Another for the 'Clear Prop' camp - always do it myself just to indicate to people out of my view that something's about to happen (hopefully!).
And Kingy - a little bit of discretion is fine. If you're struggling to get the old suck-push-bang-blow sequence right, with 4 or 5 successive attempts within a short space of time, you can probably take it that Joe Public in the vicinity would have seen the shredding machine on the move. If there's then a minute or two's pause, I'd suggest another Clear Prop call would be advisable before trying again.
On the A/C Beacon front, I always aim to get it turning and burning a minute or two before start. Occasional exception is that on a cold frosty morning (having thoroughly de-iced!!) where the battery may be a bit low on 'oomph'. On a Cessna, I would also omit flap lowering checks for similar reasons (although would lower / raise them once the donk's throbbing).