They say imitation is the highest form of flattery, so {josquote}I must admit to being insanely flattered by the recent and huge influx of Virtual Assistants who have adopted Joomla{/josquote} as their content management system of choice.  A content management system or CMS is a method of creating a website utilizing software to enable easy updating of files, images and documents.  Rather than creating a website with pure HTML or be kept hostage by a template site provider, a good CMS can make it easy for non-coder's to add content to a website anytime they wish - as easy as working in a Word Document.  Drupal and WordPress are famous CMS systems, as is Joomla. 

In my opinion, Joomla is the best CMS as it is Open Source and while less difficult to utilize than Drupal, has many more features than WordPress.  When I first tried out Joomla for this website back in 2003 when it was still called "Mambo," there were NO virtual assistants or real estate agents utilizing the platform.

Now, everywhere I look - more and more VAs and agents are taking advantage of this terrific technology.  Certainly, I've been a strong advocate of Joomla and thus have inspired many to adopt it.  It is only when I discover those who are too inept or lazy to create their own content that they virtually copy my website that I get a bit irritated.

That aside, Joomla is a terrific value (Free!) and should you decide to implement it, you'll need your own website host capable of hosting PHP and MySQL - and if you aren't tech savvy enough to install Joomla on your own, create your own template "look and feel" and are unable/unwilling to work on your content - be diligent in your choice of an assistant.  While you may find a Virtual Assistant who has a Joomla website, that alone may not guarantee that they're familiar with the inner workings enough to help you install - customize - and optimize your website for the search engines.

Ask key questions and get references from those you're interviewing - what websites have they worked on?  Do they know how to install components?  Can they offer you training on the Administrator back end? Choosing the wrong Joomla expert may mean the difference between a truly amazing and scalable website and a very limiting and ineffective one.