Q&As

Online advertiser ValueClick Inc. will pay a record $2.9 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that its advertising claims and e-mails were deceptive and violated federal law, the largest penalty ever awarded to resolve Can-Spam violations, according to the FTC.

Robert Alan Soloway, dubbed the

Sure, most marketers consider themselves part of the fast-changing, celebrated, knowledge-based economy. But they can learn a lot from those Rust Belt heavy-metal companies that managed to survive an upheaval of their own. When globalization uprooted American industry, manufacturers and distributors rapidly turned to technology—and ultimately the Web—to reshape their processes. Learn how SaaS may do the same for marketers.

How do you know a customer like Kelly Hlavinka has defected from your business for a better deal? Hopefully you’re checking your customer database and seeing the warning signs. Find out how she would set up a defection defense strategy to start trying to lure customers like herself back.

Make one mistake, and your customer lifetime value can descend like a jet landing at JFK. Find out why a five-hour plane ride got Erik Hauser thinking about switching airline allegiances.

You know you’re the expert. But the problem is, there’s a blogger out there stealing your thunder, and pushing you and your expertise down the search engine rankings. Find out why blogging is just as important as search engine optimization and pay per click strategies.

American financial services institutions are increasingly their use of direct marketing, according to a Direct Marketing Association report which found that the $13.4 billion that U.S. banks and credit institutions spent last year on direct marketing advertising generated $178.8 billion in sales.

Viva Terra

Lillian Vernon Corp., which filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, has reached a tentative agreement to sell the cataloger to an unnamed company for $9.3 million.

Children