The role of live speaking in building authority and how it fits into your business model.

How to decide which conferences are worth your time, energy (and cash) to attend.

An array of tactics to leverage your conference attendance.

Using media intentionally to engage conference attendees and make your new relationships more sticky.

Picking the right conferences as a new(ish) speaker and how to ensure your investment will pay off.

Quotables

“I did a conference in 2015 that was exactly my target market for Hourly Billing Is Nuts, and I still keep in touch with people I met there.”—JS

“If you're doing conferences—whether you're speaking or attending—there's a certain amount of energy you have to put into it to be good, much less to be great and to reap something from your investment.”—RM

“Meeting people in person creates a deeper connection faster.”—JS

“If you travel 1,000 miles and then sit in your hotel room for most of the conference that's not gonna work.”—RM

“Let's say there's a big conference coming up and your ideal buyers are going to be there. You can piggyback a workshop on the day before. You don't even need a ticket to the conference—you can just get a room in the hotel.”—JS

“When you're a speaker at a conference, you know what your job is…When you're an attendee, you still have a job, but not everybody recognizes that.”—RM

“Speaking at a conference is great for your street cred. It's social proof aka third party endorsement from the conference organizers, implicity saying that you know what you're talking about.”—JS

“If you're just getting started (speaking), pick a conference that is big enough so that you feel like it's worth your time, but small enough so that you have a good chance of getting in.”—RM