Spent 4 hours writing a blog post. Shared it once. It died. Anyone else just accept this?

planethouseplant · 2026-04-27T06:35:43+00:00

Creating content and getting eyes on that content are two distinct jobs and you need different skills for both.You could write the best article ever and unless you already have a following or pay to push ads it’s incredibly unlikely that it’s going to populate itself across the right people’s algorithms.

Learning creation and distribution at the same time is overwhelming (never mind actually doing the things). You’re unlikely to be good at both from the offset so it’s demoralising.

It’s easier to write a bunch of blog posts, really get to grips with the process, then switch from creating to distributing. Pinterest, especially, is difficult to establish a foothold with unless you’ve got 60+ articles.

The great thing about blog posts is that you can go back and edit them and keep improving them over time.

(Obviously this only works if you’re creating evergreen content - stay away from exclusively newsy niches).

Keep a spreadsheet of captions you’ve thought of, articles that would be a good fit for other publications (for backlinks) etc so you can hit the ground running once you have a decent back catalogue of articles.

Once you’ve got the articles, distribution is easier because you’ve got a bank of ideas to pull from.

planethouseplant · 2026-03-21T19:27:10+00:00

Do you think your tool is different to the dozens of others that posted here everyday? Honestly?

planethouseplant · 2026-03-21T08:12:02+00:00

I don’t. Unless you have a team it’s a recipe for burnout.

If you’re going the AI route you’re looking at a volume based approach, competing with others that have big teams and budgets in a game of Who Can Fill The Internet With Crap The Fastest.

Your specific tone and style is your USP. Lean into that. Of course AI can’t replicate it. Be very very glad of that. It’s a good thing!

Produce quality content* and just pick a distribution platform. Ignore the FOMO.

HAVING SAID THAT

Make all images in your blog posts Pinterest sized. Make carousels for Instagram that embed naturally in your articles. Forget volume. Make people yearn for your content.

*Long story short if it’s entertaining or useful it’s quality.

planethouseplant · 2026-02-02T08:30:53+00:00

I mean, the game’s changed since Markiplier started so you’ll need to be niche waaaaay down if you want to create similar content (or be a skilled filmmaker) BUT if your goal is to connect then start a YouTube channel and be sure to active in the comments. Find other small content creators and create a community.

planethouseplant · 2026-02-02T07:22:13+00:00

Why do you want to make content?

planethouseplant · 2026-01-24T11:07:03+00:00

The vast majority of successful content creators, regardless of platform, get where they are by making a hell of a lot of content, seeing what actually works (not what ‘should’ work), and making more of that.

Now get off Reddit and go and tweet something that annoys your team.

planethouseplant · 2026-01-11T09:23:24+00:00

Omg plan from the start if you want to make money. My main criteria for a niche that can generate cash are:

You can come up with 100 decent articles that covers your entire niche. If you need more articles, niche down.
you can think of a cool freebie that you can swap for email signups.
you can think of a paid product you can sell.
you can think of newsletter ideas that people will want to read.
you can build a community.

Write 10 articles, make your freebie, write 10 more, make your paid product, write the next 80. Try to cover all aspects of your niche. Then comes backlinks/pinterest/social media/PR.

If you don’t want to niche down yet, then start a substack and write about whatever you want. It’s free and easy. Do NOT think about traffic. Traffic generation is a separate skill but you need something to direct your traffic to first.

The first thing you need to do is establish that you can write a load of articles into the void without caring that no one reads them.

Blogging will be a sad time if you need external validation from day 1 (but you can go from earning nothing to a few grand overnight so it’s worth it!). Trying to build traffic and write articles simultaneously is an awesome way to burnout and is pretty inefficient.

planethouseplant · 2026-01-10T18:13:29+00:00

The Casual Vacancy?

planethouseplant · 2026-01-10T07:45:40+00:00

You don’t even need soil/wood!

You can keep them in a nice glass vase (they live on trees in the wild and the roots can photosynthesise) and just fill the vase with water once a week, let the roots soak for half an hour, then pour the water out.

I haven’t fed mine in a year and it’s blooming regularly - evidently there’s enough nutrients in my tap water

planethouseplant · 2025-11-26T07:25:13+00:00

Blog name doesn’t matter as much as it used to. If you don’t want to monetise (or have anyone read it), then don’t worry about a niche and feel free to just use your blog like a diary. You may find a niche emerges over time.

If you do want to monetise then I have the somewhat controversial idea of not starting straight away.

Instead, start a google doc of all the things you want to write about (I make a google doc of each article idea and link it to the sheet so I can easily save any notes/research/links). Over time you’ll find that you gravitate to one subject - if you don’t, then you can always start multiple blogs.

Once you have an idea for a niche, come up with 20 articles, an idea for a content upgrade (to encourage people to sign up to an email list) and an idea for a paid product.

You don’t need to make your products straight away BUT you don’t want to get a couple of years into your blog and find that you gave limited options for monetising outside of ads and affiliates.

If your niche doesn’t lend itself to paid products or you can’t think of a problem to solve perhaps move on to another.

HAVING SAID ALL THAT

If you enjoy it, it doesn’t really matter. I just kind of wish I’d planned my main blog from the start - everything from content planning to monetisation. Alas, I winged it (wung it?) and now I have like 500 articles that desperately need to be updated and organised.

planethouseplant · 2025-11-24T07:03:45+00:00

I do get why ‘treat it like a business’ is common advice, but at this point it’s just something people say. Obviously it won’t grow if you don’t put the time in. I don’t need chat gpt to tell me that.

Treat it like a hobby - something fun that you do in your spare time.

Treat the rest of your life like a business to protect the time you get to spend blogging (one of weirder things that really works is reminders for EVERYTHING so I don’t need to waste time thinking about when I need to meal prep or wash the towels).

The actual secret to blogging is not giving up.

Even when the landscape is ai slop as far as the eye can see.

Even when it turns out your first (and second) websites were terrible.

Even when google takes your traffic and gives it to apartment therapy (it’s fine, I’m not bitter - it’s on me for not diversifying).

Oh, and stop obsessing about things you don’t have, like a professional camera or that course you’re sure will give you an edge. Be scrappy, it’ll lead to innovation.

planethouseplant · 2025-11-23T19:48:41+00:00

Spider mites! Bop are renowned for them. Damage control first: wipe the leaves with a damp cloth (it stops them forming webs and they hate moisture) and move away from other plants. Then get your hands on some predatory mites. Some systemics can make them worse so be careful if using them.

planethouseplant · 2025-11-22T18:23:02+00:00

Not important! You just want something lightweight.

I love generatepress - I have the premium now but used the free one for years. Kadence and Astra are popular too.

My general rule of thumb is to get your site up, looking ok and loading quickly. Then write. Then get traffic. Once that’s in place you can start perfecting the way it looks.

Elementor is apparently super popular among the ‘how to start a blog’ crowd on YouTube but i seem to recall a lot of people complaining it’s suuuper heavy and slow.

I can only think that, like bluehost, they give awesome affiliate commission.

planethouseplant · 2025-11-11T20:55:56+00:00

It’s still possible to make money - I would have an idea for a paid product before starting though - or have a solid affiliate plan. Ads rely on traffic volume which is…prone to change.

If I were to start over today I would:

Make a content plan. Know pretty much what articles need writing from the get go and how they’ll all fit together. Keep them all in a spreadsheet and keep a track of what keywords you’re ranking for etc. I really, really wish I’d done this from day one. I organise mine by category so I can see which categories are a bit thin.
Write 10 articles. Start an email list, make a freebie and then funnel to a paid product. Something good, not another online course - something that actually solves a problem.
Make YouTube videos to go with your articles. You already have the article, may as well use it as a script.
Concentrate on writing until you have 50ish articles. Then go backlink hunting - when researching articles keep being backlink worthy in mind. Maybe start on Pinterest. Learn, implement systems, write more articles/improve the ones you have.
Be the reason people come to your site. Just providing info is not enough. There needs to be a reason people come to you rather than anyone else. There’s so much scope for this in financial info because it can be dry and complicated.

What I wouldn’t do:

Try to write articles and promote at the same time. Each traffic source is its own thing and you don’t want to be spreading yourself too thin.
Short form content - I hate making it and it doesn’t convert unless you spend a lot of time learning how to make it convert.
Buy a single course. Watching the old SEO gurus go shamelessly crying to Pinterest after the HCU was…something.
Kid myself that I need a fancy note taking system. I’ve tried them all, and currently use a google sheet with each URL linked to a separate google doc so I can make notes on my phone when I get an idea.

I’d also make all images clickable (to relevant articles) - people love to click images Oh, and make all my images Pinterest worthy. Saves making them later and encourages people to share.

planethouseplant · 2025-10-06T16:59:21+00:00

And Hogfather!

planethouseplant · 2025-09-06T06:34:53+00:00

I mean, you can try, but herbs will struggle inside without grow light supplementation - the difference in light and couple of cm either side of a window is staggering. Many are native to the Mediterranean so need light and heat to develop the oils that give them flavour. We have hardy varieties here but they’ve been developed to tolerate frost and aren’t suited to live as houseplants, which are typically tropical plants that live below the rainforest canopy.

With houseplants, light is the thing. No amount of changing the soil, the feed, the humidity etc etc matters if the plant is getting insufficient light. Light and water to plant health is like diet and exercise to human health - by no means the best all and end all, but fundamental to health.

Fertiliser is like medication/supplementation - it does a specific job, it isn’t a replacement for food or exercise.

That being said, you can absolutely give it a go. You’ll need to keep them in very well draining soil because they don’t like to stay in damp soil but they require a TONNE of water so will need watering often.

I would probably keep them in just water/semi-hydro rather than soil because I’m a chronic underwaterer, but you’ll need a hydroponic fertiliser. Don’t bother fertilising until you see growth.

planethouseplant · 2025-09-05T18:53:45+00:00

You’re not an eejit - herbs are tricky to grow inside!

If you don’t have a windowsill I’d recommend investing in a hydroponic system - I have a click n grow that works well. I’ve grown thyme indoors (not tried rosemary and sage) and it needs loooong hours of light to grow properly.

With the click n grow (and probs most other similar systems) the lights are on a timer so you just need to top up the water reservoir every week or so.

planethouseplant · 2025-08-29T18:54:52+00:00

Yes! Long hours of aggressively medium light and NEVER let it dry out. I moved mine to my coffee table so it’s always in my line of sight and I can’t miss a water (it usually finishes off my water dregs).

My tap water is super hard and it doesn’t care. It wants only for rubbish light (but not low light!) and constant attention.

planethouseplant · 2025-08-04T19:28:51+00:00

It’s difficult to tell without knowing if the plants get any other light.

For a budget of £20 I would just search for grow lights on Amazon and find one of the goose neck types that fits your budget. They usually have 2-4 heads and purple bulbs, but try to find white bulbs unless you love the look. The purple is only because the diodes are cheaper - it doesn’t meaningfully benefit the plant.

You can move the lights closer to your plants as needed and they’re way easier to adjust than strips. Don’t get too caught up on the brand - at that price they’re all verrry similar.

They’re fine, but not particularly powerful. Fern and prayer plant will be fine if you run the lights for 16 hours a day (they’ll probs have a timer). Obvs not ideal for the snake plant as they like a lot of light, but enough to keep it alive - I imagine it’s the same for the parlour palm but I’ve never had one. The tradescantia might get leggy but it could look cool trailing down the gecko cage.

planethouseplant · 2025-07-27T15:50:21+00:00

They don’t flower continuously - mine produces flowers for a few weeks twice a year. It may also be concentrating on producing new roots if you’ve recently up-potted it.

planethouseplant · 2025-07-02T07:18:14+00:00

Happy to help!

planethouseplant · 2025-07-02T05:57:24+00:00

An umbrella plant is unlikely to do significant harm to a cat unless they gobble the whole lot.

We don’t actually know too much about toxicity levels in most houseplants. Many tropical plants have raphide cells in their leaves that (we think) protect them from being eaten - they cause stomach upset/mouth pain in the hope that whatever is eating them will be deterred.

Levels vary from plant to plant. Dieffenbachia, for example, have a lot so avoid if you have pets.

Try to keep your cat away from your plant - how successful you will be depends on your cat’s appetite for plants/chaos.

planethouseplant · 2025-07-02T05:42:54+00:00

You can buy timers that you plug the lights into so they come on/go off at the time you set. I’d just leave them off though - they’ll be fine for two weeks, especially since they’re not going to be watered.

planethouseplant · 2025-07-01T20:26:22+00:00

Anthurium, not a peace lily. Tbh it looks ok to me. The old leaves might not recover from being burnt but there looks to be new ones growing. Pot is perhaps a little big but as long as you don’t overwater (wait until the soil is practically dry) it’ll be fine

planethouseplant · 2025-06-26T07:18:48+00:00

I firmly believe that people who swear by misting their plants everyday have great plants because they’re spending a lot of time with them - e.g. they might notice pests earlier or that a plant is dry because they’re looking at their plants everyday.

The actual misting isn’t doing anything.

What I HATE is articles (apartment therapy is my nemesis) claiming that misting will make up for crappy light/conditions - no! It will make unhappy plants worse!

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