It sounds like busy.org has much better features than Steemit.com (I am about to give it a good test run) and that in itself may be enough for people to stay. The referral is for only a month after all. New users will just be figuring things out by the end of their first month and they will then actually see an increase of their earnings as the referral goes away.
Don't get me wrong, I hear your concerns, just adding to the discussion with a perspective.
RE: Busy v2.4 Release: New features that will make you love Busy.org