Turning lemons into lemonade

[Rob Monster]

From time to time, I feel moved to start a thread that I think might help one person in particular. However, considering the collective wisdom of many independent thinkers, this might also help others. This thread is about turning lemons into lemonade. As a self-described incurable optimist, it is one of my favorite topics. In my experience, the folks who figure this out early are better off than the ones who never learn it.

As context, on NamePros, I have met lots of cool people, some of whom have really amazing life stories. In fact, in 2019 alone, I have gotten to know many people here whom I now consider to be my trusted friends whose advice I keenly observe and in some of whom I now blindly trust. There are some folks here that are now practically family. And, yes, Epik also hired some folks here too.

To illustrate what I mean about lemons and lemonade, I will share a couple of examples that will be familiar to some NP members:

- Back in March 2019, a few people in the domain industry thought it would be a good idea to chastise me for protecting lawful free speech. This happened in blogs and also here on NamePros. I am not sure about their intention, but whoever was condemning me, ended up making me a lot more popular. In short, my response to being condemned was to engage with authenticity, and to let the crowd conclude for themselves if the manufactured consensus actually held any water. Well, many of you know how that worked out. Much to the chagrin of my harshest critics, Epik has gone from strength to strength as we co-create without care for who makes money or who gets credit.

- Earlier this year, Epik began to make significant inroads as a provider of escrow services for domain investors. The topic was introduced in a thread on NamePros, and within weeks, our friends at Escrow.com dispatched at least 6 state regulators to our doorstep. Although that process was time consuming, and even a bit daunting, we navigated those inquiries. One of the state regulators was kind enough to leak us the complaint. It fingered the instigator as one Jackson Elsegood. At one point when Jackson thought to engage in more of his nonsense, I let him have it, exposing Escrow.com once and for all. Matt Barrie got cute and he got a beatdown too! Our escrow business is booming, by the way and we are just getting started.


This is what I call turning lemons into lemonade. It is all about perspective. What are some principles:

- Be authentic: An early boss at P&G told me this: "First figure out the truth. Then explain truth." If you don't know yourself well enough to explain yourself, go fix that. If you know you screwed up, go deal with that. Acknowledge your faults. Everyone makes mistakes. Live and learn.

- Listen to your critics: Some of them are smart. They can teach you stuff, even if they don't really want to help you. The ones that point out your errors, probably never read Machiavelli who famously says to never interrupt your enemy when they are making a mistake.

- Try to find the upside: Is there some new circumstance that you had not considered before, consider whether you can accomplish something based on your unique situation. Most situations are not nearly as dire as you think they are. And indeed some things happen for a reason! That's providence.

- Find your tribe: Almost everyone loves an underdog. As long as you are not an unrepentant ass, people will come find you and share their wisdom for whatever you are dealing with at the moment. When the student is ready, the teacher appears. Humility is a great foundation for personal growth.


Here are a few simple examples that I know apply to some folks here:

- Spouse cheated on you? Be thankful, you are liberated. Learn from your mistakes. Up your game. Grow in grace. Have confidence that providence has a better spouse out there. Or go back, but on your terms.

- Lost a loved one? Consider setting up a charitable foundation in honor of what that person most cherished. In so doing, know that you are celebrating, preserving and extending their legacy.

- Lost your job? Perhaps that job was not right for you anyway. Assess your strengths and passions. Start a business, or find something that is more perfect for you. If you are diligent, it will work out great!

- Perpetually single? Consider becoming a Digital Nomad. Live anywhere for almost nothing and see the world. You will have way more stories to tell. I am trying to convince @franka46 to set up a Domainer Dojo.

- Sick or injured? Become an expert on personal health. Develop a spiritual practice. Make new friends. Let your light shine. Do you still think your life sucks? Listen to this guy:

The list goes on. I am sure everyone here has had their share of lemons. Curious to hear your story. If it involves domaining, even better!

 

[Rob Monster]

Hi

I think some like sucking on lemons, and turning that juice into $ for whom they serve




the above is mostly about me, me and then it becomes epik
yet, there seems to be no separation between the two

is that all there is to, or for you?



I don't see it, in comparison to opening paragraph below



don't see how it's a help thread, if you revert back to a controversial subject to make an illustration.

it's your choice for sure, but why not use an experience that doesn't involve epik?
or was it because you didn't have any lemons, before yall came together?



I think we know where the tribe is.

glad this is in break section!

imo...

You are probably over-thinking this one as if there is some hidden agenda measured in dollars. The intent is as advertised, and that is to encourage people who are in a rough patch. Is that so hard to fathom?

As for my tribe, I have many. I am comfortable with almost all of them, even the ones that think differently than me, so long as they are not hateful at heart. Those guys aren't my tribe but I will talk to them.

Have you ever had something work out very terribly, to the point that it pushed you to the brink of despondency, but then to have it all work out in the end?

 

[Recons.Com]

I once bought a lemon. And turned it into $9K.

True story. One lemon into $9K.

The lemon was a brand new BMW that gave me few unrelated and/or repeating glitches in the first year of ownership. I had BMW fix all the issues with my X5 and pay me $9K as compensation. I drove the car for couple more years and then traded in for another brand new X5...

See? There! No need to make a lemonade ))

 

[MapleDots]

from Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet

Mine eyes smell onions (from All's Well That Ends Well)

HeHe.... which I often think about when I read parts of the now infamous topic.

 

[MapleDots]

This is bs and you know it.

Come down to hard on him? Go reread the thread you started. It went beyond just helping the hate site out, literally passing along hate memes. I went over there and read the stuff being posted, it's not imaginary stuff.

JB, I will be the first to admit, I stopped reading that topic quite early on and I cannot agree or disagree with your statement. I did not like the direction the topic took so specifically decided to stop reading and participating.

All I can say is Rob has been a straight up guy every time I have engaged with him.

 

[Mister Funsky]

I must admit, there is a part of me that thinks the 'T''s (hereafter the designation I will assign to those trolling or defined as 'trolls' by the Internationally accepted definition of what a troll is) may be people paid by Rob/Epik to keep the threads involving Rob/Epik moving to the top of the most viewed threads.

Please, PLEASE trolls, try to combine your posts into concise and complete thoughts (some of you do, but far too often it is difficult to keep up with some posts)...it is very taxing trying to keep up with the often random and disconnected thoughts put forth by 'T's...I just ain't got time for that. Thank you.

 

[Mister Funsky]

Wouldn't it be easier if you just made a fan boy thread?

I was wondering who, if anyone, would respond to my post thus self-designating himself/herself as a 'troll'....congratulations! You will now be designated 'T number one' (abbreviated as '#1' or simply '1') if, in the future, you feel the need to 'call me out' in this thread or any other.

Do you believe that? Is it across the board? I don't recall you raising the same objections when Rob takes screenshots of emails and messages and posts them.

I did not/am not addressing anything in this thread other than the fact it has been derailed by trollish behavior that undermines the intent of the original title/post. Rob (or even you) are welcome to screen shot whatever you want...it's irrelevant to me.

I actually find your posts more off topic/trolling because the posts in this thread reference what Rob posted in his first post. So again, if somebody quotes Rob and replies, it's on topic.

Why not make your life easier and less troubling, since you are finding my posts off topic, by taking advantage of the ignore feature and include me in your 'ignored members' list (if you do not have one started already, please allow me to be the first).

 

[Mister Funsky]

Yes, if you want to call somebody a troll, don't be a coward about it, just do it directly

LOL, I did...are you having issues with the English language?

To stay on topic, maybe you could share a 'lemon to lemonade' story of your own

 

[Samer]

Thought break room is where we relax?

Yet Rob is faced with all these relentless attacks,

Easy there... you dont play fair,..
(offtopic narratives brought to stir it up)

act like you care... when all u do is tear
into Rob Monster!!!

lemons->lemonade isnt “free for all roast”
I believe in Rob, grateful for his posts!

 

[Samer]

My lemons into lemonade —> expose their agenda.!!

Always same people... wonder why..? Go Rob!!

Samer

 

[frank-germany]

..we both agree on: neither of us are Nazis

definitely we agree on that, Rob

 

[Rob Monster]

I have seen enough

https://us.tv/

holocaust denial videos

We already put that matter to rest: you're not a Nazi, and I am not either.

So on the Facebook strategy, we are empowering local brand ambassadors to set up their country-specific FB pages where they share news, tips, and deals with local language, local community and local personality. Some of these "Brand Ambassadors" are country managers, or country managers in training. We pay them a stipend, give them a fast Internet connection, and train them to be salaried country managers.

Example:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/epik.indonesia/

They are: Co-Creating Abundance.

We are looking for a guy for Germany, and pretty much all other countries. It is taking shape rapidly. Details to follow but it is a very fun project.

 

[Lox]

The word Monster ... It's not what you think it is! It comes from the French Mon, meaning My and from the Dutch Ster, meaning Star. (In 1811, the French (under Napoleon) occupied the Netherlands and forced everyone to have a family name, As it turns out t Dutch resistance / rejection invented brand-driven storytelling surnames.)

MyStar!

Bye

 

[branding]

example: how the dutch got their funny names . (The vast majority still keep the old & hilarious surnames, some has to change it f.e. the last name pannenkoek (pancake) ... one big TV Ads agency hired an art director - Mr. Pancake ,.. clients laughing

Bye

We have quite a popular comedian going by the name Pannekoek (pancake) actually and yes, that's his real name.

Lots of people just stick with the name as well. One of my friends is called Sukkel which loosely translates to Dimwit

 

[Rob Monster]

We can complain because rose bushes have thorns,
or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.

(- Alphonse Karr? Abraham Lincoln?)

That is awesome.

Glass half full mindset.

Love that.

 

[branding]

Glass half full mindset.

The optimist sees the glass as half full – the pessimist sees the glass as half empty – the engineer sees the glass as being twice as big as it needs to be.

I'm a practical guy.

 

[Rob Monster]

Since I sort of started this mess..

So how else are Bible believers supposed to interpret it when it says that man was created in the image of God. (I have my own thoughts on it, but I'll see what you and maybe frank have to say.)

Relevant passages:

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. - Psalm 14:1

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. - 1 Cor 2:14

One plants. Another waters. God gives the increase.

Unless it is time for someone to consider that their remarkable self-healing, self-replicating, conscious self was the product of design, most religious ordinances will fall on deaf ears.

Some of us, somewhere along the journey of life, will have an "epiphany" or an aha moment where we suddenly have clarity about why the world works the way that it does.

Long story short: There is evil. There is good. Ultimately God controls both. That duality is what we get to navigate in the ultimate search for truth and the meaning of life.

I have no doubt that it is possible to be moral and kind without having faith in a higher power. That said, I don't believe there is eternal life without a savior.

For those trying to figure it out, there is a decent resource here that I think has sound theology and covers a vast number of questions:

https://www.gotquestions.org

And for anyone enduring a life with too many lemons right now, trust that those lemons can ultimately be for good, so hang in there, have faith, and see what happens next!

Blessing to all of you.

 

[Rob Monster]

Um, I hate to be the one that has to point this out but:





You guys do tolerate it when Rob does it.

This is another self promotional thread.

Even the 2 examples used above. Again, talking about Gab again. Not sure how going from supporting some hate site to a bunch of conspiracy nonsense, with adults debating if the Earth is flat is a good look to the second example.

Where Rob said he gave Matt a beatdown. Linked to page 6 but:



That's good? You skipped the first 5 pages. Let me give you an alternate take.

I learned Escrow.com is an accredited Escrow, Epik is not.

An actual lawyer asked Rob specific questions and the response:

JB -- As usual, we'll agree to disagree. I would give the same advice to my kids or anyone else that was in a slump. I deal with about 1-2 "hard luck" cases each day. At some point it does not scale so I am sharing some perspective that helps a few people now and that I can link to later, hoping that some collective wisdom gets distilled. I did the same on a thread about Personal productivity.

 

[BradWilson]

A lemon by any other name is still a lemon.

 

[Internet.Domains]

I am asking questions, Rob

and I show the original content
that causes me asking

how can that be a lie?

Frank -

You should call Rob. He has offered to speak with you. You may soon realize that your judgement is completely misguided. Those of us that have spoken with him, and through our observations, have a much different perspective than what you are accusing him of. Please take the opportunity to speak with him.

Peace!

 

[Rob Monster]

Is this thread for me, Rob? This year has brought the lemon tree to my backyard, in all honesty, the lemonade was starting to get to me. Rob has truly helped me in ways I never expected anyone, let alone a community of fellow domainers, to come to my aid with genuine advise and true value-first reciprocity.

On the topic of economic reward, Rob deserves every penny that is coming to him. The true value for people like Rob is not rewarded enough and I truly believe we are the market to pick the winners.

Well, Dan, believe it or not, I deal with a lot of hardship cases. Yours was one of them but guess what, you are coming through it, and with your portfolio almost entirely in tact. It is a success story in the making! We still need to get you a $100K sale, but you have some contenders, so let's see what providence brings.

 

[Rob Monster]

I am the person that started the infamous topic mentioned in the opening post by Rob.

Other than a few posts I have not participated in the topic, I originally opened it to ask a question about something I saw mentioned on another website. At no point in time did I ever think it would run away and become one of the biggest topics of the year on namepros.

Do I regret opening it?

Yes and No

Yes: because I really like Rob and I often state that in my opinion he is one of the most forward thinking guys in the domaining industry.

No: Because it gave me more insight to who Rob and his company is.

So my personal opinion is that Rob is a straight up guy, true to his word. Sometimes he wears his heart on his sleeve but his personal opinions are wide and varied. He is the type of person I would love to sit down with and talk domains with.

I think a lot of people come down too hard on him but his response is usually measured and not a personal attack. As much as I agree with some of his opinions, I also tend to disagree with others but that is no different from anyone I engage on namepros.

So I will close by saying I very much enjoy reading his topics but I pretty well stay away from the one I started because I don't think it does justice to everything he has accomplished.

Good luck Rob and thank you for the lemonade

All good.

Like I said, I appreciate the result. At the time, when that particular thread was started, I strongly debated whether to engage at all. Outside of the domain industry, there is still a vast array of folks who still have a misconception of who I am and what drives me, but so be it. I am no chef, but lemons are versatile.

So, thanks for the lemons.

 

[JB Lions]

I think a lot of people come down too hard on him but his response is usually measured and not a personal attack.

This is bs and you know it.

Come down to hard on him? Go reread the thread you started. It went beyond just helping the hate site out, literally passing along hate memes. I went over there and read the stuff being posted, it's not imaginary stuff.

No personal attacks in responses? My first interactions with him were exactly that with his responses. This is how he responds to some other members:

"Actually, you are a troll, and indeed and an anonymous one with no transaction history and probably multiple personas on Namepros. I look forward to you being outed some day soon. All will be revealed, my friend. The God in heaven knows exactly who you are. I don't judge you but He surely will."

He just posted video calling somebody a witch. His very first post in this thread, let him have it, beatdown.

Outside of the domain industry, there is still a vast array of folks who still have a misconception of who I am and what drives me, but so be it..

Ok, let me ask you straight up. Why did you repost an anti-Muslim meme at Gab? The one where it had Christianity was spread with people hanging out on rocks, all smiling, Islam spread thru violence. I see that as participating in spreading hate towards Muslims. That Muslims can't be trusted, they're violent etc. So tell me what my misconception on that is.

 

[Larion]

Frank,

I think you should focus on the wars which are occuring in this world still TODAY.
Maybe you will find a way in order to stop these wars.
I hope you will.

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/war-map-conflict-death

https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/in-depth/forgotten-conflicts

http://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/maps-and-graphics/2017/04/04/updated-mapped-world-war


There are some wars ongoing TODAY, which you might have never heard of.

 

[Rob Monster]

I must admit, there is a part of me that thinks the 'T''s (hereafter the designation I will assign to those trolling or defined as 'trolls' by the Internationally accepted definition of what a troll is) may be people paid by Rob/Epik to keep the threads involving Rob/Epik moving to the top of the most viewed threads.

Please, PLEASE trolls, try to combine your posts into concise and complete thoughts (some of you do, but far too often it is difficult to keep up some posts)...it is very taxing trying to keep up with the often random and disconnected thoughts put forth by 'T's...I just ain't got time for that. Thank you.

Thanks Funsky.

As I see it, we all have our role to play. Pharaoh, back in the day, got his ass kicked. He was controlled opposition. God hardened his heart so he could kick his ass. See here:

"But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them " - Exodus 9:12

So, I think God is using Frank to make sure these threads rank in the top so more folks can find them.

There is no other rational explanation that I can think of, other than:

"As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool repeats his folly" - Proverbs 26:11

I guess we'll know in eternity.

Either way, I love Frank.

 

[Mister Funsky]

Apparently, you're have a reading issue. You were dancing around it with your first 2 posts, not mentioning names. It was a general, I love Rob, I won't actually touch anything specific/on topic type of posting.

Based on your obtuse response quoted above, I can only assume English is not your first language so please accept my apology for being insensitive to that fact.

Out of respect for Rob and this thread, I will move our tit for tat exchange to another thread where I can continue to take the lemons you cast and turn them to lemonade (see what I did there?). Maybe the mods will do the right thing and remove my posts, your posts and any other persons posts that don't stay true to the intent of the thread.

I will be shutting down for the night because I have an early meeting so I won't be responding much longer...we will pick things up later if you wish.