How to Use AI Without Losing Your Voice

The 3 Tests for Spotting a Real Referral Partner

Most small business owners can't name five people who could realistically send them a referral every month. And that's exactly why their networking isn't working. They're showing up at events being polite to everyone, hoping the right relationships will just emerge from the chaos. They almost never do. In this episode, I'll walk through the three tests that separate a real referral partner from a polite acquaintance: whether they serve the same clients at a different stage of the customer journey, whether you'd actually refer business back to them (the reciprocity test), and whether they're at a similar stage of business growth to you. I'll cover real examples (wedding photographer + wedding planner, residential plumber + real estate agent, small business accountant + banker), and walk through the journey-mapping exercise that turns these tests into an actual list of 5-20 specific people you should be building relationships with. This is the third episode in the referral engine series. Episode one covered the bigger reframe of networking for partners instead of clients. Episode two covered the giver mindset that makes those partnerships work. This episode is about identifying exactly who those partners should be. After 15+ years helping small businesses get more visible, I've watched plenty of owners network themselves to exhaustion because they were meeting everyone instead of meeting the right people. Random networking produces random results. Targeted networking produces a referral engine. CHAPTERS: 0:00 Can you name five people who could refer you every month? 0:41 Why most small business owners can't answer that question 1:26 Random networking produces random results 1:53 Test #1: Do they serve the same clients at a different stage? 2:49 Real examples: photographer, plumber, accountant 4:10 Test #2: Would you refer business back to them? 5:07 Why referrals are reputation 5:46 Test #3: Are they at a similar stage of business to you? 6:25 The journey-mapping exercise to build your target list 7:10 What's coming next in the series ABOUT SMALL BUSINESS BIG VISIBILITY: A podcast for small business owners who want practical, real-world strategies to grow without burnout. Hosted by Jason McKenzie, founder of Boise Web and a 15+ year veteran helping small businesses become more visible, more profitable, and more sustainable. Episode 405 #SmallBusinessOwner #ReferralMarketing #SmallBusinessNetworking

How to Identify Your Top 5 Referral Partners

Most small business owners can't name five people in their network who could realistically send them a referral every month for the next year. If you can't either, you're spending your networking time at random. Random networking produces random results. In this episode, I'll walk through three quick tests that separate your actual referral partners from polite acquaintances you happened to meet at a networking event. The first test is whether they serve the same client you do at a different stage of that client's journey (the wedding planner for the photographer, the real estate agent for the plumber, the banker for the small business accountant). The second is whether you'd be willing to refer business to them. The third is whether they're at a similar stage of business to you, because the most powerful referral relationships compound when both partners grow together. Then I'll walk you through a customer journey exercise that gives you a real list of who you should actually be targeting in your networking time. This is the third episode in the referral engine series. Episode one covered networking for partners instead of clients. Episode two covered giving first. This episode is where you actually identify who those partners are. After 15+ years helping small businesses get more visible, I've watched plenty of owners spend years networking with the wrong people because they never sat down and defined the right ones. This is the exercise most business owners skip, and it's why their networking never produces what they're hoping for. CHAPTERS: 0:00 Can you name five people who could send you referrals every month? 0:41 What happens when you can't answer that question 1:33 Why random networking produces random results 1:53 The 3 tests that separate real referral partners 2:08 Test 1: Same client, different stage of the journey 2:49 Examples: wedding planner, real estate agent, banker 4:05 Test 2: Would you be willing to refer business to them? 4:48 Why referrals are reputation 5:20 Test 3: Are they at a similar stage of business to you? 6:25 The customer journey exercise: building your real list 7:01 What's coming next in the series ABOUT SMALL BUSINESS BIG VISIBILITY: A podcast for small business owners who want practical, real-world strategies to grow without burnout. Hosted by Jason McKenzie, founder of Boise Web and a 15+ year veteran helping small businesses become more visible, more profitable, and more sustainable. Episode 404 🔗 https://smallbusinessbigvisibility.com/ #SmallBusinessOwner #ReferralMarketing #SmallBusinessNetworking

Stop Asking for Referrals. Start Giving First

Why do some small business owners get a steady stream of referrals while others, doing the same amount of networking, get nothing? The difference usually isn't talent or charisma. It's one specific mindset shift in how you show up to every conversation. In this episode, I'll walk through why givers build referral pipelines that compound for years while takers burn out their network in months, what "give first" actually means (it's not what most people think), and the three-word rule for giving in a way that actually generates business back: specific, valuable, and unsolicited. I'll also cover the trap that turns giving from a habit into a transaction, and how to use it as a real test against your own last five networking conversations. This is the second episode in the referral engine series. Episode one covered the bigger reframe of networking for partners instead of clients. This episode covers what to actually do in those partner conversations once you're there. After 15+ years helping small businesses get more visible, I've watched plenty of owners burn through their network because they were always looking for what they could get. The owners with steady referrals years later aren't the most outgoing or the best closers. They're the ones who figured out, intentionally or by accident, that the giving comes first and the receiving takes care of itself. CHAPTERS: 0:00 Why some business owners get referrals and others don't 0:48 The pattern: two business owners, same networking, different results 2:25 What happens when you walk in looking for what you can get 3:01 What happens when you walk in looking to give value 3:55 Why givers get referred and takers don't 4:00 What "give first" actually means (and what it doesn't) 4:41 The three-word rule: specific, valuable, unsolicited 6:23 The real estate agent example: giver vs. taker in action 7:07 The trap that destroys giving (keeping score) 7:50 A quick test: your last five networking conversations 8:33 What's coming next in the series MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: 🎧 Earlier in the referral engine series: Stop Networking for Clients. Network for Partners. ABOUT SMALL BUSINESS BIG VISIBILITY: A podcast for small business owners who want practical, real-world strategies to grow without burnout. Hosted by Jason McKenzie, founder of Boise Web and a 15+ year veteran helping small businesses become more visible, more profitable, and more sustainable. Episode 403 🔗 https://smallbusinessbigvisibility.com/ #SmallBusinessOwner #ReferralMarketing #SmallBusinessNetworking

Stop Networking for Clients. Do this instead

Most small business owners network for the wrong reason. They walk into a room looking for clients. They leave with nothing. Six months later, they've spent thousands of hours and zero dollars made, and they conclude networking doesn't work. The truth: networking works fine. The version most small business owners practice is broken. In this episode, I'll walk through three broken assumptions costing small business owners thousands of hours: that more events equals more clients, that the people in the room are your prospects, and that good work earns referrals automatically. Then I'll cover the three shifts that actually build a referral engine, including why 5 strong referral partners outperform 50 weak acquaintances every time, who actually belongs in your referral ecosystem (it's rarely who you think), and the follow-up cadence that separates business owners with steady referrals from the ones still chasing every new networking event. This is the first episode in a new series on building a referral engine for your small business. We'll cover who your actual referral partners are, how to find them, how to build the relationship, and how to keep it producing over years. After 15+ years helping small businesses get more visible, I've watched plenty of owners burn out on networking before they ever figured out what it was for. The owners who win at this aren't more outgoing or more charming. They're playing a completely different game. CHAPTERS: 0:00 Have you been networking for months with nothing to show? 0:33 Meet Bob: six months of effort, zero clients 1:24 Broken assumption #1: more events equals more clients 2:33 Broken assumption #2: the people in the room are your prospects 3:54 Broken assumption #3: good work means referrals show up automatically 4:46 Shift #1: measure depth, not events attended 5:09 Shift #2: identify your actual referral ecosystem 6:13 Shift #3: treat referral partnerships as long-term assets 6:48 The follow-up mistake that kills most networking relationships 7:21 What's coming in the rest of this series MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: 🎧 Coming next in the referral engine series: identifying your real referral partners ABOUT SMALL BUSINESS BIG VISIBILITY: A podcast for small business owners who want practical, real-world strategies to grow without burnout. Hosted by Jason McKenzie, founder of Boise Web and a 15+ year veteran helping small businesses become more visible, more profitable, and more sustainable. Episode 402 🔗 https://smallbusinessbigvisibility.com/ #SmallBusinessOwner #ReferralMarketing #SmallBusinessNetworking

Trust Is the New Currency. AI Is Burning It

Trust is becoming the most valuable currency in business, and AI is accelerating its erosion. People can spot a fake response, a cloned voice, or an AI-written book within paragraphs, and the moment they do, you're done. The fix isn't to avoid AI. It's to be transparent about exactly where you're using it. In this conversation with Andrea Peer and Susan Leonardson, founders of Geekout Connect, we cover how the trust deficit is reshaping marketing, why the uncanny valley is hardwired into human psychology (and what that means for AI clones, fake testimonials, and generic AI content), and what it actually takes to deliver results in an environment where customers default to skepticism. Andrea brings a PhD in human-computer interaction and 18 years in corporate R&D working with Fortune 100 brands. Susan came up through her parents' garage door business, eight years of network marketing, and a freelance design career that led her into building course experiences for online experts. They share the partnership philosophy that's kept their business together for three and a half years (most don't last six months), and why the future of online courses is about results, not promises. This episode runs longer than the typical Small Business Big Visibility solo. If you're focused on the AI and trust angle, the conversation gets there in the second half. CHAPTERS: 0:00 Meeting Andrea and Susan 1:36 Favorite concerts and the music question 4:14 Susan's journey: from garage door business to design freelancer 10:55 Andrea's journey: merchant marine, Air Force, PhD, and ayahuasca 17:07 How two competitors became partners 23:38 What kept the partnership alive when most don't last six months 31:13 The temperament tool that helped them work together 33:46 What they actually do: building learning experiences for online experts 41:31 Why most online courses don't deliver results 44:00 Trust as currency in the AI era 47:51 The uncanny valley and why fake content kills credibility 50:21 The transparency rule for using AI 54:08 Where to find Andrea and Susan MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: 🌐 Geekout Connect: https://geekoutconnect.com 🎧 The We Are Human Podcast: https://wearehumanshow.com 🧠 The temperament assessment they reference: https://whatsmycore.com ABOUT SMALL BUSINESS BIG VISIBILITY: A podcast for small business owners who want practical, real-world strategies to grow without burnout. Hosted by Jason McKenzie, founder of Boise Web and a 15+ year veteran helping small businesses become more visible, more profitable, and more sustainable. Episode 401 🔗 https://smallbusinessbigvisibility.com/ #AIForSmallBusiness #SmallBusinessOwner #TrustInBusiness