Other Points

Harold said, I think wisely though I don't do it, write a paper after you finish submitting a grant proposal.
Be careful with collaborators. Make sure you want to work with them.
You might want to line up an RA before you submit the grant. It's hard to find good people.
Tell us about it. We'll get better at writing grants if we talk about writing grants.
It's a game, but it's not a game.
None the less, as it is a game, get on the side that makes the rules (or knows the rules).
Review
It's all a pain, but it's pretty good when you've got a good grant going.
You get a fair bit of cachet for having a grant, and the bigger the grant, the more the cachet.
It does matter for promotion.