Interesting point ...

I'm not even sure how I ended up coming across this post by Massachusetts media consultant Paul Gillin, but it set off a small bell for me, although I take a finer point to it than I think he was intending.

His overall point is "Don't Let Tools Distract You," good advice he translates into "don't start a blog for the sake of starting a blog."

People often start by choosing tools and work backwards to solve problems. Maybe management has just issued an order to start blogging, or the tool is seen as a tactic to improve search performance or it just seems like the thing to do.

As it relates to business, he has a point that companies try to shoehorn in "the new hot thing" rather than focus on what tools work best for the job.

Now, that point doesn't mean much in our situation, as I think there isn't a beat in the world that couldn't be better served by the inclusion of a well-executed blog.

But what he says about looking at the needs of your readership and working backwards to MEET those needs relates significantly to our task here. (Remember my Backbone Theory? It's kind of like that.)

• Paul Gillin: Don't Let Tools Distract You
• MySA Bloggers: Backbone Theory