Should I be on Clubhouse, and can it grow my business?
That is the question! I write this article with mixed feelings because I see how it can grow your business, but is it worth it?
I will dive as deep as possible into the platform to give you the best information I have found so far when it comes to this app.
What Is Clubhouse?
Clubhouse is an Audio-based social media app where users connect in chatrooms over voice only. Users can send DMs to others to start conversations but its predominantly used to chat and discuss different topics over voice.
Who Uses It?
It’s a phenomenal platform for celebrities and influencers with large followings.
It’s regularly used by many notable figures such as Chris Rock, Grant Cardone, Ashton Kutcher, Kevin Hart, Jared Leto, Drake, and many more.
Along with celebrities, influencers with massive followings often create chat rooms to talk and engage with their audience.
How Do You Get Invited To Join Clubhouse?
There are a few different options to be invited to use the new social media platform.
Option number: users are given a set number of invites based on a variety of credentials.
Those invites are sent by the holder to whomever they decide. Option two: a request to join. To get accepted to the platform, someone you know must let you in.
This only works if you allow ClubHouse to connect to your contacts, and it can look people up based on your phone number. This prevents you from letting in random people and will enable you to connect with someone you may already know but haven’t spoken to in a while.
Through personal experience, I have reconnected with several people based on simply allowing them onto the platform. This was a great way to start a new conversation with people I have not spoken to in years.
Those are the two options that have been made available to people interested in getting on the platform.
How Do Users Interact On Clubhouse?
Each user has a designated chatroom. As a user of Clubhouse, you can make your own room or join other rooms that are public to join. Each room is given a title, and typically there is a general topic of discussion.
Each topic varies based on the creator of the room! Things that I have seen so far are friend groups, looking for new friends, investing, SEO, Digital Marketing, clubs to promote yourself, and so many more. In simple terms, it’s like Reddit, but for your voice.
Whether you explore new rooms or start your own, it’s up to you to decide what you want to do and whom you want to react with. You can even search for rooms based on their topics, so regardless of what you’re into, you’ll be able to find it! There doesn’t seem to be a shortage of users either.
I have seen some rooms with thousands of people in it at one time. In comparison, others have a small group of people where everyone is interacting the whole time. Once you join a room, you can do a few different things, including raising your hand to be assigned as a speaker. If you do, you can be chosen by the moderator to speak.
Do more with Clubhouse
At this point, you will then be able to unmute yourself and talk to everyone in the room. If you create the room, you can pick who your moderators are, and you can have them help manage everyone in the room.
Depending on the size, there may be one moderator or several dozen. This all depends on who is assigned by the creator of the room. If you choose to speak, be ready to get called as most of the time when you picked, they expect your paying attention.
I have even seen people get skipped over because they were not ready, wound up wasting everyone’s time!
Each room has its own rules.
From my experience, moderators will enforce the rules assigned to the room. That could be not allowing yourself to self-promote your company/brand, or it could be keeping the language clean.
Either way, the moderator’s goal is to help keep the room in order based on the topic chosen at hand. Moderators can also remove you from the room. If you are breaking the room’s rules, you will be ejected. Also, when you re-enter, you will be on mute again, unable to speak.
This is infrequent. However, it does happen if someone gets out of line from the original discussion topics. There are thousands of rooms to search through to find exactly what you are looking for. Also new rooms being created all the time.
Pros Of Clubhouse
Clubhouse is an incredible social media app that opens up new conversations in real-time with thousands of other people.
Being able to ask someone you follow a direct question and get an answer immediately has tremendous value. Along with that, talking to like-minded individuals and picking up information whenever you want has its inherent benefits.
Overall, it is an excellent platform if you like to consume content via audio. Talking and interacting with different members in different communities is powerful and getting immediate help on something you’re working on is priceless.
Cons Of Clubhouse
There are no recordings of audio. If you miss a conversation, it is missed forever.
Countless times I am invited into chat rooms by friends to listen to a speaker, and the conversation gets stale by the time I arrive. It could be people asking unrelated questions or the topics die out. There is no way to sift through the information to find the info you are looking for.
For that reason, I do not believe I like the platform. I would much prefer a podcast to listen to. You may not be able to ask questions on a podcast; however, you can go back and relisten to it over and over till you absorb the material. That has tremendous benefits, and being able to put it down and pick it up later without missing anything is a huge bonus.
Another Con of Clubhouse is the fact that there is no video. Although the platform was designed to work this way for a reason, many of us are visual learners and often need something to look at when learning or discussing something new.
Concluding Thoughts
While I like the platform for interacting with other people in my industry or with influencers, for me, it is not the best fit. It is something you must spend a lot of time on to get the value you are looking for.
I would much prefer a YouTube video, Blog, or even a Reddit thread to get the information I need than going on a voice chat to ask others.
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