A Very Happy Email Geek Holiday

I’d like to start by thanking the great people we have in the email marketing world.  I know that I—and many others have said this many times—but I don’t know of any other marketing channel where people share information, tactics, data, etc. like the email geeks do. Furthermore, they are always at the ready to help each other figure out problems encountered with wild abandon.

For this, I salute the email geeks with a glass of Good Cheer! (Actually 12-year old scotch, but who’s really watching.)

One of the best groups for sharing email marketing knowledge is Only Influencers.  A distinguished, funny, albeit motley crew of the best minds and people in email marketing. (Social and Mobile too!)  Only Influencers is the brain-child of long-time email industry smart-@ss Bill McCloskey.  It’s an invitation-only network, and to gain entrance you’ll need an invite from one of the current members.  (If you’d like an invite, please feel free to contact me and I’ll see if I can slide you in.)

But even having an invite doesn’t guarantee access; you still have to go through Bill’s screening process.

Some of the people you’ll find there include such email marketing thought leaders as:

Loren McDonald – SilverPop

Ryan Phelan – BlueHornet/Digital River

Dela Quist – Alchemy Worx

John Caldwell – Red Pill Email

Dennis Dayman – Eloqua

Andrew Kordek – Trendline Interactive

Anna Yeaman – StyleCampaign

Dave Hendricks – Live Intent

Chester Bullock – Merkle, Inc.

Laura Atkins – Word to the Wise

Mark Brownlow – Email Marketing Reports

Justine Jordan – Litmus

Elliot Ross – Email Design Review

Scott Cohen – Inbox Group

Andrew Bonar – EmailVision

Jim Ducharme – GetResponse

Martin Lieberman – Constant Contact

Jordan Cohen – Pontiflex

Like with most lists, this one is just a sampling of the great people you’ll meet and exchange ideas with.  If you were left off the list, my apologies. If I tried to include all 300+ people this post would never end.  Leave a comment with your favorite email marketing people if you’d like.

But you get the idea: smart people, great minds, and a knowledge base second to none.

So as the holidays approach, thanks to all the email geeks, whether you’re on the OI list, just starting in the field, or one of the many unsung heroes working in the email marketing trenches.

A special thanks to Bill McCloskey who created this great resource so we can share, vent, get on our soapbox and make new friends.  A tip of the hat good sir!

Enjoy your holidays and remember – Email is still has the best ROI of any marketing channel.

THRIVE WITH EMAIL IN 2012 AND BEYOND!

Cheers, Chris