.

Using the "View All" option to find and friend fans of your page can be time consuming and painful. Once you find one you want to friend, you lose the screen and have to start over. There is an easier way. Using the tabs feature of your browser and the control key (or Apple key on your Mac) you can click on a link and open a new tab. You can also use the right mouse click to do the same thing by bring up the dialog menu and choosing "Open in new tab."