Purple Cow Audit

Purple Cow Audit

Quality gate for affiliate marketers: score a product's remarkability 1-10 before promoting it. Based on Seth Godin's Purple Cow — if the product isn't remarkable, no amount of marketing skill will make it convert sustainably. The key question: "Would I recommend this to a friend WITHOUT earning a commission?"

Stage

S1: Research — Evaluating a program's worthiness IS part of research and discovery. This is a quality gate before you invest time creating content, landing pages, and email sequences.

When to Use

• User is considering promoting a specific product
• User asks "is this product worth promoting?"
• User wants to evaluate product quality before investing time
• User says "purple cow", "remarkable", "audit", "evaluate", "quality check"
• Before investing time in S2-S5 skills for a specific product
• User has a list of programs from affiliate-program-search and needs to pick the best

Input Schema

product:                    # REQUIRED
  name: string              # Product name
  url: string               # Product website
  description: string       # OPTIONAL — what it does
  reward_value: string      # OPTIONAL — commission rate
  tags: string[]            # OPTIONAL — categories

comparison_products: string[] # OPTIONAL — competitors to compare against
                              # Default: auto-discovered

Chaining from S1 affiliate-program-search: If run, evaluate the recommended_program.

Workflow

Step 1: Research the Product

1. web_search: "[product] review 2024 2025" — find recent reviews
2. web_search: "[product] vs" OR "[product] alternative" — find competitors
3. web_search: "[product] complaints" OR "[product] problems" — find issues
4. Check product website for: pricing transparency, unique features, social proof

Step 2: Score Remarkability

Rate each dimension 1-10:

| Dimension | Question | Weight | |---|---|---| | Uniqueness | Does it do something no competitor does? | 20% | | Quality | Is it genuinely excellent at its core job? | 20% | | Story | Does using it make you feel/look different? | 15% | | Word of mouth | Would users tell friends unprompted? | 15% | | Design | Is the experience delightful, not just functional? | 10% | | Problem fit | Does it solve a real, painful problem? | 10% | | Trust | Transparent pricing, good support, real social proof? | 10% |

Composite score = weighted average (1-10)

Step 3: Make Recommendation

Based on composite score:

• 8-10: PROMOTE — This is a Purple Cow. Go all in.
• 6-7: PROMOTE WITH ANGLE — Good product, needs strong positioning. Identify your unique angle.
• 4-5: CAUTION — Mediocre product. Only promote if commission is exceptional AND you can add significant value through bonuses.
• 1-3: SKIP — Not remarkable. Promoting this will damage your reputation. Find an alternative.

Step 4: Identify Remarkable Angles

For products scoring 6+, identify:

1. The 1-2 features that ARE remarkable (Purple Cow elements)
2. The angles that make it share-worthy
3. The audience segment for whom this IS a Purple Cow (even if not for everyone)

Step 5: Self-Validation

• [ ] Score is evidence-based (cited reviews, features, data)
• [ ] Recommendation is honest (not inflated by high commission)
• [ ] Remarkable angles are specific (not generic praise)
• [ ] Comparison with competitors is fair
• [ ] The "would I recommend without commission" test was honestly applied

Output Schema

output_schema_version: "1.0.0"
purple_cow_audit:
  product_name: string
  composite_score: number       # 1-10 weighted
  recommendation: string        # "promote" | "promote_with_angle" | "caution" | "skip"
  scores:
    uniqueness: number
    quality: number
    story: number
    word_of_mouth: number
    design: number
    problem_fit: number
    trust: number

  remarkable_angles: string[]   # What makes it a Purple Cow (for 6+)
  red_flags: string[]           # Concerns identified
  alternative_products: string[] # Better options if score  **Next step — copy-paste this prompt:**
> "Design an irresistible offer for [product] using these remarkable angles: [list from audit]" → runs `grand-slam-offer`

## Flywheel Connections

### Feeds Into
- `grand-slam-offer` (S4) — remarkable angles become the offer's core messaging
- `viral-post-writer` (S2) — remarkable elements are what makes content shareable
- `affiliate-blog-builder` (S3) — audit insights inform honest review content
- `landing-page-creator` (S4) — remarkable features highlighted on the page

### Fed By
- `affiliate-program-search` (S1) — products to evaluate
- `competitor-spy` (S1) — competitive landscape for comparison

### Feedback Loop
- `ab-test-generator` (S6) reveals which remarkable angles resonate with audience → refine what "remarkable" means for your specific audience

## References

- `shared/references/case-studies.md` — Real affiliate success stories
- `shared/references/affiliate-glossary.md` — Terminology
- `shared/references/flywheel-connections.md` — Master connection map

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [Affitor](https://github.com/Affitor)
- **Source:** [Affitor/affiliate-skills](https://github.com/Affitor/affiliate-skills)
- **License:** MIT
- **Homepage:** https://list.affitor.com

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.