Travis sits down with his producer Eric for a fun, practical breakdown of whether speaking at events is actually worth it for entrepreneurs and creators. From horror-movie cold opens to hard-nosed math on time, travel, and ROI, this episode digs into when to say yes to a stage, when to walk away, and how to think about “paid to speak” vs “pay to speak” opportunities in a sane, strategic way.

On this episode we talk about:

Whether speaking at events is a vanity play or a real growth lever for your business

How your goals (professional speaker vs business owner vs personal brand builder) change the calculus on saying yes to a stage

The tradeoffs between local, niche rooms and big stages with thousands of people

Hidden costs of speaking—travel, lost work time, opportunity cost—and how to factor them in

When it can actually make sense to pay to be on stage and how to evaluate those offers like ad spend

Top 3 Takeaways

Speaking is almost always valuable if it aligns with a clear goal—professional speaking, lead gen, or brand building—but not every stage is worth your time.

Quality of the room (who’s in the audience, who’s hosting, who’s backstage) beats quantity of people; a small room of serious buyers can outperform a crowd of thousands.

Paying to be on stage isn’t inherently a scam—it’s a marketing decision; you need clear numbers, clear expectations, and a plan to work the room and follow up afterward.

Notable Quotes

"It depends on your goal—if you want to be a professional speaker, you should be on any stage that’ll have you."

"Sometimes 22 multi-millionaires in a small room are a better use of time than 2,000 random people in an arena."

"Once you’re paying to speak, it’s not magic anymore—it’s just ad spend, and you’ve got to treat it like a marketing channel."

✖️
✖️
✖️
✖️

🚀 Travis Makes Money is made possible by High Level – the All-In-One Sales & Marketing Platform built for agencies, by an agency.

🚀 Capture leads, nurture them, and close more deals—all from one powerful platform.

🎁 Get an extended free trial at gohighlevel.com/travis

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices