I hear it all the time:

• We should have a blog.
• We should be on Twitter.

In reality, these avenues of communication are time consuming pursuits and shouldn’t be started without a certain amount of thought.

Some of the things to consider are:

• Who will be the primary contributor(s)?
• Do(es) he/she/they have the skills necessary to be a good written communicator?
• What should be the tone, message, and goal of the blog or Twitter stream?

And of course—Do we actually have anything to say?

This is not to mean that plans should not be modified because all plans, business or otherwise, change. But all too often, I see the most enthusiastic of beginnings die out due to lack of will and direction.

If you ask any responsible corporate blogger, he will probably tell you that the blog is always in his mind. She is constantly on the lookout for the next topic and composing passages in her head (if not on the pad of paper that’s always by her side).

As tools, blogging and Tweeting have so many benefits to offer a company that needs to be smart with its resources.

The time and effort, however, that need to go into making them work are usually a lot more than decision-makers may expect.