Ian Brodie is the Director of The Rainmaker Academy Limited
What led you to start working in digital/media publishing?
I wouldn’t say I work “in” digital/media publishing, it’s more of using it to extensively promote my business which is online training/coaching. That really started right when I set up my own business in 2007.
What does a typical day look like for you?
Every day is different, of course. Usually, I get up late because I’m a night owl. If it’s a Monday, I’ll head out to a coffee shop to plan my week over a nice coffee. Otherwise, I’ll “work the plan”. That usually involves creating regular content to go out to subscribers by email at least two to three times per week, then on some days, it’s more in-depth video content for my paying clients in my membership program or for a comprehensive article for my blog. On Tuesday’s I have a couple of group calls with clients and then the rest of the time is either working on a longer-term project or answering client questions via email or Facebook group.
What’s your work setup look like?
My setup is pretty simple. I have a big iMac where I do most stuff on and I tend to use the standard apps such as Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. If I’m doing my planning or trying to be creative, I’ll do that with my iPad Pro using Notability. I also review and annotate documents that way too. I keep track of “to-dos” using Things which syncs across Mac/iPad/iPhone, it also allows me to auto-create to do items from emails which are where most of the mine come from.
Like most people, I use a bunch of tools like Evernote, WordPress of course, and I like Missinglttr for social media campaigns.
What do you do to get inspired?
I get inspiration from lots of places, from talking to clients and seeing their major challenges and what I can do to best help and to looking at what others are doing. I also get a lot from my own experiences.
What’s your favorite piece of writing or quote?
I honestly don’t have a favorite.
What is the passionate problem you are tackling at the moment?
I have two at different ends of the spectrum. Most of my audience is simply looking to me for help with getting more clients. They’re people like consultants and coaches who are great at what they do but aren’t experts at marketing and don’t want to spend all day focused on marketing or somehow become a super-slick salesperson. So I spend a lot of time working out ways for them to attract a steady flow of clients using strategies they feel good about and that don’t take every waking hour to implement.
At the other end of the scale are consultants and coaches who are doing really well, but who want to work on more premium projects for higher fees. I help them create a distinctive point of view that stands out in the marketplace and attracts the very best clients to them. So I’m always on new ideas and methods for that too.
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Is there a product, solution, or tool that you think is a good match for your digital publishing efforts?
Nothing springs to mind. My publishing is fairly simple. It’s primarily emailed and then the occasional in-depth blog post or video.
Any advice for ambitious digital publishing and media professionals just starting out?
This is a bit tricky for me because, as I said, I’m not really a digital publishing and media professional myself, so I’ll give the advice I would give to anyone: “Keep learning and keep taking on challenging work. Your ability to do what you want is determined by how much others value the skills you have and how rare those skills are.”
