You may have heard of Clubhouse by now, but you're unlikely to have entered Clubhouse.
That's because the modern social media site has, in part, built its credibility on exclusivity. You've got to secure a call to get in, but that may change soon. Here's exactly what you need to hear about Clubhouse in case you find yourself using it soon.
The clubhouse is a social network for audio-only. It's currently in private beta and runs on iPhone only (and is compatible with iPad).
Any iPhone user can sign up and create a username, but they can't access the app unless they've been invited.
New to the App Clubhouse? Curious to know how Clubhouse can be used and what is this application for marketers?
In this article, you'll find out how Clubhouse works and how you can use this application to develop your authority and your business.
Let's dive in.
Table of Contents
- 1 What is the Clubhouse?
- 2 Clubhouse App for the Business Owner and Marketers
- 3 How to Join the Clubhouse App?
- 4 What is the Clubhouse Hallway?
- 5 How to Search for Someone on the Clubhouse app?
- 6 Clubhouse App Notification
- 7 What Does the Clubhouse Calendar Show?
- 8 How to Use the Clubhouse App Room?
- 9 What's the Clubhouse App Moderator?
- 10 Clubhouse App Clubs and How to Use Them?
- 11 Is the Clubhouse App Worth Joining?
- 12 Conclusion
What is the Clubhouse?
The clubhouse is a new voice-based social media app.
Users can access various rooms in the app to listen to or engage in a conversation. They can see who else is in there, and they can see their profiles as well. The person who made the room is the one who gives the participants the right to speak.
The company explains itself as "a new type of social product based on voice [that] allows people everywhere to chat, share stories, make connections, expand friendships, and meet interesting new people all over the world."
You can hop in and out of different conversations, into different topics, into something like a live, free-flowing podcast. You may listen to your thoughts or choose to throw them in.
This new platform lets people talk in real-time, exchange stories, work together, and get ideas from each other using their voices without needing a lot of other equipment.
It takes the feeling of "media" right out of social media and provides us with what social media has always enjoyed (and missed).
But what distinguishes Clubhouse is its uniqueness. Although we prefer to calculate the social media site's popularity by the number of active users logging in and using the platform every day, Clubhouse has seen success as Silicon Valley's social hot spot. Limitations to invitations have only enhanced its popularity among entrepreneurs and business elites.
Clubhouse App for the Business Owner and Marketers
Although social media sites are coming and going, and there are celebrities and tech giants on other platforms, Clubhouse displays all the signs that social media marketing is turning, as we know it, on its head. Here are a few reasons why the Clubhouse could be the next big social media platform:
It provides the opportunity to communicate and engage with professionals beyond your field or niche.
Typical social media algorithms that help people build echo chambers on other sites are replaced by random rooms filled with real-time talks on various topics. The focus is on conversations of high value rather than on created content.
Clubhouse members are now highly loyal and protective, so much so that they have been very clear about who to invite them to enter the app.
The app was discovered by Paul Davison and Rohan Seth last year. By May, it was estimated that about $100 million despite having only 1,500 users at the time, according to CNBC. The clubhouse is finally introducing to social media the aspect that other channels are largely ignoring audio. While other channels rely on visual and written media (such as captions, pictures, and videos), Clubhouse focuses on an audio-only format.
Within minutes of entering the app and scrolling around, your mind will be overflowing with options on using Clubhouse to network, increase your authority, or extend your knowledge.
Although the Clubhouse App is still in private beta, you will not get the whole group to the app. But once the app opens to the public, Clubhouse will become a fantastic new place to bring the community and open up a new way to communicate and interact with them.
We all know the importance of networking and learning from experts in our fields, but imagine the experience of learning from other start-ups, small business owners, multi-million dollar CEOs, and tech giants. For all of us, we could only dream of being able to hear them on stage. Now Clubhouse has created a forum that makes it easy to share the stage with them, ask a direct question, and obtain an answer in real-time.
Now, let's find out how to join the Clubhouse.
How to Join the Clubhouse App?
The clubhouse is currently in a private beta process and is only open to iPhone users, which drives its exclusive existence.
As of now, there are only two only ways you can get to the platform, and both of them involve close relationships with people already on the app.
By personal invitation: When anyone enters Clubhouse, they immediately receive an invitation to give to someone using their phone number. This means that members can send invites to people they have a close friendship with, like a true friend, rather than just acquaintances. Once someone is at Clubhouse for a while and spends time moderating and speaking rooms, both of which I discuss later in this post, they will receive more invitations to submit.
Exclusive side-door: When you want to visit the Clubhouse website, you can download the app from the App Store to obtain your username. Depending on how many of your peers use the Clubhouse already, they will receive a notification to let them know that you have reserved your username and downloaded the app. When this happens, they get a chance to wave you through even though they don't have an official invitation to give (and they don't use one of their invitations if they haven't already used it).
Set Up Your Clubhouse Profile
Like other social media applications, Clubhouse offers you a profile that can tell others a bit more about you and what you've got to offer.
You can select a picture from your camera roll or use your camera to take a new photo for your profile photo.
Clubhouse gives you plenty of space to write a full bio. The first three lines (about 125 characters) are available as a preview when in the app rooms, making them the most relevant words in your bio.
The first three lines are the essential words in your organic Clubhouse. The preview screen shows only your picture, how many followers you have, how many people you follow, and the three lines you obey. There's no word or character limit on your account, but if your bio is too lengthy, you'll get a text in red that asks you to try to write a shorter description.
OR
If you want to add your Instagram picture to your clubhouse account, you can add that by doing simple steps.
Go to your Clubhouse profile and scroll down to the bottom. Here, you'll see the Instagram logo along with the words "Add Instagram." Tap that, and you'll be encouraged to log in to your Facebook account to connect to your Insta profile.
If you want to disconnect your Instagram profile, there are multiple options you can do it.
First, from Clubhouse, select your profile photo to get your full profile. Then press the gear settings icon in the top-right corner.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and press the Instagram Disconnect button.
You can also detach your Instagram account from the Clubhouse by rescinding access from Instagram. Log in to the Instagram app first and go to your profile.
Then press the menu in the top right corner, select Settings from the pop-up menu, and disconnect Clubhouse.
What is the Clubhouse Hallway?
The hallway is the name of the Clubhouse for their main feed. This is where you're going to find active and ongoing chat rooms. If you have entered any Clubhouse clubs or followed any scheduled spaces, some of them will be located at the top of the hallway.
The main menu is spread over the top of the hallway. From here, you could:
- Check for a member by using a name or keyword
- Invite a new contact to enter the Clubhouse
- View the calendar of upcoming rooms
- Check your updates
- Display or edit the Clubhouse profile
How to Search for Someone on the Clubhouse app?
You can use the Search feature to locate any Clubhouse member. There is currently no way to mark your profile as private so that any Clubhouse member can be identified via this search. The search results are derived from the member's name, username, and biofields.
How to send a clubhouse invitation to someone?
You can see how many invites you've got to give out. To invite someone new to the Clubhouse, they need to contact your phone, and you need to allow Clubhouse access to your contacts. When linked, you can see a list of your available contacts and check for someone to submit an invitation.
When you invite anyone to join Clubhouse, they'll get a text message telling them you've invited them and a phone number to use when they accept the invitation.
Clubhouse App Notification
When you tap the Bell Alerts button, you'll see a list of some of the acts connected to your friends and any clubs or rooms you're following, such as:
- When someone is following you
- If someone you're related to is speaking in a room, you might be interested in it.
- When someone you're related to invites you to an ongoing room, they think you might be interested in it.
- When you're following, or a club, you're following the schedule to open a room.
What Does the Clubhouse Calendar Show?
The calendar of the Clubhouse gives you a list of upcoming rooms. Someone who may add a new room or event to this calendar can alert anyone who follows you or the club that you want to connect to your event.
How to Use the Clubhouse App Room?
Clubhouse rooms are where all the fun starts on the smartphone.
You will see a glimpse of each room as you scroll down the Clubhouse hallway, such as the room's name, some of the people in the room, and the number of people and speakers in the room.
The Clubhouse rooms shown in the hallway are open to the public, and anyone can leap into any of them at any time. Or you could start a private room with one or more of your contacts and have a private conversation.
To know who else is available to chat, swipe left on the hallway, and the Clubhouse will show you a list of everyone available if they're online and what room they're in.
The clubhouse has been built to promote connections and encourage people to create communities. But for groups to work and help ensure that everyone receives the most benefit from their experience, there are a few label guidelines that will make the experience even easier for everyone else.
What's the Clubhouse App Moderator?
There are different approaches to become a moderator in a clubhouse:
Open a new room.
Get a new moderator in your room to promote you from speaker to moderator.
If you have opened the Clubhouse room yourself or been elevated to a moderator by another speaker, you can help set the room's mood and conversation. Your moderation will have a strong effect on discussion and energy in the room.
To help with this, you're going to decide on the best way to put your speakers together before you open a room.
As a moderator, you need to be present in the room as long as it is open. When the conversation starts wrapping up, you'll want to restart it, ask questions, or invite others to share in a way that doesn't force someone else to stay in the room. If the conversation begins to get noisy and confusing, put back some order to make sure you don't lose everyone in the crowd.
If the room grows enormous, it's hard to follow along with who's talking. When this happens, make sure to introduce people who talk or ask speakers to introduce themselves to make it simple for the audience to see who talks.
Clubhouse App Clubs and How to Use Them?
Clubhouse clubs, for instance, Digital marketing Club, are used within the network to build groups. Rooms starting with a club may be private and private, reserved for group members only, or public to help Clubhouse members introduce the club.
The clubhouse is currently asking club founders to commit themselves to have at least one recurring discussion, but you can still have as many other conversations that are not recurring as you want.
Within a clubhouse club, there are four forms of membership:
Founder: The proprietor of the club. Without asking or waiting for approval, a founder may edit the club's definition and rules and invite members to join the club.
Admin: nominated by the creator or by other administrators. An admin may approve or eliminate members and open private or public rooms.
Members: An accepted member of the club. A member can build private rooms, but not public rooms, for the club. They will also see and engage and nominate other Clubhouse members to enter the club in private and public spaces.
Members can only set up one club at a time to avoid being spread too thin or to establish a club that goes dormant. The waiting time for a new club is around two weeks.
Users and Permissions
The moderators have a green star on the left side of their name. They can invite other people to the table, and they can make these people fellow moderators. Moderators can mute speakers, bring speakers back in the audience and even drive them out of the venue.
Moderators appear to "reset" the room every 20 minutes or so, where they reconfirm what the room is all about to benefit new people who joined after the discussion began.
If you start a room and make someone a moderator, they have the same privileges as you do. That means that you may be moderated by someone in your room – so be careful who you trust!
As a crowd member, you may ask to enter the stage by pressing the hand icon in the bottom right corner. Only moderators will approve this request, and they will receive a message at the top of their screen asking them to support it (but they don't have to).
Alternatively, the moderator can ask you to enter the stage. You don't have to accept that. If you agree, press the mic button in the bottom right corner to mute yourself before you're ready to say more. Otherwise, everybody in the audience can hear the background noise from your mic. If you have children or pets wailing in the background, Clubhouses will not like it.
In-Room Controls
When you're in a room, tap a picture of someone's profile to see the first three lines of their profile. Get this right on your profile to enable more users to press and read your full profile.
At the bottom of each room, there is a set of controls that differ slightly depending on your position in the room.
When you're on stage, you can "applaud" what others say by constantly pressing the mic button in the bottom right corner.
When you're in a room, tap + to pick a person to be informed ("ping") to enter the room.
If you've been made a moderator for the room, it's best to be in the room when the room comes to an end, which adds to your Clubhouse big props.
Is the Clubhouse App Worth Joining?
The appeal behind this invite-only app is that, unlike podcasts, Clubhouse is a sharing network where everyone has a chance to listen and chat to others around the world in real-time. It's a particularly great way to meet people who share similar interests during the pandemic simply by using your voice.
It feels more personal than a podcast because of the conversations between the participants," Rachel Rothman, Chief Technologist at the Good Housekeeping Institute, tells us. She uses the app to learn more about her passions, such as parenting and developing professional skills. "Since it's an audio-only site, it's easier for me to get involved while I'm cleaning up after kiddo, doing laundry, cooking.
It is worth joining the application for everyone to get engaged with other people. You can promote your other platforms as they can be connected with your Twitter and Instagram accounts.
Conclusion
There's been a lot of conversation at Clubhouse about what will happen once the app leaves a private beta and becomes public. Would the advertisers inundate the app? Can eCommerce brands come in and just want to make sales?
Most of the questions will not be answered until the Clubhouse App is public. There is also a discussion of the possible monetization of the societies there. However, with the lack of exclusivity comes the opportunity to create easy to handle and connect with communities without contributing to the already crowded editorial calendar.
But it's going to be fun to see what happens to the app in the future. And in the meantime, if you're at Clubhouse, use exclusivity to your benefit and start making those connections right now.
What are some of the ways you intend to use Clubhouse to further your business? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.