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 Recession
Over to you. How and you and your company riding out this recession? Feel free to post anonymously if you wish.
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