Many times in your virtual assistant business, clients will ask you about setting up a blog, a forum, or maybe even a wiki. Of course you can ask for opinions in the Revolution, but occasionally you’ll need to test drive some options. Instead of installing a bunch of different software on your own web server, you can visit the Open Source CMS Testing site. On this site you will be able to test drive many different types of software to find out which one best suits your clients’ needs.

A content management system (CMS) can include a blog, a forum, a member directory, file download area, file upload area, link directory, and much more! Or a content management system can just be a blog. Be sure to list out what requirements your client has before you venture to this site. If your client has no need for a paid membership directory, then Joomla may be overkill.

Tip: Content management systems are sometimes confused with customer (or client) relationship management (CRM) software. These two types of software do entirely different things. Think of a CMS as controlling all the content you want the public to see on a website. A CRM helps you track information about individuals and helps you to keep in touch with them on a regular basis.

Lisa B.
Open Source Maven
WordPress Maven <– Coming Soon!