At a recent Shop Talk Small-Business Breakfast, Jim Tobin, panelist and owner of Ignite Social Media, a Cary social media and marketing agency, said owners should identify an ‘if only’ question to help them target their marketing strategy. Shop Talk Editor Jessaca Giglio asked business owners and leaders for their answers. This is what they said.

• “If only more small businesses and nonprofits knew that public relations today is about finding opportunities to tell their company’s story – and that social media and other tools provide more opportunities to do that than ever before – they might be willing to include P.R. into their overall business plan,” said Carol Steckbeck, principal at Communications Consultant, a public relations firm in Holly Springs.

• “If only I could get people out to “Live Laughs at the Longbranch” to show them that they could have twice the laughs at half the price of other comedy club venues,” said Frank King, director of marketing and live shows at Live Laughs at the Longbranch, a comedy club inside Raleigh’s Longbranch Saloon.

• “If only presenters knew that a fresh look can recharge their presentations,” said Wendy Gates Corbett, president of Refresher Training, a Raleigh company that offers redesign of training materials and PowerPoint presentations. “(It would make presenters) and their expertise look even sharper in the eyes of their audience.”

• “If only I could alert leaders to the high cost of leaving their people untended during or after a crisis, they would be more likely to realize the impact on resilience and retention within their organization,” said Becky Sansbury, owner of Real Life Communication, a Raleigh company that helps businesses prepare for and deal with the results of a crisis. “... If only leaders understood the hidden cost of crisis, they would never question the return of investment for crisis training and support.