It's exposure.  My active rain posts rank well, they used to outrank my website before I improved my site.  Plus, for every 100,000 points you get, that fee goes down and once you hit 500k (which you can do in a year if you work at it), you're account is free for life.

when I joined, I didn't even think of not paying....nothing and I mean nothing that's free is worth doing.... except pixabay!!!  

pay and get Google Juice.... you're getting squat now....just squat.... 

I paid in full for every year and they gave me a discount..... well worth it.

I have received the occasional inquiry over the years but the value received has been far greater than the original expense because of connections made, advice/strategies taken and knowledge learned.  Of course,  it takes effort.  Are you willing to truly accept the challenge? (Not a sleazy sales pitch) 

I no longer pay for my Active Rain subscription as I have over 500,000 points. Random people from the public do not find me and I've yet to generate a piece of business that I can link to the Rain. What I do here provides "street cred" for my brand.

A $2M sale from AR (seriously, during the recession) paid for all of my AR costs for at least a century!

I say, YES, YES, YES!

Yes they do! In fact, if you are not a rainmaker, people won't find you as your posts are not public. It does take effort & dedication.

If you pay yearly, I believe it is $199
It's worth it just for the links you can get from your profile and blog posts.
Links/backlinks help with your search engine rankings. It's a critical part of SEO.

Hi Nicole,
Welcome to ActiveRain.  It is impossible to understand the benefits of ActiveRain until you've been active within the platform for a while.

This is a multi-dimensional platform. There is the public aspect, the exposure & connections you make with other professionals within the real estate industry, AND perhaps most important the knowledge base available on the site. 

As for the Rainmaker status, the annual fee is a much better value. I am retired and paid the fee until I reached 500,000 point level.  The main benefit as a Rainmaker is your blogs are available for the public to read. Rainer status is just for members.  One of the other main benefits is that your blog posts are rebloggable, meaning others can share your information directly from your blog, giving you full attribution.

Here is how you earn points:


Jump on in and get wet in The Rain, as we fondly call it. We're a fun and helpful bunch.

I get a lot of business from my AR account, but then I do work it aggressively too.

However, I have never paid anything other than time for my membership.

Yes it is. If you have a Rainmaker account your post will reach the public where a free account will only post to members. As Dario said, you get decent Google placement for your posts.
Plus, when you get to 500,000 points you don't have to pay anymore. And if you blog and participate religiously it doesn't take that long.

I think what you're asking is: "If I pay the $39/month, will I be found my consumers?", and the answer is a resounding "yes".

I turn up high in searches for Realtors my region, and it is almost solely due to my participation on Active Rain.  All you need is one single sale, which will pay for "years" of Rainmaker status.

If you have any intention of blogging to the public, then you need Rainmaker to get found.  If your intent is only to blog to other Rainers, then you can save your money.

I do routinely get contacts/clients/closings from my blogging here, but that's because of what I blog about.  I hit a niche pretty hard, so the results rank and get found.

Yes it is worth it Nicole Schrock . AR has brought me business and recognition. Make it a goal to get a free account by achieving 500,000 points and you will do it sooner then later. Look at the $39. a month as CE. I've learned a lot more here about RE then any course taken... heck, more then all the courses I've taken stacked up together. 

You still have to work at it even if you pay, but you will get visibility. 

You get the returns on what YOU put into it.  They don't appear magically because of your $39...

I have gotten the occasional contact from the public, I have made new friends, I have generally enjoyed myself with Active Rain. I paid with no regrets until I no longer pay...still no regrets.

I have had leads from AR although more in the past than recently. And as Ryan Huggins - Thousand Oaks, CA  once you hit 500K points your account is free.

The question that needs to be asked must be "What is your marketing strategy?" What do you have in place for:
1. Professional validation (Real estate, Broker, Franchise, MLS website, AR)
2. Active buyers and sellers (Zdevil, personal real estate site, 90 day market)
3. Filling the pipeline (SM, community, Free stuff, engagement)

How you choose to use AR, and your commitment to making it happen will determine your benefit.

My benefit from AR participation is a incredibly accurate barometer of what is on the mind of the consumer.  Real estate agents are consumers who have better articulation skills. There here who are industry watcher are doing the same thing.

What do you want AR to do for you? If you intend it to be your RAINMAKER, be aware, the tech behind this platform may not be sufficiently agile to make it rain and the care and feeding is cumbersome.

You can pay a yearly rate the first year and by the end of it have amassed close to 500,000 points for a free membership. Participation is a passport to free.

If you want the public to see your blog, it is a must. Let me say this, after referrals, my Active Rain Blog is the leading source of new customers. 

That's called pay to play.  If you pay make sure you play.

I am on my 4th transaction with the same clients who found and still follow me. I sold them a house, listed and sold their home. They are purchasing another that will settle next month and then I will be listing their current one. All of that from blogging. And that's just one example.

I get excellent Google ranking for my posts when Googling my name. I make sure the posts are something I want the general public to read about me. Early on, I posted sometimes one a day. Now only several times a year. But overall, I've gotten several referrals from AR members work a pretty big chunk of commission. You can do that too if you reach out to members here who need to refer to someone in your city.

If you are willing to put in the work then yes. If not, don't pay for what you won't be using. 

We have definitely benefitted from the association. Friendships, referrals...they are all valuable

You have received several good reasons for being a Rainmaker.

There isn't a rainmaker who hasn't had this thought and therein lies your answer in riddle form

Do yourself the favor and use those funds to build your site versus building the site for Ben. You want your site to be the organic site for results. You do not want to help build someone else's site with your hard work 

I would recomment it for sure.

It is up to you to make it worth the fee.

Earn 500,000 points for a free membership.

Hi Nicole- if you're not a Rainmaker any posts that you write will be seen by members only. There's value here that goes beyond having others find you, though. If you want to increase what you know about your field, you have only to read the posts here. 

Want to know about SEO and blogging? Read the posts here and follow some of the ActiveRain University webinars. 

It's an investment, not a bill. It's also free after 500,000 points...get busy blogging and you get it for no cost!

in my opinion yes.  Besides when you reach 500,000 points by participating, logging in daily, writing posts, doing contests and commenting you can get the benefits of a paid account for free.

Try to get into the habit of blogging, participate on contests. It took me about  7 months of work to get a freebie. You receive 1000 points going to your local meetup, a lunch.....

Being a member here in the Rain has been well worth the time and effort put forth. I have received and given referrals and plan to remain!

Now you know, Nicole. 

Best of luck!

Activerain is a great source of information on what's new in real estate. Also you have some real pros on AR who have a lot of knowledge to share. Just skip to Latte's a week and you have it covered.

We used to have much better SEO, but now there are so many non-real estate related posts, and serial posters, think Google has downgraded the value.  But, if you are not a rainmaker, the public will never find your posts.

It is for you to decide.