CMS Launch

It’s a story you’ve heard before…

Unknown programmer (or team of yet-to-be-discovered geniuses) creates the new “it” website, sofware, or service.

We can’t resist to tell you how cool “it” is… how cool we are for making it. (And we get extra points if we get to use the words “AJAX” or “Web 2.0″)

But that’s why most content management systems suck… they’re built for the glorification of the programmer… not the person using the tool.

Most website tools fail to answer these simple questions:

• Who is this tool designed to help?
• What do they want?
• How can it help them achieve their goals?

The “Who” Is You

Most startups love to dedicate a lot of web space talking about “Who we are”. Reality is… no one truly cares.

I want you to know… I get it. This isn’t about me, my background, or some amazing story of perseverence over insurmountable odds.

This is about you, how you build websites, the frustrations you have with existing tools, and how you wish things could be… if someone actually listened to what you wanted.

The Million Dollar Car - That Only Makes Left Hand Turns

Here’s an analogy of how I view the current state of content management system choices available to web designers and entrepreneurs:

Imagine CNN announces that Detroit has created the world’s most expensive and technologically advanced car to ever touch asphault. It’s got GPS, DVD, autopilot (think Knight Rider), goes from zero to sixty in two seconds flat, runs on tap water… on and on…

But it only makes left hand turns.

Doh!

All the bells and whistles in the world don’t mean squat if the engineers started with a flawed concept of how you’re going to use the tool.

If I’m competing against an industry of car makers that have all started with the same “left turn only” viewpoint of the end user then all I have to do is create one that makes left and right hand turns… not another “me-too” vehicle with better bells and whistles.

How I Discovered What You Want

1. I do what you do 7 days a week
2. I asked for feedback from others like you… and then I listened

If you consider yourself to be a website designer or an entrepreneur that’s computer savvy enough to create even a basic website, then I have a feeling I know what makes you tick, what gets you upset, what your goals are, and what major obstacles stand in your way.

I make my living designing websites for clients and running other internet based businesses - unrelated to programming or web design.

Since we have a lot in common, it’s easy for me to know what you want and why the existing website tools don’t give you everything you need.

But just to make sure I wasn’t overlooking anything… I asked for feedback from folks like you and paid close attention to what they told me.

Another product I sell online is purchased by website designers and entrepreneurs. I recently told them about the upcoming launch of this content management system and asked for their feedback.

I got lots of emails… tons of encouragement… some cries for help… and fantastic ideas.

Two of those ideas I’m putting into the content management system right now.

Here’s What Others Like You Have Told Me

Some of this I already knew because of what I do 7 days a week. But some of it came from asking the right questions and then listening. (Amazing what you can pick up when you listen!)

If you’re a webdesigner then I think you’re looking for a website management tool that’s

• Easy to use
• Has almost no learning curve
• Works with any layout or web design style (think css, divs, tables, Flash, whatever you want to use)
• Simple as hell to “skin” — in other words, a super-easy template process
• Is “client proof” so you don’t have to go behind your client and constantly fix their mistakes
• Is so easy for a “newbie” to use that even the most computer-phobic client can learn it in 5 minutes or less with one arm tied behind their back
• Allows you to “private label” the admin panel so that your logo (or your client’s logo) can be proudly shown
• And makes it painful for clients to leave you for another web designer

If you’re an entrepreneur that uses websites to promote a business (or the website itself is the business) then I think you want a tool that is:

• Reliable and secure
• Quick to use
• Simple to learn (say, five minutes…?)
• Flexible enough to use any layout created by any web designer you hire
• Smart enough to use custom code created by any programmer you hire (with zero learning curve on the programmer’s part)
• Intuitive enough to hand over to an employee to manage

With each post leading up to the launch of this content management system I’ll always bring it back to “what this means for you”.

If I forget, slap me up side the head and remind me.

And in the meantime, please chime in with your thoughts about what you would want if you could make the perfect website creation and management tool.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 13th, 2006 at 2:24 pm and is filed under Launch . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.