Brandon Saltalamacchia
@iambrandonsalt
Followers
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Following
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Media
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Statuses
20K
Founder of @retro_dodo 🕹🦤 Marketing @KagiHQ 👨💻
United Kingdom
Joined March 2010
It's a truly sad time for anyone that creates content that relies on Google. @retro_dodo is unfortunately on the brink of collapse because of recent changes to search results. Google is throwing their creators under the bus, in broad day light at scale.
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How does @retro_dodo a small niche website outrank giant authoritative brands owned my million dollar media companies like The Verge and 9to5 Google using simple SEO tactics that anyone can replicate?. You guessed it, another annoying 🧵 that shows you how. Firstly.
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Don't do this. ⚠️. There's a big problem in this industry. Everyone wants shortcuts, and it pushes low quality content/experiences that turns Google Search into a terrible place, which then ends up hurting everyone who makes content for a living. A couple reasons why 👇.
This blog is 100% AI generated. It just keeps growing and growing. Here's how to drive traffic to your business (with literally 0 effort):
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It truly breaks my heart to make this video, after 5 years of building Retro Dodo Google has decided to remove it from their search engine, alongside thousands of other independent websites that are trying to build great website for users to discover. 😢.
This is a sad time for Retro Dodo. 😩. Our latest video explains how Google is killing us and other independent sites, all while building a search engine that is unfair, biased and certainly not open. Watch here 👉
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Playstation GIVEAWAY! All you have to do is follow me @iambrandonsalt and RT this tweet for your chance to win all of this! Big up to @NumskullDesigns for sending these out! Video dropping tomorrow! 📦 Ends 28th Feb and yes, i’ll ship worldwide. ✌️
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Almost 6 months since Google starting killing our website with the press of a button @retro_dodo. 5 years of hard work, crumbling away at my fingertips, nothing I am doing is helping. We have to see signs of recovery in the next update or we won't be around for much longer. 😞
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I met with Google to talk about the current state of Search. My blog post about it 👉
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Many like to over complicate SEO to eventually sell you something. You can build a $1M asset using the very basics of SEO. I don’t know what programmatic SEO means, I have never bought a course or know how to code and my site is doing 1.7M readers a month. Don’t overthink it.
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Ha, this makes so much sense now. It was always bigger than “your content isn’t helpful”. 🥲. I hate that I keep complaining about the current state of Google, but I’m getting fed up with the lies that they keep telling creators/publishers.
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APRIL GIVEAWAY! Simply RT & FOLLOW for a chance to win this GoRetro Portable Handheld! Giveaway ends in 14 days and I will ship worldwide! ❤️📦 Winner will be picked randomly and announced here. Good luck! 🙌
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1.6M page views on @retro_dodo in November, all thanks to the team. 🚀. 88% organic. 12% social. $50k revenue (including aff). It's going so well, anxiety is making me think something will go wrong. 😅. I need to focus on our newsletter & short video moving forward. 🎥
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One of the saddest things about the recent changes to Google's algorithm is that I miss randomly discovering epic niche hobbyist sites that dive deep into a world that I was simply dabbling my toe into. 🌍. As if it was a door to someones passions, filled with studies, findings,.
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If you're building a website in a very competitive niche, the fastest way to grow traffic is by creating content on the small search volume topics. Go for the breadcrumbs, media companies won't touch them because "it's a waste of time". That's how I grew @retro_dodo's site.
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Thanos is here in @FortniteGame! Here's a snippet, the full gameplay will be on @GamesRadar shortly! It's so cool to see @Marvel teaming up with @EpicGames to do something that's never been done before. Mad respect! 👌
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I rarely share my personal life on here, because I typically use Twitter or X now I guess… for business, but my next “project” launches in January and I couldn’t be more excited/nervous. 😅. Time to get the sleep in while I can and start reading those daddy blogs. 💩
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"Our recent core update will help independent publishers". 30 days later: Only joking. 👋
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Every week I think "Surely, it can't get worse for publishers, right?". Imagine when they roll this out on product reviews, best lists, in-depth guides etc. This is f'ed up.
Google is testing "Quick view" buttons that show your content on Google, leaving the searcher with little reason to click over to your site - not good Google via @tomcritchlow
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We put a bunch of time, research, money and effort into producing an article about 90's toys, since Sept 23, it went from position 3 to. 36. Our article has hands-on proof with pictures of our own collections, in-depth high quality videos (one being a deep dive into the.
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To all my fellow publishing creators building real, high quality, and human produced content brands. Good luck. 🫡
Today we released the August 2024 core update. It continues our work to improve the quality of our search results by showing more content that people find genuinely useful and less content that feels like it was made just to perform well on Search.
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Me opening up Pokemon Yellow for my birthday 19 years ago. 😂
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And there it is. The last nail in the coffin for many of us. ☠️ . No transparency, no help, no heart. It’s now pay to win. Welcome to the future of Google Search. 🫡.
The March 2024 core update is complete, having ended on April 19. The ranking feedback form is now ready at and will remain open through May 31. We’ve also updated our Debugging drops in Google Search traffic help page here:
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For anyone that uses Google as their search engine, read this. Google is becoming pay to win, and independent sites are being deleted from the search results. @retro_dodo is one of them, seeing a 90% loss of traffic now. 😥.
Last February, we sounded the alarm about Google killing independent sites. Since then, we lost 91% of traffic from Google. It’s no longer just big media sites getting pushed to the top. Now we're drowning in Google Shopping product listings. NEW:
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RIP expired domains.
Today we announced improved quality ranking and new spam policies that we believe significantly enhance the quality and helpfulness of your search results. Learn more:
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First time this year to hit $1K days from display ads alone. 👀. Thank you past Brandon for putting in the hard work. 🙏. I hope to see many more of these! 🚀
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"Helpful", to not helpful, to helpful, to not helpful. all in the space of a year. This is so confusing, and Google really need to sort this out because there isn't a lot independent sites left anymore, and I know many of us won't be able to sustain another major hit.
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My first ever $1000 day from display ads on site. This gave me goosebumps when I saw it. I use to work for 14+ days for that kinda money. I’m feeling unbelievably grateful. 🙌 #seo
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I have been building out a content cluster (Pokemon) for 12+ months on @retro_dodo, ready to take advantage of the new game when it launched 11 days ago. It's an incredibly competitive topic, that is near impossible to rank for, but I took the risk and went all in. It worked.🚀
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The more I read about @Ezoic the more I despise them. - They lock creatives into long term contracts with no flexibility that when broken threaten to sue. 🔪. - They use shady tactics with their paid “premium tier” that makes creators pay to unlock “ better”rates. 💸.
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Today marks my 100th day without alcohol. 🍺. I went dry through Christmas, New Year, a stag do, and a holiday.🍹 . But was it worth it, and how hard was it for a chubby British guy that had it engrained in his lifestyle since he was 16? 🥃. Here’s what I learned 👇
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CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY! Simply RT this tweet and follow me to be in with a chance of winning this fake Gameboy Advance! 🕹 I’ll ship worldwide and announce the winner in 7 days. Thanks for the continued support, more giveaways are coming! ✌️❤️
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Very nice of CNET to share mine and other independent publishers current situation. 🙏.
Google's major search algorithm updates this past year have left many smaller websites with no other choice than to lay off staff. The internet is worse for it.
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It sounds like they wasted the time of 20 creators, just to pat them on the back, and say “good luck out there”. 👋.
I attended Google's Creator Conversation event yesterday. Here's my account of what happened.
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I'm 30 in a few weeks and I'm tempted to give up alcohol for good. 🍺. It's been an uncontrollable poison in my life and does nothing but pull me away from my mental/physical goals. Has anyone else that follows me gone dry for good?. Need advice.
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Today marks one whole year without alcohol. 🍺.
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As much as Google is crippling my business right now, today I took my 11 week old to his first swim lesson, mid-week. 👶🏻💧. Sometimes I take for granted that I can work on my own terms, and today made me incredibly grateful for that. 🙏.
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It's crazy to think that Google, which is pretty much the doorway to the internet (for now), is actually an advertising company, designed with bias, with an incentive to make search worse for the user to increase revenue/clicks for their advertisers and themselves.
DOJ’s approach would hurt American consumers, developers, and small businesses — and jeopardize America’s global economic and technological leadership when it’s needed most. It would break a range of Google products — even beyond Search — that people love.
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Niche website Twitter is becoming a toxic place and constantly feels like a “get rich quick” environment filled with selfish financial motives and zero transparency. 😞.
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Today marks 250 days without alcohol. 🍺 I don’t think I’ll ever go back. It truly is a poison, especially for the mind. 🧠.
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Google is casually killing hard working independent sites left right and centre this year, truly sad to see.
In a bid to replace falling ad revenue, big media publishers are inundating the web with bad product recommendations you can’t trust. Google is killing independent sites like ours through inaction. We hope to still be here to see things change:.
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.@WeLoveBath is now at 34 posts in total and has just creeped over the 100 clicks a day mark. Nothing crazy I know, but I'm trying to build brands that last 10+ years, this allows me to take my time, and focus on quality content, consistently. First target: @mediavine
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Many only see your "peak", but in reality it has been years of grinding. Here's a traffic graph for @retro_dodo. 🦤. That's 2.5 years of hustle before the rocket eventually takes off 🚀. Building content sites ain't easy, 95% give up in year 1. Don't be that 95%.
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Since posting about our bad news last week, my DMs and emails have been inundated with lovely folks offering advice, jumping on calls and sharing stories. Building in public is underrated. I've gained so much knowledge in the past week, which I am incredibly grateful for. 🙏.
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Finally pulled the trigger on a Gameboy i’ve wanted for a long time. 🔥 A 2004 limited edition Pokemon Center GBA SP from Japan. 🇯🇵
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GIVEAWAY TIME! A SHIT-TON of stuff is up for grabs, all ya gotta do is subscribe to my YT channel and follow me on here. Simple! 👉 🎉
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Does anyone know if there's a Wordpress plugin for this? . I love how it looks and how it helps with EEAT, but can't seem to find anything for us nooby wordpress folk. 😢.
E-E-A-T on steroids: 3 writers (one contrubutor + two advisor stuffs) and 1 reviewer
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A personal blog post about how the recent updates put me into pure panic and what I'm changing moving forward. My first journal in a while, boy do i miss it.
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Huge milestone! @retro_dodo has had its first ever 2,000,000 views month. 🦤. The target was by end of the year but we’ve had great luck with Discover and Social traffic thanks to the teams great journalism! 📈. I am hoping we can keep this up through to 2024. 🤞
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Today marks a new chapter. It's the day I leave my full-time job, it's the day I pursue my own projects, and it's the day I start a new, more challenging lifestyle. I told myself 2019 is going to be about what I want to do, and this is the first BIG step. Shit just got real. 🚀
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The power of snippets. 💪. We are ranking above IGN and Eurogamer (which are the world's largest gaming websites) for a search term. How?. ✅ We simplified the answer and used a header (H2) as the question, making it easy for Google to read/crawl. Use this as you will. 🚀
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A year in the making, and it’s finally in my hands. Wow. 😍 There’s something magical about creating a physical product of this calibre. Thanks @lostincult for believing in @retro_dodo 🦤❤️
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Today marks 6 months being sober. 🍺. It's the best choice I have ever made for my mental health. 🧠.
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I'm becoming numb to these now. Back when I properly started in 2018/2019 these would excite me because they helped independent publishers. Now I fear them, knowing with every update more incredible publications will shut their doors. 😢. I hope this one is different. 🤞.
Today we released the November 2024 core update. We'll add it to our ranking release history page in the near future and update when the rollout is complete. For more on core updates: .
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Those who say niche websites are "passive" are the ones that get smashed by algo updates. You have to constantly update your content to keep it relevant, to keep competitors at bay and to keep Google happy. The moment you relax, is the moment you open yourself up to competition.
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It's @retro_dodo's 3rd birthday. 🎈. The red indicates when I was going to give up. The dreaded "plateau". 😬. Hanging in there eventually paid off and the algorithms rewarded our hard work. If you're building a content website, keep going! It will be worth it, I promise! 🙏
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I wish all fellow creators who are going to this the best of luck, I was invited but won’t be attending. I had an opportunity to talk with Google months ago about search face to face, and if anything it’s actually gotten worse for us. I hope this isn’t the same. 🙏.
We are on our way to Google HQ to spend a day discussing the current state of Google Search with other independent web publishers and Google engineers. We hope we will come out of the meeting with actionable next steps towards a better way forward for the open web. Wish us luck.
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Great move by Mediavine. 👏. Now we wait for the SEO and Niche Site "gurus" to start promoting Ezoic again.
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I have decided to work with @lilyraynyc on a SEO site audit, I have respected her work for a while now and keen to see what she finds. 🔍. I believe we have been over-optimising our content, alongside other minor findings that we need to change. I'll document the comeback. 💪.
I am looking for someone well respected in the SEO space to audit my sites, do a deep dive, look at analytics and give some solid advice on moving forward after these updates. 💻. DM's open, must do audits for a living and know their sh*t, paid ofc.
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I am seeing a few tweets about the "death of display ads" when Google stops third-party cookies late next year. 🚨. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. 🤔. Here's how I am preparing, and how you can too if you're building a content website. 🧵.
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Finally seeing signs of traffic recovery for @retro_dodo - we've cleaned up a lot of articles, removed 50+, added extra EEAT, and created a new content strategy moving forward. 💻. I believe we can come back stronger than ever, but its gonna take a lot of work in 2024. 👷♂️
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I still have to pinch myself seeing it in physical retail stores. 📚.
Our book A Handheld History in collaboration with @lostincult is now making its way into @Waterstones stores! 👀
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Some incredible sites with talented journalists are getting absolutely obliterated. Remember when Google said we had to work on a sites EEAT? Ha… . It means nothing now. It’s time to support those sites you love the most before they go extinct. 😥.
These are the sites with the greatest % declines in Google SEO visibility between September 4, 2023 and April 22, 2024 (@Sistrix data). Gee, notice anything totally obvious, or is it just me?. Sorry to anyone who works on any of these sites, I know a lot of you are seeing this. I
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What a day.
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Blogging is dead. ☠️ . Brand builders with a passion for niche subjects are coming into the field and wiping out anyone doing it purely for profit or half assed. 👷♀️ . Those taking shortcuts will be the first to be hit over the coming years. 👋 . Those that want to grow must….
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Well hello, @mediavine Pro. A much welcome little pay bump. 👌 Now to grow @WeLoveBath to hit that 25k threshold. 🚀
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I am beyond blessed to get the chance to do things like this. ❤️ We just finished filming with Casey, which will be our biggest collab yet. 👀 Videos coming soon.
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I just got some pretty dope cable protectors. 👌
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This is pretty scary. 👀 . Not only do we constantly get pushed down the rankings by ads and wealthier competition but now we’re being pushed further down by Google’s AI that scrapes sites content without consent or credit. The death of human content is coming. 🤖.
With our new generative AI experience in Search, you’ll get even more from a single search. You’ll be able to quickly make sense of information with an AI-powered snapshot, pointers to explore more and natural ways to ask. #GoogleIO
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Just two months in and @CardGamerCom is hitting 1,000 organic clicks a day. I am hoping to get it onto @mediavine by end of the month. Then we can REALLY put our foot on the gas. 💨 2024 is going to be a great year for our two brands, i can feel it. 🔥
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Another great independent publication shutting its doors because of Google’s bias. 😔 It’s truly sad to see.
I'm shutting down Giant Freakin Robot as a website, effective today. Going forward we'll only create content for our YouTube channel.
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Yesterday @retro_dodo had its biggest traffic day ever, thanks to a couple of news posts going viral, and being shared by our community. Site traffic is already back to normal, but nonetheless a welcome spike, that happened because of the team's hard work. 🙏
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For the first time, Retro Dodo was sent a review code by Nintendo themselves. A small, but cool achievement for us. 🙏.
Our full review of Super Mario RPG is now live, written by the talented @theolitston 💻. "a faithful and authentic update to the 1996 original, packed with joy". ⭐️ 9/10 ⭐️.
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I've made the decision to migrate @retro_dodo to @Ghost 👨💻. Main reasons why:. - To simplify website layout/management. - Incorporate paid memberships/content. - Fluid newsletter integration. - Spend less time faffing with SEO. - Spend less time faffing with web design. - Focus.
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Two years ago today I sold my first website for 6 figures. 💻 . Selling it was one of the most insightful things that has ever happened to me, for a number of reasons. 🧵.
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I have some exciting news to share soon. 👀. A new path, a new mission. 🚀. A way I can REALLY help independent publishers and hopefully build a better web for us all. More details coming soon. 🌍.
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I am joining @KagiHQ's marketing team. 👨💻. A pivot I didn't think i'd ever take, but over the last 12+ months it has become evidently clear that Google wants to kill independent publishers and have built a doorway to the web that is biased, distracting and pay-to-win. A search
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Got in a fake N-Gage. If you look closely it has Battlefield guy walking out of a Zelda Breath of The Wild loading screen. 😂 #WhatTheFake
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A part of me deep down wants to escape from the content creation business, or do something where content isn't the fundamental pillar of it. Algorithms no longer show those you follow, you're forced to constantly upload or be punished for it, and even when you do you are. .
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This year has seen @retro_dodo evolve from a blog into a respected publication all thanks to Seb, @GeekMid, @naramakesgames and @LiterateElf. 🦤. 💻 9.7M readers.🎥 6M long form video views.📧 2.9K newsletter subs.📚 1 book. Thank you to all that read and support our content. ❤️.
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