Social Media. Blog Consulting. Web content.

One client needing convincing is Simon Lloyd, director of business development at Springwater Woodcraft Inc., a maker of wood furnishings that has hosted its Web site (http://www.springwaterwoodcraft.com) with Yahoo for about three years.

"If I'm going to take the time to do it, it has to be profitable in some way, maybe not directly, but I haven't seen that yet," Lloyd said. If he sees how a blog would spur sales or enhance customer service, he'd take the plunge and add one to the site, he said.