The Rainmaker Platform is a complete online turn-key solution from Rainmaker Digital (formerly Copyblogger Media) for entrepreneurs who are seeking a WordPress-based platform with a lot of out-of-the-box functionality for online commerce – such as a landing page designer, course builder, membership area, and checkout workflow.

Summer 2017 Update: The Rainmaker Platform software application is currently closed for new customers.

Is Rainmaker Right for You?

As is the case for any software application, it depends on your online business goals and preferences.

Think of the Rainmaker Platform like owning a fully-furnished vacation home or condo 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.

Rainmaker Platform Review

If the thought of patching together multiple pieces of technology (aka WordPress plugins) – and then testing security patches for those plugins on a regular basis – would keep you up at night, Rainmaker is worth trying out for free.

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

1. A library of professional StudioPress themes to use.
2. Top-notch secure hosting for your managed WordPress website.
3. SSL certification for secure customer navigation and transactions on your site.
4. Unique WordPress interface that is relatively easy to navigate and operate (especially for entrepreneurs who have not used the native WordPress dashboard).
5.  All technical maintenance for WordPress updates and built-in plugins.
6.  Integrated Learning Management System (LMS) for online courses.
7. Members-only features for your customers (e.g. access to digital downloads and courses).
8. Landing Page creator (here’s why landing pages are important).
9. 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.)
10. An extensive library of marketing and how-to resources to build your platform.
11. Exclusive access to an online community of other Rainmaker users. This is a great forum to ask questions.
12. Friendly and helpful customer support if you ever get stuck. Just submit a support ticket from your Rainmaker dashboard.

Customers can give Rainmaker a test drive for 14 days.  After that, the complete professional package is $145 – $165 per month (subject to change). 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 significants 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 Benefits of the Rainmaker Platform

1. Secure website hosting and performance.
2. Design tools to create and modify a WordPress website that looks equally great on computer screens and mobile devices.
3. Content creation tools for text, audio, video, and graphical messages.
4. Search engine optimization recommendations (through the proprietary Scribe Content software – now called Content Optimizer). This feature is big (I once paid $47/month just for this SEO software).
5. Lead generation tools via email integration and membership pages.
6. Easy to access metrics about your site’s business performance.
7. Extensive library of marketing webinars to build your business.
8. SSL Certificate included for secure payment transactions with customers (another cost saving with Rainmaker).
9. Integrated Learning Management System (LMS) to host your own online courses.
10. 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.

Lesson Learned

This site called Graceful Resources runs on the Rainmaker Platform and is the fifth WordPress site I’ve designed for my own online business. I now professionally design and integrate sites for clients. Over the past nine years, I’ve learned a lot about setting up and maintaining business and community websites (and always learning something new every week!)

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 you are forced to learn something new technically-speaking almost every week. It can be very hard work and frustrating.

The Rainmaker Platform launched publicly in 2014, and 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.  When I hand over the keys to clients on a new site, Rainmaker makes the transition much easier because the technology side of things isn’t as cumbersome as it is with a self-hosted WordPress site.

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Is the Rainmaker Platform Right for You?

Rainmaker was created by Rainmaker Digital (the same team behind the industry-recognized StudioPress Genesis framework and child themes, and the Authority content marketing training).

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 Rainmaker a Try

If you are the fence about Rainmaker, I encourage you to give it a try for two weeks for free 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

Graceful Resources has 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), your use of this affiliate link helps support the growth of Graceful Resources. There is no extra cost to you.

If you start using Rainmaker, you are encouraged 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.

Do you have other questions about Rainmaker?

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

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

Cheering for your online success – one project step at a time!

Brent