::: bisonium.com :::

Times are rough out there these days. I know of all too many of my friends that have fallen victim to the economic times and just simply weren't prepared. I've always been of the mindset that you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket when it comes to revenue streams to support your family. Hence, I've always had a business on the side I can fall back on if the unimaginable ever were to hit. And believe me, during the dot com bust, it hit...and it hit HARD for us. Thankfully I was prepared and we survived.

So ever since jumping back into the corporate world full time I've kind of slacked off and haven't been doing a whole lot to secure that additional revenue stream and it's something that has really been bothering me, especially given the recent conditions. I've thought about starting up my consulting practice again, but seriously folks...who has the time anymore, especially when I have a full time gig? Thankfully an old buddy got in touch with me on Facebook recently and he happened to remind me of a great opportunity that can bring in some pretty decent revenue or become a full time income if you choose to make it such.

Some of you may or may not have heard of Pre Paid Legal. In short, it's legal insurance for those times when you simply have a legal question or need an attorney to write a letter on your behalf (and much more). I had a PPL legal plan for over 10 years prior to going to work at Microsoft. When I went to Microsoft, they had their own legal plan so I cancelled PPL and took the MSFT plan. Well, I recently left Microsoft and lost that benefit. In walks my buddy Dave and reminds me of this benefit. What perfect timing! So obviously I went ahead and reinstated my legal coverage and just found out they have a pretty killer Identity Theft Protection plan as well now. That was another one that was simply terrifying me. I can tell you from witnessing what happened to a close friend what having your identity stolen can do to your life. To make a long story short, my buddy, an incredibly talented and high level executive, went through a living hell for over three years trying to clean that mess up and the worst part...nobody would hire him for those sensitive high level positions until that mess was cleared up. This is seriously insane stuff here folks. Thankfully he was able to get it cleaned up (at a great expense) and is now back in full swing. But that's several years of his life he'll never get back.

I've used Pre Paid Legal in the past for everything from traffic tickets to an issue with the IRS which thanks to PPL, they saved me over $10,000 that the IRS was wrongfully trying to claim. PPL has paid for itself many times over. I can't recommend the service highly enough.

That brings me to the income side of this. There is an opportunity for anyone to become an independent associate with Pre Paid Legal and not only sell their services (with a nice commission and residuals), but you can sponsor other folks into their own business. Yes, the compensation structure is based on a Multi-Level Marketing structure, but it is NOT anything like the creepy MLM's that are all over the internet. This is a completely LEGIT business with an incredible amount of clout and endorsements from business journals to all 50 Attorney Generals in the US. You won't have to go door to door, and you don't have to buy your laundry detergent, toilet paper and chewing gum from any specific organization. :)

If you are looking to replace a lost job and work for yourself, this may be a great solution for you. If you just want a little spare cash for doing fun stuff every month, this is also a great way to do that. You get out of it what you put into it. Here's a short video explaining the business side of things:

Working this is not hard at all and if you know anything about social networking (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) then it's even easier for you than for those that may not be Internet savvy. if you think this is something you'd be interested in, I'd love to tell you more. You can start by going to my site at: https://www.prepaidlegal.com/hub/abisono and view the information or email me from the site. If it's not your thing, at least now you know what's out there. Peace out peeps!

Frank

Posted by Frank Bisono at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I went ahead and left a review on the B&H site (still hasn't been posted for some reason) and I also dropped B&H a line via their customer service link on the website. I normally would have just written it off but I was so peeved at how this thing broke so easily that I wanted to let B&H know about it and hopefully prevent someone else from going through this. Well, to my surprise, not only did B&H respond within 8 hours, they (unprompted might I add) went ahead and refunded the price of the item immediately. When the heck has that ever happened? Not anytime I can recall in recent memory.

Although the item wasn't a huge dollar amount, it showed me that B&H does care about their customers and they will go the extra mile for them. I was already a loyal customer (I have yet to find as good a price from a reputable distributor that doesn't play the grey market warranty game) but now they have me for life. I know if I buy something at B&H, they are going to stand behind it and that's a company I can really get behind and be loyal to. THANK YOU B&H, glad to see that some companies still value customer service!

Posted by Frank Bisono at 2:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Fast Company is running an article about how the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and others, want to change American Schools.  This is something that I can honestly say I commend Bill Gates on.  I don't however think that they can change everything or make a significant impact by just throwing money at it, as the author of this article implies.

"A couple of years ago, high schools were not on anybody's [to-do] list," says Frederick M. Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Now, suddenly, they are: With a boost from Gates's money, 472 new small high schools have opened in New York, Chicago, and elsewhere. Almost 400 more will open by 2009. The foundation has also backed the restructuring of almost 700 existing high schools, often by breaking them up into smaller "learning communities" focused around such themes as science, art, or technology.

Why? "America's high schools are obsolete," Bill Gates declared in a speech earlier this year. "Our high schools--even when they're working exactly as designed--cannot teach our kids what they need to know today." Fewer than 60% of Hispanic and African-American students entering ninth grade ever graduate. And many of those who do earn diplomas emerge ill-equipped for college or work. Gates's ambitious goal: 80% of all students graduating college-ready in 20 years, versus a third today.

As someone who has worked in the K-12 education system, trying to implement technology solutions in to the curriculum and seen first hand the problems they face every day, there is a lot more that needs to be done than just throw money at the problem and solve the issues through the use of technology.  This isn't an Apple vs. Microsoft thing we are dealing with anymore.  One of the main problems that nobody seems to want to speak about is the parents.  No matter what you do or how much these kids get the opportunity to excel, it all starts at home.  If parents don't start to accept responsibility for raising their children properly by getting involved and teaching them right from wrong, NOTHING in the world is going to change those kids pre-determined paths and behaviors.

What some of these organizations need to do is spend some of that money in educating PARENTS, not the students.  In most of these inner-city schools, the kids are simply products of their environment.  If the parents themselves are criminals, act like animals and set a poor example, can you really expect a different outcome from the children?  It all starts at home folks.  Until the government and school system acknowledge that and try to change the behavior at home through education and incentives like free tuition, no amount of money or technology will help these kids (or parents) succeed. And if the parents don't want to improve their lives and take the initiative to educate themselves and get off of public assistance (ie. Welfare), well then...you can pretty much figure out the rest.

I think a goal of 80% of students graduating college-ready is completely unrealistic.  Take it for what it is, there will always be folks at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder and that won't ever change.  Stop throwing money into programs and places where it won't do any good, and start spending it where the kids are on the borderline and can go one way or the other.  If you can save those kids and push them over the edge into the right direction, then we have accomplished something indeed.

Magnet programs are a great start.  As the article implies, creating programs centered around specific themes (what we call magnet programs), the kids seem to get more involved, learn more, and overall turn out better than those students who don't have that opportunity.  If you can capture a kids interests, and get them involved in something they care about, you have won half the battle.  And THAT my friends is where I jump on my Apple soap-box.  Apple just plain and simply gets it.  NOBODY else has the resources in education and can implement a magnet program in the arts like Apple does.  I applaud Bill and Melinda Gates for their efforts, they are certainly on the right track, but the missing element is what Apple seems to do best - CREATE and INNOVATE.

Full Story @ Fast Company | The Gates Effect:

Technorati Tags: Education, Microsoft, Bill Gates, Charity

Posted by Frank Bisono at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey there blogsphere and friends,

It's been a few days since my last post, things here have been utterly insane.  In addition to running my business, I decided to accept an offer of employment that was too good to turn down.  So back to working 2 jobs I go!  It's all good though, I am learning more each day and I work with some absolutely great people.

But the real story behind this post is that the main reason I haven't been able to post much is because Bellsouth has completely screwed my DSL service and they have no clue what to do about it.  Yeah, you read right...Bellsouth doesn't have a clue.  Surprise surprise. 

The nightmare begins after the jump....

Continue reading "Eradicating Bellsouth Services...by a pissed off blogger" »

Posted by Frank Bisono at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is a great article on something that is often overlooked by our employers. There is nothing more frustrating than to have your company bring in an outsider before giving someone internally a chance to progress up the career ladder. Kudos to whoever came up with this software and the concept of Succession Planning.

[ via InformationWeek ]

Why Promote From Outside When The Talent Is Inside? Aug. 16, 2005

Succession-planning software can help employers figure out who to promote and develop.
By Marianne Kolbasuk McGee
InformationWeek

When an employer needs to replace a key leader who's left the company, whether it's a CEO or a middle manager, oftentimes the hunt for a replacement candidate relies on the gut instincts and memories of other managers and executives to offer suggestions for possible successors from within the company.
Viable candidates within the company are sometimes overlooked because they're not as visible or because they lack some key skills that could have been developed along the way. That can prompt a company to search externally for a successor, even though solid talent might've been cultivated and promoted...

Posted by Frank Bisono at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pick Your VC Carefully

Jeff Nolan has a great article on wisely picking your VC's on your next venture. Great info and useful insight for anyone with an interest in being an entrepreneur. If only I could actually get one of these VC's to invest in my plan! In all honesty, I avoid "Vulture Capitalists" just on the mere basis that they usually don't understand the passion and personal reasons that some of us start a business (at least not the ones I have met with). They are 100% about the bottom dollar with no interest in the actual operation. I guess that is how they have to be - after all, the point IS to make money. If I could find a VC that actually would agree to be a mentor instead of a dictator, it might be worth looking into. until then, I suppose I will be waiting on that lotto ticket to finally hit.

Posted by Frank Bisono at 1:20 PM | Permalink