Some business books are dashed off to burnish credentials, as if “thought leadership” is a matter of page count. Others — the ones to read, learn from, and read again — distill hard-won, genuine expertise in a field that the author genuinely cares about. Kath Pay is the latter kind, and her book (and company) Holistic Email Marketing is most definitely one to read and learn from. She’s also a terrific podcast guest, as you’ll see in this episode of The Future Of Email.

In the book, Kath characterizes email marketing with 3 legs — marketing principles, technology and creativity. All three come up in this master-class conversation about email marketing. As a strong proponent of principles — like “lead with strategy” and “email is the push channel” — Kath has a way of effortlessly knocking complex problems into solvable form.

Among the interesting side-trips in this conversation is Kath’s observation about the budget priorities of businesses. Kudos to her for saying what so many marketers think — companies will spend tons of money on technology, without enough investment in staff + training + time + creativity to really use it.

The great news from this conversation — hopefully not a spoiler — is that a new edition of Holistic Email Marketing is looking likely. Get a sneak peek at some of the author’s thinking about that, and the future of email, in this fun conversation.