Blogging Software/Sites for Marketing/OS Commerce?

I currently use CRE Loaded 6.2 B2B and have been doing a lot of research on marketing ideas and I came across the idea of running a blog that attracts readers through search engines and of course hoping that some of those readers will go into your store for purchases.

I currently use CRE's Content Director System. I use this for things like FAQ's, Policies (Returns, etc), articles on products we sell, industry articles, etc. It is good for basic articles, policies, reviews of products, etc.
It still doesn't seem to be the best blogging solution and I don't think this type of system will quite work the way a lot of the articles are suggesting for blogging.

I had a Joomla website in the past and I have heard of Drupal and it seems Wordpress is one of the best blogging solutions. This would mean a separate website and unless I put a separate website up using WordPress that would have links to my CRE Loaded website/store I don't know what type of solution is best. Has anyone tried that type of solution?
Are there any type of OS Commerce/CRE Loaded blogging solutions?

Also, I have heard a lot about ning and how you can set up your own branded blog. Has anyone tried using that and have any opinions?