Spiderman. Peter Parker. Mary Jane. Mr. Jamison. The Daily Bugle and saving the world. What do they all have in common with Da Hustle?

Absolutely nothing.

But no, this isn’t an early April Fool’s joke (or late, depending on how you look at it), but rather a great segway in to this week’s inspiration. We all know that the days of working for one company, having a big retirement party and getting the gold watch are pretty much gone. Surviving in today’s world takes skill, tenacity, dedication, and the ability to react to market conditions.

In other words, yes, you need to hustle.

Uh, no.

Depending on any one “job” is fast becoming a means to an end. Sure, you could try to work your way up the corporate ladder, but by the time you reach your goals your kids will be starting college. Who really has that kind of time?

You should learn to model your life after that of a spider. Any one single strand of silk the spider spins isn’t really going to do much good. It has very little strength on its own and is easily broken. However, when a spider spins an intricate web that contains layers upon layers of single strands placed together, the web is infinitely stronger, and the spider has a much bigger chance of survival. Each strand can represent a stream of income in your life; the more you have, the better suited you are for survival in a society that favors survival of the fittest.

Furthermore, a spider’s web can inspire fear in it’s enemies. Think about it: no one really cares about walking through a spider’s web, except for the annoyance of trying to pull the strands of silk off of your hair and clothing. But hardly no one ever enters an intricate web that is plainly seen, because it represents a danger that you would much rather avoid (not to mention you don’t know the size of the spider that created it). This can be represented by corporations that have their hands in everything: who really wants to go up against Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Microsoft, or Google? One corporate lawyer is an equal playing field, but a network or web of lawyers makes even the mightiest of ’spider’s’ a little leary of embarking on that incredible journey.

The word for today’s times is diversification. Don’t know anything about it? Your favorite compnaies do! Here’s a short sample to illustrate:

• Sony makes/owns: televisions, CD players, MP3 players, the PlayStation 3 console, movies (Sony Pictures Studios, Columbia TriStar), music (Sony BMG Music Entertainment) & TV shows (Wheel of Fortune)
• Microsoft makes: Windows (yeah, Da Hustler hates it at times too), XBox, word processing and spreadsheet programs (Microsoft Office), ok so pretty much a lot of software for computers
• GE makes/owns: NBC television, light bulbs (duh), appliances, electronics, movies (Universal Pictures), theme parks (Universal Studios)
• The Walt Disney Company owns: ABC, ESPN & Lifetime television, movies (Touchstone Pictures, Miramax, Pixar), Disney Cruise Line, basically it has a stake in almost anything to do with kids

The list goes on and on. Furthermore, even though you may know these companies to be competitors, almost all of them make deals behind the scenes because the CEO’s know it’s in the company’s best interest to forge profitable partnerships. That’s working smarter and not harder, keeping your ‘enemies’ close, and diversifying.

I implore you to make diversification your new friend. Weave a web of business opportunities for yourself, to insure that if one well runs dry, you have other resources to supplement your financial liquidity. Social Security may not be there for you when you need it, and neither will your boss if it comes time to make tough decisions for the benefit of the company (or his pockets). Even some of the opportunities listed on this site are seasonal, so consider your area of the world and the needs of your local market when you embark on your hustle.

Oh, and here’s an extra tip: the Spiderman costumes look absolutely horrible, so unless you have something that looks like the real thing from the movie, you might want to choose another character this year. Trust me.