I’ve read, heard, and seen lots about the power of blogs. They provide us with the tools to be an author, critic, and publisher – you name it, it can be done with a blog. Sure, I buy into that part of the story. If it makes someone feel better to tap away at a keyboard late at night, writing about something of little or no interest to anyone else in the world, then I say go for it. After all, that’s exactly what I’m doing right now. But I for one have a question to ask before swallowing the bait, hook, line and sinker. How can a blog benefit a small retail business?

My wife owns an interest in four new age giftware stores. They’re charming and well thought out, with a slick, yet peaceful feel about them – and they’re doing just fine as far as businesses go. The next step is to take them online and that’s where my inquiry begins. You see, I could easily (and cheaply) set them up with a plain vanilla website; the type with Home | Our Products | About Us | Contact and a home page featuring a middle age couple running through the surf and some sparkling pictures of crystals and jewelery laid out invitingly on a piece of velvet. It would do the job, but would the business be missing out on all of the much-talked-about benefits of web 2.0? Would it simply walk past the holy grail of customer-generated content, the market as a conversation, social networking – the list goes on? And if these are important strategies for a business then how can a small new giftware store adopt them without going broke trying? In other words, what’s the best bang for the buck?

So if you, like me, have an interest in this rather dull and dry subject, then add a comment or two. Share your thoughts, as I share mine. Who knows, we might find out something new.