Think everyone should start a podcast? Christopher Anderson disagrees. After 15 years hosting The Unbillable Hour, this law firm owner turned podcasting veteran has some brutal truths about who should—and shouldn't—hit record. Discover the one non-negotiable requirement that separates successful shows from expensive hobbies, why your most popular episodes might be hurting your business, and the hard lesson it took Christopher over a decade to learn about building genuine audience trust.
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I'm not gonna go out there and say everybody should podcast.
Speaker:'cause if everybody podcasts, then you know, we're back to Andy Warhol.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:15 minutes of fame.
Speaker:Not everybody should
Speaker:podcast.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:If you don't have a message, don't do it.
Speaker:Hey there, I'm Sadaf Beynon, and this is Podjunction Podcast, the
Speaker:show where business leaders share how they use podcasting to grow,
Speaker:connect, and build their brands.
Speaker:Today I'm talking to Christopher Anderson, a powerhouse in
Speaker:law, business, and podcasting.
Speaker:Christopher is the founder of New Leaf Family.
Speaker:A firm rethinking how Family Law is done and host of the Unbillable Hour,
Speaker:a go-to podcast for law firm owners who want to run smarter businesses.
Speaker:He's also part of a podcast network and a and a regular speaker at Top legal events.
Speaker:Christopher, I've been looking forward to this welcome.
Speaker:Thank you very much.
Speaker:I've been looking forward to it as well.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:I'm glad to be here.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Thanks for having me.
Speaker:You're very welcome.
Speaker:Christopher, you launched the unbillable hour back in 2009,
Speaker:which was seriously early days, especially for the legal world.
Speaker:What gave you the confidence to start a podcast then, when
Speaker:it wasn't a mainstream tool for businesses or professional growth?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Uh, you know what?
Speaker:That's, uh, I, I could.
Speaker:I could, um, make up stories about what gave me a whole bunch
Speaker:of confidence, um, back then.
Speaker:But the answer is, uh, that, uh, the, the Legal Talk Network,
Speaker:which produces my podcast mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, approached me, um, and asked me to take over a podcast where
Speaker:the host had, the previous host had just basically been floundering.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, and uh, I agreed to do it 'cause I felt like I had a.
Speaker:Really important message to share, um, that I've been sharing it.
Speaker:You know, you ask what made confidence to do a podcast.
Speaker:Yeah,
Speaker:I mean, I've been sharing that message by going from state bar to state
Speaker:bar, airplane to airplane, hotel to hotel, um, speaking to rooms of
Speaker:2050, sometimes a couple hundred.
Speaker:I'm at a time and each speech, once it was over.
Speaker:For the most part was over.
Speaker:Like there are some that are still out there that the bar recorded and
Speaker:they put it out on their website, but people don't really, after about
Speaker:a year, don't go back and watch it.
Speaker:For sure.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Um, and so, you know, the o the opportunity when was presented
Speaker:to me to reach the same number of people, talk, give, deliver my
Speaker:message, um, in a way that was.
Speaker:Reachable by the entire country all at once.
Speaker:That was perpetual to some degree.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Was very attractive.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:That's incredible.
Speaker:And, and what was it that you really wanted to get out there?
Speaker:What were some of the things you were
Speaker:Oh, I mean, my, my main message is like, I've got two primary messages.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um.
Speaker:One is, you know, one is speaking to lawyers.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Um, and law firm owners in particular, that, um, it doesn't
Speaker:have to be the way that it's been.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:That if they're committed to having successful law firm,
Speaker:that there are relatively easy.
Speaker:Relatively simple methods to build that in a successful, profitable way that do
Speaker:not require the sacrifice of yourself and your family and and your life the
Speaker:way that a lot of law firm owners do.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And the second message will is to law firm.
Speaker:Clients, people who need the services of a law firm, which is
Speaker:that disputes don't need to be settled the way that they have been.
Speaker:Disputes don't need to be high conflict disputes don't need to be high drama,
Speaker:and the two messages go together because the message to the law firms is the same.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:It's by both sides, both the lawyers and the clients.
Speaker:Thinking about law in a different way that we can achieve the results that I believe
Speaker:are available to every single law firm owner out there, if they're willing and,
Speaker:uh, you know, to do things differently.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:So how did you then position your podcast to stand out for those
Speaker:two groups and actually serve them
Speaker:Well, so the, the.
Speaker:Unbillable hour podcast mm-hmm.
Speaker:Really serves the lawyers.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:I, it's not aimed at clients.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Um, I don't think clients are, or were at least then Hmm.
Speaker:Um, going to a network that was aimed at the, at, you know, the Legal Talk network.
Speaker:Um, there are consumer facing podcasts that, um, that we've done and we, we
Speaker:guest host on others and we, we, we use other platforms for reaching our clients.
Speaker:Um, but you know, the message that I was pushing out back when we started
Speaker:this in 2010, um, you know, so 15 years ago, that it is that, um,
Speaker:message for the law firm owners mm-hmm.
Speaker:That there is a better way.
Speaker:Great.
Speaker:And also when you started, did you already see the podcast as a
Speaker:business development tool, or did those benefits emerge over time?
Speaker:No, I absolutely saw it as a business development tool.
Speaker:Tool.
Speaker:I'm not into wasting my time.
Speaker:Um, and you know, there's, there are several wrong reasons to do podcasts.
Speaker:Um,
Speaker:they all have that in common, is that they don't have a, they don't have a
Speaker:business development, um, motivation.
Speaker:Um.
Speaker:You know, vanity.
Speaker:I like to hear myself on the radio.
Speaker:That'd be one reason.
Speaker:Um, you know, there, there and there are others.
Speaker:Right there, there, there, there are all sorts of what I call vanity
Speaker:metrics that people are after.
Speaker:Oh, if enough people see me, oh, if enough people, um, download me, oh,
Speaker:you know, this, this'll be good, but without defining what good
Speaker:means, um, and, you know, it's.
Speaker:People tote the benefits of podcasts and that they don't involve much time
Speaker:commitment and, you know, you can just create 'em and then they're perpetual.
Speaker:But honestly, they do involve time commitment.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:To do them well, you need to be prepared.
Speaker:Um, you know, I interview guests every week with a different aspect,
Speaker:um, of their business, um, that can address needs of law firm owners that
Speaker:can address law firm professionals.
Speaker:And if I don't know.
Speaker:Enough about what?
Speaker:About the guest and their, and what their, what their message is
Speaker:that I'm a terrible interviewer.
Speaker:Um, so, you know, it, it does require all of that.
Speaker:But so the, the answer is absolutely business development.
Speaker:I don't, I have some rules when it comes to marketing and there's, there's
Speaker:the same with podcasting, which is, which are, um, the first one is that
Speaker:you have to have some expected result and you have to ask your users,
Speaker:your listeners.
Speaker:Your attendees, whatever, you know, the, the medium is.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, to give you back that goal.
Speaker:Um, and that goal shouldn't be watching my podcast.
Speaker:Or listening to my podcast, that's what they're already doing.
Speaker:So, and it doesn't have to be much like, it could be just email me.
Speaker:It could be leave me your information.
Speaker:It could be ask for this thing that I'm, that, that, that you can download.
Speaker:But some way that I can now continue to engage with that audience,
Speaker:um, and build them, uh, into an audience that follows the message
Speaker:that I'm trying to put out there.
Speaker:So that that message becomes over time, more and more.
Speaker:Powerful.
Speaker:So that's one possible call to action.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And then once you do the podcast, you gotta see if it's actually happening.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:You know, I wanna see that the number of downloads per month
Speaker:are going up into the right.
Speaker:Um, that, uh, that, you know, that we're, we're re that, that the list that
Speaker:we're building is continuing to grow.
Speaker:That the people that are returning and engaging, um, you know, all these metrics
Speaker:that we hypothesize at first, then we have to check that they're really happening.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, when looking back, was there a key moment when you realized that
Speaker:your podcast was actually moving the needle for your business?
Speaker:Because I know you used it was very strategic, but was there a point in
Speaker:time when you thought this is working?
Speaker:Um, you know, I watched the metrics, so, you know, there
Speaker:wasn't, there's no turning point.
Speaker:Um, you know, the first few episodes I wasn't expecting much traction.
Speaker:We got some, but you know, I just watched it over time and
Speaker:I, you know, I really annoyed.
Speaker:You know, the producers, um, don't have to have producers.
Speaker:By the way, if people are listening like you, there are metrics companies Yeah.
Speaker:Libson and others that, um, will give you back, um, no matter what platform
Speaker:you're podcasting on, and you can get it back from, um, apple Podcasts,
Speaker:you can get it back from YouTube, you can get it back from where, wherever.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, you listen to your podcast.
Speaker:Or whether wherever your listeners listen to your podcast mm-hmm.
Speaker:You get back the statistics and you can see all sorts of things,
Speaker:like how many people downloaded, how much did they listen?
Speaker:Did they listen a little?
Speaker:Did they listen a lot?
Speaker:Did they return?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, did they, you know, if you had a call to action, you know, you can have
Speaker:other metrics through your CallRail and through other, other platforms
Speaker:where you can see, okay, yeah, I got this much engagement on this one.
Speaker:This, this was really good.
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:And then you learn things like you learn.
Speaker:One of my favorite learnings during this is that the shows that people really
Speaker:should be paying attention to mm-hmm.
Speaker:Are not the most popular shows.
Speaker:Um, and the shows that are,
Speaker:uh,
Speaker:less important for the growth of their businesses are the more popular shows.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Um, everybody shows up for shows over the years about new marketing techniques.
Speaker:Everybody shows up for those.
Speaker:Um.
Speaker:These days, every, you put AI in the title and people are showing up.
Speaker:Um, but it's not what they really need, right?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:It is, is it is not useless.
Speaker:It's not without value.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Um, but, you know, I often tell a story about my son, um, who, uh, through
Speaker:elementary school, middle school, even into high school swim, he was a swimmer.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:And I, you know, as many swim parents do, it took him to all the practices, um, and.
Speaker:He hated butterfly.
Speaker:I loved backstroke, which is funny 'cause as when I swam
Speaker:growing up, I hated backstroke.
Speaker:But, um, I was pretty good at butterfly, but he hated butterfly.
Speaker:And so, you know, I often relate to people, it's like, you know, when
Speaker:you get to choose what podcast you listen to, like if he listened to a
Speaker:podcast about swimming, he would never listen to the podcast about butterfly.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Because butterfly is painful, butterfly is hard, it's slow to learn.
Speaker:Um, and so he would listen to the.
Speaker:Podcasts about freestyle and backstroke.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That's what he is good at.
Speaker:He's fast.
Speaker:He wants to learn to get faster.
Speaker:That's great.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Um, and that's, that's I think the danger of podcasting is that, you
Speaker:know, your audience will do that.
Speaker:They'll listen to the stuff that they're already good at
Speaker:to confirm their greatness.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, and so it's important mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, in the podcast to deliver.
Speaker:A variety of content, including the stuff they should be listening to, and
Speaker:hope that they've grown enough to trust you so that they'll listen to that.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, but, uh, but yeah, the, you know, over all the metrics teach you this.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:So you're watching the metrics.
Speaker:You're like, oh, they listen to this.
Speaker:So then you get to adjust how you deliver.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, and you get to change your mix and combine what the market's telling you with
Speaker:what the message is that you're trying to deliver to the market and find mm-hmm.
Speaker:Try to find a happy medium.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And how do you do that?
Speaker:How do you help them, um, find the unpopular topics
Speaker:to be more 'cause Yeah, then
Speaker:you tease 'em, you just say, you know, oh, next month we're gonna be
Speaker:talking about this and uh mm-hmm.
Speaker:I know that sounds boring to you, but you better be there.
Speaker:Um, 'cause it's gonna help your law firm in this way and that way.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:You can speak to exactly where they are.
Speaker:You can, you can be, you can echo the voice that's already in their head and,
Speaker:and then join the conversation that they're already having with themselves.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um.
Speaker:To kind of pattern and interrupt it a little bit.
Speaker:And, but you know what it does is it also takes time, right?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It takes trust.
Speaker:So, you know, doing a podcast for 15 years, um.
Speaker:I don't know, like what percentile that makes me.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:You know, like as, as far as, you know, the, the longest lived
Speaker:podcast, but I bet it's pretty high.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, and, um, you know, that you develop that trust over time and people would
Speaker:be like, okay, well if he says so, I'll at least give it a try, you know?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I'll try, I'll try the, the healthier, um, food this one time,
Speaker:uh, and see if I can digest it.
Speaker:Yeah, that's a really interesting, um, what you're saying because
Speaker:there's an element of your content resonating with your audience too.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So, but you are saying that over time, as they begin to trust you, they're,
Speaker:they're willing to explore those unpopular or maybe uncomfortable topics, um, to
Speaker:see if it does resonate anyway, right?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That's, that's the goal.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, because, 'cause again, my message podcasting's different, right?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um.
Speaker:If you put together friends or that I'm dating myself, but, uh,
Speaker:or like what's a popular severance?
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Um, it's a great show on Apple TV that I just finished
Speaker:watching a couple months ago.
Speaker:Um,
Speaker:your goal generally is to get, keep them coming back.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And so.
Speaker:You know, media, traditional entertainment, media, let's call it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, wants to give the audience more of what they want.
Speaker:Now, you know, you might have a niche show.
Speaker:Okay?
Speaker:This one's really gives tweens who, like vampire stories,
Speaker:um, what they want, right?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And so we're just gonna keep them coming back.
Speaker:We're not trying to keep, keep everybody coming back.
Speaker:And I think that's true of most entertainment media.
Speaker:If you try to keep everybody coming back, you know you're gonna fail.
Speaker:Um, but.
Speaker:Um, you know, particularly today, like 30 years ago, maybe you would've been more
Speaker:successful, you know, cheers was probably trying to keep everybody coming back.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, MASH was trying to keep most people coming back.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:But, you know, today it's more niche, you know, so severance is trying to
Speaker:keep a certain audience coming back.
Speaker:Um, uh oh.
Speaker:There's a new one about, there's always, there's always some zombie ones going on.
Speaker:They're trying to keep a different audience coming back.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, but podcasts.
Speaker:Are have a different goal, right?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:I think at least the good ones and certainly mine.
Speaker:Um, see what I just did there?
Speaker:I just called mine a good one.
Speaker:Um, yeah, you want 'em coming back, but the whole point was to deliver a message.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:The whole point was to move the needle.
Speaker:The whole point was to change the world and.
Speaker:You can't give in to the desire to get everybody coming back
Speaker:mm-hmm.
Speaker:At the expense of continuing to do the education, to continuing
Speaker:to do, uh, the delivery that the whole thing was intended.
Speaker:And I think a lot of people do.
Speaker:Like you watch, you watch several things out there.
Speaker:Some of the more popular, you know, like I'm know, I'm not gonna name
Speaker:names, but I'm none, I'm not one of these wonderful, great podcasts
Speaker:that have audiences of millions.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um.
Speaker:But you watch them and very often they all kinda drift into more popular mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, broad-based, watered down.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, echo chamber, uh, messaging and, and I think for, for, for
Speaker:podcasts that we're talking about here, that's not what we're after.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I, I think you're absolutely right.
Speaker:As you were talking, I was thinking too that the, the
Speaker:content becomes quite diluted.
Speaker:It's not a core message that you're continuously communicating.
Speaker:It's you're trying to, because you're trying to reach the masses, you're,
Speaker:um, spreading yourself quite thin.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And then you're not, yeah.
Speaker:You're, you're, you're achieving something different.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You're achieving downloads, you're achieving.
Speaker:Money.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:You're monetizing.
Speaker:Um, and that's a, that's a, that's a different animal to me.
Speaker:That's not what we're talking about here.
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:We're talking about outreach.
Speaker:We're talking about, um, delivering a message to an audience that
Speaker:will then interact with you and engage with you in other ways.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:The podcast, for me anyway, and for what we're talking about is not the
Speaker:end unto itself as it is for some.
Speaker:Yes, absolutely agree.
Speaker:Um, Christopher, you're also part of a podcast network.
Speaker:How did that come about?
Speaker:Actually, I think you've mentioned it a little bit, you touched on it, but how has
Speaker:that shaped your show's reach and growth?
Speaker:Well, what's nice about it is it's, you know, the, um, the reach
Speaker:it, you know, I, I, I don't have to just rely on myself, right?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So the, the network itself, um, does its own promotion, its own advertising,
Speaker:its own outreach, um, cross-promoting.
Speaker:Different properties, um, on the network so that I get exposure
Speaker:through other successful podcasts.
Speaker:They get exposure through mine.
Speaker:Um, I, uh, and what I love about the network that I'm on is it's
Speaker:not particularly incestuous.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Um, there are, you know, I've had experience, I've been invited and
Speaker:participated in some networks that.
Speaker:You know, I'll be a guest on yours if you're a guest on mine.
Speaker:And it's just becomes this circle.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, of
Speaker:self-serving, uh, guest ships and, you know, it provides content.
Speaker:And you know what, as a starting point, that's not so bad.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:To get you out there, to get you used to doing it.
Speaker:That's good.
Speaker:You know, a lot of these that I, that I've joined over the years have been, you know,
Speaker:mostly people who haven't done it before.
Speaker:Um, they like being in a. Friendly environment and that's great.
Speaker:But at the end of the day, what's really great about a good network
Speaker:is that they are just continuing to expose your content to a wider
Speaker:audience, to pick up more people that need that content, that to whom the
Speaker:message is relevant and important.
Speaker:Um, and it just reduces the lift on me.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, and my team to have to do that all by ourselves.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Could we.
Speaker:Probably, um, I mean, uh, you know, it's, it's not rocket science,
Speaker:but it makes, makes it easier.
Speaker:Um, it makes it faster.
Speaker:Um, and, you know, other things that the network provides for me is, um,
Speaker:I show up, I, my guest, I, I I name the guest, we invite them, they agree,
Speaker:and then we let the network know.
Speaker:And
Speaker:I show up.
Speaker:They show up.
Speaker:We have a show.
Speaker:Um.
Speaker:If the network produces it, network puts it out there.
Speaker:I don't, I wouldn't know how to put a podcast on a platform to save my life.
Speaker:Um, you know, I, now I have other people that do that for me.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:So I can focus on the content.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And being as good a host as I can.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That's cool.
Speaker:If there was someone listening a podcast or listening who's thinking
Speaker:about whether they join a network or go solo, what do you think are the key
Speaker:trade-offs that they should consider?
Speaker:There are no trade-offs.
Speaker:You go to a network?
Speaker:No.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:Seriously.
Speaker:I mean, the only trade off is it's solo.
Speaker:You could just start today.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Turn on your camera.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Do QuickTime, um, or whatever's on your computer.
Speaker:Some sort of recording platform.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, that you've got available to you right now.
Speaker:Record.
Speaker:And publish.
Speaker:You know, put it, you know, putting it up on YouTube is super easy.
Speaker:Um, find some other platforms to put it up on and get started.
Speaker:So, instant start.
Speaker:That's it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You know, going to a network requires a little bit of lead, right?
Speaker:You have to find one, you have to see if they'll accept your
Speaker:content and we'll let you on.
Speaker:Um, there may be standards, um, and things like that, uh, that make it a little bit
Speaker:more difficult, but you're the, the, the.
Speaker:Reward for that small amount of effort upfront is, is really just,
Speaker:uh, expanding your reach and teaching you what you don't know, right?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, just sitting in front of a microphone and talking is not podcasting.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, and, uh, there are, there are things to learn and you'll learn 'em
Speaker:faster when you have people around you who've been there and done that.
Speaker:Yeah, that, that's for sure.
Speaker:If you don't mind, I just wanna change angles a little bit.
Speaker:How, um, that you've spoken on big legal tech stages, um,
Speaker:you know, all over the world.
Speaker:How does podcasting compare as a platform for influence and connection?
Speaker:That's an interesting question.
Speaker:Um, I don't, I don't know.
Speaker:Mm. Um.
Speaker:Um, I don't know.
Speaker:How do apples compare to hot dogs?
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:Um, they're both delicious.
Speaker:Um.
Speaker:Those are just two different animals, and I don't think, one,
Speaker:I don't think they're exclusive.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Um, you know, could you do one without doing the other?
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:If you do both, they amplify each other.
Speaker:Um, you know, we're, we're even gonna try a concept with my podcast.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Um, coming up.
Speaker:Not ready to fully announce it yet, so I'll just talk about it.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:In broad terms.
Speaker:But we're gonna take the podcast live.
Speaker:Um, and so combining the ideas.
Speaker:Um, but you know, like I said before, the problem with speaking on stages,
Speaker:no matter how big the stage, um, you know, I've been, I've been on
Speaker:stages with audiences of over 3000.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Which, you know, it's nothing, right?
Speaker:You know, it's, it's not a stadium, right.
Speaker:It's not an arena, but it's when you walk in front of you, tell you what, when you
Speaker:stand on the stage for the first time in front of 3000 people, you feel it.
Speaker:Mm. Um, and.
Speaker:The truth is that that's one and done.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You, if you're really good, you'll reach those 3000.
Speaker:Some people in that 3000, you know, some people will be looking at their
Speaker:phone, some people will thought they were in the different room, whatever.
Speaker:But you know, you'll reach a certain percentage of the people,
Speaker:um, and it's one and done.
Speaker:And.
Speaker:It's really hard to find out who was in the room.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Um, and to, you know, get good engagement with them.
Speaker:But it's also
Speaker:more powerful.
Speaker:There's nothing like a live audience.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:The production is more energized.
Speaker:The performer or entertainer or mm-hmm.
Speaker:Podcaster is more energetically aligned.
Speaker:Like the, the vibrations of the audience and the, and the speaker meet each other.
Speaker:Every show is different and, and you're able to reach people more deeply.
Speaker:No, I don't care.
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:How much podcasting you've done staring at a screen.
Speaker:Um, is not the same.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And you know, we're, we're well past.
Speaker:You know, ev every every episode we do is like being in a room of thousands, right?
Speaker:We get thousands of downloads
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Every month.
Speaker:Um, but you don't feel that energy.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:In fact, you don't feel any different if you're getting
Speaker:10,000 downloads or a hundred.
Speaker:Um, it's the same.
Speaker:You're staring at a screen.
Speaker:And you know, if you ever do a live podcast, um, which I've done, that's
Speaker:not even any better because by the time you've got a thousand people
Speaker:on, you can't see any of them anyway.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's just a number at the bottom of the screen.
Speaker:Yeah, that's great.
Speaker:Um, so they serve different purposes.
Speaker:So yeah, the energy quality, I think of a live performance, live
Speaker:presentation can be really good.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:It can also be really bad.
Speaker:There, there are bad audiences and bad days.
Speaker:Um.
Speaker:And you know, if you do your podcast and it's really bad, you just say,
Speaker:you know what, let's do that again.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And you put out the good one.
Speaker:But when they're really good, they're really good.
Speaker:But the problem then is it's over.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And even if your presentation was recorded, the truth is that people
Speaker:don't really go back and watch recorded presentations very much.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Whereas the podcast, like, I think I said at the beginning, like, you
Speaker:do that, it's not one and done.
Speaker:It's one and done and done and done and done and done and done and done and done.
Speaker:It's like you, you, it has a huge multiplier effect.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You get the audience that downloads that month, you get the audience
Speaker:that downloads your back catalog.
Speaker:I'm always shocked at how much back catalog downloads
Speaker:mm-hmm.
Speaker:We get.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, and for our listeners, that's just, uh, when people, like people learn about.
Speaker:The show and come to the unbillable hour for the first time today, and
Speaker:then they come next month and they realize, oh, I really like this.
Speaker:What else has this guy done?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And it'll go back through all the previous shows and again, usually
Speaker:download the freestyle and, uh, avoid the, the, the butterfly.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But,
Speaker:uh, it still, they'll, they'll download old stuff.
Speaker:So, you know, stuff I recorded years ago.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Um.
Speaker:It still has power, and that's different.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:You don't get that from live presentations, so Yeah.
Speaker:It's, it's hotdog and apples.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, or apples and hotdogs, but, uh, but they both have their place.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:What lessons have you learned about building connection then
Speaker:with your audience, whether it's digital or in person?
Speaker:Consistency.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:I think the biggest lesson is, is that.
Speaker:You gotta, you gotta get 'em on multiple platforms.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, you've gotta be out there doing multiple things, um, so
Speaker:that they see you not just in the podcast, but they see you live.
Speaker:They see you in print, they see you by email, they see you on the
Speaker:internet, they see you in social media.
Speaker:Um, and your message, that message is being delivered across
Speaker:all those different platforms.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And it's a consistent message.
Speaker:And then the other, you know, the other thing is that you're
Speaker:delivering consistently.
Speaker:Like you, for you, you asked earlier about what advice to people that are
Speaker:thinking about doing a podcast and also whether they should go with the network.
Speaker:Well, one of the cool things about the network is like, if I
Speaker:don't, I'm not feeling it this month, I'm just like, I'm busy.
Speaker:I don't feel like doing it.
Speaker:Um hmm.
Speaker:I got them calling me going, Hey, where's your, where's your episode?
Speaker:You know, or even better, like these days, I mean, it's, we're
Speaker:booked, the studio's booked.
Speaker:I'm booked, I think I'm booked in the studio for the rest of the year.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:So, you know, if that date's coming, I better have a guest.
Speaker:I better have some content.
Speaker:Um, and uh, you know, it gives you that sort of accountability and a little
Speaker:bit of a goose to, to keep moving Yeah.
Speaker:Forward.
Speaker:Um.
Speaker:So, yeah.
Speaker:But it's, it's, yeah.
Speaker:And that, and that gives you that consistency, right.
Speaker:Because your audience, if you don't, if you don't show up
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:When you're supposed to, they, they'll go find somebody else who will.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Great.
Speaker:Um, Christopher, what would you say to professionals, maybe in law, finance,
Speaker:healthcare, who are still hesitant or on the fence about starting a podcast?
Speaker:I think, you know, if you have to ask yourself why you're on the fence.
Speaker:Mm.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:This is not, I'm not gonna go out there and say everybody should podcast.
Speaker:'cause if everybody podcasts, then you know, we're back to Andy Warhol.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:15 minutes of fame.
Speaker:Um, not everybody should
Speaker:podcast.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:If you don't have a message, don't do it.
Speaker:If you're thinking about it as advertising, don't do it.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Um, you know, so I'm pushing people.
Speaker:To some extent to the other side of the fence.
Speaker:Um,
Speaker:however, on the other hand, if you find yourself creating content already,
Speaker:you do have a message and you're doing tiktoks and you're doing live talks,
Speaker:and you're doing reels and you're doing other kind, and you're doing
Speaker:social media posts on LinkedIn on.
Speaker:Facebook on meta, um, on ig, uh,
Speaker:and you're doing email blasts and, and you're doing paid search and all
Speaker:this other stuff, and you've got a message you want to get out there.
Speaker:Like, to the extent that it's not just another advertising, but you wanna
Speaker:longer format to deliver your message more deeply to your audience or the
Speaker:audience that you wanna build, then do it.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:But, uh, and, but then do it with a purpose.
Speaker:What is, what are you trying to achieve?
Speaker:How do you know you'll get there?
Speaker:Um, and if you've got that, then, then do it.
Speaker:It's not difficult, right?
Speaker:It's not technologically challenging.
Speaker:It's not technically challenging.
Speaker:However, showing up, you know.
Speaker:On a regular basis and creating that content so that the audience who expects
Speaker:it gets it delivered and having that message out there, it's also not easy.
Speaker:If it was easy, everybody would do it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, so I guess my, my advice, you know, your question was what advice do you have?
Speaker:Is, is, is.
Speaker:If you have a reason, then do it.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:And if you don't, then don't, like, it's not magic pixie dust.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um,
Speaker:and you don't, not everybody needs to add some podcasts to what they're doing.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um,
Speaker:but if you have a message and you, you, you'd like to find a way to
Speaker:deliver it in a different way to your audience, then by all means.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I like that.
Speaker:'cause I think sometimes it can, people can, can get caught up in trends.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And everyone's doing it, so I gotta have one too.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, absolutely.
Speaker:And I, yeah, I think that clouds that, that creates a lot of noise.
Speaker:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker:Christopher, this has been really insightful for me.
Speaker:Thank you for joining me today.
Speaker:It's my pleasure.
Speaker:Thanks for having me on.
Speaker:I really appreciate the questions.
Speaker:Oh, no, you're very welcome.
Speaker:But before you go, if someone wants to connect with you or tune
Speaker:in to the Unbillable Hour podcast, where should they go to do that?
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:So yeah, if you want to connect with me mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, you can just email me at christopher@sunnysidelaw.Com.
Speaker:Um, and, uh, we will be glad to respond to that, the Unbillable Hour podcast,
Speaker:which I recommend if you're a law, particularly if you're a law firm owner.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Or you just wanna listen to how, you know, how a podcast is done.
Speaker:Well, um.
Speaker:You can, you can find us on Legal Talk Network.
Speaker:You can find us on Spotify.
Speaker:You can find us on um, YouTube, uh, apple.
Speaker:Um, but uh, the main one is you can go just to
https://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/un-billable-hour/ or just go to Legal Talk Network and
https:type in Un-billable and you'll find us.
https:Um, and uh, that's where all the shows are, um, all the way back for 15 years.
https:So.
https:Amazing.
https:Thank you.
https:That's how you reach us.
https:Excellent.
https:To those listening, all of Christopher's links are in the show description.
https:Awesome.
https:And if you've been wondering whether podcasting could help you connect
https:more deeply, build credibility.
https:Or grow your business like it has for Christopher.
https:I hope this this episode has given you a fresh lens and maybe
https:even the nudge to give it a shot.
https:Thanks for listening, and bye for now.