Creating a Blog for a Volusion Template

My kids clothing store is using Volusion as its shopping cart. I am looking to attach a blog to the storefront for SEO purposes. Please submit your proposal with samples of your work, specifying what your contribution was to that website. Your proposal must also contain details on how you would approach the project and your expected timeframe. For example what software you would use? Would you recommend adding it directly to the template or would you recommend creating a separate site with direct links from the Volusion store to the blog and vice versa. The blog will be administered by the store and readers should be allowed to make comments. The end result must be user friendly and have a complementary look to the storefront. Prior Volusion experience is preferred.