First, let me tell you what I vividly recall and you see if this rings familiar:

I can remember:

• Spending an entire afternoon sitting at my kitchen table combing the yellow pages under "Party Rentals," one listing at a time, trying to find musical entertainment for my parent's 40th wedding anniversary.  I called number after number inquiring if they had a piano player available who could play Gershwin show tunes.

• Waking up early on a Sunday morning to drive down to the drugstore to buy the Sunday New York Times with its expansive Classifieds section when I was looking for a job.  I'd bring it home and lay it out on the coffee table in my den and work my way down each of its thin columns, circling job openings in either blue or red ink - blue for possibility, red for those I was really excited about. This would be the foundation of my job search for the week to come.

• Asking at least 10 of my friends who had been to DisneyWorld what their recommendations were for best places to stay, rides to go on and restaurants to eat at and filling a notebook with all of their advice.

I could go on - but let's forget about me.  That's history.  Let's talk about my 16-year-old daughter.  I asked her last night about what things she believe's she'll never do. 

This is what she said:

• She never reads the newspaper.  She gets her news from the Yahoo home page.
• She can't imagine ever getting home delivery of a daily newspaper.
• If she needs directions, she uses MapQuest or, if she had it, GPS.
• When she's driving, she listens to her IPod - not the radio.
• When she picked out the IPod she wanted for Christmas, she first read reviews of different models online.
• She will never buy another CD.
• She will never own another watch.
• She wouldn't think of writing a letter.
• She finds out her grades online.
• She researches college possibilities online - and will submit her applications online in the fall as well.
• When she wants to go to a movie, she goes to the theater's website and finds out the showtimes.
• When she communicates with anyone -  friends, boss or mom, her first choice is texting.
• She finds out about what's going on with her peers, by logging onto to Facebook.
• If she's looking for a definition, a quote from Catcher in the Rye, or where to buy a pair of rainboots, she Googles it. 
• She saw a dress on a girl in a reality TV show that she loved.  She googled the girl's name, the show's name, and the word dress.  Within 3 minutes, she knew how much it cost and where she could buy it.

To be clear. she is not someone who sits in front of the screen all day playing computer games.  She is a superlative student, committed athlete, and outgoing young woman who is already considering pre-med as her major.  In my opinion, though somewhat impartial I will admit, she is part of the best of the best of the "future" generation.    

Five and a half years from now, she will enter the workforce.  When she does, she will SEARCH for whatever she needs.  Cyberspace is where she'll live regardless of where she rests her head.  This is not a "phase." In a decade, she could be looking to do business with you - and I mean "looking" (translation: searching).

What I'm sure you already know is that those in college currently - and for that matter - most of those who have graduated from college as much as a decade ago, are wired exactly as my daughter.  They SEARCH for everything - and find what they need.  They are already deeply entrenched in our business world.

According to data from Comscore in the San Francisco Chronicle, 131 billion web searches were done in the month of December 2009 alone. 

I've written this post as a kind of cautionary tale to those who are somewhat reluctant to change and/or embrace the Internet for growing their business.  If you want to be found, you best be on the web. 

Does any of this resonate with you?  Which experience is more where you find yourself today?  In Part II,  I will connect the dots as to why this is really important to you and the success of your business.

Until then, enjoy the community and have a great weekend,

Barbara