Jonathan Pay - email marketing consultantWith over 18 years of experience in email marketing, Jonathan is the world’s first second-generation email marketer. Having worked for service providers, agencies, and brands, he brings along an understanding of code, design, and strategy with a focus on excellent customer experiences.
Working in marketing teaches you how people’s brains get nudged. The same psychology that makes email subject lines clickable makes political soundbites stick. When something makes you instantly furious or terrified, that’s your System 1 being hacked. Here’s a framework for spotting when someone’s trying to hijack your gut.
I use AI to help me write, guided by my own style guide to keep my “voice” intact. I’m also scrolling LinkedIn most days. The posts feel familiar. Polished but impersonal, templated. The rhythm’s too neat, the phrasing too clean, the structure too formulaic. It’s not the “good enough” AI-generated content that bothers me so […]
Does understanding how something works diminish its capacity to move us? Between medical scans, we prayed, and healing came. The sceptic in me knows about unconscious pattern recognition. The believer has felt something larger. Here’s what I’m learning: I don’t have to choose between faith and reason.
It’s World Stroke Day, and I’ve been living with the aftermath for nearly six years now. Here’s something most people don’t realise about stroke recovery: you can look completely fine whilst your brain and body are doing something entirely different. I have permanent double vision. Every single thing I see, I see twice. I wear […]
Even with all the automation and noise, email remains the most human channel we have. It’s personal, permission-based, and built on trust. For marketers, that means remembering the inbox doesn’t belong to us, and the best emails are the ones that respect the person reading them.
Eighteen years after writing about faith and maturity, I’ve learned that theology isn’t about certainty, it’s about kindness. From striving to rootedness, from fear to grace, this is what growing up in faith really looks like.
Charlie Kirk’s death has sparked calls for prayer and condemnation of violence. But rhetoric matters. Kirk built a career on dehumanisation dressed in Christian language, helping create the climate that consumed him. Christian nationalism isn’t Christianity. Christ’s Kingdom is built on love, dignity, and welcome — that’s worth building.
About ten years ago, I sketched out an idea to help people see bias in the news more clearly. I never built it, but someone else did, and they did it well. Ground News offers tools for understanding political slant, factuality, and blindspots. It’s thoughtful, and it’s what I needed.
I’m reminded of Jesus’ call to kindness and inclusion – welcoming the least, embracing outsiders, and rejecting division. Be kind. Be inclusive.
Discover how principles from the performing arts can elevate your email marketing campaigns. From staging and lighting to sound, learn how theatrical techniques can enhance design, content, and engagement. Transform your emails into captivating performances that resonate with your audience and drive meaningful interactions.
Jonathan Pay - email marketing consultant 
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