It doesn’t matter where you live, Preparedness Pro Classes can now be viewed world wide!

Great news!  Due to an increased demand for Preparedness Pro classes that are more flexible with YOUR time schedule… Preparedness Pro is now releasing their pre-recorded courses in a downloadable format with a larger resource guide!  You can now save the course on your computer to view at your convenience, while enjoying a resource book to boot! To view a complete list of our available downloadable courses, click here!

For full details and to see a complete list of our pre-recorded courses, visit our Pre-Recorded Courses Page .

Remember all of those online webinar classes we offered that you wanted to take but simply didn’t have the time to do so?  Or worse, the class was being taught in a time zone half way around the world from you, making it that much more challenging?

Perhaps you recall enjoying some of the classes we’ve had in the past but wished for more complete written information as a follow-up, or more recipes, or more visual “show how.” 

I think the one we hear the most is from people who wish that we had it recorded so that they could review it again and again.

Well, we’re happy to say that you’ve finally got all of your wishes! Whew! And boy, are we tired! *grin*

As of October 1^st, we will begin to release our best and most requested training events in a prerecorded and a complete written format. We’ve expanded the written content to be more book-like, so that the training therein can stand on its own, and we’ve expanded the visual portion of the class so its more comprehensive and inclusive of some of the aspects that have gotten left out in the past webinars because we’ve run out of time.  Now with this new format all you have to do is get comfortable in front of your computer either by yourself or with family and friends, any time you want to learn about your most compelling preparedness topics! Even better, since the training is now broken down in chapters, if there is a portion which you want to bypass because of your existing expertise, you can easily do so without wasting your time or diluting your enjoyment.

Whether you prefer to watch a demonstration or read instructions, these perfectly combined packages of education will provide you the same quality of instruction you’ve come to expect from The Preparedness Pro with just a little exception—convenience! You can now watch the training as much or as little as you want and you can also read a complete synopsis of the training event PLUS additional written resources in print. And since we’ve chosen to embrace the world of technology in delivering these courses to you, there are no shipping costs! Yeah! While I must say I’ve been exhausted trying to put all of this together and keep up with the blog, my health and the health of a very dear friend, I have to say I’ve been so EXCITED! Every time one of you has e-mailed me expressing disappointment that you were going to miss a date of an event, or that you wished there was more written content etcetera, I just knew this had to get done.  In fact, it’s actually better for us all this way. I can take a vacation if I want (ha! Like that will happen) and you can enjoy it at 3:00 a.m. or 3:00 p.m. I love that your family and busy schedules no longer need to be sacrificed just so that you can get complete Preparedness Training.

Additionally, since I’m no longer restricted by time restrictions or seat capacities, I’ve opted to provide detailed and fully comprehensive visual and written education of the most requested training events that have been offered in the last 2 years PLUS the ones that you guys keep hollering for. By revamping previous courses and creating some long-overdue ones, I’m confident that this venue of training will over-deliver and exceed your expectations every time. I’ve added a lot more content into the video portion of the classes, and gone to the expense of editing both the visual and the written portions.  Neither you nor I are restricted any more by a “reasonable amount of time to expect someone to sit through a class” or those “bladder breaks” we’ve experienced during the training. *grin*  YOU get to decide when that takes place with the push of the pause button. 

There’s even better news too. Thanks to the pool of talent I’ve encountered during the first step of assembly for these products, I can now provide you with some of the classes that you’ve been asking for that don’t portray themselves very well in a Powerpoint and voice presentation. This means, yes, you will now have access to Pressure Cooking and Making Wheat Meat in a video format! Yeah!! And did I mention that there are also a lot of great recipes? Yup. I know there will be a few of you excited about that. Each recorded visual presentation will provide you with a quality learning experience, complete with a detailed resource guide for you to reference again and again. This new development means no more cutting corners on a vital topic just because of time restraints. No more getting up early on a Saturday morning just so you can make a class halfway around the world! And no more missing the classes you want but just can’t seem to find time for. Enjoy these highly educational topics at your own pace and in accordance to your own interest. Simply slip into your most comfortable set of clothes, curl up with some munchies, and enjoy this vital training anytime, anywhere, you desire.

I love that the folks in both coasts of the U.S., South Africa, Norway, and Scotland can ALL enjoy this now. I’ve been trying to get it done for what seems like forever, but now it’s really here! Excuse me while I whoop!

Just be aware that we’re not going to release them all at once. And even though we’re spending some bucks to try and make them as professional and thorough as possible, we’re going to price them modestly. It’s more important to me that you have the training but not at the cost of other vital preparedness items.

So what I’ll be doing is as soon as I get a class ready for  the final editing stages, I’ll announce a pre-release of the course about 30 days prior to its official launch date. Any persons who purchase the class during that pre-release time frame will get a substantial discount. Even better, for this first pre-release, those of you who have already enjoyed the live webinar version of the two classes we’re prelaunching  will receive the new, more complete one, but with a $7 credit  towards your purchase! In othe words, if you paid  for The Wonderful World of Wheat in the last 12 months, you’ll be able to purchase at the pre-release price of $20, and then we will credit you $7.  My husband isnt’ too keen on that cause he knows how much info I provided in the first place. But he’ll get over it. hee hee.  (We wanted to do a full credit of your previous class, but the logistics of that were a nightmare since we had so many different prices over the last year. *sigh)  Anyway, I like offering a little something extra cause I’m so excited about the launch!  This way you get the best of both worlds without having to pay for it twice at full price!  Remember, the previous tuition credit will be credited to applicable purchasers after you’ve made the purchase and the offer is only good during the pre-release period which ends after the first 50 purchases. So don’t delay if you want that extra savings.

Now I realize that there are some of you out there who are a little technically challenged. To be truthful, I’m probably one of the worst. But I assure you that viewing these classes this way will be super easy. All you need is your computer and an internet connection and you can enter a world of professional, detailed, and accurate preparedness knowledge!  Remember, this isn’t just audio. This is a visual class presentation PLUS the written resource as well. You can even save the materials to your own computer to view at your leisure.  No matter what you choose to do in your preparedness preparation, I believe I’ve still managed to create some fun, professional, and upbeat classes that will really help you be prepared in many different areas. The fun, professional and upbeat style of The Preparedness Pro will expertly steer you in each of your preferred topics.

So are you ready for the first batch of pre-released classes? Here they are!

Due October 1^st, 2010—“Enough and to Spare” Coupon Training Boot Camp

This 4+ hour training will expound on every possible coupon saving strategy so that you can get the most out of this important financial strategy. Not only will you save literally hundreds of dollars a month using this training, but you’ll also be quickly putting together your preparedness supplies for free or cheap!  Unlike previous education opportunities, this class now comes with the exclusive book “Enough and to Spare” written by Kellene Bishop. You will find out where to get all of your coupons, how best to manage them, when to use them, where to use them, and how to stay on top of them without feeling overwhelmed!   There are literally hundreds of people who have taken this class and have loved it—even those who were already couponing! This particular class impacts 7 out of 10 of your Principles of Preparedness, so it’s definitely not one to miss!

Regular Retail price Oct. 1^st is a steal at only $45 but the Pre-Sale Special Price is only $30!

Next:

Due October 1^st, 2010—“The Wonderful World of Wheat”

I’ve been teaching this class for over 10 years now and it’s continued to develop and expand. Now I’ve got all of the aspects of wheat combined in one class—complete with valuable written information that you can reference at any time. For a more detailed description of this class, just go to this link.

Regular Retail Price Oct. 1^st is only $30, but the Pre-Sale Special Price is only $20!

More Classes Coming Soon! I’ll be sure to let you know when they are coming out and give everyone the pre-release price opportunity as well. Look forward to these classes coming your way soon!

Pressure Cooking Galore!

 Solar Oven Success

 Neanderthals in the Kitchen

 Integrating Essential Oils

 UNDERWhelmed in Food Storage

 Food Pantry Makeover

 Financial Velocity

Become a fan of Preparedness Pro on Facebook

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To see our upcoming event schedule, click here

Subscribe to Preparedness Pro today and never miss a thing!

If you would like to host a preparedness party for your business, community, or church group, please contact Vicky at vicky@preparednesspro.com

For any questions or comments on this article, please leave a comment on the blog site so that everyone can benefit!

Copyright Protected 2010, Preparedness Pro and Kellene Bishop. All Rights Reserved. No portion of any content on this site may be duplicated, transferred, copied, or published without written permission from the author. However, you are welcome to provide a link to the content on your site or in your written works.

by Kellene Bishop

One of the things that I teach in our Coupon Training Boot Camp is about price points.  A price point is essentially the price you’re willing to pay for a particular item. For example, when I first began using coupons, my acceptable price point for toothpaste and deodorant was $1.00. I stuck with that price point and I would not deviate from it regardless.  I had to have faith in what I had initially been taught to believe that $1.00 for toothpaste and deodorant was realistic. But as I continued in my couponing efforts, there were many opportunities which came up in which I was able to obtain toothpaste and deodorant for about .40 cents each.  As such, the .40 cents became my new benchmark for a price point, thus enabling me to get my money to work for me 60% harder.  I have learned that once you are able to purchase an item at a particular price point, it’s very, very likely that it will come around again to that price. So when the items I wanted would go on sale, I would stock up on them and subsequently store them in one of my four gallon square buckets, labeled appropriately.

Nowadays, I never spend anything other than sales tax on items such as toothpaste, soap, shampoo, deodorant (except for one particular brand), dental floss, and candy. In other words FREE has become my new price point on several items.  (In fact, FREE is the only price under which I allow myself to purchase candy nowadays—no matter how tempted or what kind of a mood I might possess.) I do this for two the following two reasons.

Your Personal Wall Street:

When you’ve stocked up on a particular item, you don’t need to pay anything more for it than you’re best price point.  For example, in spite of the fact that it was decades ago that .25 cents was the standard price of deodorant, it has still proven itself to be a realistic price point today as well. As I shared with you in the “Time Traveling with Coupons” article, the bloated advertising budgets of today will frequently manifest prices for items that even your great grandparents didn’t have on regular staple products. So the strategy is to stock up when you get a great deal only so long as it aligns with your set price points—and then you have the luxury of waiting to purchase again when the price is right.  This means you don’t an item until it’s the price YOU want and YOU are willing to pay because you have plenty.

Now think about this strategy. Doesn’t this sound a bit familiar to what you would expect a big shot trader to do on Wall Street?  I assure you that after Warren Buffet makes money at a particular percentage and under particularly favorable terms, he uses that experience by which to judge any other stock investments he makes in the future.

Having plenty of money so that you can wisely wait until the next irresistible smart deal comes around is not a strategy that only the wealthy get to use. Consumer’s have much, much more power than they give themselves credit for nowadays.  They are consistently ignoring the ability to compound the value of their money by 100% while they sit around and complain about inflation. And yet, I’m sure that everyone would love to see their money work harder for them. Wouldn’t you? Then look at this first strategy as if you are creating your own personal Wall Street world for your household. I always say “It’s not what you buy so much as it’s what you pay for it.” (Presuming, of course, that you’re only purchasing that which is needful.) What I mean by that is consider that your household budget is the trading client. Your job is to eek out the best return possible for it and to make time and smarts multiply it as best as possible. Start looking at returns in terms of a percentage instead of set dollars—just like traders do.  For example, yesterday I had access to a crazy, awesome, “Christmas came early” kind of shopping scenario. One of my local grocery store chains announce a week long special in which they were allowing any manufacturer coupon that was less than a dollar to be doubled, tripled, or even more so—up TO a dollar. In other words, a .25 cent coupon was now worth $1.00.  A .75 cent coupon was worth $1.00.  As a result, I was able to increase my purchasing power substantially on great items for my household.  When all was said and done, (two trips) I purchased over $368 worth of household goods for $95! That’s just under a 75% increase in buying power overall. Many items I purchased such as I mentioned earlier did indeed fall under the 100% – 200% plus increase in buying power! Not to mention the fact that I received a .15 cent gasoline discount on 100 gallons of fuel and several other “free” coupons on items that I will purchase in the future. Now those are kinds of numbers that even Warren Buffet pay attention to.  Sure, it’s not turning dollars around by the millions, but every household whether large or small, can benefit by this strategy.  In fact, the smaller your family budget, the more profound the affect will be on your household.

This kind of strategy doesn’t just apply to items at the grocery store. It also can apply to your entertainment expenses, your expenses at the hardware store, and nearly every other aspect of your life—including state and federal taxes.  When I see a component of my annual budget that doesn’t seem to have much “give” to it in terms of increasing the buying power of my money, I put in a little research and in almost every scenario am able to find a way to at least keep up with inflation, but usually kick it’s butt several times over. Tuesday night, for example, my husband and I wanted to escape on a little date. So we went to a local Mexican grill restaurant that I love, Rubios.  Hubby got a loaded steak burrito with chips, I got a grilled mahi-mahi burrito, loaded, enchilada-style, with beans, chips, and a Dr. Pepper. We paid a total of $1.70 for this very satisfying dinner. (Can’t do that for a month now though thanks to yesterdays’ challenge. *grin*) Then we went to the movies to see the new Karate Kid showing at 6:55 p.m. Normally I refuse to go to the main show times because it’s costs me about 40-50% more. But we were going for free, courtesy of the theatre chain.  Total date was still $1.70.  Yeah, perhaps I wanted a lobster and steak dinner more than Mexican. But part of being financially savvy is learning to fully appreciate what you have and making the most of it. Personally, it was one of the more relaxing dates my husband and I have been on because we had no reason to be stressed about the money we were spending.

Run A Household Like a Corporation

The second reason why I stick to my price points like is because I am then able to take full control of stabilizing my prices.  Stabilizing prices is a critical step that large corporations take in order to stay in business.  For example, auto manufacturers don’t simply purchase their metal and rubber as they need it. They purchase millions of pallets worth at one time so that they better control their profits and their out-of-pocket expenses. This same strategy can be applied to your “corporation”—your home. When I stock up on a particular item I am literally stabilizing my costs of that item for as long as that item will store or be used by me. Which of you wouldn’t love a 75% raise in income?  Have you ever heard of a cost of living increase?  A cost-of-living increase is supposedly a raise which is just enough to help you keep up with the inflation in the cost of living. It’s not really a raise, per se, it’s simply a way to keep you at the current level of living.  Well, by stabilizing your costs so dramatically as I’ve laid out for you, you’re not just keeping up with inflation, you’re getting WAY ahead.  Let’s just say for now that inflation is at 3%.  When you are able to excel your buying power regularly to 75% on your groceries, it has a real and noticeable affect on the rest of your spending power. Essentially, by stabilizing my costs on necessary items which consume a large chunk of my monthly spending—such as gasoline, groceries, vitamins, medical supplies, and household items—you get to GIVE YOURSELF a well-deserved raise that you would never expect any employer to hand over.

When I purchased 11 containers of ketchup yesterday for .25 cents each, then even a year from now when I grab one of those containers my ketchup will STILL be only .25 cents. It won’t matter if there is a drought of tomatoes, an unexplainable run on Wall Street, or if the Federal Reserve conspires to jack up the inflation rate again, my costs remain consistent.  Several months ago, 5 gallon buckets of my preferred powdered milk went on sale from $85 down to $25. The sale lasted a week. During that week, every time I got paid by a client and had a little cash on hand, I returned to the store and purchased another bucket.  As a result, I’ve stabilized  my purchasing power WELL BELOW the national average for the next 15 years on this product.  What I love is when the timing of a purchase is so pronounced. For example, if you live near a Sonic Drive-In you know that they have a “Happy Hour” from 2-4 p.m. in which all of their sodas and slushie drinks are half off. That means that at 1:59 p.m. my money is worth X and then at 2:00 p.m .my money is then compounded by 50%. Any CEO of a Fortune 500 company would LOVE to be able to do that with any of their necessary costs. (And yes, sometimes a slushie IS necessary—it’s cheaper than Prozac. *grin*)

To wrap all of this up, I strongly suggest that you set very specific price points for your spending and STICK TO THEM.  Yesterday I could have purchased bottles of some good barbecue sauce for only .39 cents. While that may sound good to some, it’s simply WAY too much for me because my price point on such an item is .12 cents. While some may say “what’s .27 cents more?” I see it as paying several times over.  If it’s not ok to pay several times over for my house or my car, why would it be ok to do for a bottle of barbecue sauce that doesn’t have near the shelf-life as my home or car?  Sticking with your price points is critical to your financial savvy.  They will continue to adjust as you get better and more experienced, but whatever you do, set them and then stick with them.

Like I’ve said a hundred times, couponing is not what it was even 5 years ago.  In my opinion, it’s not just a hobby anymore, it’s a necessity. To take it further, I feel that when such a viable, easy option is available to increase one’s investments in their household so substantially, I feel that it borders on just plain foolishness to not embrace it.  I realize that I may ruffle some feathers by saying so, but when it’s not necessary to pay several times over for an item, how is that foolish act any different than someone using an entire roll of toilet paper on one trip to the bathroom, or running a car all night long just so it’s toasty warm in the morning?  Obviously these are ludicrous examples of wasting money. Well, in my opinion, when there’s as much as a 200% increase laying on the table and not being used, it’s also just plain ludicrous. Bottom line, in my world, it’s simply unacceptable to pay full price for anything. I pray that I will never become so detached from reality that I think that I have treat my household budget any less responsibly than a serious Wall Street trader or business CEO. I hope that I’ve opened a new perspective to stocking up for some of you and perhaps given you some incentive to consider the use of all of your available resources in order to give you a significant increase in your buying power.

Author’s Note: As of today there is only 1 more day to register for the Coupon Training Boot Camp class. To register please see our Schedule of Events. If you are unable to attend this one, then be sure to register for one of the upcoming events.  You simply will not think of purchasing items the same way again.

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If you would like to host a preparedness party for your business, community, or church group, please contact Vicky at vicky at preparednesspro.com

For any questions or comments on this article, please leave a comment on the blog site so that everyone can benefit!

Copyright Protected 2010, Preparedness Pro and Kellene Bishop. All Rights Reserved. No portion of any content on this site may be duplicated, transferred, copied, or published without written permission from the author. However, you are welcome to provide a link to the content on your site or in your written works.

By Kellene Bishop

Tis the season for Preparedness Fairs cropping up in regions all over the U.S.  However, in nearly all instances, organizers express dismay that their event was not as well attended as they had hoped.  The fact of the matter is, unless you do a really great job marketing, the only folks who attend a Preparedness Fair are the folks who are already on board.  It’s easy for them to slough off the event as “just another same old, same old.” So, what’s a fair organizer to do?  I’ll tell you.

First of all, be CLEAR on what the goal of your event is. With such a broad range of topic possibilities, you’ll find the event will be much more successful and much easier to promote and organize if you have a specific theme in mind.  Don’t attempt to tackle all things preparedness.  You’ll end up doing nothing well. Instead, for example, focus on a niche area of learning and education that you want to promote. Recently I had the occasion to compare the success of a “throw everything against the wall and see if it sticks” kind of event to an event that focused solely on three preparedness topics. There was a much better quality of education at the niche focused event.    A focused niche ALSO helps to attract seasoned preparedness persons as well.  The more focused you are on the topics, the more successful you will be. Focus conveys confidence and skills. It’s vital that you pass along this type of atmosphere to your attendees.

Assuming that your purpose is to educate, then be sure that you focus heavily on that aspect. Be sure that the information you dispense is accurate for crying out loud!  I recently attended a fair in which 5 out of 7 of the presenters passed on grossly inaccurate information.  It’s this home-spun reputation for error that deters more serious persons from taking advantage of events that would otherwise be incredibly beneficial.  This is yet another reason why your education choices should be focused. It’s much easier for you to master the topic and accuracy of a few rather than a free-for-all encyclopedia of preparedness information.  

Also, don’t confuse your message of education with the distractions of unrelated vendors or presenters.  If it were me, I would shy away from sales vendors and focus more on information in order to promote a quality feel instead of a State Fair/late night infomercial feel.  At an event I attended earlier this year, there were a great deal of vendors sharing their wares for preparedness efforts, and then there were also some Mary Kay Salespersons, an auto sales person, and a cake decorator.  The atmosphere felt so confused and disjointed—not exactly the kind of emotion that you want to have associated with the topic of preparedness. After all, it’s already a bit overwhelming to so many. 

Be sure that you don’t cut any corners on the quality of information you share. Line up your instructors/presenters early. There are a couple of different strategies that you’ll want to employ as you select your various topic educators. First of all, try to get some new blood involved each time an event is held.  Assign a VERY specific topic, give guidelines of do’s and don’ts, and follow up at least 2 weeks prior to the event. The nice thing is that with a new presenter, you don’t have the downfall of any preconceived notions as to whether they are good or poor presenters to your potential attendees. And a new presenter usually does a great job in endearing their family and friends to participate as well for moral support.  If you’re going to utilize the expertise of experienced instructors, you simply MUST request their assistance at least 8 weeks ahead of time.  Frankly, it’s a bit insulting to be called or e-mailed the day prior to an event and asked if I would like to come. Expert instructors help to draw a good number of persons to a fair as well. If it were me, I would make sure that I had at least one “recognizable name” in the community in order to anchor interest in the event and to leverage the attendance for the other presenters as well. An established presenter will benefit your event by drawing on their regular followers who enjoy learning from them at various events.  So don’t overlook this strength. I also recommend that you request that all presenters be dressed in a professional and positively presentable manner. I once listened to a presenter who did his entire presentation slouched comfortably in a chair on a stage with a big cowboy hat hiding his face.  What’s worse is that he was in a church.  His refusal to remove his cowboy hat at the insistence that it “was his branding” caused some persons to leave the event in protest. Clearly his hat was more important than his desire to educate—not a great message.  A presenter should always be dressed a step above their audience.  The stigma of preparedness already suffers sufficiently without something as easy as an aesthetic getting in the way of a valuable message.

Eliminate the scarcity mentality when promoting the event. “Go big or go home” is what I always say. Time and time again I have been asked to present for a church or community group who desires to keep their event “private” in order that they are not overwhelmed with attendees.  Come on people! This is the topic of preparedness!  Having too many people at one of these events would be the BEST problem I could possible think of!  Unfortunately, I have only been at one event in which there was standing room only and that was for one of my Coupon Training Boot Camp class.  I’ve never seen refreshments run dry or not enough chairs.  I feel that this topic is vital enough to an entire community that one should plan on reaching out as far as possible. Remember, preparedness saves lives folks and brings peace.  Do you really want to purposefully leave anyone out of that opportunity?

Deliberately use as many methods of promotion as possible and do your best to be aesthetically pleasing. E-mail, Facebook, flyers, phone calls, yard signs, street signs, classified ads, Craigslist, etc.  There are way too many FREE ways to market an event for any event to go poorly attended. I once threw a Pampered Chef party in my home the weekend of a serious college football game.  By using all of the marketing arrows in my quiver, I made the information friendly, PERSONABLE, inviting, and specific. As a result, I invited 40 persons and I had 42 persons show up—something that rarely happens for such an event. 

Rule number one of marketing—never leave the back side of a flyer blank. It’s valuable real estate—so use it. Take the time to share as much information as possible to interest persons to attend.

Rule number two of marketing—say what you’ve got to say. A flyer or an e-mail isn’t limited by a certain number of characters.  Don’t be concerned that folks won’t read it. If they are interested, they will, and no amount of words in an e-mail will deter them. If they aren’t, they won’t, and no FEW words in an e-mail will change that either. 

Rule number three of marketing—be personable!  People don’t come to learn from stale, pieces of paper. Your marketing information needs to have a personality and convey the spirit and emotion behind your preparedness fair. If you’re throwing the fair because you would like to see a more united community, then SAY SO.  If you’re holding it because you feel that folks need this information, then SAY SO.

Recently I had a lackluster, bright yellow, one-sided preparedness fair flyer put on my door step for a local event.  Not only was it missing vital information such as “who, what, where, and when” but it didn’t even provide me with any incentive to go.  No assurances of quality education, a good time, refreshments, no topics listed—nothing.  In fact, it assumed that I would even know what a preparedness fair is.  Big mistake.

Take time with your flyers to make them presentable and professional looking. Again, remember you’re constantly fighting a negative, half-fast stigma when it comes to the topic of preparedness. Putting seriously abbreviated, lame, poorly printed flyers on your neighbors doors doesn’t do much to counteract that stigma, folks.  Preparedness education should appeal to all persons.  A poorly done flyer may not do anything to deter your committed attendees, but it sure won’t do anything to attract anyone else. It wouldn’t hurt to make a list of your presenters and a summary of what they are teaching. Highlight the attractions. Continue to assure attendees that it’s worthy of their time and interest. If you don’t even believe it, then why should they?  Sure it takes a few more minutes to convey this kind of information. But would you rather work 10 minutes for a bunch of no-shows, or work 30 minutes for a full house?

Rule number four of marketing—people need to be reminded.  Tell them early and tell them often, folks.  You simply cannot expect to plaster a neighborhood with flyers the day before an event and expect people to show up. Also, you simply cannot rely upon your “famous factor” or the “friend factor” to get people to show up.  It doesn’t matter how many people you tell or how many people already love you.  If you don’t remind them early and often and with a consistent level of enthusiasm, they will let the rest of their busy lives crowd out your event.

There. That should help you have a more successful event and feel more focused on your event details. I hope it’s a great season for all of you Preparedness Fair organizers!

Become a fan of Preparedness Pro on Facebook

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To see our upcoming event schedule, click here

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If you would like to host a preparedness party for your business, community, or church group, please contact Vicky at vicky@preparednesspro.com

For any questions or comments on this article, please leave a comment on the blog site so that everyone can benefit!

Copyright Protected 2010, Preparedness Pro and Kellene Bishop. All Rights Reserved. No portion of any content on this site may be duplicated, transferred, copied, or published without written permission from the author. However, you are welcome to provide a link to the content on your site or in your written works.

by Kellene Bishop

While I’m recovering from one of life’s unpleasantries, I’m conjuring up some fun and exciting things to share with our Preparedness Pro readers.

For starters, I’ll be giving away TWO of the 6-packs from Blue Chip this month–retail value $75-$85. I’ll provide you all with the 4-1-1 soon.

Also, after receiving an enormous amount of enthusiastic feedback and I’ve revamped and improved the popular Coupon Training Bootcamp class. I’ve added extensive pictures to help with the learning curve as well as two additional sections that are useful in folks who are experienced or new to the couponing process. I’ll be offering one in a webinar format and one live (face to face) in the next four weeks. To put it unabashedly, I’m delving much deeper into the hows, whys, and whats of couponing than anyone has ever done before in order to eliminate any and all excuses for folks not to take advantage of this amazing way to help others, help yourself, learn the true value of money, strengthen independence in at least 5 of the Principles of Preparedness, and maximize the value of your paychecks. This is too value of a resource for folks to ignore, and so I’m trying to cover every possible aspect in order to overcome the myths, insecurities, lack of enthusiasm, and any other obstacles that may be preventing folks from couponing. If you don’t embrace couponing after this boot camp with more enthusiasm than you had previously, then I’m convinced you’ve been given only days left to life and thus temporal things simply don’t matter to you anymore.  *grin*

Last, but not least–are you ready for this–we’re nearly finished with a special project I’ve been working on since last fall.  I’ll soon be releasing the the Preparedness Pro Mastery Course.  It’s literlly the most extensive training effort in the world of preparedness that has ever been attempted previously.  It contains 60 hours of educational DVDs, plus a 400 page Resource Guide full of original content, special webinars, customized/personalized action plan to hep you personally enhance your preparedness efforts–and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Seriously, this has been a massive undertaking that has never been done previously by any persons in the preparedness world.  It’s been a challenging labor of love and passion and I can’t wait to share it with everyone!  In spite of the challenge, I have to say that I’ve loved it greatly as it’s pushed me to do better, learn more, and hone my teaching skills.

Well, that’s enough torment for one day, I think.  Sleep well. hee hee

by Kellene Bishop

The fact of the matter is, no law enforcement, government, or rescuer group can prepare a community. It all starts with you—the true first responders.

Just in the last 5 years alone, nearly a billion dollars has been spent throughout our nation upgrading and retrofitting buildings and structures so that previous disasters are not repeated.  And yet not a single dime is being spent on preparing the people in order to avoid defeating responses to disasters.

Case in point: Many of you may not know, or may have forgotten that the World Trade Center was attacked in 1993. All kinds of studies were done afterwards as to how to make the buildings and the perimeter safer—ten thousand pound planters placed strategically around the outside, pictures of truck drivers taken for all deliveries and bomb-sniffing dogs were employed—yet NOTHING was done to make the people safer. In spite of many fire marshals expressing grave concerns about their lack of training after the 1993 WTC attack, nothing changed in training the people. Two-thirds of the on site fire marshals didn’t even know where the stairwells were at the WTC in 1993. That statistic did not change prior to 9/11 either. In fact 45 percent of the workers at the WTC did not even know the buildings had stairwells! Many of the critical human decisions that cost lives as a result of the 1993 attack were repeated verbatim during the 9/11 attacks. Hundreds more people would have survived 9/11 had they been trained WHERE the stairwells were, how to use the connecting hallways, and to actually take an immediate response in evacuating the building instead of doing nothing.  Yes, I realize in hindsight that the thought of someone doing nothing after the first plane hit is unthinkable; but indeed, hundreds of individuals did absolutely that–nothing. Equipment and structures have been altered all over the U.S. as a result of 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the I-35W bridge collapsing, but there have been absolutely NO concerted efforts to educate people.

So, what can you do about this? Get yourself educated on the 10 Areas of Preparedness—particularly the first three areas, Spiritual, Mental, and Physical. I have been studying human responses to natural disasters nearly at a PhD level lately. Just in the last two weeks alone I’ve feasted on three hefty books on the subject. If I could summarize the most significant reoccurring theme in everything I’ve read, it is that human beings need to better mentally prepare for these kinds of events. (Of course there aren’t a lot of lay mans books that discuss spiritual preparedness, but that’s simply an indicator of a whole ‘nother issue.)

If the community won’t open their doors to educate you, don’t just sit there and complain—invite the community to come to you! Hold parties in your home in which you discuss what needs to be done as a group in the event of major disasters. I have frequently held “Preparedness Parties” in which I prepared yummy meals made right out of the pantry, handed out recipes, and we discuss specific preparedness topics. And yes, I’ve even created some games that help hit a point home that are entertaining, funny, and memorable.  They are evenings of fun and socializing, not gloom and doom. As such, the things discussed are more memorable and more likely to be acted upon. I once even had a Ladies Night Pampered Preparedness Party in which we played games, got paraffin wax treatments on our hands and lots of yummy food to eat.  (The house was full of women who wanted the hand treatments. Hee hee. Don’t you just love how bribery works?)

Here’s an idea for a game. Do you remember ever playing the game Pit? Well, I created a similar game. I created a bunch of cards with various supplies on them, including spiritual strength and physical strength. I also included some luxury items such as a generator, heated shower, etc.; then as the guests arrive, I had them select 10 cards blindly.  During the course of the first hour of the party they traded what they had in excess in order to try and get what they needed to be perfectly prepared.  It’s a real eye opener. So many people actually gota tad bit stressed out because they aren’t able to trade enough for food or water. And they found the generator or shower was useless without some of the more critical items. They also discovered that they’d rather not have to trade for items because they have no way of knowing what items others will have. So they’d just assume be proactive in having the item on hand initially for peace of mind.

I also did another game in which they are given a recipe which they have no doubt ever made before. And they are given only a few short minutes in which they have to create the recipe and make it edible. They are also given a pressure cooker in which they have to make the meal.  (Most folks have never used a pressure cooker before)  And lastly, they are only given a few other tools to use such as only a quarter cup measuring cup, one spoon, one fork, and a pitcher. So here they have a foreign recipe, foreign ingredients, and alien tools.   Once the timer starts, chaos ensues. Food is flying. Folks are even panicking.  It’d be quite funny if it wasn’t such a real representation of what can happen if people don’t better prepare with their tools and what they intend to eat in a survival scenario. Oh, yeah. And they learn a lot about “panicked communication.”

Push your community to offer realistic training for all community members and especially push your community leaders to TRAIN the so-called “rescuers” for major disasters. I was appalled to hear of a fireman in my community who completely dismissed a question raised by one of his students during CERT training. The student asked the question “What about during an EMP?”  The cocky fireman quipped back “That’s not a life threatening event.”  Can I just tell you that when I heard that my blood boiled?  An EMP is NOT a life-threatening event–REALLY?  Exactly how is the elimination of life lines, refrigeration, oxygen machines, surgical machines, automobiles (including emergency vehicles) classified, then??  A carnival??

Another way you can better prepare is to watch movies and read books that actively engage your mind in which you play a part in–such “what-if” scenarios. All of the successful Olympians will tell you that they run the race mentally before they run it physically.  That’s important for all of us to do in being suitable prepared. I recommend “Red Dawn”, the “Jericho” television series (you’ll have to rent it), “2012” (it gives great perspective, but very little “story”), “Twister” (in surround sound is awesome!) and “The Day After Tomorrow” for some movies to learn from.

When it comes to better preparing your community, it’s important that you understand that you can’t ride out a disaster alone. There are all kinds of logistical problems with that. Even the most brutal gangs of today know that lesson. Whether you like it or not, the community you end up in during a disaster is going to be the community you fully rely on.  Thus it does you no good to isolate yourself from them.  You’re better off trying to improve the people around you through education and interaction one step at a time.  You don’t need to start with the whole community at first. Start with your neighbors; then a larger block, etc. etc. until you’ve created a nice, strong nucleus of educated, like-minded people.  You don’t need to be the brains behind the education either. You can call on expert resources. And you don’t need to spend any money or meeting rooms and supplies.  Libraries usually offer their facilities for free and your community center sure as heck should be able to handle that as well. What you CAN do though is be the fuel behind the push for the community to get educated. So, no more excuses. Do it. And do it now.

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If you would like to host a preparedness party for your business, community, or church group, please contact Vicky at vicky@preparednesspro.com

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Copyright 2010 Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.  All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to www.PreparednessPro.com & Kellene Bishop

Here it is folks!  The Webinar Schedule I promised you!  Please visit the “Event Schedule” area of our website to view the Preparedness Pro Webinar Schedule.  The following training events are now available:

Thursday, February 4^th: 6:00 p.m. Mountain Water Wisdom©

Saturday, February 6^th 2:00 p.m. Mountain  10 Areas of Preparedness©

Thursday, February 25^th 6:00 p.m. Mountain  UNDERwhelmed in Food Storage©

Wednesday, March 10^th 7:00 p.m. Mountain Survival Sanitation©

Friday, March 12^th 10:00 a.m. Mountain  Fabulous Freeze Dried Fare©

Tuesday March 16^th 6:00 p.m. Mountain  Lights Out, Now What? ©

Saturday March 20^th 10:00 a.m. Mountain Solar Oven Success©

Monday March 22^nd 7:00 p.m. Mountain The Wonderful World of Wheat©

Each of these events will be conducted live. There will not be any encore presentations in a recorded format. Feel free to ask questions during the event! You will have access to a live audio training event as well as visual content. And when appropriate, we may even use the webcam.

The price of each course is $7. A Google Pay link will be sent to you via e-mail within the body of your confirmation e-mail. Upon receipt of your payment, you will be provided with the unique pin number for this class so be sure to pay promptly so that you don’t miss anything.

Each of the actual attendees (and we can see who you are, folks) will be provided with a handout.  If you aren’t able to attend the event, we regret we will be unable to provide you with a resource guide.

Also note that all classes will start on time. These classes will NOT be made available for replay.

We have scheduled this first batch of classes in every possible time formula we could think of so that all of you could attend at least one event.

by Kellene Bishop

Warning.

Surprise! We have the webinars you want! photo c/o ideachampions.com

You have now been robbed of all of your excuses for not getting better prepared for life’s everyday and future challenges. Your claim  of “death by boredom” isn’t valid anymore. You can’t claim that  preparedness is irrelevant or simply not necessary. And you can’t blame your lack of preparedness on time, enjoyment, comfort, or attractive aesthetics. And sorry, you simply can no longer exclaim, like they do in Maine, “You can’t get there from here.” How did all of your excuses just get sucked down a cavernous black hole? Preparedness Pro is FINALLY offering the training events to you via webinar! And if you haven’t heard, these classes are actually fun, practical, realistic, flavorful, and simple. These excuses will no longer work, I’m afraid…

1) I’ve been crushed by my year’s supply of wheat and can’t get to the phone

2) I used Diatomaceous earth instead of flour in my pancakes and am now currently indisposed in the bathroom without internet access.

3) I have narcolepsy and Alzheimer’s…I have narcolepsy and Alzheimer’s…

4) My contractions are now 1 minute apart

5) “Oh, Vitamin D3? I thought you suggested Tylenol 3.”

6) I work for FEMA and don’t want to get caught listening to your common sense.

7) I’ve already bailed out of society and thus have no internet or telephone coverage…in fact, I no longer exist.

I’m actually just plain stubborn and bullheaded when it comes to preparedness.

We’ve been trying to meet your requests for training outside of our immediate demographic for some time now. And finally it’s close enough that I can actually announce it. I have been busting at the seams to tell everyone and their psychologist, but I promised myself I would do it the last day of this month. After writing and more writing, coordinating, and…well, never mind all of that…—I finally am able to announce to you that Preparedness Pro will be holding LIVE webinars for you about every other week for the next several months. (More likely to be more frequent as opposed to less.) Each week will be a new topic, so you won’t get any “reruns.”

Preparedness Pro webinars--coming soon to all locations! photo c/o mymangosteen.com

Through webinar technology, you’ll be able to listen to the live class via the speakers on your computer and you’ll also get to see the visuals that go along with it on your computer screen. (For those of you who don’t know, webinars are kind of like a tele-conference, but with pictures and sometimes a videocam.) All you’ll have to do is sign up for the particular webinar you’re interested in when it’s announced to you via e-mail—just follow the directions therein—and then you’ll be sent the access code, URL, and even a phone number too in case you want to listen over the phone instead of through your computer. In my opinion though, the best part will be that you’ll be able to “raise your hand” and ask a question just like you would in one of my classroom environments. The technology that’s available today is pretty darn cool.

The classes offered will be just like the ones that I’ve been offering live—except that I haven’t yet figured out a way to actually feed you my freshly cooked samples in the virtual world. Sorry about that. But hey, perhaps I can finally at least make use of this webcam that’s on my computer. (Dang, now I’ll have to actually shower and put makeup on.) Regardless, I’m confident that all of the participants will enjoy these classes just as much as the others have over the last year—meaning some will love them and keep bringing more friends to the next one, some will feel like they need to take a Xanax, and some will never come back. *grin*

When you attend the webinar, you will also receive the extensive resource guide that we provide to our participants as well. This provides you with additional information that may not have been covered, vendor resources, recipes, and additional helpful URLs. However, keep in mind that the only way you can obtain these resource guides is if you are able to attend the training event.

So, here’s the upcoming schedule of eight different classes for now. I selected the 8 best ones that are the most packed with info and which can still be effectively taught using the webinar forum. We’ll be holding these webinars over the next 10 weeks. Of course, it is subject to change based on the interference of real life, adding additional classes, or the occasional occurrence of a seismic earthquake.

10 Areas of Preparedness©

UNDERwhelmed in Food Storage©

Water Wisdom©

Lights Out, Now What? ©

The Wonderful World of Wheat©

Fabulous Freeze-Dried Fare©

Survival Sanitation©

Solar Oven Success©

You just found your greatest preparedness asset--right in the comfort of your own home! photo c/o nzccintheknow.org

I know that one of the first questions that you folks will be asking is whether or not we’ll be offering a recording of these webinars. At this juncture, no, we won’t. We have other plans for that in the future. You may also want to know whether or not there will be a charge for the webinar. Why yes, yes there will. It will be a whomping $7 for two hours of training with me. And of course, you can have more than one person gathered around your computer for the training. Surely learning this kind of information, live, from a professional consultant (who can even be funny occasionally) is worth at least that–considering that minimum wage is more than twice that amount. I figure that since I’m saving you money on a babysitter, charging less than the cost of going to a movie (which has very little potential to improve your preparedness efforts), as well as saving you a substantial amount of fuel by not having to drive all the way to Utah just to come to one of our events, then it’s well worth it. And besides, you can attend in your PJs! What I wouldn’t pay some days to be able to attend a conference while curled up in my PJs with a bowl of buttered popcorn and Junior Mints. Someone ought to start marketing those kinds of conferences. *grin* Oh, and you won’t have to listen to anybody coughing or screaming, nor will you have to deal with over-sugared kids, sitting by someone who has a difference of opinion about personal hygiene than you do, or even have to endure those uncomfortable folding chairs. Woohoo! Rain, sleet, snow or traffic jams need not deter you in your quest for quality preparedness information

All of the technical gobblety gook of registering for each class and paying your shipping and handling fee (just kidding) will be placed on our website over the weekend so that you can begin registering for the classes of your choice. The first class, “10 Areas of Preparedness” will be held within the week of us finally getting the HTML code loaded, so you won’t have to wait long. I have to say, after all of the e-mails from you folks beating up on me—with love of course—I’m really excited to finally make this a reality!

Become a fan of Preparedness Pro on Facebook

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To see our upcoming event schedule, click here

Subscribe to Preparedness Pro today and never miss a thing!

If you would like to host a preparedness party for your business, community, or church group, please contact Vicky at vicky@preparednesspro.com

For any questions or comments on this article, please leave a comment on the blog site so that everyone can benefit!

Copyright 2010 Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.  All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to www.PreparednessPro.com & Kellene Bishop.

Hey there folks. Last night I did a class called “Freeze-Dried Fare” in which I was teaching about the merits of freeze-dried fruits and vegetables. I was teaching it at a store called Home Storage Basics. I think I’ve mentioned this place to you before when I was talking about wheat. The Wheat Lady there, as she’s branded and known, has also now brought in a decent selection of freeze-dried foods. I got to work with the peaches, zucchini, mangoes, and strawberries, and I have to say I loved them all. I really, really liked how the peaches and zucchini turned out. Her prices are much better in almost every category than I’ve found elsewhere.

So for those of you who have been asking me about alternative sources for freeze dried, I recommend hers. (However, I don’t recommend the bananas if you are thinking in terms of banana chips. You can get those a LOT cheaper through Blue Chip.) But The Wheat Lady’s aren’t merely “chips”. They are actually chunks of freeze-dried bananas. Go to http://www.homestoragebasics.org/ to order. Also, if you order more than 30 of something, they will give you one free in hopes that you will make sure it gets into the home of someone who cannot afford food storage. Just FYI.

By Kellene Bishop

Sorry, folks — I’ve taught two classes in the last day and been on the road six hours between classes, so there will be no article today. 

By the way, if you live in the Salt Lake / Utah County areas and I’m not teaching at your Macey’s, community center or church, give them a call! Insist on it! We’d love to bring the classes closer to you. Thanks!

Copyright 2009 Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.  All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.

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