You remember the story.... Ant and Grasshopper lead their lives in different ways. The Grasshopper Lives for Today, never saving or planning for the Future. The Ant acts prudently and wisely, working hard to produce food and stashing it away for the cold winter ahead. In the end, Winter comes, the grasshopper perishes, and the Ant lives a comfortable life. Moral of Story: Work hard, plan ahead, and be prepared for leaner times.
If you start working hard now and planning for the future of your "virtual office," you'll be ready when our country reaches "critical mass" on the Internet and almost all commerce gravitates there in one form or another.
Here's a couple interesting questions to prove my point. Don't look ahead...
Are you an Ant or a Grasshopper when it comes to your web site or Net Marketing?
The GRASSHOPPER is always too "busy" with the current "hot" market to plan or execute Internet Marketing. Even though most web site costs are much less than traditional marketing media, most Realtors do not budget any or enough. And now is the time when your investment goes farthest, "Early Adopters" pay less.
GRASSHOPPERS are not investing their TIME in learning new skills such as e-mail and digital photography. They are not learning Windows. They are not working hard to create web pages of interest and value to their visitors.
ANTS know that they are investing in their own future by adding "content" to their web sites. They are diligently taking photos of their niche/neighborhood/town/points of interest/etc. They are gathering information about diverse things from Restaurants to Roofers. They make web pages on local history or weather or market conditions or housing types or local folklore or best pizza or best crappie hole.
ANTS are filling up their "Electronic Briefcases" with the tools and pages they need to reach out ant touch (pun intented) everyone from prospects to past clients to seniors to 1st-time homebuyers to empty nesters. They are "Networking" with local non-competitve services and products and sphere and businesses and schools and ski clubs and soccer teams and PTAs and Toys for Joy.
ANTS know that "Summer" can't last forever and that only the "Adopters" survive when the weather or interest rates or economy or big brokers or discount brokers or whatever comes along. In fact, a well-prepared ANT is kinda happy to see less Grasshoppers around next Spring....