The Rainmaker Platform is a complete online turn-key solution from Rainmaker Digital (formerly Copyblogger Media) for entrepreneurs who are serious about succeeding in the digital economy.

Think of it like owning a fully-furnished vacation home that includes all maintenance, security and cleaning services. It’s not inexpensive real estate, but it does offer peace of mind so that you can focus on a great vacation experience for you and your guests.

Your property, whether we are talking about real estate or a website, can also grow significantly in value over time if operated professionally.

If the thought of patching together multiple pieces of technology to run your online business would keep you up at night, Rainmaker is worth trying out.

Consider what is included with Rainmaker (and this isn’t everything):

A library of professional StudioPress themes to use.
Top-notch secure hosting for your website.
SSL certification for secure customer navigation and transactions on your site.
Unique WordPress interface that is relatively easy to navigate and operate (especially for entrepreneurs who have not used the native WordPress dashboard).
All technical maintenance for WordPress updates and built-in plugins.
Integrated Learning Management System (LMS) for online courses.
Members-only features for your customers (e.g. access to digital downloads and courses).
Landing Page creator (comparable to Leadpages).
Fully integrated email marketing (works seamlessly with AWeber, Constant Contact, ConvertKit (what I use and recommend – here’s why), MailChimp, and Infusionsoft. Rainmaker also now has its own integrated mail service called RainMail that is free for Rainmaker customers for up to 999 unique emails on your mailing list.)
A library of marketing and how-to resources to build your platform.
Exclusive access to an online community of other Rainmaker users. This is a great forum to ask questions.
Friendly and helpful customer support if you ever get stuck.

Customers can give Rainmaker a test drive for 14 days. After that, the complete professional package is $145 – $165 per month. If you add up all the costs of running a website (e.g. software, WordPress hosting, email marketing, landing pages), it can actually be a big savings for your small business.

If you are planning to offer online courses, then you can really come out ahead financially because Rainmaker has that covered too with its own integrated Learning Management System (LMS).

Most reputable LMS software services like Teachable.com, Thinkific.com and NewKajabi.com will run you at least $100/month for their professional plans. With Rainmaker, your customers never have to leave your site for a consistent and integrated experience and it is included in your account.

10 Reasons to Try Out Rainmaker

Secure website hosting and performance.
Design tools to create and modify a WordPress website that looks equally great on computer screens and mobile devices.
Content creation tools for text, audio, video, and graphical messages.
Search engine optimization recommendations (through the proprietary Scribe Content software). This feature is big (I once paid $47/month just for this SEO software).
Lead generation tools via email integration and membership pages.
Easy to access metrics about your site’s business performance.
Extensive library of marketing webinars to build your business.
SSL Certificate included for secure payment transactions with customers (another cost saving with Rainmaker).
Integrated Learning Management System (LMS) to host your own online courses.
Landing page creator for sales pages, opt-ins, and call to action opportunities. You can even set your Rainmaker site to display your own custom landing page while your site is being developed or under maintenance.

My Lesson Learned

I’m now on my fifth WordPress website with GracefulResources.com for my own platform, and I now professionally design and integrate sites for clients. Over the past eight years, I’ve certainly learned a lot about setting up and maintaining business and community websites.

It’s a rewarding experience to do-it-yourself, but it is also brutally time-consuming. The online rules of engagement continue to change and I am forced to learn something new technically-speaking almost every week. I enjoy it, but it is hard work.

The Rainmaker Platform launched publicly in 2014, and if had been around previously, I would have likely used Rainmaker exclusively for my family’s websites. I now highly recommend it for clients and prefer to use Rainmaker (over native WordPress) when setting up their sites for long-term growth and impact.

Discover More About Our Project Work

Rainmaker was created by Rainmaker Digital (the same team behind the StudioPress Genesis framework and child themes, Scribe Content software, and the Authority content marketing training, all resources I use and recommend).

There is still a lot to be learned about blogging, content creation, product development and online marketing. Thankfully, Rainmaker allows customers to focus more on that business learning curve, and not on the technical one.

Give It a Try

If you are the fence about Rainmaker, I encourage you to give it a try for two weeks for free (no credit card required) so that you can make an informed decision.

This site runs on Rainmaker so I am a customer too. I trust it for my long-term growth and I think you will too.

Savings Opportunity

If you prepay for a year of Rainmaker (click here to get started), you receive almost two months free of charge per year.

Full Transparency

I have an affiliate relationship with Rainmaker so if you decide to invest in Rainmaker via this link (or any of the Rainmaker links in this post), I am eligible for a commission from the good folks at Rainmaker. There is no extra cost to you and your use of my affiliate link helps support the growth of Graceful Resources.

If you start using Rainmaker, I would encourage you to set up an affiliate relationship with them as well. You’ll want to spread the word too. The software is that good, and I would use and recommend Rainmaker even if there was no affiliate program. But simply one referral per month will cover your software cost of this powerful platform.

What questions do you have about Rainmaker?

Please let me know via response to the free Graceful Journal email mailing list or my contact form. I am here to help.

If you end up building your website through Rainmaker via my affiliate link, please drop me a note. I am happy to take a look at your new site and to offer you feedback to help grow your online business operation.