There was a time not so long ago (relatively speaking) that a bunch of well-educated agents got together in Philadelphia and created a "little" document called The Declaration of Independence. Oddly enough, as history would have it, even those gentlemen with lofty principles managed to give their collective thumbs up to the value of education, labor and the accumulation of honestly earned wealth.

If those pursuits were good enough for the framers of our venerated Constitution, is it safe to presume they are more than good enough for us sales professionals who nobly endeavor to feed, clothe and house our kin with the money we earn through the listing and sale of real estate. One need only walk a week in the shoes of a productive, successful agent to know how truly challenging, stressful, exhilarating, frustrating and fulfilling the profession of real estate is today.

Most everything that's done day-to-day to assist clients is done "with the promise" of compensation. While many people have careers equally challenging, for most there is a paycheck waiting every week (or two) to take a lot of sting out of the inevitable ups and downs of the daily grind.

Some might say, "All she did was market the home for two weeks, and look at that big, fat payoff." The fact that ten other properties took months of wrangling, wringing of the hands and feats of marketing genius to get sold and closed is lost on the uneducated observer. In most other corporate businesses, once a fee for services is set (unless stipulated otherwise in an agreement,) that's what the client pays. If one client's project turns out to be a seamless transaction that succeeds to culmination as smoothly as glass, that's just a bonus for the service provider.

By the same token, had the project been fraught with every unforeseen, hellish problem imaginable, the service provide would have to "suck it up." That's just the cost of doing business. Some days are diamonds and some are stones.

Realtors of the world unite and quit being put off, insulted or intimidated by people who expect you to "donate" your time (that's your life, too) to them in exchange for a wage they wouldn't accept under the same circumstance.

Let's always be mindful of our obligation to be clear about the extent of the services we provide. It's incumbent upon each Realtor to step up and be prepared to defend the skills of the profession.

Provide exemplary service, know your market and product 110 percent, be wise in the ways of win-win negotiating, be of the highest integrity, dress and always conduct yourself as a professional and hold your heads high. If you do these things, you'll be in demand.

Cost issues diminish as value rises!