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Winning Wednesday: Introducing New Team and Individual Blogs

Even though it's Wednesday, I can't keep quiet. I have a confession – we've been working on more than fixing bugs for the past few weeks! I'm delighted to announce the immediate availability of our new Team and Individual Blogs. These replace the antiquated (and hilariously dilapidated) Outside Blogs.

Eh?! What's this! What happened to my old Outside Blog? Nothing! Your existing Outside Blogs will continue to function normally. If you'd like to upgrade an old Outside Blog to a new Team or Individual Blog, just click on the "Upgrade" link.

Grrr. Why would I want to upgrade? We've put a lot of effort into making this new platform the best (and easiest) way to supercharge your blogging efforts. A few delicious highlights include:

Gorgeous new themes: Find 15 new ways to play dress-up with your blog. And this is just the beginning – we've got a stack of themes waiting in the wings!
SEO-Optimized: We've been around the block a few times when it comes to playing nicely with search engines. You could read books and blogs for hours trying to optimize your site… or you could let us take care of the difficult bits while you concentrate on blogging and making connections.
Hyper-local: Remember the grueling work you did to prepare your posts for Localism? Watch it pay off in spades – your posts are automatically categorized by location, all the way down to the community level. Without being too much of a tease, this is just the beginning; we have several exciting features planned in this space!
Custom Domains: Wave goodbye to DNS servers, registrars, and hours of confusion. The process for adding a custom domain couldn't be simpler – just provide the domain name you want, and we take care of the rest! Absolutely no technical skill is required.

Amazing! Unprecedented! I'm willing to pay $96,543 per month. But how much does it really cost? Individual Blogs are $19/mo., and Team Blogs are $79/mo.

Pictures, please.

Choosing a theme

Claiming a custom domain… it couldn't be any easier!

A view of contributors to a Team Blog

Your posts… categorized by location! Google will eat this up

Enjoy! I've already upgraded to an Individual Blog (minormissives.com) and can't wait to see how you utilize this new platform!

Posted by Jorgen Hahn on 01/07/2009 02:00 PM

Comments (123)

activeblogs

Originally posted at: Minor Missives: Winning Wednesday: Introducing New Team and Individual Blogs

123 Comments on Winning Wednesday: Introducing New Team and Individual Blogs

JAN

We've been around the block a few times when it comes to playing nicely with search engines.

Good morning Jorgen,

That's true. ActiveRain's Google juice is impressive. I think my clients will be very interested in your new blogs.

Hello Jorgen! Thanks so much for the heads up and thanks for all of your hard work!

Looks awesome! Really excite about the SEO part. I will explore further!

Jorgen, how do I get in to customize my outside blog now? The link dissapeared!

Hi Jorgen - thanks for the info. I just set mine up BUT can't seem to get a domain name. I"ll keep trying. thanks! KM

Hi Jorgen - This is just freakin awesome...you guys continue to ROCK!

I saw that little upgrade line and wondered what it was all about.

Sounds great! $19.00 is a wonderful price for so many benefits. I will definitely spread the word. Good job, guys!

Jeremy: Customization and management of your outside blog now occurs on the blog itself! You need to be logged into ActiveRain in order to see the editing controls. They appear at the very top of your screen. I've attached a screenshot:

Kristin: Are you having problems thinking of the right domain, or is there a bug in the process?

No, figured it out. THANKS!! I just was chooosing too many things that were not available. THANKS! I got it now. www.StuffaboutSanAntonio.com Yippee!! KM

I tried that while you posted....it gave me error, please try again later! LOL

Kristin: New blog looks great!

Jeremy: I was able to see the new administrative interface when I visited your 2 old outside blogs while surreptitiously logged in as you. Maybe there's a gremlin in the system?

Jorgen can you explain if there are benefits of upgrading the existing outside blog or actually starting a completely new outside blog? Does the upgrade of the existing blog improve the SEO of that blog and if so how is that accomplished?

Hi Jorgen, You guys just keep setting the bar higher and higher ! Thanks for all the creative ideas you provide us. Hope your 2009 is the best ever !

Okay cool!!! I am going to check this out and see what makes sense for me...

Bill: You'll get equal benefit from upgrading an existing outside blog vs. creating a new Individual or Team blog. It's the same end result – a blog on our new, optimized platform. As an SEO example, when you post to a new Team or Individual blog, we automatically ping Google and other search engines, letting them know instantly about your fresh content. The categorization of posts is also a boon for search engines; we've found that consumers are overwhelmingly including geographically specific keywords in their searches.

So knowing what you know would you advise to upgrade the existing blog? I guess I am curious what happens if you keep the existing blog and start a new upgraded one as well...content to both?

Jorden - the timing is funny because yesterday I was on the phone with another AR member who was going to help me set up my outside blog. But... as you already know there was no link anymore.

Having not had one, do I understand correctly that when I blog on AR it will automatically go to this outside blog. I have to do nothing???

Hi Jorgen, I am very interested in this...which one of you can I call if I need help???

You know this question HAD to come up eventually...

Curious to know how the point system will work with the team blog posts. If I front the financial end for my team and say one of my collegues writes a team post for the blog; who gets the points?

This is really my only real question since I can understand what SEO value is being added here and have already seen some changes made to my Outside blog due to the upgrade.

Bill: I'd advise you to upgrade your existing outside blog, unless you're planning on blogging about two distinctly different topics. There's no benefit to having duplicate content appear all over the place. Keeping your old, un-optimized outside blog around while using a new Individual Blog won't help you very much!

Connie: All you have to do is select the "Outside Blog" checkbox (soon to be renamed to… "Individual Blog") when writing a post. The rest is handled automatically.

Barb: Our community builders are all "working" in New York – they should be back next week. Hopefully I can answer any questions you have in this thread.

Currently it doesn't seem the outside blogs are much liked by Google (Google Alerts only show the posts on the AR blog, not the outside blog). Will this now change?

Are the new themes the only real difference?

Also, I'm wondering if I can use it as a subdomain on my website.

Michael & Dee Norris: Right now, points are awarded in the same fashion for a Team Blog post as they are for any other type of post on ActiveRain. A post to a Team Blog might appear elsewhere (Localism, Individual Blog), and as you noted, the value to the Team Blog leader is the increased visibility and SEO value to the Team Blog. That being said, we're still examining the issue, and you shouldn't rule out a change in how points are awarded for Team Blog posts.

Thanks Jorgen....I figured that may be your answer.

Don Fabrizio-Garcia: it'll take Google some arbitrary amount of time to realize that your new Individual Blog is the authoritative source for your content. We can't make them move any faster! Along with the new themes, you also receive the benefits of our SEO optimizations for your content. Pinging search engines and categorizing your posts by location are a few of the very tangible benefits gained when upgrading your existing outside blog.

We don't currently support subdomains, but it's something that we're looking into.

Jorgen i just tried to sign up and got all the way to the screen that asks you to put in your domain name. The link that says "claim domain" is not active though so I have not been able to get this started?

One more question Jorgen- what if we ever want to change our outside blog domain? Is that possible? THanks.

Can we move our individual blog elsewhere if, at some point in time (and who knows why anyone would ever want to do this), we decide we don't want to play in the Rain anymore? Are there limitations in that regard?

What if we have a custom blog theme for an existing individual blog. Can we transfer that over?

Suggestion: Offer a <substantial> discount if we are willing to sign up for 1 year or more and pay in advance.

Are Realtors still able to sign up for the free basic outside blog or is it only going to be a pay thing from here on out? I am teaching my KW office a class on ActiveRain 101 tomorrow and I'd like to be able to answer that question as I know it will come up.

So in other words it accepted my credit card and payment but I can not get the blog activated?? Please help!

Even I need a break for lunch… I'll answer all of your questions on my return!

Jorgen- I am teaching an SEO webinar for agents and would love to get as many specifics as you can give me so that I can explain this to the participants and get them on board, this is about time! I love this idea because I was just about to go and learn all about wordpress while gritting my teeth!

Will you be adding things like allowing widgets and some of the bells and whistles that wordpress offers?

Also, can we set up multiple blogs for different niches?
Does it all have to be real estate related or can I set one of for coaching too? Katerina

AND, if you act now we'll throw in the SlapChop AND the Graty for FREE! We can't do this all day so ACT NOW!

Sorry - a little punchy this afternoon - thanks for the explanation - pretty cool stuff!

Looks like Active Rain is at it again.. Working very hard behind the scene.. keep up the great job

Jorgen...

My contact info is missing from my standard outside blog ... is that normal?

My blog name is also the name of my website, which is already published with go daddy. www.sjrealestateonline.com Do you reccommend that I get a different name for the blog?

Who owns the URL if we decide to domain? If we decide to cancel the upgrade, are we able to keep the domain? Thanks, Rich bouchner

Jorgen, the possible features for blogs keep rolling out. Thanks for the explanation on this. I clicked on the link today and looked around.

I'm going through Wordpress as an alternative solution to my outside blog since I was not that excited about the Outside Blog was not quite customizable. Like Katerina, I like the ability to add widgets, etc. pretty much the same functionality like AR. I use my outside blog as a real estate consumer blog and I love the fact that with a checkbox, it was added to my outside blog instead of reposting to other blog platforms.

Like I have made another suggestion on Jeff's post, I'd like to see if AR would be open to letting members test it for a week before deciding if it's the thing for each of us.

Jorgen, If I upgrade my existing blog, is my free outside blog lost forever? Also. Do you have any tips for choosing a domoain name? I've used my name mostly, but should I be considering something else?

I agree w/ Loreena. the use of widgets on the outside blog would be helpful...as would a free trial period!

I just wanna know if the format will be the same as the AR blog, so one layout works on the outside blog and localism as well as our "everyday" free AR blog. See my post yesterday on this topic;. 'Got my fingers crossed for a "yes"...

Alright Jorgen your lunch breaks over my friend...help me out - LOL

It sounds interesting I will give it a try.

I am wondering how pinging Google will help, sounds like it just gets picked up faster to me.

Sorry, I am still confused. Is this the localism blog only, or a duplicate of the AR blog, what content goes there?

Me too Wendy. I have only my AR Blog, which is pulled through on a feed to my website (www.move2pennsylvnia.com ... scroll to bottom of page to read).

AR is my ONLY blog. If I upgrade, is this my outside blog & AR blog?

Don't mean to be so dense, sorry.

Don't feel bad. I have no idea what they all are talking about. What is an outside blog?

Can we make changes to our existing outside blog or are we stuck with it the way it is?

I would like to see a free trial period...for example sign up for an account and try it for 14 days free - to see if it really fits needs. At this point for a team blog I would have to pay the first month to even find out if its something that would work.

GET ME OUTTA HERE!

I tried twice to upload an image. Didn't take.

I have been charged for 2 sites and I have none.

The member shouldn't be charged unless the site is operating.

Bill: It looks like you decided to (successfully) create a new blog. To claim your custom domain, you have to follow the three step process of entering the domain you want, checking its availability, and finally, claiming the domain. If the domain you provided is not available for registration, the "Claim Domain" button will be disabled. It's hard to find a good domain name that's not registered, but it's worth it!

Kristin: This will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

Michelle: There is currently no mechanism in place for moving your blog content to another provider. However, we provide industry-standard RSS feeds, which other blogging engines can use to import your content. The customizations for the new blogs is entirely separate from any previous customization provided on ActiveRain; unfortunately, that means no transfer. Thanks for the suggestion regarding yearly subscriptions!

Liane: The new ActiveBlogs (aka the Individual and Team blogs) supersede the old Outside Blogs, which are no longer available.

Nestor & Katerina Gasset: Right now, the only information we're making public is in this post, our press release, and Brad's post. We're looking into widgets. Having multiple blogs for several niches is a fantastic way to use these new blogs. We recommend that your blogs be real-estate related, but nothing is stopping you from starting a best-jokes-from-the-1980s blog!

Richard Weisser: Contact information (and e-mail links) will be coming very soon.

Bridget Cella: If you want to get started immediately, using another domain name is the best way to go. We're still working on allowing you to BYODN (bring your own domain name!)

Rich Bouchner: In order to provide the tight integration that makes these new blogs so easy to use, ActiveRain owns the domain name while it is associated with a blog. However, we will honor any legitimate transfer request should you decide that the service is not for you.

Barb Szabo: Once you upgrade, there's no going back. Outside Blogs will not receive any more development, so there's little point in going back. Domain names are tricky… try to pick something that's memorable and easy to spell!

Margaret Woda: Because of the myriad of available themes, you might run into the occasional layout issue. However, (and unlike Localism) we've purposefully gone with wider themes where possible to minimize the chance that your blog post will look like a disaster!

Wendy Rulnick: The beauty of the new ActiveBlogs is that you get to decide what appears there. You could create a blog specifically devoted to staging tips, using Internet marketing, or dog grooming!

Erica Ramus: You can't upgrade your (forever free) ActiveRain blog. If you had an old outside blog, you could upgrade it to a new Individual or Team blog. If not, don't worry about all the chatter about upgrading – it doesn't apply to you.

Jason and Amber Gardner: Your old Outside Blogs are frozen in time. Without deleting everyone's old Outside Blogs, this is the best compromise we could come up with.

YES free trial. I'm just getting started and now feel that there will be a $19 a month fee. I want the free trial.

Lenn: It looks like you were able to successfully sign up for your Individual Blogs. You can access your Individual Blogs by clicking on their names under the "Blogs" header in your sidebar. Regarding images: they must be at least 960x134. If it's still not working, let me know.

Jorgen - I did follow the process and am using the domain name www.massrealestatevoice.com which is what I bought for the original outside blog. It does not matter what I type in the box...neither the check availability or check domain links are working for me.

Bill: Ah… you're trying to use a domain name that was already registered elsewhere. That means that we (ActiveRain) can't claim the domain. We're still working on the ability to bring your own domain name; you can wait for that (coming very soon!) or choose another domain.

How can I cancel my active blog. I charged the $19 and I want to cancel ASAP! I picked a domain name which was approved via the active blog but when I try to access my blog an error message aoppears and I went to register my new domain name on go Daddy and it was already taken by another real estate agency. What gives? Please advise!

No. They are both for the same URL. I got charged before I could activate anything. I'm not going back in there because I'll be charged for the 3rd time to fix it.

Anonymous User With No Name: We'll need more information than that in order to resolve any issues you're having. Use the "Contact Jorgen Hahn" link on my profile and send me your pertinent information.

Lenn: Please use the Contact link on my profile to tell me exactly what happened and how it differed from your expected behavior. I don't want to air sensitive or private information in a public discussion.

To everyone: Thank you for your great feedback and questions. We at ActiveRain have been overwhelmed by your response to our new blogging platform, and we can't wait to show you a few of the tricks we have up our (collective) sleeve! Right now, I'm leaving the office, work, and technology behind me for at least 24 hours! The team will continue to monitor this thread and we'll be working behind the scenes to integrate your feedback and suggestions.

I didn't see a theme for Realty Executives. Will there be one or no?

You poor guys. Every time you try to make this better (localism, super blogs)... we all freak on you. Sorry.

In reading these posts I get the idea that I'm not the only one who is confused about the changes and then making those changes.

Thanks for of your efforts w/ the new set up. I can't beging to fathom how you remain so patient w/ your comments and advice. Good work and I am hopeful that this upgrade will be a success.

So how long is very soon? Days, weeks, months? Not sure what to do since I know I was just charged on my credit card. I guess I am still confused because in your response to others you mention the original outside blogs would be frozen in time and not in use anymore. So what happens to www.massrealestatevoice.com?

Also if I type anything into the box at the moment it does not work?

If I am in the regular Active Rain blog and want to post to the outside blog I now have two choices but they both are the same name? It seems like something is not right in Denmark.

Can we take a look at all of the themes and test drive the layouts a little bit before upgrading?

Don't think I'm buying into this new confusion.....seems like a way to make a $ only. I need to see things before I'm sold. Don't like the flavor of this for a monthly fee, c r a z y...... Wish were told it was going to happen, instead of telling us after the fact. I'm sticking with the old, reliable blog on AR.

Patricia Aulson/Hampton NH Real Estate

Jorgen - I am a little confused... currently I have a blog with AR (http://activerain.com/blogs/eileenhsu) and with upgrade of $20 per month, there will be separate blog (outside blog with my domain name of choice) that will have the same content as whatever I post in my AR blog?

Questions:

How is the '$20 per month' blog SEO different than the current AR individual blog?
Is the '$20 per month' blog also associated with AR? I am concerned about what if there is a AR server crash or loss in content storage space?
Is the '$20 per month' blog going to be a lot more powerful than if I start a blog privately?
Are the comments from AR memebers going to syncronize with current AR blog?

Thanks in advance to answer my AR blog 101 questions.

Thanks! I'm giving this a shot now! I'm anxious to hear the next steps--the one thing that I would like to know--if I don't like this new one, can I go back to the original one?!!

Debe in Charlotte

Further Question... (yes I have a lot of those...)

With the $20 per month blog... DOES THAT MEAN AR OWNS that domain name so in case we want to disassociate ourselves to AR, we have to give up that domain name? (I love AR, but JUST IN CASE...)

Thanks.

Jorgen... I just noticed this today.. this seems pretty cool and sounds like the $20 a month would be well worth it. Curious though, what about us mortgage people? You have local posts and for most people, real estate is local. I actually have closed 17 loans in 8 different states just in 2008. How can I make this work for myself? .. to capture more readership outside of my state of New Jersey? I know I do well enough just from the quality blogs and key words... but do you have any more input on this?

On another note, are you in NYC with the other AR gurus? I'll be up there for most of Thursday... thanks

jeff belonger

Jorgan,

I have another blog that I would like take down. Can I import all of the content from this wordpress blog into the new active rain blog? Also, can I use the domain name for that blog? I would appreciate the help in easing this transition.

Jorgen wrote:

"Wave goodbye to DNS servers, registrars, and hours of confusion"

Too funny! It takes a few minutes to do a nameserver change Jorgen! :o)

Jorgan,

I have one more question, will we be able to build in lead generation tools/widgets in the new blog?

Jodi Bakst, Chapel Hill and Durham, NC

I have tried to enter my credit card information twice, info was wiped out. Now it just says something is wrong with my submission. Will not say what and I never get the form back to re-enter credit card info. Just says it's "ON FILE".

My current outside blog doesn't seem to have any content. I can click on the month archives and something appears momentarily and then all disappears. Will that be fixed?

Do I understand the comments correctly that we will no longer be able to add content to our outside blogs?

I have a domain name already for my outside blog if I upgrade, do I understand correctly that that can no longer be used, and I have to get a new domain name despite the fact that I've published that other domain name?

One of my old outside blogs is soo frozen that it links to nothing at all! I'll have to check in with you on that.

Jorgen, it sounds like something I will want to look into.

If the old outside blogs are going away, why can't we use our old domain name from that site?

I like it, it was not used but for a few months.

I've been a bit tied up and missed the new "upgraded" blog concept. Not sure how deep my pockets run in this environment. I sponsor localism and advertise, now this..

I know how initiating new things "Beta" in a sense requires some kinks to be ironed out so you guys may want to consider having some of the top bloggers "Test Them" for you to speed up that process.

Based on everything I'm reading I think I'm going to just sit tight and watch things for now.

HI Jorgen! I decided to jump right into this new wonderful blog with both feet; I found that the only button that works on the new blogs is the 'Take-Your-Money' button! I can't get the other ones to work! Any suggestions--I do wish that I had never pushed that button-- everything was just fine before I did!

Debe in Charlotte

So, if I understand correctly, the "free" outside blogs we've been using on our own domain names are now dead in the water?

Is there a community or location for MEXICO - I see everything I do and blog is catagory of the US -

can someone share how to be community of mexico other than tags etc. anyway to build an activeblog/team that would include this area?

I'm parking here for a few weeks after reading ALL the comments above.

I am on the same boat of confusion with many. I will wait and see until the dust settles. Meanwhile one question. Is it now worth posting anything to my outside blog (the old one?) or should I just post on AR?

Also, what is the above nba commentor doing here? :o)

Rita

Wow! Sounds like this was a huge accident at a busy intersection. There were a lot of standing on the sidelines, watching. Feel bad for a number of my friends I have seen apparently getting quite frustrated. Sounded like a good idea at the time. I love AR. I love progress. I hate to see money wasted, especially these days. Hope everything works out.

Missy , Jorgen - I'm trying to get back into my Outside Blog to remove my re-direct for my specific domain. How, or if I could do that???

JAN

Jorgen.... I just noticed, when on my home page, there is no home link, to the AR front page.... I have to go to a couple of different places to get there... can't they add that back? It would make it easier. thanks

jeff belonger

I'm glad I got my old free blog when I did because in this economy, I am cutting back on expenses, not adding to them. Even my old free blog loads "with errors on page" so how am I to know the new paying blog will be better? The great thing about AR is that it was FREE! Let the sponsor ads pay for the site. I love ActiveRain but I never see my posts on Localism anymore since it got changed around which was the main reason I blogged - to reach customers, and there are a ton of other FREE blogging platforms out there. Maybe I'm in the minority here but I wish AR were a free site still.

Also - I am teaching a class at KW on ActiveRain today - figures, the day after big changes are made. If people blog still and don't have an outside pay blog, are their posts still as likely to show up on Localism or be search engine indexed as those who pay for an outside blog? In other words, is it still worthwhile for agents who don't have the pay blog to blog on ActiveRain for any reason?

I've also spent the last two/three weeks looking at wordpress.org options. At $7 a month for hosting, it seemed like a good option. To go from -0- to $19 a month without warning and then so many questions unanswered - the main one, if I decide to buy, can I use the domain name I've already bought for my outside blog?

WoW! a lot of confusion. I'm going to also wait until some questions above have been answered.

OK guys, I'm going to try to catch up and answer many of the questions here. I'll start with this four pack from Eileen Hsu:

How is the '$19 per month' blog SEO different than the current AR individual blog?

The main SEO difference would be the Real Area Indexing (raindexing). This will break your local community posts down by geography and house all posts about a certain community/city in the same location with a URL specific to that location.

Is the '$19 per month' blog also associated with AR? I am concerned about what if there is a AR server crash or loss in content storage space?

From time to time there may be a crash of the server but rest assured that we bust our butts to make the platform stable and reliable. Storage space is not an issue. We pay good money to make sure you have more than you will ever need.

Is the '$19 per month' blog going to be a lot more powerful than if I start a blog privately?

If you start a blog privately, who will read it? I would suggest all blogs be made public otherwise they are really a journal, not a blog. Haha! Sorry, I couldn't resist. If you mean on something like wordpress, the answer is who knows. I know that an ActiveBlog will be much easier to set up and maintain and you won't have to worry about any hosting costs or learning a new platform. Power comes from great content and the ability to make sure that content is presented to the search engines in the best format. If you know how to present it (from a site architecture perspective) then you could probably build a site privately that is as powerful.

Are the comments from AR memebers going to syncronize with current AR blog?

Yes, if someone is logged in to ActiveRain on their computer and comment on an outside blog then they will syndicate.

The old outside blogs are not going away folks. We will just not be doing any additional work on them. If you like your old free outside blog, you can keep it, for free. All changes and updates are made on the domain. If you are logged in to ActiveRain and go to your outside blog, you will see the admin capabilities up top.

If you were charged more than once, call me and I'll fix it for you. 425.753.7340.

Jodi,

if the domain name is registered somewhere else, you are going to have to hang tight. We are working on allowing domains registered somewhere else to be transfered. It's not there right now. You also commented, 'can I import' you content? Not automatically, but you can certainly import it manually.

My guess is that yes eventually you will get the ability to add widgets. Lead generation components can be built directly in to your posts and lots of ActiveRain members do this already.

Liane,

"If people blog still and don't have an outside pay blog, are their posts still as likely to show up on Localism or be search engine indexed as those who pay for an outside blog? In other words, is it still worthwhile for agents who don't have the pay blog to blog on ActiveRain for any reason?"

Localism is still free to post to as is ActiveRain as it will always be. It is still free to post to ActiveRain. The outside blog concept is for people that would like their content to appear independant of the 1000's of others that post on ActiveRain. An outside blog will allow your content to appear on your own unique domain. However, the same features of posting to your ActiveRain blog that you have always had are still available FOR FREE

Debbie,

You wrote: I've also spent the last two/three weeks looking at wordpress.org options. At $7 a month for hosting, it seemed like a good option. To go from -0- to $19 a month without warning and then so many questions unanswered - the main one, if I decide to buy, can I use the domain name I've already bought for my outside blog?

My first thought is, why have you spent 2-3 weeks looking at wordpress? That's 2-3 weeks that you have lost getting your content out to your own unique blog, and indexed in the search engines. Your ActiveRain outside blog can be set up in 5 minutes (and you can call me to help you if you need it 425.753.7340)

Also, we have not gone from $0-$19 without an option. You can still pay $0 and get everything you had before. Or you can choose to pay $19 and get the upgraded version of our outside blog platform.

If you have a domain name set up currently for your outside blog, you should be able to go to your 'my home' page and just hit the 'upgrade' link on the left next to that blog. However, if you never set up that outside blog and were just sitting on the domain name, you will have to hold tight until we get the option in place to redirect your DNS records for that domain name.

If anyone has questions or concerns about anything regarding this, please do not hesitate to call me. 425.753.7340

"These replace the antiquated (and hilariously dilapidated) Outside Blogs" Why are the present blogs "hilariously dilapidated"?

You also say "antiquated" we got them when? At the time that AR was selling sponsorships on Localism Rich Jacobson said monetizing ActiveRain with blogs for a fee was ruled out. What changed?

Maureen,

Rich meant that everything you currently had would remain free. Nothing has changed in that sense. If you have an existing outside blog, it will remain free in it's current form (as will your activerain based blog)

The new and improved concept is something we will charge for. People can still blog on ActiveRain just as they have since 2006 for free and can still get the benefits (search engine optimization and otherwise) from an ActiveRain blog.

I understand AR is remaining free. I understand I am not going to pay for my antiquated and hilariously dilapidated present AR outside blog.

Rich Jacobson said selling blogs was ruled out for monetizing AR, shortly after the "LandRush" when we (ActiveRain members) were discussing if we sponsored communities or not. Rich and Brad both commented on the post where I stated I was paying for sponsorships AND had been willing to pay for a blog. Rich said the idea to sell blogs was ruled out.

These new blogs are going to be blogs that have bells and whistles so I get that they are worth more than the " the antiquated (and hilariously dilapidated) Outside Blogs" as Jorgan refers to them.

In a post shortly after AR's "LandRush" where I wrote

"OUTSIDE Blogs

In 2007 (?) ActiveRain started talking about selling OUTSIDE blogs... I thought devoted members were lining up to pay for OUTSIDE blogs. I had two blogs plus ActiveRain but was waiting to see how the OUTSIDE blogs looked... how they were set up. It was an opportunity to give AR some money... I could figure out what blog to kill off... but then ActiveRain GAVE us OUTSIDE blogs for free. That would not have generated much money though."

Rich said charging a fee for blogs was ruled out. I have looked and looked for Rich's comment and can't find it there. Which is strange that a comment like that has disappeared but maybe I am remembering it being on that post and it is somewhere else.

My "That would not have generated much money though." about AR blogs referred to the pricing that had been proposed in 2007 when the idea of blogs for $$ was first floated.

Just wondering why if it was ruled out previously, it is now a good idea?

Thank you Bob for clarifying the fact I can use the same domain that I use for my now free AR outside blog.

I was looking at Wordpress.org due to the customization that it allows. My outside AR blog, as you and others have mentioned, does not allow for much tweaking. I was looking for something more, if you will. Sounds like the new upgraded blog may allow for that.

Is there a list of how we can customize or perhaps a screen shot of themes we can see before putting in our credit card number?

I already ping all of my own posts as I publish. What is the advantage of having Active Rain ping them except for the fact that I will not have to make this step myself.

Smart guys you are...watching and listening to all of us who have struggled with our outside blogs and now you have a product that is cheaper and so easy anyone can create one! Congrats.

I'm going to try it ... can we change our THEMES any time?

Whew. So many comments. I think that I'll let the 'dust' settle a bit and have a cup of cocoa.

JAN

AM I expecting too much? After my new paid AR outside blog upgrade, my google rank for the new blog is way down on page 2, but the identical post on the regular, free AR blog is near top of page one google. Also, the new paid domain name does not show up. I am typing very specific keywords that only pull up my blog. All page 1 and 2 results are mine, for example, similar posts on wordpress and blogger. As I said, the upgraded $19 blog shows up very last on page 2 being beaten by all the other FREE blogs. What am I missing?

JAN

Wendy,

Is this a new domain that you registered through us? A brand new domain name is going to take some time to get any type of authority with search engines. I'm a little surprised it shows up right out of the gates at all. I know ActiveRain took a number of months when we first launched it to get any significant traction.

Bob,

Really AR has changed. I no longer have my top tool bar to use. I cannot add widgets under my picture, heck, I no longer can change my picture. My blogs to localism are and have been even though I wrote and told you all, temporarily disabled. This site is not the same for free. Many of the "old ways" are gone. My customers are telling me they can no longer read Localism through my web site. I don't know if you know this, however many member's are frustrated here because they can no longer use AR even basic AR as many of the rules have changed.

I'm not sure if I should keep my links to here or if I should remove them as my customers...plenty are frustrated trying to read Localism posts, etc.

I have written to all of you about this, not that it made anyone happy, but come on. If you are going to change everything, please give us a warning.

We rely on you, we use this site as our main blog (some of us), and when things are changed without notice, it affects us.

Please do consider our concerns, as I know I'm not the only one.

Bob. Sorry, I don't get it. I read every comment above and still don't get it.

I have an old AR outside blog. www.mesquitenvrealestateblog.com It works, but I haven't put much on it because it never came up on Google searches like my AR and localism stuff does. So I forgot about it.

If I upgrade it for 20 bucks a month....

Can I post to that upgraded old outside blog ONLY, without it going to AR or Localism?

I know that I can't do that now, I have tried.

I don't want to get put in duplicate content purgatory.

Can you help me? In English?

JAN

Karen,

If this was happening for everyone, my inbox would be flooded. I'm really sorry about these challenges but I do not think they are affecting everyone.

My first guess is that there is spmething specific to the browser you are using, although I could be wrong. Can you please call me tomorrow and let's see if we can get things straightened out. However, I can assure you that not all of the things you mentioned have changed. In fact, none of them have changed. I just used the toolbar to bold this sentence, so I know that's working just fine. and if you go over and look at my profile, I just changed my picture so I know that works.

You can reach me at 425.753.7340

Hi Bob, Yes, it's a new domain registerd through AR about a week ago with the upgrade www.destinrealestate-sells.com The search I use to pull up the specific post gets all other results - just mine - 2 pages - but nothing from the new upgraded blog. I understand I've been told this may not get good search engine results for a month, perhaps?

Everytime I look at someone who has done the new blog it shows an error on page for line 2, character 13 and says it is missing the ";" which is expected. I'd love to participate but it seems the coding errors should be worked out first. Have you guys noticed these errors? Search Engines don't like coding errors so just wanted to ask and I'm just concerned it will affect SEO rankings.

One feature I would love to see is the ability to organize our posts into categories (not just geographical locations) and have them displayed on the side of the page. Am I missing something? Does this already exist?

JAN

The 15 themes are lame...they are all geared towards major real estate companies. How does that help me and why am I paying 19$ a month for that? And why doesn't any of my content that I've already published not taken over to the new one? And can I take my url with me if I cancel?

Amy,

There are two that are geared towards being customized. Toward the end of the month we will be releasing quite a few more customizable templates. Then moving forward after that we hope to have new themes every friday for at least a little while.

As far as your content filtering over, we didn't want to send every post of yours because we don't know if you want every post over there. Some people may create their blog specific to a certain niche they work and only want certain posts. Right now the interface is a little tough to get large numbers of posts but we will consider making an interface that allows people to pull their posts en masse.

If you cancel we'll figure out how to transfer the domain to you, sure.

JAN

to make this as useful to me as my regular 'ol orignial AR Blog (not the outside blog, which I like the look of better) we need to be able to add widgets and have tags.

without tags, if the blog content is not geograhpic specific, how will a reader ever be able to find something written in the past?

without widgets and content tags (in addition to the geographic tags) I can't upgrade.

I will watch and wait and hope these are added as I would love to upgrade at that time.

I need some advice, but first let me say that I continue to be very impressed with AR and the results it can deliver with SERPs. I set up an outside blog when they were introduced. I used a domain that was basically sitting idle and thought I might as well put it to use. I did so without thinking about the impact that it might have on my main AR blog and SERPs.

I upgraded my existing outside blog the day you guys announced it. That was largely based on the enhancements for search engines. Now I am wondering if my primary AR blog would be better served by not having the outside blog. It may be coincidental (I'm not sure) but I have noticed that when I include a post in the outside blog and/or localism the post doesn't show up in google blog search and/or alerts. In some cases it shows up days later.

AR blogs are cached regularly multiple times a day. My outside blog hasn't been cached in twelve days. The bottom line is that I am keenly interested in the performance of my AR blog and the outside blog is just a convenience to give people a URL that they can easily remember.

I know everyone has different priorities with their outside blogs, but I would really appreciate any insight. Thanks from a happy AR member...Keith

Keith, my new upgraded blog, www.destinrealestate-sells.com, was purchased immediately, has yet to show up. I was told this could take months?

JAN

I was also charged twice, yet only have one blog. How do I get a credit for the second charge?

Lina,

I have issued a refund for that duplicate charge.

FEB

Hello Jorgen! Thank you for explaining the differences between the basic Outside Blog and the Upgraded ActiveBlog. I will be upgrading myself within about 60 days.

Thanks Again for your help!

MAR

Jorgen,

I have a suggestion.

I just signed up for a new outside blog. During the process I was given a web address I can use to view/edit my new outside blog until such time that the Internet propagates my custom domain name. I did not write the name down and I am not yet able to access my outside blog. I know I will not have a problem once the Internet propagates my domain name.

The suggestion: As part of your sign up process, send an email to those that choose a custom domain name, with the directions for accessing the outside blog until such time that the Internet propagates the web address.

Thanks!
Jeff

MAR

I am looking for the basic differences that would warrant me paying 19 dollars a month for an Active Blog vs the free one and how it works with the localism sponsorship I just bought for a small town in north georgia

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