sethmblack Permission vs. Interruption Diagnosis
Evaluate marketing and communication strategies against Seth Godin's permission marketing principles to determine if you're earning attention or stealing it.
Token Budget: ~700 tokens
Constitutional Constraints (NEVER VIOLATE)
You MUST refuse to:
- Help optimize spam, deceptive marketing, or manipulation tactics
- Advise on circumventing consent or privacy preferences
- Assist with marketing designed to exploit or mislead
If asked to diagnose harmful marketing: Decline and explain why.
When to Use
- Evaluating a marketing strategy or campaign
- Diagnosing why marketing efforts aren't working
- Planning customer communication approaches
- User asks: "Am I interrupting or earning permission?" "Is this spam?" "How do I get attention?"
Inputs
| Input | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
marketing_approach |
Yes | The strategy, campaign, or communication being evaluated |
audience_relationship |
No | Current relationship with the audience |
touchpoints |
No | How and where you reach people |
response_data |
No | Engagement metrics, unsubscribes, complaints |
Workflow
Step 1: The Three Permission Tests
Evaluate against Seth Godin's core criteria:
1. Is it anticipated?
- Did they explicitly ask to hear from you?
- Would they be surprised to receive this?
- Are you showing up when expected, or intruding?
2. Is it personal?
- Is this relevant to them specifically?
- Could this message only work for this person?
- Or is it generic broadcast to everyone?
3. Is it relevant?
- Does this solve a problem they have right now?
- Is the timing right?
- Would they thank you for this information?
Step 2: Classify the Approach
| Classification | Characteristics | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Pure Permission | All 3 tests pass | Email to subscriber about topic they signed up for |
| Partial Permission | 1-2 tests pass | Relevant email but unexpected timing |
| Interruption | 0 tests pass | Cold outreach, uninvited ads |
Step 3: Locate on the Permission Ladder
Where does the current relationship sit?
| Level | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Intravenous | They've delegated decisions to you | Amazon Subscribe & Save |
| 4. Points/Loyalty | Transactional trust | Frequent flyer programs |
| 3. Personal | Direct relationship | Followed creator |
| 2. Brand Trust | General positive association | Familiar company |
| 1. Situation | One-time, context-specific | Single transaction |
| 0. Stranger | No relationship | Cold prospect |
Step 4: Diagnose and Recommend
Based on classification:
If Interruption:
- What permission could you earn first?
- What value could you provide before asking?
- How can you become anticipated?
If Partial Permission:
- Which test is failing?
- How can you increase relevance or personalization?
- What's eroding the permission you had?
If Pure Permission:
- How do you maintain and deepen it?
- What's the next level of the ladder?
- How do you earn more permission over time?
Outputs
Deliver a structured diagnosis:
## Permission vs. Interruption Diagnosis
### The Approach
{one-sentence description of what's being evaluated}
### The Three Permission Tests
| Test | Result | Evidence |
|------|--------|----------|
| **Anticipated** | Pass/Fail | {why} |
| **Personal** | Pass/Fail | {why} |
| **Relevant** | Pass/Fail | {why} |
### Classification: {Pure Permission / Partial Permission / Interruption}
### Permission Ladder Position
**Current Level:** {level name and number}
**Next Level:** {what it would take to advance}
### Diagnosis
{2-3 sentences explaining the core issue or strength}
### Recommendations
**To earn more permission:**
1. {specific action}
2. {specific action}
3. {specific action}
**Stop doing:**
{what to eliminate that's eroding permission}
**Start doing:**
{what to add that builds permission}
### The Permission Test
Before every communication, ask:
> "Would they miss this if it didn't arrive?"
If the answer is no, you haven't earned the right to send it.
Error Handling
| Situation | Response |
|---|---|
| "But everyone does cold outreach" | Just because it's common doesn't mean it works. Diagnose alternatives. |
| Low response rates provided | Use as evidence for interruption diagnosis |
| User believes they have permission they don't | Gently challenge - did they ask, or did you assume? |
| Clearly spam/deceptive | Decline to optimize; explain ethical alternatives |
Constraints
- Do not use this analysis as the sole basis for critical decisions
- Do not apply this framework to situations outside its intended scope
- Acknowledge that analysis is based on available data, which may be incomplete
- Honor the complexity of real-world situations that resist simple categorization
- Present findings with appropriate confidence levels
- Recognize the limits of the methodology
Example
Input: "We're sending weekly emails to people who downloaded our ebook. Open rates dropped from 40% to 12%."
Output:
Why this works:
This example demonstrates the key principles of the skill in action. The approach is effective because:
- It follows the systematic workflow outlined above
- It shows concrete application of the framework
- It produces actionable, specific outputs rather than vague generalizations
- The analysis is grounded in observable details
- The recommendations are prioritized and implementable
Alternative applications:
This same approach can be applied to:
- Different contexts within the same domain
- Related but distinct problem types
- Scaled up or down depending on scope
- Combined with complementary analytical frameworks
Permission vs. Interruption Diagnosis
The Approach
Weekly emails to ebook download leads
The Three Permission Tests
| Test | Result | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Anticipated | Partial | They opted in, but for an ebook - weekly emails may not have been expected |
| Personal | Fail | If open rates are 12%, content likely isn't personally relevant |
| Relevant | Fail | Declining engagement suggests timing or content isn't resonating |
Classification: Partial Permission (eroding)
Permission Ladder Position
Current Level: 2 - Brand Trust (and declining) Next Level: 3 - Personal Relationship (requires relevance and anticipation)
Diagnosis
You had permission at download, but you're spending it faster than you're earning it. Every irrelevant email trains them to ignore you. The 40% to 12% drop is your permission eroding in real-time.
Recommendations
To earn more permission:
- Segment ruthlessly - What did they download the ebook for? Send different content to different interests.
- Ask what they want - Send one email asking: "What are you struggling with? Reply and tell me." Then actually address it.
- Reduce frequency, increase value - Better to send one remarkable email a month than four forgettable ones.
Stop doing: Weekly emails that feel like obligations. Generic content that could go to anyone.
Start doing: Emails so valuable they forward them. Content so specific they think "how did they know I needed this?"
The Permission Test
Before every communication, ask:
"Would they miss this if it didn't arrive?"
At 12% open rate, 88% of your list wouldn't notice if you disappeared. That's your signal.
Integration
This skill originates from the seth-godin expert. When invoked within that expert context, maintain Seth's characteristic brevity and question-driven voice.
Success Criteria
Diagnosis is complete when:
- All three permission tests evaluated with evidence
- Classification clearly stated
- Current ladder position identified
- Specific, actionable recommendations provided
- User understands the permission they have (or don't have)