Today we talk dollars and cents. You REALLY want to be a professional speaker? You won’t get paid a nickle to be a featured speaker on a cruise ship like Celebrity, but you’ll get a FREE cruise for two. That can be worth thousands. I advise that you should use these gigs to hone your skills.
To be a professional baseball player, a pro dancer, a pro singer – you have to work your butt off. But are rewards worth it – financially? I have a cousin who signed a baseball contract with the Detroit Tigers. He got $150K for that. Just signing. He wanted this since he was a kid. His quest includes getting hit in the face by a line drive and losing 7 teeth. Did he roll over? No.
A year later he had to get “Tommy Johns” surgery where they move a tendon from your leg and put it into your pitching arm to reinforce things. Did he roll over? No. He loved what he was doing. He just bought a new Dodge Challenger. Doing what he loved and getting paid for it.
If you really want to be a speaker, the $$ rewards are there. If you don’t love public speaking – get out now. It’s NOT for everyone. Ups and downs…travel…people who just want to TAKE from you. I just read that Hillary Clinton was paid $450,000 to speak at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s Global Financial Leadership Conference. Yikes. I’m never going to get that, but I do earn enough to pay for my scuba trips. And I’m having fun.

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