Un-Billable Hour: Business Management Strategies for the Busy Lawyer Around the Community Table

In this hands-on, in-the-trenches episode about real business development, learn the secrets to acquiring and signing new clients from law firm advisor Steve Fretzin, author of the new book “Be That Lawyer: The 101 Top Rainmaker Secrets to Growing a Successful Law Practice.” Fretzin, an accomplished author, business strategist, and podcaster, works with law firms big and small to help them prioritize goals, build their business, and achieve measurable, repeatable successes. Business development is more than buzzwords such as “branding” or “marketing,” it’s about the entire, intentional path to creating a business that is always growing, always producing. It’s the process of becoming the lawyer that everyone knows and everyone goes to: a rainmaker. As Fretzin says, “Be that lawyer.”  Hear about “sales-free selling” with a thoughtful, insightful approach to learning what clients need before you start pitching a service. Develop a checklist, a map, for building your business that you can put to work today. Developing a business can be confusing, with a lot of moving parts. Fretzin explains how it all comes together. Mentioned in This Episode: Books by Steve Fretzin  Previous appearance on The Un-Billable Hour, “Business Development: Planning and Practicing” Join the next Community Table live. What’s on your mind? 

In this episode’s discussions around the Community Table: Grappling with a marketing refresh? Start with understanding you are an experiment of one. Asking someone else what’s working for them is a doorway to blind alleys. There is nobody just like you, so explore all options, ask yourself what you want to get out of it. You can’t copy what someone else does.  Learn and live “The Five Commandments of Marketing.” Have a call to action, know what you want to get back for the marketing spend, evaluate your results, learn from the outcome, and commit to the full process (don’t skip a step). Hiring a marketing agency is tricky. Manage the agency. Don’t let them take over. Hold them accountable with weekly meetings and reports. Make sure the agency has worked in your field and knows your market. Understand where your money is going, what amount of your spend buys marketing and what pays the agency. Mentioned in This Episode: Cliocon 2025 Seth Godin Legal Marketing Blog Seth Godin previous appearance on Legal Talk Network’s “New Solo” podcast, “What New Solos Can Learn From Han Solo”  Ask us anything for the Community Table. Leave us a question online Join the next Community Table live. What’s on your mind? 

 Not too long ago, law firms were discouraged from using trade names and “branding” themselves. But the world has changed, and branding today is a key part of your success. Is it time for your firm to get serious, or even consider a “rebranding?”  Guest Jim Heininger, “The Rebrand Man,” founded and leads the firm Rebranding Experts. He is an experienced, highly successful brand consultant and brand activator. Branding, he says, is your strategic business accelerator, a “jet pack to success.”  Don’t confuse branding with marketing. It goes deeper. Who are you? What’s your culture? What do people think about when they hear your firm’s name, and what do they expect from you? Hear how far you can go with your brand (and how far you should).  Whatever you do, take a few minutes to soak up this insightful consultation with a branding expert who will get you thinking about who you are, what you stand for, and everything from your firm’s name to your message and culture. Mentioned in This Episode: “Jim Heininger: The Art of Rebranding,” YouTube “Your Rebranding Launch: Not The Finish Line But The Starting Point,” by Jim Heininger, Forbes Bravanti The Un-Billable hour podcast website Join the next Community Table live. What’s on your mind? 

In this episode’s discussions around the Community Table:   An attorney realizes she’s waited too long to fire someone and knows there may be repercussions. But sometimes, the cost of keeping a problematic employee outweighs the consequences of letting them go. What’s best for the firm? What if you can’t fill the position and work piles up? Nothing stays the same, even in marketing. Attorneys question the value of “pay per click” online advertising. Hear what firms are seeing, especially in Google ad words. Is the “golden age” of pay per click over? As rules change, you are one algorithm change from trouble. Communicate with your marketing team and diversify.                        Imagine if you had to move to a new city, or if you simply wanted to. If it’s not a corporate gig, and you’re hanging out a shingle, it takes some work to ramp up. Network, network, network. Develop a marketing plan that ensures your name gets out and clients can find you.   Cliocon 2025Ask us anything for the Community Table. Leave us a question onlineJoin the next Community Table live. What’s on your mind? 

 It’s tax time. No, we’re not referring to a specific date. For your business, every day is tax time. Guests Jackie and Adam Williams are married and co-own Pennywise Tax Strategies, a firm focused on helping small businesses navigate tax codes to keep more of their hard-earned money. Jackie Williams is a CPA and veteran tax specialist, and Adam Williams is an attorney and serial entrepreneur who became frustrated with large tax bills. Managing a business and your business taxes is more than handing over a stack of receipts to an accountant once a year. Many business owners don’t know enough about the tax system and miss opportunities to maximize earnings through intentional tax strategies throughout the year. Look at the future, not the past, when you think about taxes. Payroll, cash flow, metrics, records all matter and all fit together every day, not just at the end of the tax year. This requires a shift in your mindset. Keep more of your money, reinvest it in your business, and get more out of life. Tax strategy is not just for billionaires, it’s for you. Understand incentives baked into the tax code and how you can use tactics including the switch from sole proprietor to LLC or S Corp structures. Think this isn’t for you? Wait until you hear how much money, real money, you can save. Hear the actionable things you can start doing today.Mentioned in This Episode:The Un-Billable Hour podcast websiteJoin the next Community Table live. What’s on your mind? 

In this episode’s discussions around the Community Table: PLA? Professional law firm administrators. What you need to know and what they do. It’s not an office manager and it’s not an administrative assistant. Hear why you might need a PLA. As your firm grows, are you spending more time “running the business” than attracting clients and winning cases? Maybe you need a PLA.  While we’re at it, how about a non-attorney salesperson. Someone who is passionate will build your firm beyond simply sales. Propelling your brand is as important as getting a signature on the dotted line. Compensation, goals, motivation, there are so many factors. Understanding the difference between “wealth” and “money” is critical to your business. Money spent builds client lists (SEO, advertising, Google ranking), but building a referral network through a solid reputation builds wealth that never stops. One takes cash, one takes time, effort, and commitment. Mentioned in This Episode:Ask us anything for the Community Table. Leave us a question online.Join the next Community Table live. What’s on your mind? Association of Legal AdministratorsClio Legal Trends ReportClioCliocon 2025

We all try, but who really measures? Who’s paying you on time? If you don’t know, it’s hard to know if the business is working. It comes down to cash flow. And, frankly, lawyering is a business. Guest Karl Maier is a CFO and a business advisor at Abunden. He specializes in helping growing business manage systems and cash flow and putting it all into measurable terms. As you grow, you must know if the cash flow is growing. Maier helps businesses spot problems they aren’t facing today but may need to confront six months down the road.   A growing business can appear profitable in the short term and still face a cash flow problem down the road. Paying staff and keeping the lights on as you grow requires cash and timely client payments. It’s a delicate game. You need to be sure clients are paying, and sometimes that’s elusive. If you’re a growing firm, or you want to be a growing firm, this episode will get you thinking. And it should. Nobody gets excited about spreadsheets – especially lawyers – but if you’re intent on growing your business, you must do this. Mentioned in This Episode:The Un-Billable hour podcast websiteJoin the next Community Table live. What’s on your mind? 

Janet Falk, a public relations consultant and networking expert, shares her insights on how to truly connect at networking events. She emphasizes the importance of preparation and reaching out in advance to event leaders. Unique name tags and memorable attire can make you stand out, while business cards are essential. Janet advocates for teaching younger associates the art of networking, highlighting the shift from transactional interactions to building genuine relationships. She also discusses how networking can drive business growth and enhance professional connections.

Don’t think of December as the end of the year. Think of it as a chance to plan ahead for an exciting, purposeful, and opportunity-filled new year.Guest Andrea Liebross is the founder of her own firm, Andrea Liebross Coaching. She believes setting and achieving big audacious goals are best tackled through the implementation of solid systems, real goals, and the right (and ambitious) mindset. Are you getting where you want to go? Too often, we set our own limits. We stay safe and we stay small. We do things the way we’ve always done them because it’s safe. Hear how setting “big” goals and stretching your thinking helps you become “future you.” Give yourself permission to find out what you really want and where you want to be. And then make a plan to get there. Learn about Liebross’ “Think Big Toolkit” and the five components that can help you become “future you.” Don’t wait for things to happen to you, make the things you want happen.Mentioned in This Episode:“She Thinks Big” by Andrea LiebrossPodcast “She Thinks Big”Join the next Community Table live. What’s on your mind?

In this episode’s discussions around the Community Table: New year, new plan. And that’s the key: plan. Don’t stumble blind into 2025, instead hear what the experts say about reviewing the previous year and setting goals for the new one. Don’t keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. Sometimes your ship needs a rudder. If you need a COO, an “executive officer,” to manage the practice, part-time help is available. Experienced administrators take a load off your shoulders and teach others how to set a course and get where you want to go. What to do when an associate can’t manage retainers and payments? Being a good lawyer is only part of the job, making sure the firm gets paid is the other part. Sometimes an associate isn’t good at communicating financial information with a client. But if you’re a business owner, you have a responsibility to make sure the firm makes money. Mentioned in This Episode:Association of Legal AdministratorsAsk us anything for the Community Table. Leave us a question onlineJoin the next Community Table live. What’s on your mind? Clio Legal Trends ReportClioCliocon 2025