What is Clubhouse?
Clubhouse is the new kid on the social media block. According to the Company, it describes itself as a new type of social media platform that is based on voice that allows people to talk, tell stories, develop ideas, deepen friendships, and meet interesting new people around the world.
Basically, it’s a podcast on steroids. It is like your live podcast style conversations and panel discussions.
The thing is, you can’t record the conversations to share with your audience or repurpose it. Currently, there are approximate 1 million users on Clubhouse. I must say that this number is fairly big considering that they have just launched the app.
What happens inside Clubhouse and how to use it?
You can follow other users or topics that you find interesting, as well as joining sort of like theme clubs. You will have access to a selection of chat rooms focusing on different topics.
There are many rooms in different sizes. Some you know would have just a few people chatting informally and others might have hundreds or even thousands of people just listen to a panel of experts like a celebrity or a business leader.
You can see the people in the room and click on their profiles for a complete list of whom they follow and you’ll be able to follow the ones that you find interesting.
The clubhouse algorithm takes all of this into account when offering content choices to you. I chose to follow a few marketing and social media experts and now I’m being served out what interests me.
You can enter the rooms and see who’s talking and if it’s not something of interest, you can leave by clicking the button that says “Leave Quietly”.
You can also ping someone from your list into the room. If you want to say something and join in on the conversation, there’s a button for you to raise your hand and the host of the room can give you speaking privileges. You can even applaud the speaker by rapidly clicking the mute or unmute button.
You can also view what’s upcoming for you and add it to your calendar. So you can set aside time to be able to join the room and listen in or even join in on the conversation.
Rooms on Clubhouse are temporary so when the meeting is over, the room disappears and any of the discussion is gone forever. You can’t replay any conversations if you have missed out on or when you enter the room.
When the hosts are about to wrap up, you won’t have any opportunity to play that or listen to what has been discussed in the room. I’m hoping that there will be a replay feature sometime soon.
Now, why haven’t I been talking about clubhouse at all? It’s because of its exclusive activity with an invite only kind of platform. Obviously I didn’t get an invite and wasn’t able to explore the app and be able to talk about it. Also, I didn’t want to spend my time focusing on a new app but to stay on the course with what I’m currently doing.
There are two ways that you can join. The first one is by a personal invitation from a friend who is already a member or you can download the app and reserve a username to get yourself on the waiting list.
If you do this, anyone you know who’s already a member might be notified and they might let you in. I went this route at first that was before I got an invitation just to reserve a username. When I got in, that username had already been taken so there are no guarantees or note saying that you’ve managed to secure that username.
Another reason why I haven’t been talking about Clubhouse is because it is currently only available on Apple devices. Not everyone has an iPhone, even me, I am personally an Android user. Those were the two things that stopped me being able to join Clubhouse.
Another way if you don’t have an iPhone, you can use your iPad if you have any. The only downside is if it’s not on your phone, you won’t be able to listen in and join in on the conversations at the time that the room is happening.
According to Clubhouse, it has stated that there is an intention to release an android version in the new future. I’m looking forward to that so that I can have that on my phone. But I think by the time they released the Android version, I would have gotten myself an iPhone.
Should businesses consider using Clubhouse?
The question is, do you really need another social media platform for your business? It can be an amazing opportunity to establish yourself or your personal brand, as a go to person or, or the authoritative figure and promote your offers programs or even your coaching services.
With Clubhouse, it also serves as an opportunity for you to share your story, connect with your ideal clients and understand what your ideal clients need help with. With that sort of live two way interaction, a really intimate sort of interaction where you’ll be able to fully understand what it is that they need help with. You can also generate brand awareness.
How businesses can benefit from Clubhouse
Here are two ideas on how your business can benefit from Clubhouse. I’ll be able to talk more about this once I’ve immersed myself in the app. For now, these are the two ideas that I can share with you.
You can do Q and A. Just like you know how Gary Vaynerchuk has always talked about Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook. This is where you step in and serve to provide as much value as you can by giving quality advice and tips on a certain topic. You can even have a simple and ask me anything question.
You’re basically just dedicating your time and just serving as much as you can. Just answering any sort of questions that your ideal clients would really want to know, to help them in your business or in life.
You can also subtly build your email list where at the end of the session, you can mention some freebie which is your lead magnet. For example, “if you’re interested in the freebie that I mentioned earlier in the session, just drop me an email and I will send it to you.”
By doing this, it sounds really personal, like a friendship or relationship that you have already fostered and you can just take things from there.
Am I on Clubhouse?
Yes, I’ve just recently got an invite from a relative who thought of me when it comes to social media and marketing and asked me if I’m on Clubhouse.
If you want to follow me, my handle is KellyTalkSocial. I’ve had to play around a little bit, getting to know the platform, but I am in no rush to build a following or spend a crazy amount of time on the platform.
Have you heard of this shiny object syndrome? I don’t want you to fall into that syndrome. If you haven’t heard of it before, it is basically chasing after the next best thing.
Once you get there and see what the object is about, and you try it a few times, you can’t grow your following, you’re not getting the clients that’s flowing in, and then you just immediately lose interest.
I want you to be able to stay on course with what you’re doing. For example, if Instagram is your main platform, and you are currently trying to grow an audience to reach your ideal clients, stay there. You have to remember that if you have a presence on all of the social media platforms, and you don’t have the time to be consistent on all of them, then you’re just wasting your energy on the new platform that you’re on.
Don’t shift your focus onto Clubhouse unless you have the time to do so or if you’re just wanting to use it to learn more or want to educate yourself on how to take your business to the next level, then by all means go ahead.
But if you think that, you’re wanting to get on to the app, just to quickly build your following and get more clients from that then please stay on course with what you are currently doing.
You have to remember that if you want to have a presence on all of the social media platforms, and you don’t have the time to be consistent on all of them, then you’re just wasting your energy on the new platform that you’re on.
I know everyone is talking about it, and you want to explore what Clubhouse is about, then go for it. Just don’t spend your time trying to figure out the best strategy or understand how you can grow an audience to reach your ideal clients because it’s the new thing.
I can see that there’s quite a potential with this social platform. We’ve all had a challenging year last year, mostly in isolation and we all create for that human connection and intimate conversations that you wouldn’t be able to have on other platforms. It’s just like a two way conversation live.
Can you imagine being able to talk directly to leaders in your industry, or even a celebrity? If I’m able to talk to a celebrity on Clubhouse, I would just be speechless. It’s surreal to be able to talk live to a celebrity live without having to go through their agents, or when you DM them on their Instagram accounts, and you just receive no reply.
If you’re on Clubhouse, drop me a DM on Instagram and I would love to check it out or perhaps sometime or someday we’ll be able to join forces and share our knowledge. Follow me on Clubhouse @kellytalksocial