Robert Forto | September 17, 2026
Before I talk about my presentation, two thousand dollars hit the credit card before I said a word on stage.
I paid for airfare from Anchorage, a New York City adjacent hotel, a rental car, a conference badge, and meals I’ve already forgotten. I missed days at the sled dog kennel, sales calls, and recording with Michele. If you round it, the cost was $2,000. Add my time, and it’s even higher.
The main reason I came only lasted about twenty minutes. I spoke on the Marketing & Growth track with a talk called Don’t Sell Your Soul to Social Media. Afterward, I answered a few questions and stepped aside.
People who don’t go to these events often ask the obvious question. I want to address it directly.
Why did I do it? It definitely wasn’t for the applause.
I’ve been coming to Podcast Movement since 2017. That first year, I sat in the back with a notebook, then flew home to Alaska and changed how we worked. We’ve returned every year. This time, I was on the agenda instead of just in the hallway.
It feels like a step up, but it’s not a business model.
Twenty minutes on stage doesn’t sell a coaching package, feed our sled dog kennel, or make up for a week of episodes. If I judged this trip by views, likes, or how people reacted to my line about rented land, I would’ve stayed in Willow and posted a carousel on Instagram.
I didn’t come for the room’s energy. Once the slides are done, someone else’s session starts.
What I really bought
What I really paid for was to be in a room with people who care about the same problem I’ve been working on since 2009.
We started Dog Works Radio in the lobby of a training center after Saturday group class. It was just two mics and client stories, no real strategy. Seventeen years later, the show is still going. Platforms have come and gone, algorithms have changed, accounts have been restricted, and shows that existed only inside an app have lost reach.
My talk was the short version of that story. You don’t own your followers. Social media is just the front door, not the house. Change your call to action. Track emails per episode, not followers. Before your next show, have one lead magnet, mention one URL twice, send three welcome notes, then still share that advice for free. Michele said it on Dog Works Radio the same day I left. The one-pager is at DogWorksRadio.com/soul.
You don’t need any of this. The badge really bought connection. Online, people might argue with me for eight minutes, then go home and build the email list I talked about on stage. That kind of conversation doesn’t happen in a comment thread. It happens when you’ve paid to be in the same place as the people who will actually do the work. Also it paid for the chance to send you this letter without pretending I was on vacation. Already having a list isn’t a reason to skip the trip; it’s the reason the trip can pay for itself after the slides are done.
The math that is not on the receipt
Spending two thousand dollars for twenty minutes is a terrible hourly rate if that’s all you get. get.
They are not.
The real value is everything that happens during the week around those twenty minutes. It’s the episode Michele already recorded, this post, the one-pager, the three emails behind the form, and the conversations after the session that might lead to a call in October. It’s the person in the third row who will share the page with a partner, and the next time someone searches “own your podcast audience” and finds a site we control.
If I fly to New York, give my talk, and leave the audience on Instagram, I’ve just rented the trip, just like I told them not to rent their shows. That would be the real waste.
The test I gave the audience is the same one I have to use for this expense. If Apple disappeared on Friday, who would I email on Saturday? If, after this conference, the answer is “the people I already had, plus the new addresses I got this week,” then the two thousand dollars was worth it. If the answer is “whoever still follows the conference hashtag,” then I just bought a souvenir.
What I will not pretend
I enjoy being in that room and seeing people I only meet once a year. I still like filling a notebook like I did in 2017, even when I’m the one holding the clicker. That’s not a strategy; it’s just what I like. I can afford that because the businesses at home, Alaska Dog Works and the kennel, the training, the shows, don’t need a stage to prove their worth.
Speaking is just a front door, like social media. It’s helpful and temporary, but it’s not the house. If you were in New York today and want to hear the argument I didn’t have time to finish, the page is the same one I shared on the last slide. If you weren’t in New York, you didn’t miss the talk; you just missed the vibe and the coffee. The important part was meant to go beyond the building.
That’s why it’s not because twenty minutes is expensive. It’s because twenty minutes, focused on something I own, costs less than spending another year feeding a platform that doesn’t even know my name.
~Robert
Get the one-pager: DogWorksRadio.com/soul
