First of all, you may well be asking “What is Clubhouse?”
It’s a relatively new real-time voice chat app, originally launched in early 2020, which seems to have taken the social media world by storm towards the end of 2020 and during the first few of weeks of 2021.
I have heard it compared to radio. You can have clubs, which are the equivalent of talk radio stations, and rooms which are the individual programmes / times slots. Clubhouse members are the listeners and can be invited to be co-hosts or simply brought into a conversation to ask a question or give their views.
Now before you get all excited and rush to join, unfortunately there are a couple of potential stumbling blocks you need to be aware of:
- You can only access it via an iOS device which is creating FOMO (fear of missing out) for Android users. One influencer I follow has even suggested it’s worth getting an iOS device just to be able to access Clubhouse!
- You need to be ‘invited’ to join
How do you get a Clubhouse invite?
When someone first joins Clubhouse they receive an invitation to give to someone else already in their contacts (which get synced to Clubhouse when you join). They may also receive a further 3 invites a week later. After this, they can ‘earn’ more invites by participating in, and hosting their own rooms.
There is a flurry of activity on Facebook at the moment in the form of chain posts within business groups. The idea is to form a list of people looking to join and then send an invite down the chain. As each person joins, they use their first invite to bring in the person next in the chain.
Aside from this, occasionally you can simply get lucky! Someone in my contacts reserved their username and Clubhouse pinged me to see if I wanted to invite them in, even though I didn’t have any invites at that time.
Whilst you are waiting for an invitation you still can download the app via the app store (just search for Clubhouse: Drop-in audio by Alpha Exploration Co.), reserve your @username and join the waitlist. The sooner you do this the better, so you can get a good username.
Why should you join Clubhouse?
Whilst there are already a few well known celebrity members to follow such as Paris Hilton, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Clifton, Kevin Hart, it’s the industry expert members I find far more exciting!
In the business world, where else are you able to jump into a real time chat room with people like Tony Robbins, Ryan Deiss, Gary Vaynerchuk, Neil Patel, Marie Forleo, Shaa Wasmund, Rob Moore and Jeff Walker (to name but a few), for FREE – this is priceless!
So as a business owner, what should you do once you finally get let into this exclusive club?
How to set up your Clubhouse account properly
1. Connect your Clubhouse account to your Twitter and Instagram profiles
The set up process takes you through this, but should you skip it, make sure you go back ASAP to finish it off. This will prove to be an important way to reach out to people, as aside from requesting a 1-1 chat in a private room (which they would have to accept), you cannot currently direct message anyone via the Clubhouse platform. The Twitter and Instagram links are clickable, providing an opportunity to reach directly out via those platforms.
2. Fill out your bio
Set your stall out – share how you can help people. Whilst links are not clickable (apart from Twitter & Instagram), you can still share your website details, or a short opt-in landing page link.
3. Select a few interests (these are private to you)
This will allow Clubhouse to personalise your app experience, and more accurately display rooms you may be interested in joining.
4. Build your Clubhouse network
Like most social media platforms, you can follow other people and be followed.
There is a people and clubs search facility as well as a topics section for you to browse through for conversations about topics you are interested in.
After you have followed someone, you can also click a ‘bell’ button to get notified when they ‘talk’ in a room.
5. Learn from experts / influencers
Join rooms and simply listen in to real time conversations. You may be given the opportunity to ‘raise your hand’ by a room host or moderator, allowing you to join in the conversation or ask a question.
Here is a snapshot of some of the rooms I could have entered on the day I wrote this article:
- How to grow your biz with Instagram and Clubhouse
- Ask the experts – Health habits for mental wellness
- Startup information for Beginners – Ask A Business Lawyer
- The systems you need to scale your business
- Running 7,8 and 9 figure eComm brands on Amazon
- Authors: How to write a book & become a best seller
- How to start a social media agency
- Grow your email list with Pinterest
- Financial and marketing ideas for entrepreneurs
6. Share your own expertise in your niche
Host your own room by yourself, or collaborate with other people, to form a ‘panel of experts’, making sure you share the event ahead of time on other social media platforms to gain some momentum!
My first room experience where I fully participated was great fun. I joined as part of a panel in a room called “UK Women in Business – Support and Growth Tips”. We had around 20 ladies pop in, many of whom stayed in for the hour the room was open. There were some interesting conversations around topics such as business growth, overcoming imposter syndrome and branding.
Whether Clubhouse achieves longevity remains to be seen, but getting in now could give you a massive head start should it continue to grow and prosper. I have already seen people sharing successes of acquiring new customers as a direct result of using the platform.
If you need any help getting to grips with the platform check out their user guide at https://www.clubhouseguide.com
Good luck with it should you decide to join and let me know what you think!
