I was walking in my neighborhood the other day and saw one of the little shops – a chocolate boutique and cafe, to be exact, advertising their new blog and I had the above thought: Does everybody need a blog? My initial reaction was no. It seemed to me that the shop was just attempting to jump on the blogosphere bandwagon (albeit a little late) and/or try to do something within social media. I went to their site and found out this cafe also has a Twitter handle. Again, I felt like the business was just trying to put their hands in various social media pies without my thought.

But then I visited the blog, and found some information I found to be interesting, and a event I would even consider attending. Aside from the usability issues (the link to the blog was hidden in text, and the blog isn’t actually hosted on their site), this site could be well on its way. However, it looks like they’re either only just committing to updating it, or not very serious about the frequency of posts. Aside from the past two, which are recent, it looks like the blog is only updated every month or two, which hardly seems like the type of blog a company would want to be advertising.

I still have mixed emotions about who needs to get into social media and how, but I would caution those that do to put measurable effort into it when you decide to go down that path, especially if you’re promoting your presence. It seems counter-intuitive to me to have a sign posted, advertising a blog (or Twitter handle, Facebook page, etc.) unless you’re working hard to maximize the people you’re driving there.