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After six years of working behind-the-scenes in television, Yolanda Muckle wants to take her media savvy to the real estate industry.

The Bowie woman, an agent with Long & Foster Real Estate in Mitchellville, continually urges her fellow agents to pay attention to what television shows about real estate can teach them about the market, from staging homes for prospective buyers to smart pricing. She captured several of these tips in an article that she wrote for "Maryland Realtor" magazine.

"I wanted to convey to Realtors what to do in today's market," Muckle said. "The market is still a good time to buy and sell if sellers listen to what TV would teach them."

In the article, Muckle offered advice such as landscaping to improve curb appeal, taking photos that reflect the home, making the home look ready for its next owner rather than fully lived in and asking for the right price.

For Muckle's article, as well as her work on its volunteer communications committee, the Maryland Association of Realtors in Annapolis named her its Shining Star in September. Muckle has been with the association for about three years, after becoming a full-time agent in 2006. She received her license in 2003.

"She's very organized and very comfortable at public speaking. She's a big asset to the communications committee," said Debbie Hager, director of communications for the association.

She said Muckle's unusual communications background, which includes work as a senior account executive for WUSA-TV9 until 2006, offers the association new and interesting perspectives on handling the market. At WUSA-TV9, the CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C., Muckle sold commercial advertising and developed Internet skills.

Muckle also showcases her on-camera skills during appearances on HGTV's "Get It Sold," where she helps sellers prepare their homes for the market and counsels them on pricing. One of the sellers she worked with on the show had previously rejected her services after she told them the home was overpriced. The sellers needed to sell to buy another property.

"If they don't want to select me because I'm being honest with them, I'm not the right Realtor for them," she said. "You can't price a home based on what you need."

Muckle, who focuses on the residential sector, also emphasizes name-branding. Working with the real estate marketing company HobbsHerder in Newport Beach, Calif., she has designed brochures and ads to distinguish her among the Long & Foster group.

"She works diligently on marketing herself," Hager said. "You don't see it done quite as successfully as we've seen her do it."

Muckle said many real estate agents should start viewing the homes they sell as their product.

"You have to make yourself stand out," she said. "Real estate is a profession, but some people don't treat it as one."

She said she loves the challenge of sales, especially as it includes no ceiling for income, but it also requires people to understand they can't control everything.

Since joining the real estate industry to better balance work and family, Muckle has frequently been cited as a top producer, earning a spot on Long & Foster's Gold Team. She was also the Prince George's Chamber of Commerce's 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year and a 2008 graduate of the state Realtors association's Leadership Academy. Muckle has pursued education in her field through the Graduate Realtor Institute and hopes to pass the final test to become an associate broker.

"If I'm going to do something, I'm doing it full throttle," Muckle said. "I'm a risk taker; it's part of that entrepreneur attitude."

A graduate of Hampton University, Muckle lives with her husband and two children. She enjoys bowling, golfing, ballroom dancing and photography.