The JAI Letter

Okay, here's another trait I have that I'm not sure other people possess. Maybe they do… but I can't tell for certain. By the time I'm done with the email, probably you might understand. So here's the thing: whenever I listen to a certain song over and over again, I tend to tune out. That is, I become oblivious to the song's lyrics. Except of course, when I pay attention to it. And I see this a lot as I've subscribed to ecom emails lately. Take a hypothetical brand for example, JAI's...

I don’t know about you, but whenever I get a graphic email, I tend to scan the pics and little text attached to the email (except of course, if I’m critiquing the email.)And to be frank, why should I? It’s a series of pics, isn’t it? Well, turns out I’m not the only one. Even Ben Settle did admit that most readers tend to do that when they get an email. And that begs the question: are pictures really enough to sell?The answer is a big, phat NO. Now, I’m a copywriter, so if you accuse me of...

An Ecom brand owner once told Ben Settle, “Ben I get your point… but your ideas won't work for my niche.” And to that Ben replied, “says who Spanky?” I can't say for sure if Ben actually called that dude Spanky to his face. But it doesn't matter to me either way. Ben's got humour in bucket loads. And loads of copywriting knowledge as well. [FYI, Ben is my favorite copywriter, and in my own opinion, the greatest 21st century copywriter alive. Next up for me are Alin Dragu, Chris Orzechowski,...

I’ve got a webinar in 15 mins so i’d be keeping this short and sweet. So, except you’ve been living under a rock, I’m pretty sure you’ve that concept of the face of the brand.And it’s commonly assumed to mean an individual that personifies a brand… someone whom customers can relate to. In most cases, it’s the founder or some senior executive that’s been with the brand for an extended period of time. Asides being a spokesman for the brand in public, this individual is the person whom people...

As I write this it’s 1:50 pm on a beautiful, sunny Monday afternoon in Southern Nigeria. In the West, Spring is on its way… and over here, the rainy season seems to be arriving and boy, with full force. Like, the heavy rain we had on Saturday was out of this world.Gratefully tho, network connectivity wasn’t affected for lots of days. That said, you’re welcome to Update No. 8. So, what’s new in my life this month? Well… nothing much. Truth be told, I’m one of those boring fellas that maintains...

It's 9:13 pm as I write this… honestly, it's been a long and tiring day. Now, I’m supposed to write my Monthly Update today. Sadly, I’m too fatigued to. So I'm just writing in to tell you that you'd get an email from me with the full details on Monday. Meanwhile, have a beautiful night's rest. JAI

This is the first in a series of (hopefully) many more “How I'd do it" type of emails. So basically, the format is I'd take a question, post, rant, tweet… whatever and write an email about it through the lens of “what would JAI do if he were in this exact situation?” So, here we go… “I don't know what to write that isn't just 'here's our new drop.’” Okay, I see this one a lot. Now, almost every Ecom brand is guilty of this. The only time an email comes in from the brand is when a new line of...

Ever since I switched niches, I've been making the transition day by day. Currently, my About section is ready, a new hammer is ready as well but one thing isn't. And that’s my lead magnet. So I'm throwing this open, does anyone have Lead Magnet ideas for the Ecom niche? All ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your attention to this matter. JAI

Many years ago, a prominent watch brand hired Joe Sugarman to write ads for them. Mind you, this was the 70s and 80s and Joe was one of the most prolific copywriters in the US, right up there with Gary Halbert. So if you couldn't get Gary to write your ads, then you better get Joe. Now, this company made a proposition that at first thought no copywriter would ever agree to do… …they asked Joe to write an ad promoting a single watch in 12 different colors. To a non-copywriter, that makes...

Lately, I've been wondering… About what, you might ask? Well, it's gonna seem stupid when I tell you, but hear me out. Em, do Ecom brands know what, uh… the function of a welcome sequence is? It's a stupid question, I know. But stick with me for a minute and it'll make sense to you. You see, I started thinking about this when I broke down the ads and emails for an ecom brand in the supplements niche and sent it to their CMO. And one of the things I pointed out was that the Welcome Email was...