Travis Makes Money Make Money by Speaking on Stages
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:
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Whether speaking at events is a vanity play or a real growth lever for your business
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How your goals (professional speaker vs business owner vs personal brand builder) change the calculus on saying yes to a stage
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The tradeoffs between local, niche rooms and big stages with thousands of people
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Hidden costs of speaking—travel, lost work time, opportunity cost—and how to factor them in
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When it can actually make sense to pay to be on stage and how to evaluate those offers like ad spend
Top 3 Takeaways
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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.
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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.
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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
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"It depends on your goal—if you want to be a professional speaker, you should be on any stage that’ll have you."
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"Sometimes 22 multi-millionaires in a small room are a better use of time than 2,000 random people in an arena."
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"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."
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