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What’s the Fuss with Clubhouse?

by | May 19, 2021 | newsletters

Perhaps you’ve heard about Clubhouse, a relatively new social media platform. Until last week, Clubhouse was only available to iPhone users. But now it is available for Android users as well.  In order to get on clubhouse, you need an invite from an existing Clubhouse user.

So, what exactly is Clubhouse and why should you care? Clubhouse is an audio-based app where users can participate in different chat rooms with a wide range of topics. These rooms are audio-only and disappear forever once the chat has finished. There are no text or video elements, which makes Clubhouse feel almost like a real-time podcast; but one where you can actually engage in a back and forth conversation with other members. Unlike podcasts, Clubhouse conversations aren’t scripted and aren’t recorded – meaning if you miss an important conversation, you’re out of luck!

Imagine being able to talk, almost “face to face” not only with celebrities, but with leaders in your field, with politicians, and with millionaires who are just there to help others. But you can also use it yourself as sort of an audio version of a blog. Learning and sharing – that’s what Clubhouse is all about.

Essentially, clubhouse is a place where you go to listen to and participate in live audio conversations about topics that interest you, sort of like a radio talk show. Often, the “rooms” are started and moderated by one or more experts on a topic. They go online and start talking about their topic, and open up the discussion to those in the “room.” Typically, clubs meet at the same time each week (or in some cases each day). You are free to follow and listen to the conversation of any club, but you must “raise your hand” and ask to speak if you have a question or want to present something.

Of course, you can always start your own room, but in order to get anyone to show up, you will first need some followers. So, the best thing to do is to join clubhouse, then start participating. Join some clubs. Follow people in those clubs. Follow your customers. Create your own room and talk about your subject matter and invite others to join in your conversation. The more active you are, the more invites you will get and the more people will start to follow you.

Back to the question: Why should you care? Think of it this way: As you start to gain followers in your club, people will begin to know, like, and trust you. Then they will want to do business with you. I have a colleague who says he gets between 30 and 75 warm leads every single week because of Clubhouse. That’s not bad for a 2-hour commitment he makes to hosting a room each week.

Here’s how it works: First, you need to download the app. Then, you need an invite from an existing Clubhouse member in order to register on the app. If you are new to the app like me, you won’t have any invites to give out, so you’ll have to find someone who has been on the app for a bit and who has been active enough to have earned some invites. Once you are in the app, you will want to complete your profile section. This includes a recent photo and a bio or description about who you are. Be sure to include your Instagram link as well as this is how people connect with you – there isn’t a DM (direct message) feature on Clubhouse.

Now, go and search for some people you want to follow. For example, let’s say you wanted to follow Elon Musk. You search for his name and you will notice a lot of fake accounts with his name (even though the invite system is meant to weed out these trolls and only allow real people). But when you see the one with 2.1 million followers, it’s probably the real thing. Note that Elon is a real person – you have to sign up for clubhouse as you, not your company. If you want a presence for your company name, you should start a club or room to discuss your company.

Hmmm, a club or a room – what’s the difference. Basically, a room is an event, where a club is a community. anyone can start a room, even a newbie. Once a room is finished, you can’t find it. that event is over and there are no recordings. Clubhouse is audio only – there are no videos. Since a club is a community, it can be found in the search. You can’t just show up on clubhouse and create a club – you must have created at least 3 rooms (events) before you are allowed to create a club. Currently, clubhouse only allows each person to start one club.

Clubhouse has become popular enough that other social media platforms are trying to clone it. Obviously that means they are on to something. Now that it is available for android users, I recommend that you check it out.

 

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