Jay Schwedelson drops a lot of truth bombs in this episode of the Marketing Smarts Live Show, and the most impressive one might just be that so-called "experts" aren't always the best source of information on email marketing.

"Most of the so-called experts are regurgitating old information, [so]...testing things is going to be your best path forward," he says. "You must be testing something every time you hit send."

Technology is changing. Things that were true 10 years ago no longer apply.

Jay and host George B. Thomas refer to the world of email marketing as "the Wild Wild West." "There are no more rules," Jay says, and then proves it by taking controversial stances.

Here are a few of them:

• Open rates can be valuable (what?!).
• Unsubscribes are a good thing, so don't let them freak you out.
• There's no such thing as ultimate success with email; and if things don't suck, you're probably doing fine (whew).

This episode also emphasizes the importance of segmentation, A/B-testing, and CTAs that offer a benefit instead of a task.