 Listen.. people be askin me all the time, "Yo Mos, what's gettin ready to happen with Hip-Hop?" (Where do you think Hip-Hop is goin?) I tell em, "You know what's gonna happen with Hip-Hop? Whatever's happening with us" If we smoked out, Hip-Hop is gonna be smoked out If we doin alright, Hip-Hop is gonna be doin alright People talk about Hip-Hop like it's some giant livin in the hillside comin down to visit the townspeople."
Lyrics from Fear Not of Man by Mos Def What's Happening With Joomla?Replace "Hip-Hop" with Joomla and you get what I'm asking. It's all well and good to look at the big picture ( number of downloads, Google Trends, uptake by big companies etc. ) but the smaller picture is also vital. Back in January 2008, we asked how you think your company will do if a recession comes. 18 months later its certainly here. What's happening with Joomla is what's happening with us. In general, I couldn't be happier to be in web development at the moment. Here in Georgia its literally the only industry I can see that's growing. Architects, lawyers, accountants, shop keepers, you name - they're struggling. Open Source is a beacon of light in this area. In general, I see webdesigners doing well and many are so busy they've stopped taking on new clients. We're doing OK, but have taken care to diversify into as many income streams as possible (SEO Club, Adsense, advertising, client work, training etc). On the other hand, a lot of people selling products are having a harder time. From talking to a lot of companies it seems that the average drop over the last 18 months has been around 20%. However, none of those have decided their prospects are better elsewhere. In contrast, almost every day I hear from a friend or a student from our training classes who is looking to the web for work. The View From Your RecessionOver to you. How and you and your company riding out this recession? Feel free to post anonymously if you wish. ? |
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It is a good time to be in web design
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So what is the secret of picking up these small businesses who want web sites? What I'm seeing is a lack of realistic budgets.
#1 is networking. There's a Joomla User Group just getting started in DC: joomladc.org/
The Joomla Resources Directory is coming on joomla.org in just a few days. That might prove a good source of work.
Also check the Professional Services forum:
forum.joomla.org/viewforum.php?f=177
I started on this path years ago, though, and founded my company in 2006. It might seem easy to "get in the game", but it takes a lot of work to build a respectable portfolio and clients. Fortunately, this is one area where if you have the drive and desire to excel, there's money to made.
NOTE: I don't believe higher education has properly carved out a niche in Computer Science to cover the art of Internet business and web development in the 21st century.
It seems the only way to learn is to either jump in and devote 6 months to a year of your time on O.S. web development and. That's not to say that, for example, java-coders with a CS degree aren't valuable, but you can actually get a decent job nowadays, with better job security for a fraction of the educational costs of a more traditional career path.
Graduating high school seniors today might as well get a degree in Business Management while self-teaching php, mysql, apache and rudimentary linux server management. Then, they can pick a few CMS's (like Joomla, Drupal and Worpdress), learn them inside out and go get a job webmastering, developing or just start their own business. I can see this window of opportunity lasting for a couple more years until colleges get wind of it, and create certification and degree programs that will eventually force these high schoolers to go back to school and get a "proper" education (add sarcasm here).
And if you're wondering what happens to Joomla in the following years, check out my post about the new release cycle for Joomla (www.joomlablogger.net/blog/joomla-evangelism/joomla-roadmap-explained/).
I love the speedier approach, and the fact that 1.5 will stay on for at least 3 years.
It's no doubt in my mind that Joomla was, is and will be a great choice for CMS!
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