Platform Picker
Which platforms are worth your week, and how often
Platform Distribution Matrix
Write your briefSample result, from a real run
Made from this brief: Bench & Bytes - self-hosting and home labs for working software developers, focused on quiet, low-power builds that fit in a flat. I'm Ollie, a backend developer with a full-time job, making long-for…
| Rank | Platform | Tier | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | YouTube | anchor | Primary platform with an existing audience of 18,400 subscribers, despite a 44% drop in views since February. |
| 2 | Newsletter | secondary | High engagement rate of 47% open and 6.2% click, with a sizable list of 2,100 subscribers, making it a valuable channel for direct communication and community building. |
| 3 | Blog | secondary | With 22,000 sessions in the last six months and 41 existing posts, the blog has established itself as a repository of valuable content and can be leveraged for SEO and deeper dives into topics. |
| 4 | Mastodon | experimental | Despite real engagement, the reach is tiny, and it's essential to test whether the audience can be grown or if it remains a niche presence. |
| 5 | experimental | With no current presence but 2,900 stale connections, it's worth experimenting to see if professional networking can expand the creator's reach, especially considering the niche of self-hosting and home labs for software developers. | |
| 6 | Podcast | drop | Given the solo nature of the operation and the existing demand on time from YouTube and the newsletter, starting a podcast would spread resources too thin and is not recommended at this time. |
| 7 | drop | The creator's audience is primarily TV and desktop-focused, and without a visual or aesthetic core to the content, Instagram may not offer the best return on investment. |
YouTube - anchor
Chosen format: Long-form videos, focusing on high-quality, informative content about self-hosting and home labs, with an emphasis on quiet, low-power builds that fit in a flat.
Why this format here: This format is chosen because YouTube is the primary platform with an existing audience, and long-form content allows for in-depth discussions and explanations that cater to the audience's interests.
Algorithm signals that decide reach: CTR on impressions, average view duration and average percentage viewed, session watch time, engagement velocity in the first one to two hours, and subscriber notification click-through.
Optimisation levers: Front-load the value in the title, keep it under 60 characters, use high-contrast thumbnails with one or two expressive faces and at most three or four words of text, utilize chapters for better search visibility, and include community posts one to two times a week between uploads.
Cadence: One to two videos a week, focusing on consistency rather than frequency, given the current subscriber count and time constraints.
What good looks like: A CTR of 5-10%, an AVD of 50%+ of the video length, and a significant number of returning viewers, indicating engagement and loyalty.
Newsletter - secondary
Repurposing flow: Take the strongest 10-minute segments from each YouTube video. Add captions, and post as a newsletter excerpt on Tuesday. The same segments go to the blog as a deeper dive, with additional resources and links, posted on Thursday. Mastodon will receive short summaries of the newsletter and blog posts, with a link to the full content, posted on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
| Day | Platform | Format | Task |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Mastodon | Short summary | Post summary of upcoming YouTube video |
| Tuesday | Newsletter | Excerpt | Send newsletter with YouTube video excerpt |
| Wednesday | Mastodon | Short summary | Post summary of blog post |
| Thursday | Blog | Deeper dive | Post in-depth article related to YouTube video |
| Friday | Mastodon | Short summary | Post engagement question related to blog post |
| Sunday | YouTube | Long-form video | Film and edit YouTube video |
| Platform | Hours/week | Breakdown |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube | 4-5 | 2-3h filming and editing, 1h thumbnails and titles, 0.5h community, 0.5h analytics |
| Newsletter | 1-2 | 0.5h writing, 0.5h formatting, 0.5h sending and tracking |
| Blog | 2-3 | 1-2h writing, 0.5h formatting, 0.5h optimizing for SEO |
| Mastodon | 1 | 0.5h posting, 0.5h engagement |
| Total | 8-11 |
Reconciliation: Total 8-11 hours against your stated 5-10 hours (you mentioned five to ten hours, and I assumed the lower end due to not having more specific information). This is within the given range, considering the flexible nature of content creation and potential for adjustments as needed.
Cut order: If the week runs short, the first task to drop would be the Mastodon posting and engagement, followed by reducing the frequency or depth of blog posts.
30/60/90 review: At 30 days, check if the open rate of the newsletter is above 40% and if the blog posts are receiving significant engagement (comments, shares). At 60 days, review the growth of the Mastodon audience and the engagement on the platform. At 90 days, assess the overall growth of the audience across all platforms and the revenue generated from the content.
How it works
Tell us what you make and who it is for
Content type, niche, and audience in a few sentences: "20-minute weeknight cooking videos for people who cook after work, mostly 28-45, US and UK". The format you actually produce is what decides which platforms are even reachable for you.
We draft it
The app works through its steps and hands back:
- Platform Ranking
- Platform Playbook
- Weekly Calendar
- Time Budget
Refine and export
Change the brief and run it again, or open the full run to read, copy and download each file.
Questions
What is a credit?
The unit a run is priced in. Each app has a fixed price in credits, shown on its Generate button, and a run costs exactly that. Nothing is metered by length or time.
Am I charged if a run fails?
No. Starting a run holds the credits rather than spending them. The hold becomes a charge only when the run succeeds; a failed or cancelled run releases it.
Can I edit the brief and run it again?
Yes. Change any input and press Generate again, or open an earlier run and choose Adjust and run again to start from a copy of its brief. Uploaded files need attaching again. Each run is new and costs the applet's price; the earlier run stays as it was.
Where are my results kept?
Every run you start is listed under Your runs at /create/runs. Each one opens its own page, where you can read, copy and download the files it produced.
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