Small Business Big Visibility

Jason McKenzie
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Daily

Are you a small business owner seeking effective, efficient, and profitable ways to grow your business without the overwhelm? Welcome to "Small Business Big Visibility", the podcast dedicated to empowering adventurous entrepreneurs like you to simplify marketing, reduce stress, and boost revenue. Hosted by Jason McKenzie, we dive into a topics from different angles, providing actionable insights, innovative strategies, and easy-to-implement tools. Our mission is to help you focus on what truly matters: your passion, your family, and your freedom.

  1. 3d ago

    How to Write an About Page That Gets You Hired

    Does your About Us page actually explain why someone should hire you? Most don't. They fail in one of two predictable ways, and there's a good chance yours does at least one of them right now. The fix is a simple five-part structure that turns a page most owners treat as an afterthought into one that quietly closes the deal. In this episode, I'll walk through the two failure patterns (the diary entry that tells your founding story but nothing useful, and the corporate press release so generic it could describe any business on earth), and the five-part structure that actually works: a one-sentence opener that says what you do and who it's for, a credibility section built on facts instead of adjectives, values backed by real evidence, objection handling that answers the doubts people arrive with, and a clear next step. I'll also cover why this page matters more in the AI era (assistants pull from clear, factual pages to decide who to recommend), and, just as importantly, why you shouldn't spend three weeks agonizing over it while your service pages sit half-finished. This is the third episode in the series on building your business foundation for both search and AI. Get your About page clear in an afternoon, then move on to the pages that actually do the selling. After 15+ years helping small businesses get found, I've read a lot of About pages that were written for the wrong reader. The ones that work aren't clever or polished. They're clear, they're specific, and they answer the one question the visitor actually came to the page to settle: can I trust these people? CHAPTERS: 0:00 Does your About page explain why anyone should hire you? 0:25 The two ways About pages fail 0:34 Failure 1: the diary entry 0:46 Failure 2: the corporate press release 1:12 The five-part structure that works 1:16 Part 1: One sentence, no warm-up 1:49 Part 2: Why you're credible (facts, not adjectives) 2:30 Part 3: What you stand for, backed by evidence 3:24 Part 4: Objection handling 3:57 Part 5: A clear next step 4:22 Why this page matters more in the AI era 5:03 The difference between a link and a name AI speaks out loud 5:25 Why the About page isn't your most important page 6:08 Get it clear in an afternoon and move on MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: 🧰 GeniePress (tells you what to fix and in what order): https://geniepress.app 📘 Small Business Big Visibility: Local SEO Made Easy: [book link] 🎧 Start the series: Why AI Might Be Recommending Your Competitor, Not You. 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 417 🔗 https://smallbusinessbigvisibility.com/ #LocalSEO #GEO #SmallBusinessMarketing

  2. Aug 20

    This Mom-and-Son Team Teaches Teens What School Won't

    Tara Lynn Haley wanted a doctorate in psychology. Instead, she failed Psych 101 and started her adult life thousands of dollars in debt. What followed was a winding path (flight attendant, an injury, an ADHD and OCD diagnosis, and years teaching alternative and neurodivergent students) that led her somewhere she never expected: building a business with her teenage son, Liam. In this conversation, Tara Lynn and Liam share the "false finish line" idea at the heart of their work: the myth that high school, then college, then a job is the destination, when it's really the start of 40-plus years most people were never prepared for. They talk about why students leave school knowing calculus but not how to budget, secure their digital accounts, file the adult documents families discover too late, or build the intergenerational connections that research links most closely to human happiness. Liam shares what it's like to build something alongside his mom, and why a teenager telling other teenagers this message lands differently than a teacher saying it. They also get into a practical take on using AI well (why endless "redo it" prompting wastes tokens, money, and energy) and the years-long journey of turning a classroom budgeting exercise into the program they're launching now: Jobsperience™, a 105-day system that helps teens build real independence in about 10 minutes a day. This is an interview episode, and it's a genuine story-over-expertise conversation with a mom-and-son team building something they care deeply about. Please note: this episode includes a brief, non-graphic discussion of youth mental health, including suicide and overdose, as part of what motivated Tara Lynn's work. If that's a hard topic for you right now, please take care. In the US, you can reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988. CHAPTERS: 0:00 Meet Tara Lynn and Liam, a mom-and-son business team 0:34 A failure story that became a resilience story 1:28 The "false finish line" and what school gets wrong 3:36 The many jobs and paths along the way 4:44 The skills students leave school without 5:19 Loneliness, connection, and the Harvard study on happiness 5:52 Liam's view: why he chose to build this with his mom 18:39 Using AI well: why "redo it" wastes tokens and energy 21:39 What pushed Tara Lynn to go back for her doctorate 34:00 Building Jobsperience since 2019 38:47 Where to find them and what's launching now MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: 🌐 Tara Lynn Haley: https://taralynnhaley.com 🎓 Jobsperience™ (the 105-day program): https://taralynnhaley.com/purchase/ 🆓 Free sample (Emergency Readiness, 4 Practice Steps): https://taralynnhaley.com 📺 YouTube: https://youtube.com/@TaraHaley 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taralynn.haley/ 🎵 TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@taralynn.haley 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tara-lynn-haley/ 👥 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tara.haley/ 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 416 🔗 https://smallbusinessbigvisibility.com/ #SmallBusinessOwner #Entrepreneurship #LifeSkills

  3. Aug 13

    How to Write a Homepage AI Can Actually Recommend

    When someone asks an AI assistant for a good local business, the AI reads your website to decide whether to recommend you. If your homepage says something like "we provide quality solutions for all your needs," it has nothing to work with, and it moves on to the business that made itself easy to understand. Writing a homepage AI can actually recommend starts with one thing: brand clarity.In this episode, I'll break down brand clarity, the first of the five factors, and why it quietly wrecks more websites than any other. You'll learn the four things your website needs to plainly say (what you do in your customers' words, where you serve, who it's for, and why choosing you is the easy decision), the difference between vague copy and jargon (two ways to be unclear), and a two-minute test you can run on your own homepage right now: cover the logo and navigation, read only the first two sentences, and see if a stranger could tell what you do, where, and for whom.Here's what's new in the AI era. A human who lands on a vague page might squint and poke around before giving up. An AI assistant won't. It doesn't guess what you probably mean. If your site doesn't clearly say what you do, the AI has nothing to work with and moves on to the business that made it easy. You don't get partial credit for being almost clear.This is the second episode in the series on building your business foundation for both search and AI. The good news: brand clarity is the cheapest factor to fix. No redesign, no new developer, no new photography. Most businesses could fix their biggest clarity problem in an afternoon, just by writing down, in plain language, the four things a stranger actually needs to know.CHAPTERS:0:00 Could a stranger tell what your business does?0:33 The sentence that says nothing: "quality solutions for all your needs"0:59 Why the vague feels obvious from the inside1:14 Brand clarity: the first of the five factors1:36 The four things your website needs to plainly say1:58 Fixing the vague sentence (a real example)2:13 The anatomy of a page that gets found2:54 Why AI punishes vagueness harder than humans do3:41 The two-minute test: cover the logo, read two sentences4:18 Words to watch for: solution, excellence, quality, trusted4:49 The opposite problem: too much jargon5:14 Why this is the cheapest fix on the whole listMENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:📘 Small Business Big Visibility: Local SEO Made Easy: [book link]🎧 Start the series: Why AI Might Be Recommending Your Competitor, Not You.🔗 https://smallbusinessbigvisibility.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 415🔗 https://smallbusinessbigvisibility.com/

  4. Aug 6

    Why AI Might Be Recommending Your Competitor, Not You

    Someone in your town grabs their phone and asks, "who's a good electrician near me?" The AI gives them a short, confident answer with just a few names. Your business was either in that answer or it wasn't. If AI is naming your competitor instead of you, this series is about fixing that.In this episode, I'll explain what GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) actually is in plain language, why it's not the mysterious new discipline a lot of people online make it out to be, and how it connects directly to the local SEO you may already be doing. The core idea: AI assistants aren't inventing businesses out of thin air. They pull from your website, your Google Business Profile, your reviews, and directories, the same web content everything else runs on. I'll also introduce the five factors this whole series is built around: brand clarity, presence, popularity and reputation, expertise and depth, and the technical stuff, in the specific order that actually matters (which is not the order most of the industry sells).This is the first episode in a new series on building your business foundation for both search and AI. Do the fundamental work well and you show up in both places. Skip it and you risk being invisible in both.After 15+ years helping small businesses get found, I've watched providers oversell the technical checklist because it's easy to charge for, while ignoring the fundamentals that actually move the needle. This series is the honest version: what's testable, what's repeatable, and what genuinely helps you get recommended, whether the recommendation comes from Google or from an AI.CHAPTERS:0:00 Have you heard the term GEO and have no idea what it means?0:35 What GEO stands for, in plain language0:52 SEO gets you the top link. GEO gets you named.2:07 Why you could be invisible to people asking AI2:27 GEO is not a separate system from getting found on Google2:57 AI isn't inventing businesses. It pulls from your existing presence.3:55 The five factors this series is built on4:22 Factor 1: Brand clarity4:37 Factor 2: Presence4:52 Factor 3: Popularity and reputation (and the no-fake-reviews rule)5:22 Factor 4: Expertise and depth5:42 Factor 5: The technical stuff (and why it's deliberately last)5:59 Why the order matters7:10 Why nobody fully understands the whole system (including the AI companies)8:19 Where to start: brand clarityMENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:📘 Small Business Big Visibility: Local SEO Made Easy: [book link]🧰 GeniePress: https://geniepress.app🔗 https://smallbusinessbigvisibility.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 414🔗 https://smallbusinessbigvisibility.com/#LocalSEO #GEO #SmallBusinessMarketing

    Why AI Might Be Recommending Your Competitor, Not You

  5. Jul 30

    The 4 Referral Partners You Should Fire

    Some of your referral partners are actually costing you business, and you're still buying them lunch. Every piece of networking advice tells you to build your network, add more partners, grow it bigger. Almost none of it tells you that some partners are worth more gone than kept, and that hanging on to the wrong ones quietly drains the time and energy you should be spending on the right ones. In this episode, I'll walk through the four kinds of referral partners you need to fire (the taker who never reciprocates, the low-quality referrer who sends you junk, the reputation risk who treats your clients badly, and the faded partner whose fit simply ran out), the three questions that tell you whether a partnership is slow or genuinely dead, and how to actually end it without burning the relationship or your reputation (in most cases, you just quietly stop). This is the final episode in the referral engine series. Across the series we've covered finding the right partners, giving first, making yourself easy to refer, running the meeting, following up, and staying in touch. This episode is the discipline that protects all of it: keeping your network to the people who genuinely earn their place in it. After 15+ years helping small businesses get more visible, I've learned that the owners with the strongest referral networks aren't the ones with the most partners. They're the ones who put their energy where it actually comes back. Do that consistently, and referrals stop being something you chase and start being something that comes to you. CHAPTERS: 0:00 Some of your partners are costing you business 0:27 The advice nobody gives you: some partners are worth more gone 0:47 Why your time is the real constraint 1:08 Partner #1 to fire: the taker 2:07 Partner #2 to fire: the low-quality referrer 3:04 Partner #3 to fire: the reputation risk 4:02 Partner #4 to fire: the faded partner 4:35 Three questions: is it slow or is it dead? 5:09 How to actually end a partnership without drama 5:42 What to say if they ask why 6:02 The whole game, in one sentence MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: 🎧 Earlier in the referral engine series: 15 Minutes a Week Keeps Your Referral Network Alive. 🎧 Start the series from the beginning: 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 413 🔗 https://smallbusinessbigvisibility.com/ #SmallBusinessOwner #ReferralMarketing #SmallBusinessNetworking

    The 4 Referral Partners You Should Fire

  6. Jul 23

    15 Minutes a Week Keeps Your Referral Network Alive

    A referral partner you never talk to isn't really a partner. They're someone you used to know, and they've probably already forgotten what you do. Referral relationships decay over time, quietly, without either person deciding to let them go. The good news: keeping an entire network alive takes about 15 minutes a week. In this episode, I'll walk through a simple three-tier system for deciding how often to reconnect with each partner based on how much they matter to your business (core partners monthly, active partners quarterly, wider network twice a year), the four things that make a reconnect land instead of feeling like an empty check-in, and the one type of reconnect that's worth more than all the others combined. I'll also show you the weekly habit that turns all of this from a nice idea into something that actually happens. This is the eleventh episode in the referral engine series. Last episode covered the follow-up message that gets the first meeting on the calendar. This episode is about keeping those partnerships alive over the long haul, so your partners still think of you the moment the right client walks through their door. After 15+ years helping small businesses get more visible, I've watched plenty of good partnerships fade to nothing, not from conflict, just from silence. The owners with steady referrals aren't luckier or more charming. They just never let a good relationship go cold. CHAPTERS: 0:00 A partner you never talk to isn't a partner 0:31 Why referral relationships decay over time 1:14 How often should you reconnect? It depends on the partner. 1:32 Tier 1: Core partners (monthly) 2:32 Tier 2: Active partners (quarterly) 3:00 Tier 3: Wider network (twice a year) 3:22 What to actually say (and the message to never send) 3:56 The four things every reconnect should carry 5:22 Why all four have one thing in common 5:50 The weekly habit that keeps it running 7:04 What's coming next in the series MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: 🎧 Earlier in the referral engine series: The 90-Second Message That Saves a Networking Connection. 🎧 Earlier in the referral engine series: The 4 Questions That Turn a Meeting Into a Referral Partner. 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 412 🔗 https://smallbusinessbigvisibility.com/ #SmallBusinessOwner #ReferralMarketing #SmallBusinessNetworking

  7. Jul 16

    The 90-Second Message That Saves a Networking Connection

    You met someone great at a networking event. You both said you should sit down for a one-to-one. And then neither of you ever did. That connection, one that could have sent you business for years, quietly evaporated in the gap between meeting someone and actually meeting with them. The fix is a single follow-up message that takes about 90 seconds to write. In this episode, I'll give you the exact follow-up message that turns a business card into an actual meeting, the timing window where this works (and after which it dies), and the three things every good follow-up needs: a specific reference to your conversation, a reason to meet framed around them, and an easy next step. I'll show you the full message put together, plus two variations for when you only met someone briefly and for when they reach out to you first. This is the tenth episode in the referral engine series. Last episode covered how to run the one-to-one meeting itself. This episode is about the message that actually gets that meeting on the calendar. After 15+ years helping small businesses get more visible, I've watched plenty of promising connections die in a desk drawer. The owners with the strongest referral networks aren't better at working the room. They're better at the 90 seconds that come after, usually sitting in their car in the parking lot before they even drive home. CHAPTERS: 0:00 The connection that dies before the first meeting 0:28 Why networking connections evaporate in the gap 1:11 Timing: the 24-hour follow-up window 1:56 The three things every good follow-up needs 1:59 Reference something specific from the conversation 2:25 Give a reason to meet, framed around them 3:07 Propose an easy, specific next step 3:20 The full message, put together 4:02 Two variations: brief meetings and when they reach out first 4:45 Send it before you leave the parking lot 5:16 What's coming next in the series MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: 🎧 Earlier in the referral engine series: The 4 Questions That Turn a Meeting Into a Referral Partner. 🎧 Earlier in the referral engine series: How to Build an Offer That's Easy to Refer. 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 411 🔗 https://smallbusinessbigvisibility.com/ #SmallBusinessOwner #ReferralMarketing #SmallBusinessNetworking

  8. Jul 9

    4 Questions That Turn a 1:1 Meeting Into a Referral Partner

    You sat down with a potential referral partner. You talked for an hour. You both had a great time. And you never got a single piece of business from it. That's the most common outcome of a networking meeting, and it's completely avoidable. In this episode, I'll walk through what a one-to-one meeting actually is (a working session disguised as a friendly conversation), the single mistake that makes most of these meetings a pleasant waste of time, and the four questions that turn a friendly chat into a working partnership: who's your ideal client, what does a good referral versus a bad one look like, what's the moment someone realizes they need you, and how do you want to be introduced. I'll also share two bonuses that separate a productive meeting from a wasted one, including the note-taking habit that makes you look like a genius a month later. This is the ninth episode in the referral engine series. Previous episodes covered building a referable offer. This episode is about the meeting where the partnership actually gets built. After 15+ years helping small businesses get more visible, I've sat through plenty of pleasant meetings that went nowhere. The owners who walk out of these meetings with a real partnership aren't more charming. They walk in with a purpose and a few specific questions, and they steer the conversation toward the things that actually produce referrals. CHAPTERS: 0:00 The meeting that feels great and produces nothing 0:33 What a one-to-one actually is 0:56 How most owners run it wrong 1:26 The mistake: treating it as a social event 1:58 Step one: set the frame 2:27 Question 1: Who's your ideal client? 3:04 Question 2: What's a good referral vs. a bad one? 3:35 Question 3: What's the moment someone needs you? 4:08 Question 4: How do you want to be introduced? 4:50 Bonus 1: Take notes on paper 5:25 Bonus 2: End with one concrete action 6:07 What's coming next in the series MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: 🎧 Earlier in the referral engine series: How to Build an Offer That's Easy to Refer. 🎧 Earlier in the referral engine series: Every Referral Happens in a Conversation You're Not In. 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 410 🔗 https://smallbusinessbigvisibility.com/ #SmallBusinessOwner #ReferralMarketing #SmallBusinessNetworking

    4 Questions That Turn a 1:1 Meeting Into a Referral Partner
See All (415)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Are you a small business owner seeking effective, efficient, and profitable ways to grow your business without the overwhelm? Welcome to "Small Business Big Visibility", the podcast dedicated to empowering adventurous entrepreneurs like you to simplify marketing, reduce stress, and boost revenue. Hosted by Jason McKenzie, we dive into a topics from different angles, providing actionable insights, innovative strategies, and easy-to-implement tools. Our mission is to help you focus on what truly matters: your passion, your family, and your freedom.

Information