In order to become truly successful, you must start with a Foundation. To follow The Law of the Iceberg, you must be confident on the inside first. You must understand your purpose within your career so that you can be focused enough to take every opportunity and steadfast enough to earn the trust of your readers.

Consider the success of pharmaceutical giant Merck & Company, Inc. I their book, Lessons from the Top, authors Tomas Neff and James Citrin reported their findings after discussing Merck's last decade of success with the company's President and CEO, Ray Gilmartin. Gilmartin said:

One of the things (George W. Merck) said was that "medicine is for people, and not for profits. If you remember that, profits will follow." And that's true of my own personal philosophy as well. And the more we have remembered that we are producing medicines to improve people's lives, the more profits we will make. Our share price is a reward for doing that well.

Fortune (magazine) recently ranked Merck as one of the top 10 best companies to work for and in their summary they said that employees like the fact that we are working toward a higher purpose. They spoke to the reporter about our low-cost AIDS drug, which was consciously priced lower than the other protease inhibitors on the market. We could have gotten more money for it, because of the characteristics of the drug. It's something we discussed; but we talked about the George W. Merck philosophy and considered the need of getting the drug to the people who needed it... and we came down on the side of the lower price. And I think that not only had a positive impact outside the company but inside as well. This is a very reinforcing concept. So not only do we talk about this stuff about having a higher purpose, but we base out actions on it... We're not going to consume or talent or people in the sole pursuit of achieving financial results. We have a higher purpose that we're committed to.

As you can see Merck has a deeper purpose that they believe in, and this has taken them to the top. Merck is the largest pharmaceutical company in the world, with revenues in excess of $40 billion and a net income of $6.8 billion in 2001. This is a strong case for The Law of the Iceberg and shows that you must become more than just another fancy blog with a cool name and logo.

Resources for The Law of the Iceberg:

Thank you,

Jason MoneySpace

Money Space Online (c)

"The Truest Measure of Your Success
Is Invisible to Your Clients"
Think of yourself as an iceberg floating in a body of water. Imagine that the part of the iceberg beneath the surface of the water represents what's on your inside: your values, your deepest desires, your mission, and your purpose in life: and the part of the iceberg above the surface of the water represents what's on the outside: your sales position, your earnings, your accolades, and your possessions. Now, if you've ever read anything about icebergs, you know that very little of the mass of an iceberg shows above the surface. In fact, experts estimate that on average only 10 percent of the entire mass of an iceberg appears above the surface. What that means is that 90 percent of the mass is beneath the surface, invisible to those above the water. In other words, what you see above the surface is not an accurate representation of an iceberg at all. It's just the tip. And the same is true of sales success. What appears on the outside of your sales career doesn't accurately represent how successful you are. ---Written by Todd Duncan

High Trust Selling : Make More Money-In Less Time-With Less Stress

How does this apply to your blog? Simple, you are trying to sell a particular item, your blog, that has value and you need to attract readers. You need to make sure that you have an established base with whatever you do in life and business. Make sure that your success is defined by more than how well you have developed your blog.

This week will focus on The Law of the Iceberg on our trip to help each and every one of us to find SUCCESS.

Thank you,

Jason MoneySpace

Money Space Online (c)