ActiveRain starts charging new members

[Madtown RM]

http://activerain.com/blogsview/9258...embership-Plan

[OCTeam]

Wow, great stuff... wonder if I can find a way to get "The NEW Rainmaker Badge".

[EFS Webmaster]

Interesting but not totally unexpected. Seems like they've finally arrived at Step 2......

Step #1: Develop a business
Step #2: Figure out how to make money at it

At least they aren't going to charge original members who helped build the community. It should be interesting to see how this impacts membership and ongoing / future participation.

I think this is a sign of the times and wouldn't be too surprised to see other 3rd party vendors / RE 'content' providers (i.e. trulia, zillow, etc) to try and put a price tag on what they do. A business has to eventually make money and turn a profit and most VCs/investors are becoming more impatient in this tightening economy.

[Madtown RM]

I want some gold edging on my badge.

[ResaleBroker]

In your opinion, is it worth $29.00 monthly to have a blog at ActiveRain?

[Madtown RM]

not unless the gold edging is real and there's an awful lot of it!

[Discover Davis Homes]

$29 is WAY too much for what they are offering - maybe they came up with that fee because they are not charging existing members.

Point2 is no longer offering free sites either - is server space getting more expensive?

Notice the timing of the active rain release - just after they settled the lawsuit over the failed buyout by move inc. (per Inman news).

[Madtown RM]

[Point2 is no longer offering free sites either - is server space getting more expensive?]

That's doubtful. Maybe they're just getting greedier!

[AugustaREGroup]

If you can change your name on Active Rain (I don't know I don't have an account..)... I wonder if Active Rain accounts will start showing up on eBay? I am sure these accounts would be banned if found, though.

[ResaleBroker]

$29 is WAY too much for what they are offering...

It seems like it was only last month that some people were singing the praises of blogging (traffic, juice, etc.) at AR. I wonder if those same people would be willing to pay $29 monthly for those benefits.