Global Moxie

My alter ego.

Well. I never thought I’d hear the names Josh Clark and David Hasselhoff spoken in the same breath. But there they are, frolicking together mid-sentence over at Gadgetopia.

Gadgetopian Deane Barker has written some kind words about my pitch for Big Medium 2. Or, more precisely, my anti-pitch. He titles his post “Why people love Josh Clark” (!).

“People love Josh Clark like Germans love David Hasselhoff. And here’s a page that may demonstrate why,” Deane writes. He’s talking about my “Is Big Medium Right for Me?” page, which includes pointers to software packages better suited to certain projects than Big Medium.

This may not seem like much, but, in this page, Josh explains a multitude of reasons why you shouldn’t use Big Medium. Provided you’re still reading at the bottom, then I suppose you’re a customer.

This page is commendable as all get-out. Too many commercial products try to pretend they’re something they’re not, and that they can be all things to all people. Big Medium, on the other hand, seems to be all about knowing your limitations. How many other commercial software packages have you seen with a “marketing” page like this?

Seem weird to point people to other products? A little off-kilter? Possibly subversive? Nah, it’s just a little something I call truth in advertising.

I’m trying to steer clear of the usual marketing hoo-ha. I want to be open about what Big Medium can and cannot do, and to point people to better alternatives if that’s what they need. I want people to use Big Medium only if it fits like a glove.

Browse the sites of content management systems large and small, and the copy is pretty much interchangeable. Everyone seems eager to oversell their product as the right tool for every job. No such thing. The truth is that the “right tool” depends on lots of different variables: the type of site being built, the skills of the person building it, the know-how of the folks who will actually manage it, time available, etc.

With so many content management systems (CMS’s) out there, I run into lots of completely miserable window shoppers who can’t figure out where they should even begin. I’m hoping that my overview of the CMS marketplace can at least give a rough map to help them find their way.

In truth, there’s a selfish aspect to this, too. When a customer tries to use Big Medium for something that it’s not well suited for, he/she often gets frustrated or confused, and that takes draws down more support time on my part. The situation makes both of us unhappy, and what’s the point of that? Best to be direct and helpful at the outset.