Property managers and other commercial real estate pros are increasingly leveraging "scent marketing" to boost a building's appeal. The rules could even apply to homes.

"Advertisements should never indicate a preference or limitation based on a protected class," NAR staff attorney Mike Rohde says in a recent "Window to the Law" video. Use these tips to ensure your ads aren't running afoul of fair housing.

Building rapport with a potential buyer can be instrumental in making a sale, especially a business-to-business sale, Anthony Iannarino, a sales consultant, writes. Iannarino spells out eight rapport-building mistakes, four how-tos and five steps toward improvement.

Media Update offers four "social media hacks" in this infographic to help with engagement. They are timing your posts to appear near your top competitor's posts, re-using your most successful posts but with different captions, launching posts several minutes before the typical posting time of the new hour, and responding to followers' comments at the same time as a new post.

Status Co. Leather Studio in Alabama has turned a profit by diversifying its revenue streams, founder Tenita Strand says. Businesses should plan at least four income sources, Strand notes -- for example, "sell a physical product, offer a service, create passive income inside the business and own real estate."

US bank lending declined by $104.7 billion in the last two weeks of March, the steepest decrease on record, according to Federal Reserve data. The drop in real estate and other loan types comes amid uncertainty after the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon noted that the collapses have "provoked lots of jitters in the market and will clearly cause some tightening of financial conditions."

Startups are bringing real estate solutions for everything from financial and property management to lead generation and more.

New social marketing tools on Emplifi's customer engagement platform let brands cultivate, manage and publish user-generated content and can integrate Salesforce customer relationship management software. Emplifi Unified Analytics has gained commerce and customer capabilities, such as improved video, chat and voice support.

Tightening a hiring schedule can make a difference in signing the talent you really want, especially as manufacturing applicants often want to begin right away. Using a staffing service to help with entry-level hiring, forgoing in-person interviews for lower-level workers, rethinking requirements and aiming for year-round hiring pushes can help, Aerotek Strategic Sales Director Stanley Johnson writes.

Bank of America Global Research has warned the economy could contract in the second quarter under the weight of the Federal Reserve's monetary tightening. The "data flow is consistent with our view that the US economy slowed steadily over the course of 1Q 2023," according to a note from BofA economists. "As a result, the hand-off to 2Q looks weak. We see meaningful risks of a contraction in GDP in 2Q."