CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE CLUBHOUSE APP
Latest Update: 2/25/22
What is Clubhouse?
Clubhouse is a social media platform that centers voice that launched as a invite-only app in April 2020. Users travel through different ‘rooms” popping in and out of conversations where people are talking about various topics.
Who is the Clubhouse app for?
The founders say they built this app for everybody, marketing to audiences that want to meet new people and make new friends around the world to tell stories, ask questions and hold impromptu dialogues on thousands of different topics without worrying about eye contact, appearance or location. It actually feels a lot like having a Zoom meeting where everyone has their cameras turned off, but without the guilt. It’s a social media app that allows you to multitask in the background. Kinda perfect for entrepreneurs. So if you are one, keep reading to learn my Clubhouse tips.
The Clubhouse app is now open – no longer invitation-only!
While the app was in a private beta mode not many people had access to it and FOMO was consuming people. Invitations to join were like a Willy Wonka golden ticket… few and far in between. Unless you knew someone on the app who had your number programmed on their phone, you couldn’t actually use the app. And because the app was new, there weren’t many tips for entrepreneurs because people hadn’t yet discovered how to monetize it even to its small audience.
Android Users Can Now Use the Clubhouse App
Clubhouse app was first launched to a small niche community. Mainly founders and investors and only to iPhone users as this app was only available in the iTunes store. With its newer updates, it has launched in Google Play.
Is Clubhouse a Good App for Making Money?
Clubhouse app was first launched to a small niche community made up of mainly founders and investors. Presumably to influence its valuation but perhaps with the intent that users would find ways to monetize the app early on. Entrepreneurs have found the audio space to be a great place to both pitch products or/or services and build their community. They are able to join the space as a panelist or join and listen in the audience.
The hype for this voice-only app died down a little bit once it opened up to the public. The Clubhouse founders seem to be banked on users falling in love with voice medium – and many have! Since it was launched during the pandemic when people were feeling the fatigue of working remote, spending hours in front of a camera but also adhering to physical distancing guidelines, making it the right app at the right time. Now that much more has opened up, people simply don’t have the same time and capacity to stay on the Clubhouse app for extended periods of time.
Is the Clubhouse App User-Friendly?
It’s not hard to use Clubhouse. Not techy at all. In fact, it’s so easy my mom who is tech-illiterate is using it. My friends and I have been using it for community engagement by hosting Q&A events – We schedule conversations and events in the app in advance and promote them across other social media platforms. If you have joined an event, you can add them to your iCalendar so that you don’t miss it! So here are a few tips on how to use the app.
Clubhouse Tips for Beginners
When you first log on you enter the “hallway”, an area where you can see a feed of chatrooms that you can enter. The chatrooms populated in your feed are based on the friends you’ve followed on the app. Once in the hallway, you can access upcoming chats, app notifications and your profile in the upper right-hand corner. In the upper left-hand corner, you’ll see a button that lets you find people to follow. Simply click the follow button to follow them. Back in the hallway, you can start a room for users to join you and chat with the “Start a Room” button or simply join one of the rooms that are on your feed.
Being in the Audience
- Raise your hand if you want to speak
- You enter the room muted, but remember that the moderators may want the entire room unmuted
- Take lots of notes (This is also a way to monetize the app – Become a Club note taker)
- You can choose to “leave quietly” to exit a room or click All Rooms to discover a new room to join
- Having a great convo but missing a homie who you know would love to participate? Ping them into the room with the plus icon button.
Being a Stage Member or Panelist
- Remember to mute when first joining the stage
- Remember to mute yourself before and after speaking
- Keep up with the conversation, it’s annoying when you have to constantly ask to pass the mic because you aren’t prepared to speak or you don’t actually answer the question or speak to the topic at hand
- If you hear something that hits you in the feels you can affirm another speaker by “Clapping” which is toggling the mute button on/off
- May take a while for the moderator to recognize you to speak (and you should wait to be recognized before unmuting and speaking). Remember what it is you want to say
- Always be adding value to the dialogue.
Being a Moderator
- Watch the room, pay attention to who has spoken and who hasn’t so that you can clear the stage or send those who have had a chance to speak back to the audience
- Recap what the chatroom topic is and when appropriate what the current dialogue is about.
- Establish and reiterate the shared agreements for the space to create boundaries for the speakers and encourage safer courageous dialogue
- Choose speakers and move them on and off the stage
- Keep the pace and make sure people are not taking up too much space. Every speaker may not get the same amount of time to speak but the moderator keeps the conversation going and ensures voices are being heard
- Watch to see which folks are unmuting to chime in and speak so that you can “pass them the mic”
- Mute people when they forget to mute themselves and “tuck them in” when the dialogue is over. Many chat sessions can go on for hours, some into the wee hours of the morning. “Tucking someone in” means the moderator sends them back to the audience, otherwise They will be in sleep mode but the chatroom will still be open and they will be in it alone
- Encourage people to PTR (pull to refresh) when needed
Optimizing Your Clubhouse Profile
- Upload a Profile pic and if you plan to be a moderator consider adding a border ring to your image
- The First 3 lines of your profile are most important because that’s what shows up in the hallway while people are scrolling to see who is in what rooms
- Include what you’ve done in the past and what you do now
- Use keywords and hashtags (There isn’t currently a directory of clubs, only of profiles, but keywords and hashtags can be searched)
- Focus on your voice rather than your bio, but others will be looking to validate what you say by what you’ve placed in your bio
- Be yourself and remember to share what makes you, you
How Do Clubs Work?
You can find clubs your friends have joined by scrolling to the bottom of their profiles. If you want to join the club click on the club icon and then the follow button. You are now following the club and the moderator will receive a notification to decide to add you as a member of the club. If granted access to join a club, you will be given an opportunity to nominate other friends either on the app or in your phone’s contact list to join. To help them get in you can offer a sort of endorsement. Afterward, a link is forwarded to that friend or notification to let them know they have been invited by you to join a club on the Clubhouse app (though no invitation is required). As I mentioned, inviting others to join the app/club is an endorsement. You’re adding them to your “family tree genealogy” and once they join the app your name will appear at the bottom of their profile for having invited them. To start a chat with your friends
Interested in starting a new club?
You no longer have to apply for one at clubhouseguide.com. Club creation is now in-app! Go to the bottom of your profile page to view your clubs, and then scroll all the way to the right and click on the “+” sign. Thank goodness – because that 7 day turnaround to approve clubs manually was tough on all of us.
Once your club is approved it will show up in grey on your profile. You have to open a club up to allow people to follow and join it. When applying for a club – the name and description are very important for increasing your odds of getting it approved and followers joining.
Another cool upgrade – You can now get analytics on your clubs. Check it out the analytics tool here: https://clubhub.site/start
Growing followers
If you want to grow your followers remember it’s important to speak on the platform. Spend time on the app as a speaker on stage or a moderator for a chat session in a club. The more consistent you are on the app the more people will recognize you and your value. Make sure to have a profile that talks about you, your business, and your interests. Likeminded people will follow you.
As mentioned before, at present there is no club directory, but people can search profiles with keywords, emojis, hashtags and usernames will pull up. So make sure your profile highlights what you want to be found for on the app. When it comes to blocking people, you are notified that they are in a room before you enter. They cannot enter a room where you are currently on the stage, so be mindful of how this affects their experience on the app.
Final thoughts on the Clubhouse app
Join newbie welcome parties and if your friends are free maybe they will host one for you when you finally get your invitation to the app. I didn’t have a welcome party but I signed up for a username and in a few hours a fraternity brother of mine moved me to the front of the line, pulling me into the app. Shout out to @aceboogie1911. Others haven’t been so lucky. Follow me on Clubhouse @helloambi.
Clubhouse App Resource for Beginners
https://www.clubhouseguide.com/
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