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Simon is the founder of Better Creating, a business he started in 2020 geared towards simplifying productivity and finding the best ideas tools and tech to help people create the life they want. His YouTube channel has over 130,000 subscribers, where he makes tutorials, tech reviews and more. Simon is another creator who has gone deep on Notion, building a second brain and many other systems that he sells as templates. Today we’re going to find out what it’s like being a full-time creator and why the Notion ecosystem is booming still in 2024.
Links
Better Creating YouTube ChannelSimon’s Notion TemplatesThe Generalist CoHow to make your first 5 hires podcastJames Recommendations
Shoe DogPodcastageHamiltonJR Recommendations
Charlie Munger handbookHard Thing About Hard ThingsErik Anders Lang (Adventures in Golf)Cirque Du SoleilSimon Recommendations
Thinking, Fast and SlowAnything You Want (James has some spare copies of this. DM him if you’d like a copy for free)Into the WoodsScott Yu-JanSleep No MoreTimestamps
00:00 Intro01:15 From theatre director to content creator05:47 Choosing to make content not based on his career07:36 Staying consistent creating content as a side project12:47 Making money with small audiences22:38 Keeping up a production schedule24:53 The Notion template business27:07 Are Notion templates a waste of time?31:38 Is the template space too crowded?34:53 Platform risk building on top of Notion38:54 Coming up with template ideas41:58 How to price Notion templates45:27 Building a team54:41 Book, YouTube and Theatre recommendationsAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com.
If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.
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On the 6th March 2024, Aaron Francis was part of layoffs at Planet Scale, where he was an educator. Since then, Aaron has had a hard decision to make: find another job, or take the leap to full-time entrepreneur. Now the job offers came in thick and fast for Aaron, with almost 600,000 people seeing his layoff tweet, but after documenting his thoughts on his own podcast, Mostly Technical, Aaron announced what he was doing next. He launched his own content studio, Tryhard Studios.
Links:
Follow Aaron on TwitterAaron's Tuple PageTryhard StudiosTimestamps
00:00 Intro01:28 What it's like being laid off02:05 Building a studio in an apartment04:24 Why PlanetScale laid off people05:06 The reaction to being laid off07:26 How to increase your chance of getting a new job09:12 Side projects as layoff insurance12:29 Do side projects make you more hireable?15:09 Aaron's existing money making side projects18:24 Deciding to go all in and not find another job23:11 Aaron's new thing, Tryhard Studios28:01 Why the name "Tryhard Studios"30:15 The business model32:08 Dealing with the course promotion treadmill33:29 What things haven't gone so well34:53 Building a pipeline of new work37:13 Preparing for burnoutAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com.
If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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Jack McDade is the creator of Statamic, a content management system for Laravel. He’s just launched his new course, Radical Design, which teaches people Jack’s unique approach to design and building products. And when unique approach, I mean it. All you have to do it scroll through Jack’s sites, his personal, Statamic, the Radical Design landing page to be immediately entertained by the little nuggets of flair dropped in throughout. In a world of boring landing pages and everyone doing the same thing, it’s nice to have a bit of Jack out in the world.
Follow Jack:
TwitterYouTubeStatamicPersonal websiteRadical DesignTimestamps:
00:00 Intro02:12 JR's question to Jack03:00 Starting Statamic04:03 Statamic growth over the years07:04 Jack's approach to the product10:03 What does Jack's day look like11:20 When to hire as a CEO15:22 Launching a course 4 years after annoucning it21:49 What is Radical Design and why make a course26:23 The secret sauce for Radical Design30:26 Embracing AI as a designer36:06 How did the launch of the course go38:59 Where do future sales come from after launching?45:57 Dabbling in fun projectsAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com.
If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.
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Today we're joined by Sara Loretta, who is the 10th US Certified Notion Consultant and Founder of SYSTMS™, an operations agency for agencies and small startups. She previously owned a design studio, 99 & Saint Claire, and spent nearly a decade before that in the nonprofit sector working in business development.
Follow Sara:
WebsiteYouTubeTwitterTimestamps
00:00 Intro00:43 How Sara Discovered Lemon Squeezy02:4 1From Non Profits to Notion Consultant - Sara's journey08:31 Having the confidence to career pivot15:37 The Notion Ecosystem18:58 Notion consultant program23:49 Why Sara hasn't gone all in on Notion templates27:24 Launching the Productized AF bundle29:05 Getting confidence charging for large retainers31:09 What systems Sara builds for clients33:32 Running an agency as a solopreneur36:31 The future for Sara38:21 Sara's schedule and embracing siestasAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com.
If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.
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Today we’re back with an episode of our Project 100k series, which is all about my journey as a creator going from 0-$100k selling through Lemon Squeezy. I’ve been a podcast producer for years but would like to stop trading my time for money and find a way to build an asset that makes me money while I sleep. In this episode we give our first update on the progress I’ve made on the name, positioning, course outline and distribution.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro01:08 James being stuck on Guernsey02:42 Deciding on the course name08:41 Delivery and pricing11:27 Pricing of cohort vs self paced17:00 Competitor research24:37 Monetization through affiliates26:25 Curriculum Continued31:36 Workshops35:28 Marketing41:01 Wrap upAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com.
If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.
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Today we're bringing you a special instalment of the Lemonhead series, getting to know our co-founder and CEO, JR Farr. We talk about how JR left college to pursue the "internet thing" before starting what would become the world's largest Wordpress marketplace, Mojo. In 2012, Mojo was acquired by Endurance (owns brands such as Bluehost and Hostgator) and JR went from founder to executive on a leadership team managing a $700m budget towards an IPO. After another 5 years in this role, JR started Weav, which ultimately fizzled out, but led to the conversations that started Lemon Squeezy.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro00:24 James is back03:58 No Context Round04:58 JR's early years08:05 JR's life ambitions10:00 Getting into the internet and affiliate marketing12:38 Getting into Wordpress and starting Mojo Marketplace19:42 Launching Mojo Marketplace23:16 Roots in payment infrastructure26:01 Selling Mojo Marketplace36:04 Lessons from a 10 year period38:04 Why Lemon Squeezy is like Space Mountain39:52 Starting Weav41:54 How the idea for Lemon Squeezy came about45:51 Getting users in the early days of Lemon Squeezy48:28 Positioning52:43 Pricing55:33 JR in his spare timeAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com.
If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.
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Today we’re joined by Guillermo Rauch, CEO of Vercel. A cloud platform that has built pioneering technology, including the Next.js framework for React. Their most recent funding round was a $150m Series D at a whopping $2.5b valuation back in 2021, to give you a sense of the size of the company.
This is an exciting episode, as it comes shortly after Guillermo announced that Vercel are partnering with Lemon Squeezy to build the world’s fastest checkout. So naturally, we had to get him on the podcast to discuss how exactly we’re going to achieve this.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro01:11 Partnering with Lemon Squeezy to build the world's fastest checkout11:09 Being inspired by Wordpress' open source approach15:11 Coming up with the idea for Next.js21:07 Are there any disadvantages to the open source model?25:04 Vercel's founding story28:58 Pivotal moments in Vercel's growth33:03 Anti Next.js sentiment36:45 What G is excited about in the future for VercelAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com.
If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.
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Today we’re joined by Rob Hope, the founder of One Page Love and host of the Yo! podcast. He also has an upcoming course, Show Them. Rob has been hustling away for almost 15 years on One Page Love, sharing the best single page websites on the internet. The Yo! podcast is a phenomenal showcase of the most talented designers and makers, packaged up into a top class production.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro00:55 Rob's $1,000 interview09:19 Working on the same project for 15 years13:06 Monetizing One Page Love19:11 The partnership with Webflow23:27 Crafting a brand deal26:55 Does Rob have a team?29:01 How Rob creates so much content31:40 Focusing vs building new revenue streams36:22 When's Rob's landing page course coming?43:56 Investing in the Yo! podcast49:55 Having Lemon Squeezy as a podcast sponsorAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com.
If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.
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Today we’re joined by Jay Clouse, founder of Creator Science, which is a platform with a membership, community, courses, a podcast, newsletter and more. Jay has scaled his media business to over $50k a month, while studying the best creators in the business. Creator Science was born out of a newsletter Jay started in 2017 which has grown to over 50k subs, then a podcast in 2019 which has millions of downloads and in 2023 he built his YouTube channel to 60k subs.
In this episode we break down his revenue split, how he’s doubled the business for 2 years running, how he provides value in $3,000 a year membership and what processes he’s put in place to create so much content to drive a thriving creator business.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro03:02 Why Pat Flynn bought Jay's community06:06 Being an early Circle user07:42 From product manager to content creator09:39 The 7 year overnight success11:36 Jay's revenue breakdown16:36 Structuring the creator membership - The Lab20:13 Jay's approach to Churn23:51 The content side of Jay's business28:13 Focusing on one platform vs publishing everywhere29:47 The machine behind the content production33:38 What is the most impactful content platform35:41 Advice to people starting out40:10 Jay's plans for 202443:38 Life outside of work47:24 Favorite podcasts49:00 Favorite books49:44 Favorite creatorsAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com.
If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.
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Today we’re launching a new series we’re calling Project 100k, which is all about my journey as a creator going from 0-$100k selling through Lemon Squeezy. I’ve been a podcast producer for years but would like to stop trading my time for money and find a way to build an asset that makes me money while I sleep. In this episode, JR turns coach as we brainstorm ideas and come up with a new direction for me to make $100k by the end of this year. But first, we uncover a shocking revaluation about JR. Let’s get into it.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro01:03 Why JR doesn't like cats03:46 Context on James' situation08:29 Focusing on the podcast course13:11 Time boxing and executing the work20:23 Thinking about distribution21:56 Other ways to monetize23:28 Getting focused25:57 Repositioning the existing course29:55 Hiring employees - is it worth it?36:05 Summary and action plan39:40 Creating the Project $100k seriesAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com.
If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.
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Today we’re joined by Justin Jackson, co-founder of Transistor.fm, a podcast hosting platform that hosts over 27,000 podcasts. Justin has bootstrapped the business since 2018 and has used it to build a better life for himself and his employees. In this episode we discuss if video is essential for podcasts in 2024, is YouTube going to kill off the audio podcast? And we also touch on how Justin is taking the slow and steady approach to building Transistor.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro00:55 Should you invest in a video podcast?12:35 Can friction be a good thing?16:41 Are we past peak podcasting?23:43 What is the new north star for Transistor?27:50 Finding different motivations31:46 Building a business that you love39:17 Would Justin sell Transistor?As always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com.
If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.
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We’re back with the first recording of 2024 and so we thought we’d take a look back through 2023, some of the key moments for Lemon Squeezy and the team, then we’ll round off looking to whats coming up this year.
00:00 Intro00:34 Christmas break catchup03:18 Looking back on key events in 202311:13 Reflection on not raising13:29 Some of the key features launched in 202318:57 Thoughts on the pod in 202324:15 Surprising niches on Lemon Squeezy25:45 Who would JR love to have on Lemon Squeezy as a merchant?26:29 Where did Lemon Squeezy mess up this year?28:09 JR's approach to setting goals for 202436:59 Lemon Squeezy growth in 202440:53 Looking back on Matt Paulson's interviewAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com.
If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.
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Today we’re joined by Matt Paulson, who is the founder and CEO of MarketBeat, a financial media company with their main newsletter, MarketBeat Daily being sent out to over 4m subscribers. They do over $25m in revenue and has over 15 employees and have seen rapid growth over the past few years. JR and I speak to Matt about his origin story, how COVID almost 4x’d the business, Matt’s advice to people starting out with a newsletter today and why he’s so involved in the local startup community.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro00:58 Why Matt has a private jet03:55 Matt's origin story08:45 From finance blogger to MarketBeat10:24 Avoiding platform risk11:39 Why Matt left his job to go full-time on MarketBeat15:19 Growing MarketBeat17:13 How a $25m newsletter business operates20:24 Huge growth during COVID25:02 Spending $3m on a new office27:10 The newsletter craze29:14 Different advertising models for newsletters33:45 Matt's advice on starting a newsletter37:39 Why Matt invests in the Sioux Falls startup community43:21 How Matt spends his free time44:04 Final takeawaysAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com.
If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.
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Today we’re joined by Rob Walling, an entrepreneur with his most notable exit being Drip in 2016. Rob also founded MicroConf, started TinySeed and is the host of the Startups for the Rest of Us podcast, which has over 690 episodes having started in 2010. He’s also written 4 books, Start Small Stay Small, Start Marketing the Day You Start Coding, The Entrepreneurs Guide to Keeping Your Shit Together and most recently, The SaaS Playbook.
In this episode we discuss a myriad of topics in bootstrapping and business, including life after exits, why Rob feels compelled to write books, his most successful angel investment and if he would invest in Lemon Squeezy today.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro05:12 Selling Drip & Mojo14:11 How Rob splits his time17:55 Why Rob writes books22:21 Collaborating with a significant other25:31 What does Rob do for fun?28:27 How to make time for hobbies30:54 TinySeed40:20 Why Lemon Squeezy didn't raise funding44:06 Gumroad price rise49:03 Multiple projects vs focus54:38 Building a marketplace58:59 Rob's advice to JR about Lemon Squeezy01:02:22 Would Rob invest in Lemon Squeezy?01:02:58 Suggestions for Rob's 700th episodeAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com.
If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.
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Today we’re joined by Jason Cohen. He’s most well known for being the co-founder of WP Engine. You might also know Jason as @asmartbear on Twitter and from his popular blog with the same name, started almost 2 decades ago. Jason is a 2 times unicorn founder so has some incredible startup wisdom at all stages of growth.
This is a wide ranging conversation where we talk about Jason’s day to day life at WP Engine, how he deals with big business problems, if his writing is done on WP Engine, how he would scale to $1m if he was starting from scratch and we also get his thoughts on Lemon Squeezy’s growth going into 2024.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro02:51 Why there is so little content on the scale up stage07:00 Is WordPress growth stagnant?09:47 What does Jason's day look like?13:02 Doing the boring things16:08 Does Jason miss the early days?20:03 Dealing with people challenges at scale27:56 How does Jason fit writing into his schedule30:41 Andertoons32:33 Going from 0-$1 million39:22 On side projects40:13 Thoughts on Lemon Squeezy fundraising47:42 Advice on Lemon Squeezy growth in 202455:16 The future of WP Engine01:00:32 Should Jason invest in Lemon Squeezy?As always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com.
If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.
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In this episode, we’re going to have a good old catch up about the state of play at Lemon Squeezy. How the most recent Black Friday period has been, what new features have been released recently, how the team growth is going and some of the new features in the works (including building a marketplace from scratch).
Timestamps
00:00 Intro00:45 Not meeting your cofounders07:13 Black Friday / Cyber Monday growth13:22 Hiring23:16 Building a marketplace35:05 New feature: Wedges37:21 Upcoming guestsAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com.
If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.
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In this episode James and JR address mental health challenges within startups, which can put a particular amount of stress on founders and employees. This episode is particularly poignant because the recording day marked the anniversary of the death of JR’s friend from mental health. We discuss how we've both had our own run-ins with depression and anxiety, what we've done to overcome it and how JR approaches this with his employees at Lemon Squeezy.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro00:23 JR's surprise03:18 Why we're talking about mental health09:26 JR and James' own struggles17:49 Dealing with mental health / finding the root cause20:32 Burnout in startups24:50 Addressing employee mental health29:11 The tricky balance of knowing when to push34:35 Lemon Squeezy updatesLinks
Football fan mental health videoThe Obstacle is the Way bookTherapy James usesAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com.
If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.
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Today we’re joined by our first guest of the series, Aaron Francis, who is currently an Educator at Planet Scale, but you would have seen him all around the internet doing courses, YouTube videos, podcasts and more. In this episode we discuss the creation and launch of Screencasting.com, a course Aaron made teaching you how to make better screencasts. We go into detail on how to structure the course, marketing, pricing and what Aaron plans to do in the future. Oh, and we discuss JR and Aaron’s priciest domains…
Timestamps
00:00 Intro01:44 Being a founder with a young family09:17 Aaron's background13:29 From accountant to software developer reading books16:47 Creating Screencasting.com19:04 Coming up with the curriculum22:42 Having to re-record the course because of positioning26:29 Spending $5k on a domain30:21 Pricing for the course32:30 Why JR spent $65,000 on a domain33:43 The future plans for Screencasting.com44:14 Avoiding burnoutAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com.
If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy
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In this episode, we’re going to be talking all things shipping at Lemon Squeezy. Why they ship fast without breaking things, Simple Loveable Complete Products rather than MVPs and everything involved in the process.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro00:56 Why shipping fast is important04:10 Does shipping too fast and consistently lead to bloat06:27 How we ship at Lemon Squeezy11:50 Sprint cycles13:25 50% unplanned time19:27 Making high quality features22:22 Does the size of Lemon Squeezy give a shipping advantage24:35 Tying in marketing30:54 Justin Jackson question on shipping cadence35:45 Arvid Kahl question on open source42:37 Are Lemon Squeezy fees too high?As always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com.
If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy
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Now, if you knew you were going to sign a piece of paper that was going to make your company worth $50m, would you turn it down and walk away? Well, that’s exactly what has happened with JR and the Lemon Squeezy team, and is why we’ve had a brief break from the pod.
But we’re back, and JR is ready to share all. We’ve lined up a cracking few episodes for this series of the show, including talking about walking away from the money, how shipping works at Lemon Squeezy, some of the mental challenges that come along with building a startup and a few special guest appearances along the way.
In this episode, we’re going to be unpacking the process of raising series A funding, what are the things they don’t tell you, how long does it take, do you have to go to San Fransisco and ultimately making the big decision to turn down a life changing raise.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
02:15 Topics for Season 3
04:15 What's been happening at Lemon Squeezy
08:11 The different types of raises
12:42 Why explore fundraising?
15:21 Raising in a challenging market
16:27 The pitching process
21:16 Choosing the right partner/VC
23:22 Things JR got caught out by
30:39 Why turn down the funding?As always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com.
If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy
- Visa fler
