In e-business that means being everything, to everyone, all the time. For $39.99 a month, any Hudson Valley organization can list up to 40,000 items and reach 10 million people on Amazon thru its z.Shops. “Amazon.com Payments” allows seamless transactions while the customer receives credit security and merchandise guarantees. Amazon’s “All Product Search” allows buyers to find anything that’s for sale. The implications are terrifying!

Consider the effect that Circuit City, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Staples and Radio Shack have had on retailers in the Hudson Valley. Now AOL has a presence in over 600 Circuit City stores and Microsoft has teamed up with Radio Shack as Yahoo did with Kmart.

What business is Amazon in? It’s an octopus with tentacles stretching around the globe. There is no limit to its growth or diversification. Of course, it will fail if it never turns a profit. If it succeeds, it will redefine the very concept of business.

Companies like Amazon, AOL and Yahoo…the 800-pound gorillas, will set the agenda for the future of the Internet, as the Wal-Marts and Home Depots have for bricks and mortar. There will only be two kinds of companies, gorillas and niche players

What are key elements for building a power brand? A remarkable focus on priorities for starters. General Electric knew what its brand was going to be and moved toward collaborations, acquisitions, offers, and innovations that added to it, ignoring those that diluted it. Having that sort of sight is essential.

Another key element is your market. Getting the right story to the right customers in a visible and credible way to make your target customers “raving fans” is successful marketing at it’s best.

Power brands have the ability to ride out trouble without trying to change with every bump in the road. They hold onto their vision and focus instead of changing their strategies to meet short-term demands for instant profits

Power brands are very well managed and crystal clear about their business model. They start out knowing their strengths and what markets to serve while developing focused marketing to penetrate them. In other words, they create power brands, not just a business.

Given how easy it is for power brands to intrude into and weaken any Hudson Valley business, every organization must be actively conscious of brand. If you don’t act, you’ll eventually have to react If you don’t find a business model soon someone else will develop one that hurts you.

To summarize, first determine whether you’re becoming a gorilla or niche player. In either case, remember that Wal-Mart or Amazon could go into your business tomorrow.P>Be well managed and ride out trouble in a non-reactive way. Then build a powerful brand that customers can use, and market it aggressively so that your customers “rave” about you.

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