Rainmaker

Rainmaker Platform Review: Is Rainmaker Right for You?

March 28, 2017 by Brent Peterson

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):

A library of professional StudioPress themes to use.
Top-notch secure hosting for your managed WordPress 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 (here’s why landing pages are important).
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.)
An extensive 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. 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

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 – now called Content Optimizer). 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.

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.

Discover More About Our Project Work

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

3 Content Marketing Tips from an Expert Blogger

October 23, 2016 by Brent Peterson

I’m admittedly still in the analysis (what do I need to do next) stage from my trip to Denver for the Digital Commerce Summit. The event was hosted by Rainmaker Digital (formerly known as Copyblogger Media), the company behind the Rainmaker software I use to run this website.

(Here’s a summary of why I recommend trying out Rainmaker free of charge.)

Content marketing was a big theme of the event and, by Copyblogger’s definition, content marketing means creating and sharing valuable free content to attract and convert prospects into customers, and customers into repeat buyers.

As mentioned in my last journal entry about the event, content marketing is often in written form (e.g. blogs and emails), verbal form (e.g. podcasts and webinars), and visual form (e.g. online videos and infographics).

One guest speaker at the event knows a thing or two about blogging. He is Kevan Lee, the director of marketing for Buffer, a popular social media publishing tool for brands, agencies, and marketers. The Buffer app blog is very popular, to say the least.

The blog attracts the right customers to their company site leading to daily sales of their app. It’s a business model that over time delivers solid financial results.

So what is their secret sauce?

3 Content Marketing Tips

According to Kevan, their blogging success is based on three simple content marketing tips. By writing it down here on this online journal, I’m confident I will be less likely to forget these tips, and I hope they are of value to you as well.

Content Marketing Tip #1: Be Authentic

Since online marketing really is just our best effort at the time, be honest about it.

Don’t try to be someone else. Be yourself.

People connect with real people more so than with brands.

That’s why big corporations often rely on individual (non-celebrity) personalities in TV commercials. We are in the marketing age where small businesses are the greatest threat to big companies because of the authentic human factor.

Here’s a snapshot I took of Kevan’s notes with my phone about this tip:

Content Marketing Tip #2: Be Objective

When you share content on your blog, do so without a bias toward knowing the only answer.

Yes, demonstrate authority on the subject, but avoid absolute certainty.

It’s attractive to be open-minded.

To be suggestive rather than prescriptive.

It’s ok to hedge by saying “could be” rather than “it is”.

Content Marketing Tip #3: Be Empathetic

Lastly, understand and recognize other people’s feelings.

Listen to what people are saying.

It’s never been easier to scan comments on social media, but more importantly, ask questions every chance you get online and off. People want to and deserve to be heard.

The entrepreneurs who are listening will succeed. The online tool I love to use to ask questions of clients is Typeform (here’s a summary of why I use and recommend Typeform – plus a discount).

I never learn anything talking. I only learn things when I ask questions.

~Lou Holtz, College Football National Champion Coach, ESPN Analyst

3 Content Marketing Tips from an Expert Blogger

So in summary, here are three basic but powerful tips as you share your voice with the world, and that is to simply be:

Authentic
Objective
Empathetic

I’m cheering for you!

Commerce may be increasingly online but it thrives on human connections.

Hope this helps,
Brent

FREE QUICK REFERENCE TECH GUIDE (click here): Discover the Graceful Resources I use and recommend for websites, including the reasons why, plus the mistakes to avoid when starting out in digital commerce.

Please let me know if you have any questions via my contact form or in direct response to my free Graceful Journal email mailing list.

I’m here to take away the pain of figuring out how to use new web technologies so you can gracefully profit online from your passion in life.

How to Remove Counts on Social Media Share Buttons

August 25, 2016 by Brent Peterson

You may also have a love/hate relationship with the counts on social media share buttons. Thanks to the Rainmaker Digital Support Team – the true techies behind this site running on the Rainmaker Platform (here’s why Rainmaker is recommended), there’s an easy way to remove social share counts.

So what exactly are the counts on social media share buttons?

The counts on social media share buttons are the public scorecards on blogs that display how many times your post is shared across different social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The buttons also serve to help site visitors share your content across the social media channel of their choice (and that is a very good thing).

Here’s a social media button count example from the popular Copyblogger blog (the same team behind the Rainmaker Platform):

As you can see in this example, this post has already been shared a total of 1390 times. Wow!

The Bright Side of Counts on Social Media Share Buttons

Social share counts demonstrate “social proof” that your content is worthy of sharing. More importantly, it also gives a usually-reliable perception that the author is an authority on the subject matter.

The logic is that if the author’s blog posts are well written, the author’s current and future products for sale (e.g. books, courses, membership programs) are also worthy of consideration.

It’s good logic and one that I subscribe too as a blogger and entrepreneur myself.

The Dark Side of Counts on Social Media Share Buttons

Social share counts indirectly punish the people just starting out (or starting over). A compelling blog post with just three shares is still a blog post with just three shares (and one of the shares may be your own and another is from your best friend).

As a result, it can create an often false perception the person behind the content is not noteworthy.

The counts on social media share buttons can also be inflated by bots and hired hands. In fact, less than a year ago Twitter announced on its blog that it will be shutting down the tweet count feature. That’s why you may now see count totals on social media share buttons on a post for Facebook but not Twitter.

You can still tweet the post like this one, but you can’t see the number of tweets.

How to Remove Counts on Social Media Share Buttons

The code to remove social share counts is quite simple and the social share buttons still appear and work as designed (which is very important).
To remove social share counts on blog posts, you will need to enter a simple code into your website theme CSS file. CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets and is used to describe how web elements are displayed on the screen.

Here is the code to remove the counts on social media share buttons:

.content .share-filled .count {

display: none;

}

If you are using the Rainmaker Platform, here are your steps:

1. Select Design and then Custom CSS:

2. Paste the code at the end of your Custom CSS and then click Save Stylesheet:

3. Refresh one of your blog posts to see if the share counts are now hidden but the share buttons are still working:

If you are familiar with WordPress (but not using the Rainmaker Platform at this time), you probably noticed some similarities to native WordPress. That is because Rainmaker is based on a WordPress foundation (but designed to be more user-friendly on the inside).

How to Remove Social Media Button Counts on Other WordPress Sites

To remove social media share counts using native WordPress, you also want to update your theme Stylesheet (style.css).

To access this file, select Appearance and then Edit CSS (you can also select Editor and then your style.css file):

Important Note: Test your changes in a staging environment or create a production backup before you make any changes.

(For non-Rainmaker sites for my family and clients, I use and recommend WP Engine for hosting WordPress sites that are built on the Genesis Framework. WP Engine provides customers with both a staging environment and real-time backups for their WordPress sites. Here’s a complete summary of why I use and recommend WP Engine.)

When to Remove Counts on Social Media Share Buttons

In summary, removing counts on social media share buttons is a strategic choice based on where you are on your online platform journey.

If you already have a sizable mailing list audience, it probably doesn’t make sense.

But if you are just starting out (or starting over like me), removing social share counts may be a smart strategic move.

You don’t need to compare your social media button counts to those on blogs that have been growing for years. And you don’t need other people to make the same comparison.

You just need to focus on delivering great content on your website every week. That is what should be judged by others (not the number of shares on your brand new website).

Hope this helps,
Brent

10 Reasons StudioPress Offers the Best WordPress Themes

August 7, 2016 by Brent Peterson

Before I share ten reasons why StudioPress offers the best WordPress themes, let me tell you my story.

My very first website was for a product I created called Interview Angel in 2008. I did not know anything about websites (only that I needed one to sell my product online). So I paid a talented graphics designer to create the layout for the website. She did an admirable job for me back in the day when the vast majority of web traffic was through computer browsers (today it is through mobile devices).

I then paid a web developer to code the design layout into a website. The site was not built on WordPress and it was quickly overwhelmed with security attacks. By this point, I was already out of pocket several thousand dollars and fighting spam every week.

After about a year, I decided to then hire someone to convert the site to a WordPress framework. Total additional cost: $3000. The site looked the same (which was what I wanted) and it was now more secure. Unfortunately, the fact that it was not a mobile responsive design made it essentially unusable on mobile devices.

From that point forward, I set out to learn how to design in WordPress myself.

The first professional WordPress theme I then invested in was Standard Theme, developed by a reputable team of four developers in Atlanta. They had over a thousand customers, but one day, the team decided to just call it quits. No warning. They just walked away from their customers to follow other pursuits. Since that moment, I learned never to invest in a team that small. If you are considering a WordPress theme run by a couple people, you are taking on a lot of unnecessary extra risk.

Now in search of a new WordPress theme provider, I searched Google for answers (as you may being doing right now). I asked in forums and all signs pointed to one company: Copyblogger Media (now known as Rainmaker Digital) and their trademark StudioPress line of premium WordPress themes. The number of sites worldwide that are based on StudioPress themes is now approximately 200,000. Here are ten reasons why it is so popular and I use and recommend it for all of my sites.

10 Reasons StudioPress Offers the Best WordPress Themes

Search Engine Optimization – State-of-the art code and smart design architecture means search engine see your content. Studiopress is actually an entire library of premium themes that all run on the industry-recognized Genesis framework.
Responsive Mobile (HTML5) Designs – WordPress sites than run on Genesis and a StudioPress child theme are automatically mobile responsive. What that means is that when people visit your site on their phone, the site automatically adjusts the layout to be mobile friendly for them. StudioPress themes are also designed to look professionally across multiple browsers and new ones are released every year. It just works perfectly.
Unlimited Websites – Once you buy the Genesis Framework and your first child theme (for about $100), you can use that theme on any number of sites you want for yourself, your family, and even for your clients as I do. And if decide you want to refresh the look and feel of a site, you can install a new StudioPress child theme that runs on the same Genesis framework.
Airtight Security – StudioPress themes are designed (and regularly updated) for your protection. The Genesis framework follows WordPress security best practices and integration with security plugins like Akismet to filter out spam are seamless.
Instant Updates – The company behind StudioPress regularly code, test and communicate updates to its Genesis framework so that your site remains current and safe. And these updates are available free of charge to customers and appear automatically in your WordPress dashboard.
Customizable and Fast – StudioPress sites are designed to be fully customizable. You can switch the theme color for example in an instant. Not happy with the sequence of content on your homepage in your child theme template? You can move them around. The Genesis framework is also designed to be clean code that does not bloat your site leading to extra page load delays.
Widgets and Layout Options – Widgets are the term for sections of code that are inserted into your WordPress layout. But as a WordPress user, you don’t need to actually code and StudioPress themes have several built-in custom widgets such as widgets to display post excerpts and an image thumbnail.
Extensive Support Forum – StudioPress customers get access to an extensive community of website owners and developers. If you run into a problem with your site, changes are someone has a solution for you.
Solid Documentation and Customer Support – There is a learning curve to WordPress and to applying a theme to showcase your business online. StudioPress has a solid library of resources whether you are the do-it-yourself type or whether you prefer to take control of your site after a web designer (like me) sets everything up on your behalf.
Compatible with the Rainmaker Platform – The Genesis framework is also the foundation for the Rainmaker Platform, a complete turn-key WordPress solution available from the same company. Depending on your goals, Rainmaker may be your best WordPress starting point (here are 10 Reasons to Try Out Rainmaker). But if you start out with a self-hosted WordPress website based on a StudioPress theme (you can now seamlessly do so through the new StudioPress Sites solution), it can more easily be converted into a Rainmaker Platform site or vice versa.

The Best WordPress Theme – In Summary

In summary, the best WordPress theme isn’t technically one theme.

It’s an entire library of premium themes from StudioPress, all of which run on the award-winning Genesis framework.

Once you invest in StudioPress for about $130, you can purchase new child themes as a returning customer for about $55 each. You also have the option to purchase a license for all StudioPress themes, for access now and for all future releases in the future. That’s what I have for my family and for my clients. If you are a Rainmaker customer (and I am as well as shared in this post), you automatically gain access to a full library of StudioPress child themes.

New for 2017: Rainmaker Digital launched StudioPress Sites, a solution that integrates StudioPress themes and managed WordPress hosting. It’s worth considering as an alternative to a StudioPress themed site hosted with another reputable host company like WP Engine.

A noteworthy benefit of StudioPress Sites is that it includes the company’s Content Optimizer tool (formerly known as Scribe Content) – Rainmaker Platform includes this tool too. Content Optimizer helps you optimize blog posts for search engine keywords.

For your reference, this site is based on the Digital Pro Theme from StudioPress, but runs on the Rainmaker Platform.

Final Note: New child themes that run on Genesis get released to StudioPress first and are then later offered within the Rainmaker Platform. Child themes that are designed by third party developers are not included in the Rainmaker Platform (only child themes designed by the team at Rainmaker Digital).

Full Transparency

I have an affiliate relationship with StudioPress so if you decide to invest in StudioPress via this link (or any of the StudioPress links in this post), I am eligible for a commission from the good folks at StudioPress. 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 StudioPress, 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 it even if there was no affiliate program.

What questions do you have about StudioPress?

If you have any questions about StudioPress (or the Rainmaker Platform from the same company) please let me know via response to the free Graceful Resources email mailing list or my contact form. I am here to help.

10 Reasons to Try Out Rainmaker

August 2, 2016 by Brent Peterson

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).

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).

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.