So, you got the listing. You loaded it all up online. And it looks pretty good, right? A “nice” description with “nice” pictures might make a “nice” first impression. But that might also be its last impression, given buyers’ approach to ruling listings in and out.

Buyers’ approach is, in a word, ruthless. Buyers have lots of online listings to get through, and very, very limited time. They review online listings against a backdrop of lots of priorities and considerations battling for their mindspace: their financial priorities, family plans, space needs, aesthetics and the must-haves and deal-breakers of anywhere from 1 to 4 people—or more. So, when they peruse the hundreds of listings on Trulia in your area, maybe yours will make it into the 40 properties they favorite.

But then they cull the list. And narrow again. And narrow again to get down to, say, 15. They send those to their agent. And the agent cute those in half to get to the list of homes they want to show that weekend. Both buyers and agents are prone to cutting properties that look “nice,” but may or may not have critical deal-making features, when the features simply aren’t photographed.

So, your job is not just to get your listing noticed, or onto the list of 40. It’s also to make sure your listing is not one of the 25 that gets cut before Madame Buyer ever gets in the door. Trulia listings can have unlimited photos each, so shoot away! Here is a short list of oft-omitted pics that should make it into every single one of your online listings.

1. Front of House

I know. Seems super basic. But the truth is, there are lots of listings on the interwebs that don’t include any sort of image of the home’s exterior elevation, for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the agent’s rationale for not including a front exterior image is as simple as a telephone pole or electric lines obstructing the view of the home or that there was a dumpster or construction truck blocking the house the day pics were taken.

Nonetheless, today’s increasingly savvy online home buyer interprets the lack of a front of house pic as a red flag that they should be afraid of the property: very afraid.

2. Backyard

You only need to house hunt with a couple of clients with backyard musts to begin to understand how many otherwise well-crafted online listings, some which contain literally dozens of interior images, lack images of a home’s outdoor space. Buyers who have pets, children, hot tubs, urban farming fantasies or some combination of the above will want to narrow down the online listings they decide to visit to those which seem likely to suit their outdoor space needs.

http://www.trulia.com/pro/sellers/6-photos-every-listing-should-have/?ecampaign=tnews&eurl=trulia.com%252Fpro%252Fsellers%252F6-photos-every-listing-should-have%252F

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about personal branding, in part because I’m about to begin a new commissioned white paper and so I’ve been re-visiting my popular white paper for Innocentive – Harnessing the Global Talent Pool to Accelerate Innovation, and what I wrote about personal branding there:

“… the world continues to move away from being a place where employees expect to have jobs for life, and fight against any change to this paradigm, to a world where portfolios, personal branding, and project-based work will become more common in an increasing number of industries. The evolving world of work is becoming a world in which individuals will need to be really good at collaborating and playing well with others, while also honing their skills at standing out from the crowd. At the same time, the external perception of your network value will expand from a focus on internal connections to also include the talented minds you might know outside the organization that can be brought in on different projects or challenges.”

So, let’s dig in…

The power of the individual versus the power of the collective. This is a tension that has been around longer than the practice of human resources and talent management as an occupation. While the organization is concerned with achieving success for the collective, too often we forget that the collective is made up of a collection of unique individuals, and that each of these individuals have a collection of unique skills, talents, and abilities that may or not directly fulfill the needs of their role and the organization’s goals and brand promise:

“To build a brand, you must start a conversation with your customers. Your customers have to know that you stand for something and that they can count on you to deliver upon your brand promise.” (April 20, 2012)

While the role of the individual in helping to fulfill the organization’s brand promise is often not considered, it should be, at the same time that the organization considers whether its chosen individuals adequately fill the defined job requirements that the organization believes are necessary to fulfill the collective’s mission to achieve revenue and profits for its shareholders, value for its clients and donors, or benefits for its constituents (depending on whether you’re talking about a for-profit, non-profit or governmental organization).

http://socialmediatoday.com/braden-kelley/2239866/innovation-and-personal-branding?utm_source=smt_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter&inf_contact_key=08d33df30dcb3fe8f7c700078bccc195e73b4a1551c81703caab70a7e0b1d8f0