Marketing for SMEs: William “Billy” Sammons on His Unusual Approach to Local Referrals

Most businesses treat referrals as something to request. Billy Sammons takes a different approach: help local businesses become more visible, keep sharing useful community content and allow trust to build before asking for anything.

I spoke with Billy, creator of Live Local Warm Marketing and author of Warm Marketing: The New Currency, about the system he developed through his real estate business. His method is aimed at service professionals who depend on local connections but do not want every new relationship to begin with a sales pitch.

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Introduction

Jeremy: You started as a teacher before moving into real estate. How did that lead to the work you now do around local referrals?

Billy: When I entered real estate, I did not want to be the typical realtor. I still wanted to be engaged in my community and be someone who gave back.

Billy: I began helping local businesses by interviewing their owners and creating video content for them. At first, I did it because it was fun. The side effect was that I started making connections, meeting referral partners and growing my own business.

Billy: As businesses sent people to me and I sent people to them, I realised there was a system behind what I was doing. I started documenting the process and eventually turned it into a book and a free blueprint.

Giving only works when the help is useful

Jeremy: Plenty of books and sales coaches talk about giving and reciprocity. What did you add to that idea?

Billy: I followed that advice and gave things away, but nothing happened. The missing part was that the recipient had to genuinely want what I was offering. It also needed to be something I enjoyed and could repeat without reinventing it each time.

Billy: Every local business needs more promotion. A useful video or podcast interview addresses that need, while also giving me a practical way to meet people and create content.

The first video that started the system

Billy: The first one I made was around 14 years ago for a local brewery. It was community-focused, with family game nights, food trucks and events, and I wanted more people to know about it.

Billy: I knew the owners, so I offered to create a video and share it with my audience. They were getting started and agreed. I enjoyed making it, then wanted to do another one.

Billy: I went on to feature a bakery, a charity and many other local organisations. Once people saw that I was doing it freely for the community, more businesses began approaching me.

Jeremy: The immediate benefit is that both sides receive useful content. Many small businesses struggle to decide what to post, while a genuine conversation with an owner can produce a full interview, short clips and answers that may also be useful on the business’s website.

Billy: Today I can share one interview through email, social media, text messages and direct messages. It gives me several ways to support the business and follow up with people.

Why the pitch can ruin the gift

Jeremy: I can see how becoming the person who consistently features local businesses could make you hard to copy in your area.

Billy: It can, but there is a common mistake. Some people make the video and immediately follow it with a pitch for their own service.

Billy: Do the give and let it come back to you. If you help someone and then immediately try to sell, they can feel that the help was only offered to get something from them. That can undo the trust you just created.

Jeremy: Local business owners are already wary of disguised sales approaches. If the offer of help has conditions attached, it confirms that concern.

Choose businesses you are genuinely interested in

Jeremy: Who is this method suited to, and which businesses should they approach first?

Billy: It works for people whose business depends on networking, referrals, partnerships or sales. Although my book focuses on local marketing, the same principle can also help someone form national or international connections.

Billy: Start with people you already know and businesses you already visit. Then work out your own values, what matters to your business and how you want people to describe you.

Billy: Make a list of the businesses you naturally gravitate towards and look for owners whose values align with yours. They do not have to work in your industry. Genuine interest makes the interview easier because you are asking questions you actually care about.

Jeremy: That point connects with how we think about our own values at Digital Goliath. Choosing relationships that fit how you want to work makes the activity easier to sustain than selecting businesses purely because they might become clients.

You do not have to be comfortable on camera yet

Jeremy: What if the business owner using this method is not good on video?

Billy: Start with an audio podcast if being on camera worries you. You can keep questions beside you and concentrate on building confidence before moving into video.

Billy: The other answer is repetition. Test your equipment and practise with people you know who will not mind if you make mistakes. I have interviewed my children just to practise the process and make sure the equipment works.

Billy: The method can suit introverts as well as extroverts because it is a one-to-one conversation. You are not being asked to enter a crowded room and work it.

Send people information they actually want

Jeremy: Another important part of your system is what you send to your email list. You are not interviewing a bakery and then emailing its audience about a minor real estate update.

Billy: My real estate emails once had open rates of around 3% or 4%. Most people do not buy a house regularly, so they did not need constant real estate information.

Billy: They did want to know where a local food truck would be, what was happening at the fairground or which new business was opening. I began sending the community information they needed, and I reported email open rates between 50% and 59%.

Jeremy: The wider lesson is relevant to any business producing content. People rarely care about an internal industry update simply because the business wants to discuss it. Our Expert Perspectives follow the same reader-first principle by focusing on questions and operating problems that business owners can recognise.

Giving needs boundaries and a repeatable process

Billy: You cannot simply give without direction forever because you may burn out without reaching your goals. Giving with intention means the activity aligns with your values, addresses a real need, is enjoyable and can be repeated.

Billy: I create the same type of useful video each time rather than designing a completely different gift for every business. The process protects my time and makes the help more consistent.

Jeremy: In this context, “scalable” does not have to mean taking the activity worldwide. It can mean having a checklist and a manageable weekly target, so the work does not take over the business that pays the bills.

Billy: Exactly. Decide whether your goal is five videos or ten new connections, then build a repeatable process around it. The time involved should be comparable to the cold calls or other outreach it is intended to replace.

How the return eventually appears

Jeremy: At some point, a business owner will ask where the referral comes from. Do you eventually request one directly?

Billy: In real estate, the timing is difficult because people only need the service occasionally. I put people on the email list, continue giving them useful community content and remain visible.

Billy: The reciprocity comes when somebody needs an agent and remembers the person who has been present and helping local businesses. You cannot necessarily time it or attribute the result to one particular video.

Jeremy: This does not mean paid campaigns and warm relationships are mutually exclusive. Online advertising can reach people actively looking for a service, while Billy’s approach builds recognition and trust over a longer period. They solve different parts of the growth problem.

Practical takeaways for service businesses

• Begin with local businesses you already know, use or genuinely care about.
• Offer something the recipient needs, not a generic gift that happens to be convenient.
• Do not attach an immediate sales pitch to the help.
• Reuse each interview across suitable channels, but keep the information relevant to the audience.
• Create a repeatable process and clear limits so the activity remains manageable.

You can connect with William “Billy” Sammons on LinkedIn, learn more through Live Local Warm Marketing, or access his free material at Referral Blueprint.

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This conversation is part of Marketing for SMEs with Jeremy Yang, exploring how service businesses can build local trust and referrals by helping first. Watch the full episode on YouTube or listen on your preferred podcast app.