Today ActiveRain announced their new membership plan that has raised several questions, concerns and even all out applauding by long time members. You can read the, "ActiveRain's NEW Membership Plan" announcement directly by clicking on the link. At the time of me writing this there have been over 250 comments on that post and I'd imagine we will see the numbers double and maybe tripple by the time things calm down. Because of this I've created this special post before I finish my 10 day property marketing posts.

2009 ActiveRain Membership Plan FAQ

Q: What if I already have an account?

A: Active members who have posted at least one blog post before February 16th 2009 at 5am PST have been grandfathered in and are being called the "Founding Members" of ActiveRain. These people won't ever be asked to pay a monthly membership fee yet they will reap all the same advantages as a paying member.

Q: Oops, I've never posted my own blog on Active Rain! What happens to my account?

A: Technically nothing happens to your account. You are free to post and comment like everyone else. The one difference between the paid membership is that your posts will only be viewable to members which means consumers will not be able to read your posts unless they have an ActiveRain account and are logged in.

Q: Do I have to pay?

A: You'll never have to pay if you don't want to pay. You can use ActiveRain with very little limitations from paying or Founding Members.

Q: What are the limitations if I am not a Founding Member or a paid member of ActiveRain?

A: As mentioned above, anything you write will be for members only. The outside world, including search engines, won't be viewing your posts.

Q: What will change with Individual & Group Blogs?

A: For Founding Members and paying members of ActiveRain your Group Blogs will now only be $19 per month. If you are not a Founding Member then yes you must pay the new $29 a month membership fee and if you want a Group Blog at that point it'll be that extra $19 per month. Outside blogs will continue to be at no charge for paying members while free memberships will have the ability to post internally to members only. This is a huge benefit for Founding Members because they will no longer have to pay the $79 a month if they want the Group Blog.

Q: Wordpress, Blogger and plenty of other blogging platforms are free; why would I pay ActiveRain just to so consumers can see my blog posts?

A: From my own personal experience the biggest value I've received from ActiveRain aside from the SEO value is the instant traffic to each and every post. Starting with any blogging platform is fine if you are a seasoned blogger but for those who want to get their feet wet and not worry about then having to seriously promote their blog all that much then ActiveRain's new $29 membership is far worthwhile.

I'll let my traffic statistics on ActiveRain do the talking for me:

When it comes to ActiveRain members, I count myself as one of the 'small fry users'. Many other members can show you their traffic stats that would blow mine right out of the water but regardless, I could never get this kind of traffic off of a brand new Wordpress or Blogger based blog without time & effort promoting the blog itself. ActiveRain comes with 2 million visitors each and every month and that isn't likely to be beaten by an individual Realtor starting their own blog using Wordpress.

Q: If I don't want to pay?

A: Don't, contribute anyways because the connections you'll make by being an active member of ActiveRain can ultimately be priceless. Write posts on ActiveRain that would benefit its members such as Lenders, Brokers, Staging Specialists and so on. Start your own Wordpress blog and use that to promote to consumers instead of using ActiveRain. If you need help setting up a Wordpress blog almost anyone who has one can give you pointers and many people can set one up for you at rock bottom prices if not for free including myself.