# Starter sequence: email-only, give first

Our recommended five-email sequence in Victoria AI, spaced 2, 3, 5 and 5 days apart, where every email gives something, with full copy.

This is a starting point, not a finished campaign. Replace the bracketed parts and the sign-off with your own, and keep only claims you can back up. It follows our recommended email-only shape: five short emails that give, give, give.

It uses one AI Personalization field, `{company_highlight}`, in email 2. Create it before activating (see "Create the AI Personalization field" below), or rewrite that line.

## The email-only starter sequence

```json sequence
{
  "variation_a": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "type": "email",
      "subject": "question about {company}",
      "content": "Hi {first_name},\n\nI help [home services companies like yours] [fill their schedule in the slow months] by [a few words on how].\n\nMind if I send over [the give: a short sample / a quick audit of your listing]?\n\nJordan",
      "delay": 2
    },
    {
      "id": 2,
      "type": "email",
      "subject": "{first_name}, quick one",
      "content": "Hi {first_name},\n\nSaw {company_highlight}.\n\nAre you taking on more [jobs like that] this month?\n\nIf so, [the give] might help. Happy to send it over.\n\nJordan",
      "delay": 3
    },
    {
      "id": 3,
      "type": "email",
      "subject": "an idea for {company}",
      "content": "Hi {first_name},\n\nOne thing that's working for [companies like yours] right now: [one concrete idea, in a line or two].\n\nNo need to reply. I thought it might be useful.\n\nJordan",
      "delay": 5
    },
    {
      "id": 4,
      "type": "email",
      "subject": "[the give] for {company}",
      "content": "Hi {first_name},\n\nI put together [a one-page checklist / a short sample] on [the problem you solve], for [companies like yours].\n\nWant me to send it? It takes [a few minutes] to read.\n\nJordan",
      "delay": 5
    },
    {
      "id": 5,
      "type": "email",
      "subject": "last note",
      "content": "Hi {first_name},\n\nI'll leave it here so I'm not crowding your inbox.\n\nIf [the problem] comes up later, just reply. The offer of [the give] still stands.\n\nJordan",
      "delay": 0
    }
  ],
  "variation_b": []
}
```

Replace "Jordan" with the sender's name.

## Create the AI Personalization field

In the Sequence editor, open email 2, select **Insert Variable → AI Personalization → +**, and create:

- **Field Name**: `company_highlight`
- **AI Instructions**: "From the company's website, name one specific service, service area or recent project, written as a short phrase that can follow 'Saw' in a message, such as 'that you've added pool resurfacing'. Under 15 words. No generic praise."
- **Fallback value**: "your website and the work your team does"
- **Data Sources**: **Website**

See [Personalization that works](https://docs.versionseven.ai/playbook/personalization-instructions).

## Why it works

- **Email 1**: the "I help X do Y by Z" opener, then a give-first CTA. No link, no meeting ask. See [Openers that get replies](https://docs.versionseven.ai/playbook/openers).
- **Email 2**: the question opener: one specific, true observation from the AI field, then one question about it, and the give offered again.
- **Email 3**: gives an idea outright and asks for nothing.
- **Email 4**: offers a concrete resource, in two lines, rather than pasting it in. Giving is not a newsletter nobody opted into.
- **Email 5**: a short close that leaves the offer open and makes "not now" an easy answer.
- **Delays**: 2, 3, 5 and 5 days, our usual email-only cadence: close together while the first email is fresh, then more room so the sequence never crowds the inbox. The last step's wait is 0 because nothing follows it.
- **Personalization**: `{first_name}` and `{company}`, plus the one AI field in email 2. A lead with no first name gets "Hi there,", and one with no company name gets "your company", so the copy reads correctly either way.
- **Who it suits**: buyers who answer email more than LinkedIn, such as home services companies. See [Who to target and on which channel](https://docs.versionseven.ai/playbook/targeting-and-channels).

When someone replies, the sequence stops and the Appointment Setter can take over: deliver the give, follow up and work the deal. Before activating, check that the sending domain passes its SPF, DKIM and DMARC check; see [DNS setup](https://docs.versionseven.ai/help/dns-setup).