Custom CMS looking for a new home

[meathead1234]

Hi guys,

I know I'm new here, but I spoke to Clinton and he kindly allowed me to post my site for sale here.

My business partner was in negotiations with a Dutch buyer, but unfortunately he pulled out due to funding problems with his investor abroad. Regular bidding on Flippa was up to $1000 but this was below our reserve so have relisted.

My partner listed the site on Flippa here:

http://flippa.com/auctions/91047/Wan...s-of-backlinks

Interest seems to have slowed lately on Flippa so wanted to offer it to people here.

Background to the site: we purchased it for a low four figure sum from a seller on Digital Point. We since integrated a forum with skin, spent a lot of time in-house on coding a number of new features (see Flippa listing) and launched the site.

We were featured on KillerStartups and I did a number of guest articles on relevant industry blogs.

We have invested a lot of time and money into this project, but I won't mention the "potential" word, and we are not looking to recoup all of our investment. We need to raise funds to move our main office so would like to sell quickly

If you have any questions, I'd be happy to chat over IM or Skype (I'm based in the UK). Just drop me a PM or post in the thread and I'll be in touch.

Thanks,
Thomas

[ClaytonL]

What advantages does the CMS have over the other CMSs already on the market?

[christopheravell]

Sorry man but I think this is going to be a hard sell. With many established CMS systems with large community this one either needs to offer a distinct difference, distinct advantage, or have some great marketing... Good luck, but don't be too disappointed if things don't go so well on the sale. I am sorry if you spent a bunch of money on this and now risk losing most of your investment.

I would try working with some coders on expanding the core and offering some unique functionality not offered in other CMS systems -- find a niche for this one and you might have a good thing!

[Clinton]

Background to the site: we purchased it for a low four figure sum from a seller on Digital Point.

May I ask what plans you had for it when you bought it? The potential you saw then may be the key to getting the right buyer now.

[meathead1234]

@ Clayton - we've gone for a very simple and easy to use system which is suitable for those with little to no coding skills. The install script is very simple and quicker than any of those for some of the more popular CMS (Fantastico for Wordpress etc).

It's also very streamlined in coding so is very fast and allows for quick page loading - essential if you have a large network of sites. It is best suited for smaller sites (1-10 pages) such as micro-niche Adsense sites due to its speed and ease of use.

@ Christopher - thanks for the advice, and I appreciate the fact that CMS aren't sold very often - possibly due to the competition but I also think many may fail to see the possible commercial opportunities being open-sourced. It could be a great acquisition for companies looking to expand brand awareness and aren't necessarily looking purely for another direct revenue stream.

@ Clinton - sure, to keep a long story short our business is split between buying/selling sites and our web design/marketing firm. This was purchased as a compliment to the Web Design firm to build brand awareness of the industry and not necessarily as a purely commercial venture. We loved the design, and with our in-house coders we were able to turn it into a competitive CMS that we would be happy to operate alongside our main company. Unfortunately, due to personal issues, we have decided to stop operating the web design side and focus on building a portfolio of sites, and are also looking to raise funds to move offices. As such, the CMS doesn't fit in with our future plans, so we were hoping a firm similar to ourselves would see the "potential" to get their brand out there.

Thomas

[Clinton]

The install script is very simple and quicker than any of those for some of the more popular CMS (Fantastico for Wordpress etc).

Then capitalise on those strengths. One idea: People on this forum (and elsewhere) who specialise in helping newbies start and run their own sites may see some uses for your CMS over more complicated alternatives.

[christopheravell]

You might soon hate me, but I want to be very honest and direct with you (just how I am)... I have installed Zyke and looked through it and I would say it is really a project in the early alpha stage. I saw some code that if definitely not stable for a production environment and it is so lacking in features it really has little use. The ZYKECMS homepage isn't even powered by Zyke which would be a huge turn-off to me.

It lacks any real documentation making it much MORE difficult than a standard CMS to jump into. And, since the install did not have the errors coded, when I had trouble I had to figure out what was wrong.

I know it would be much more productive to tell you where to go forward, but basically (in my opinion) you are starting from scratch. It would be like me advising you on how to build a CMS from the ground up; since that is basically where we are.

As for selling it... To be blunt I would have a serious ethical problem selling this as anything "established". The truth is, I do not see it selling -- especially when you add your negative feedback into the equation. I think your best bet is to see if you can build a community interested in putting together a new CMS and letting it develop over time.

Good luck, I wish you luck.

[meathead1234]

Thanks for the feedback. I am no coder so wouldn't be able to comment on the coding itself - I'm going by what my business partner has told me. I managed to install it easily enough which is a miracle most of the time

We are happy to hold onto this and start again, but we are testing the water to see if anyone more experience in the field would be interested in taking it on.

In terms of selling it: we have tried to be honest and clear in the listing as to where the project is at and welcome all potential bidders to install it etc (like you have). Perhaps I should have realised that the project is not as advanced as I have been told by those in my team more knowledgable. Feedback wise, I'm aware of the issues with negative feedback and in that situation I don't feel it was justified as the buyer corrupted the database and left negative feedback a month later as we didn't have backup. No need to go into that though

Anyway, thanks for the honest feedback - I appreciate it.