One thing I do to EVERY photo I edit before anything else is "defog" them using the Unsharp Mask in Photoshop set to 20%, 60 pixels, 0 Threshold. I usually do this after running Noiseware and before opening the photo in Lightroom.
Honestly, you'll be amazed at what the simple Unsharp command can do to make a photo pop.
And I highly recommend Lynn Weber's Photo Editing classes at Debbie's site. She packs a LOT of information into each session and it's all easy to understand.