Rachel, if you listen to my marketing program I explain why I use active rain, but it is $199 a year. Here is my suggestion: start using blogger, follow the rules for blogging I laid out (200-500 words, localism, 4% key word density, etc) and see if your blog entries start to rank in google searches. If so run with the free one. If after a few weeks and 8-10 entries they dont rank, consider spending the money for Active Rain.
