In the real estate market today there are fewer buyers and many sellers. This is not the time to be lackluster in marketing your property. To lure buyers, an aggressive campaign to present your property in the best light is paramount. Whether a broker is handling it or you are selling on your own, your real estate listings need to be top-notch.

The internet will play host to your listing on a multitude of sites. These sites reach people around the world. No more small ads with a few succinct lines in the local newspaper. Today, your listing will be global.

Begin with the description of your property. Include every positive factor you can think of. Mention light-filled rooms, updated appliances, hardwood floors. Anything unique in the design or layout. Make your words fill the imagination of potential buyers.

The convenience and charm of the neighborhood should be included. The schools and recreational facilities should be mentioned. A nearby library is a plus. A great grocery store close by is a plus. If there is a shopping mall in the area, that is a selling factor. If your neighborhood is trendy, talk about bars and cafes nearby. By adding personal touches, you will connect with buyers looking for just those things.

This does not mean you make a folksy presentation. Definitely do not use amateurish photos or cutesy descriptions. Often a broker takes care of the details. But with a flooded market, you may not get the attention you need to sell your property fast. If you are taking on some of the marketing yourself, make sure the photos you post look professional. If you are not a good photographer, find someone who is. If you cannot write a decent sentence, someone you know can.

Pay attention to real estate jargon. The industry uses words to paint a picture of a pleasant home. Learn a few phrases by reading some of the ads. Make your wording upbeat. Try to be honest. If your house is a fixer-upper, it is okay to say that. By using that term, you avoid stating details that are not quite so wonderful. Highlight the positive, shade over the negative.

Never post dark, poorly exposed photos online. No picture is better than a picture that makes your place look like a dark hole. Also, avoid posting close-ups of the toilet. Yes, this is actually done. It is a waste of space and looks tacky. Most everyone knows what a toilet looks like and assumes one comes with the property. If the bathroom is clean, updated and aesthetically appealing, do post a photo of it. Especially if it has a window, a skylight or other elements that make it special.

Try to avoid things that, while necessary, do not make appealing photos: old radiators, hot water tanks, hanging wires or ungainly air-conditioning units. Instead focus on the fireplace, architectural details if any, good flooring, walk-in closets or large windows. If you have a view, this makes for a good photo. A night shot of a cityscape is compelling. If there is greenery outside, try to frame it nicely through the windows. A pool or rooftop deck should be shown in sunshine.

Never post pictures of dirty, cluttered rooms filled with personal belongings. Women take one look and move on. Good-looking photos will attract buyers. Make sure your real estate listings work in your favor for a quick sale at the best possible price.

Below are five ways to break through difficult situations. By all means they are not the only five ways, but they will give you a good foundation.

1. Evaluate if you can do anything to make the situation better:

It is important to take a look at the situation and evaluate if there is anything that you can do to make it better. Are there any steps that you can take to turn your obstacle into an opportunity? Look at the things that you can do to conquer the difficult situation. It is important for you to conquer the obstacles of life, and not let them conquer you.

2. Seek the support of others:

When you are faced with a difficult situation it is important to have a strong support system. Talk to those that you are close to and seek support. Going through things alone can cause discouragement and a feeling of being isolated. Those things can make the situation even more challenging to face. It can be empowering to have others in your corner. That can inspire, encourage and motivate you.

3. Don’t quit:

It is very easy to want to give up on your dreams or goals when you are faced with a difficult situation. But that is not the time to quit. It is the time to persevere. Unfortunately we are all faced with challenges, but you must refuse to give up. You have to decide in your mind that quitting is not an option.

4. Lean on your faith:

Remember that God is there with you during the storms of life. Many times you may not feel like he is there, but he is. He will never leave or forsake you. So it is important to lean on your faith during any difficult situation. There are many things that life presents to us that are just too hard for us to carry on our own. That is why it is important to lean on your faith, and know that God will help you through any difficult situation you are faced with. He is greater than any challenge you face.

5. Think back for strength:

Think back to any other difficult situations that you have been faced with. How did you deal with them? What was the outcome? Did you give up or persevere? Sometimes we have to reflect on things that we have been through before in our lives. The fact that we made it through other difficult situations can provide us with strength in knowing, that we can make it through other challenging things, that life presents to us.

Dr. Shauntel Peak-Jimenez is the founder of The Character and Self-Esteem (CASE) Institute where she provides life coach training and certification. She is also the founder of The Weight Success Institute for Women, where she provides faith-based weight success services for women. Dr. Shauntel is passionate about helping others to create the life that they deserve through inspiration, education and motivation.

Here’s what I learned from Steve Sarner, VP of Marketing at Tagged and a longtime thought leader in social space, in an interview with Mike Wolpert, host of Social Jumpstart TV about the past, present, and future social media and social discovery.

WHERE WE’VE COME FROM

Friendster was the first social network to speak of. It could have been what Facebook is today, if they’d been able to figure out how to keep the site up, but they were overwhelmed by traffic. It was a technical failure. Sarner says they had “lightning in a bottle, beyond even their wildest imaginations.” After watching this happen a bunch of other players jumped on the bandwagon, especially in Silicon Valley, and there was a big explosion.

The founders of Tagged were Stanford physics PhD candidates in their twenties who had gone to Harvard. They saw MySpace happening for music and adults, and they saw another kid from Harvard named Mark starting something for college students (a little thing called Facebook). Tagged was originally going to be for high school students. After MySpace and Facebook opened up to all the age demographics in 2005/2006, Tagged opened up to everyone too and entered the race of trying to be the world’s social network.

Sarner believes that Facebook gained the momentum it did in 2005/2006 because it was a beautifully, eloquently done site that was able to lead people into social networking in a clean-cut way. MySpace was too confusing for the masses, and also became overwhelmed by capacity issues. Facebook was more structured, and it had quicker functionality and well-designed technical elements. These strengths have obviously continued to serve Facebook well.

LinkedIn entered the scene as the place for professional friends and professional networks. Some of the other networks, like foursquare, emerged to utilize geographical strengths.

In 2007/2008, Tagged pivoted in a new direction. They decided that most of the networks are for people you already know-Facebook for friends, MySpace for music friends, LinkedIn for professional friends, foursquare for people you know in your area. Tagged decided it would be the network for meeting new friends. They have been serving this niche since, finding new ways and developing new features to help you find brand-new friends online who you wouldn’t find by following your existing friend networks. Some people use Tagged for dating, some for social games, and some for shared interests. Tagged represents a different use case-you may have 2000 friends, and you may use different photos, choose different entertainment, and focus on different interests than you would with a network of people you already know. It’s about being social and fun in a more public way.

WHY YOU NEED TO BE ON SOCIAL MEDIA RIGHT NOW

The present reality of social media is this: the social brand is more important than ever. People need to find you, so you need to be on these networks. That’s a fact.

Sarner has this advice for overwhelmed business owners: Getting started is half the battle. Consistency is really important, and you have to put a little time and effort into this. What’s required is sweat equity-intellect, time, and energy. But it will get easier as soon as you get started. Social media is here to stay, and it will become even more meaningful in the long term. It’s not that hard, and with a little guidance and practice, you can get fabulous results.

Getting on social media is not just crucial for prospects and new sales. Social media also offers immediate feedback so you can solve problems earlier. Somebody might walk out of your store upset, and you don’t know it, unless you’re on social media. If you are, you can respond immediately-this is a chance to solve the problem. It’s also a chance to change the conversation about your business, be a part of it, and even help write it. If you use it well, you can demonstrate that you’re a great business, and get free market research out of it, which is a powerful thing.

It all starts with listening. A business owner can begin by listening to what’s going on on social media before getting involved. A lot of businesses miss this boat, because they think they need to push their message out. In fact, what you need to do is step back and listen. Only jump in where you can add value; don’t do it just to say “Look at me.” Make a worthwhile contribution by fixing an issue, solving a problem, or being involved on a higher level.

Word-of-mouth is the most valuable type of marketing, but learning it and understanding how to harness the power of it is the tricky part. Social media is the place to learn.

WHERE WE’RE HEADED

Sarner sees us moving toward a place where even more of the old systems, like the old broadcast model of advertising, will be falling down. He predicts another huge privacy blowup with Facebook, because of the new social readers they’re using that broadcast what users are reading and looking at. There will definitely be more bumps along the road.

Sarner also thinks that making new strides in social media will get harder before it gets easier. Right now, if you’re a business looking for customers, you have to be on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. But beyond that, it’s hard to know where else to go in order to use social media in the most effective possible. It all depends on the type and location of your business and the nature of your industry. Geographical sites or review sites might be crucial for one business and not particularly helpful for another. It will be interesting to see where Google+ is going. This is a quickly evolving landscape with a lot of complexity, and business owners need to be on top of it and take advantage of the opportunity. They need to understand what social media offers: an amazing promotional and communication vehicle. Sarner also thinks the complexity level will continue to increase.

Here’s how Tagged sees the challenge facing them: Tagged has 100 million registered users. Facebook has 800 million active users. There are 7 billion people on the planet; 2 billion are connected, and 3 billion will be connected soon. What’s the best way to find the 10 best people you should meet?

Google, Microsoft, and Tagged are all working on future products. When I asked Sarner for a hint about what Tagged is working on, he started talking about shared interests. What if you could use social media to really find like-minded people with similar interests who would be valuable to know? Most of the friendships you already have are based on randomness or proximity. Instead, you could develop friendships based on expertise, business focus, spiritual connection, or another area of shared interest. The most valuable connections are built around what you care about and what you do. There’s so much noise out there, and right now, social media helps you manage it and curate it. The next step will be about cherry-picking the people you should meet.

As a business owner ensuring your working environment is presentable to clients and customers, whilst being clean for your work force is a constant challenge. Carpets suffer from daily wear, dirt, odours and stains can seem unavoidable.

Dust, allergens and bacteria build up in carpets over time and can lead to hygiene issues for employees, especially those suffering with hypersensitivity.

Regular office cleaners are not specialised or equipped to deal with many of the stains linked with commercial traffic. Some common stains on commercial premises are mud, oil and drinks. These often require services or techniques that vary from those used for residential customers and premises.

Expert commercial carpet cleaning companies will offer a provision, completely customized and modified to your individual requirements. They will benefit from a wealth of industry knowledge with varied experience in the field. It is important that they are understanding and make suggestions for approaching the job based on work flow and business events.

Specialist industrial machinery will be required to ensure you receive the best possible outcome and finish. This specialised machinery will offer enormously reduced drying times and enables minimal disturbance to your business. A skilled cleaner will then offer you advice on how to approach regular maintenance and cleaning to ensure the results are long-lasting.

Productivity and budgeting are major considerations in today’s business-related society. This gives testament to the importance of a high-level service and benefits professional commercial carpet cleaners can provide. The process of carpet cleaning will prove to be cost-effective as it will instantly improve the look and feel of your working environment and it will noticeably reduce the level of bacteria and airborne dust, meaning it is less likely for your workforce to experience possible linked allergy reactions.

A regular maintenance and cleaning routine will ensure your carpets are long-lasting and do not need replacing, saving a huge cost and often avoidable outlay to your business.

In an ever-evolving industry, specialist credentials are awarded to companies who prove they are committed to new methods and advances in technology. The science of carpet cleaning and the awareness of “cleaning for health”, and “indoor air quality” issues are progressive. Eco friendly products, systems and working practices need to be primary considerations when working in businesses and homes alike.

Ensure any company you employ to complete the cleaning of your carpets can provide evidence of necessary qualifications and standards. This will offer confidence and assurance you are dealing with the best.

With a fresh and clean environment and a professional clean; the presentation of your business will be lifted instantly. Your carpets will look like new! Your customers will notice the difference and your staff will appreciate the improvement!