A deep freeze across the country is sparking concern about home heating costs, especially in states feeling this week's arctic blast the most.

Good sales managers hire the best talent and streamline processes, so salespeople spend more time with clients, mentor them and publicly celebrate their success, writes Loyd Ford, the president and chief strategic officer at Rainmaker Pathway Consulting Works. "Excellent sales managers make it a priority to catch sellers doing something right and then let everyone know that they are crushing it, too," Ford writes.

Nancy Solari, CEO of Living Full Out, writes that small businesses can stay the course and outshine the competition with a unique product or service. Meet customer demand and create a community around them; also be prepared for the unexpected, Solari writes.

Relevance will vie with reach as the most important ad attribute after cookies disappear, writes Taylor Fielding of TFM Digital. Fielding tells marketers to focus on genuine connection and set up software integration for alternative identification methods as the moment of depreciation approaches.

Jakeeva Lee, with a strong passion for real estate and previous leadership experience at the Chicago Association of REALTORS®, has been appointed as the new CEO of the Greater Louisville chapter. Lee was selected after a nationwide search and is enthusiastic about her move to Louisville, drawn by the chapter's strategic plan and commitment to diversity.

X, formerly Twitter, continues its path to try to become an "everything app" with approval for X Payments from at least 32 states and plans to launch a peer-to-peer payment service, AI to improve search and support for creators. X, however, is worth 71% less than Elon Musk's purchase price and will require "more than peer-to-peer payment opportunities to bring people back to the app," writes Christianna Silva.

Use the good and bad memories of your own experiences as a customer not only as fodder for presentation anecdotes but also to guide how you treat your company's customers. Ensure you've equipped all employees to do so because "your business's reputation is as strong as your least engaged employee," executive speech coach Patricia Fripp writes.

In 2022, Lynn, Mass., established the Affordable Housing Trust Fund with funding from the American Rescue Plan Act and has since invested over $2.2 million to enhance affordable housing. Projects include the acquisition of an apartment complex to include dozens of affordable units.

Assuming inflation does not rebound, U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said that Fed policymakers will likely "be able to lower the target range for the federal funds rate this year." When interest-rate cuts become appropriate, "I believe it can and should be lowered methodically and carefully," Waller said. Meanwhile, a paper by a U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta economist notes that the "last mile" of the central bank's inflation fight will not necessarily be more difficult than what has come before.