7 Ways to Build a Following on the Clubhouse Audio App

Clubhouse, the brand connection elixir!

The Clubhouse App was launched to the Apple iOS into beta in 2020 during the heart of the world Covid-19 pandemic with an "invitation only" brand strategy. It's an audio social media app.

It arrived at the right time for people who were tired of being in lockdown or experiencing periods of quarantine.

People were mentally and emotionally exhausted from living through a pandemic, separated from the people they love, creative art experiences, and worried about staying connected to business clients, partners, and customers.

You can build an engaged community there and move quickly to other platforms or even onto your email list.

First to Market is a Brand Strategy

This perfect timing in the connection starved storm contributed to the beta launch's skyrocketed growth and success.

It didn't hurt that the founders and creators gave exclusive "first look" use to a few celebrities, investors, and critical people they knew if they loved it, they would quickly invite their friends using their invitations to the app.

Suppose you're wondering how the clubhouse app works and why everyone who hops on and figures it out, hooked. I mean, 24/7 addicted to the experience on the app.

The Clubhouse App is the first social app that is genuinely social capitalizing, on our ability to talk, meet and connect with new people (oh dare I say strangers) in rooms where you can listen and speak to them if and when you want to talk.

Clubhouse is Like Attending an Event

Thinking of it in this way helps you prepare yourself for the experience of being social, and for my introverts out there that you are most likely at some point you will be invited to talk! 

Since you are here and your focus is on building your brand, it's helpful to think of it as attending a conference.

When you go to an event, you are expecting to meet a lot of new people. You might also sit down in some rooms and listen to the speakers present and teach and at that time, you are quiet and listen in on the other conversations.

At a live event or conference, when that presentation is over, what do you do next?

You walk into the HALLWAY because you might have to grab some water, catch a bathroom break, or meet up with a friend. HALLWAY is the terminology that the app creators Paul and Rohan use to describe the feed shows when you log into the app.

It is a feed that you scroll through that will show you lots of rooms, experiences, club-hosted rooms, and topics that people have gathered around. When you select the room, you enter and are in listener mode. You are considered the audience. But let's say your friend is up at the top, and a moderator might invite you to speak. If you accept, you then are now brought up to the "stage." Are you getting the hang of how this concept works?

It's pretty easy. You are in control of your experience, or at least that was the intent of the founders. There are always algorithms with social media tools and this one is attempting to know what you are interested in, topics you care about, people you like to listen to, and clubs you join. It is a bit of the opposite of the "follower" mentality. It's a shared experience.

So with this app, if you don't follow people, or join clubs, you may find your experience on the app frustrating and boring. When you first join, the app asks you to follow a few people. Find some interesting people and follow them.

Soon your hallway in the app will start to show you new rooms with people talking in them that might be better for you. Thousands of rooms and millions of people are talking, but we can't see them all. It feels really limited but it's not. It does take some tweaking to curate your hallway and see things you like.

Why does this work for personal brands who want to build a following on Clubhouse?

To be successful as a coach, consultant, brand, and business owner using the Clubhouse App, you must be interested and interesting, or people will find other rooms to hang out in and learn from...and stop following you.

You can build an engaged community there bring them into your business brand by offering them value and reason consider you, your business, or product as an option to solve their problems. The speed at which people get to like, know, and trust you is faster!

Why is speaking in the Clubhouse App important and influential?

We can hear your heart and your tone of voice. We are using more than our visual sense of "seeing" to judge a person or business brand. When we hear people's voices, the words they speak, the app is proving that the LIKE, KNOW, and trust speeds up. It doesn't take as many impressions to get the attention of the people you can help.

Here's the thing, though. Your Values Stand Out!

It's not an app just for buying and being sold too. So it's more than a business tool. I care about learning to be and practicing being the change in the world on issues of DEI, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. I also like supporting causes, charities, and organizations. I also really like supporting creators in the arts such as DJs, music, theatre, and vocal artists.

Clubhouse has opened a new way for people to connect. I encourage you to give it a try because...

1. Business Moves at the Speed of Relationships!

Yes, that is a Jim Roan quote that I heard from my mentor and friend Todd Herman. You can't say I want to have more customers, clients, and followers without building a relationship with them.

The app gives you the tool to develop relationships very quickly and grow your connections. But don't treat them as followers is a mistake. Follow up with them. Treat them as if they lived in your town, your neighborhood, or your street. Treat them with respect and remember they are a person.

2. Download the Clubhouse App

*(iOS devices) Make sure it says Alpha Exploration Co. in the app store, another app is called "clubhouse." Android is coming soon and in development.

Don't have an invite? There is another way. You can register your name and get on the waitlist. Download the app and register your name and wait.

Users of the app can see when their friends are waiting to join, and it tells us! So surprise, your friend might automatically click the button that allows you into the clubhouse app. Hopefully, since you're friends, they will be excited to see you, and they will send you a message using another method to let you know that you can use the app. This is how I initially got on the app. My friend saw I was waiting at the door.

You can take action because my next tip is to have a bio prepared. It's going to take you some time, and it's a very important part of building a following on Clubhouse. So use your notes app on your phone and start a rough draft.

3. Create Your Bio!

Since I started using the app, I have edited my bio at least ten times. You will want to edit your bio and be okay that it isn't perfect the first time you create it. The bio is searchable so you will want to have the right info there so people can find you using the search feature.

Optimize the top three lines of the bio section so that people want to click the read more. They are very generous with the real estate here. It's almost like a website web page. So it will benefit you to consider that it functions like that for users on the app.

They want to know if you are a person they want to know and follow. I am not saying keyword stuff here but be intentional so that the right followers can find you.

You might notice that people use a ton of emojis on the app. You know why? They are searchable are assigned meaning and weight in the app. It will be best if you learn the language of emojis so that you use them correctly to enhance your titles and bio.

4. Connect Your Instagram or Twitter

You can connect either on Twitter or Instagram. I'm going to assume that most of you are Instagram users with a visual brand presence. There are two main reasons to connect your account.

The first is that this is how people can reach out to you. Followers won't be helpful to your brand if they are not people to who you can help, sell a product, or coach. We want to make sure we are attracting the right people. 

When they think are attracted they will most definitely try to learn more about you and make their way over to your other account. Since Clubhouse doesn't have a way for someone to send a direct message to you they will likely use a private message on their favorite social media app.

The second reason is that people are doing their due diligence to check you out. So the curiosity path is usually. Click on a person's Clubhouse bio, read it, scroll to the bottom of the bio and check out your other social media feeds. Are you consistent with your branding? Your messaging?

Currently what I'm experiencing on the app is the people who are interested in you are going to say hello. They may even tell you how they found you in the clubhouse. They most likely are going to give you a follow on Instagram and/or Twitter as well.

Speeding up the amount of time it takes to build brand authority and trust with new people is huge for a business. The faster they connect the faster they become customers.

You might not have an IG account yet but it's easy enough to create one.

Fill out your bio there to match your brand, upload at least 6 posts with images. Tell your story in those posts and now you have enough information for someone to know that it's you and you are who you say you are...keep it on brand.

5. Reserve Your Own Stage! Register your CLUB.

Register your Club room, but be intentional and thoughtful. Don't rush! Give it some thought about its purpose and how it aligns with your brand content communication plan.

You will have to think about a few things and answer such questions like:

• What will you name the club?
• What is the essence and value of the club?
• What will be your time commitment?
• When will your club meet (what's the schedule)?
• What topics will you talk about and schedule?

Perhaps most important of all is to consider how this new channel fits into your brand? You need to plan for and make sure you have a strategy to keep connected with your new friends and potential customers by using a sales funnel. From a marketing perspective, you can also consider integrating and creating a unique experience that helps keep the right followers, the right people on the journey.

6. Be the Hostess with the Mostest

It's a skill to speak and present your message to people. It's okay if you are not great at this yet. You simply show up, practice, and learn. Learn by doing, practice just in time (JIT) learning.

There are plenty of rooms and clubs that the topic is helping you master your moderation skills. There are regular meetings with beginner tips of styles of clubhouse rooms, how to treat people with fairness and respect in the clubhouse app.

In general, these rooms (meetings) will teach you how to facilitate a room (a meeting, a chat). There are multiple styles of moderation of rooms and how the experience flows. 

Figuring out what types of rooms you like and why and what types you want to learn how to run in that style is part of the fun of starting your own club or chat room. It's not just one person with the microphone.

7. SPEAK! Your Truth

Use your voice, share your ideas, and brand your truth!

People are craving the opportunity to be heard and to be seen. Your clients are waiting for you. They are trying to find the best person for them if you are a coach, author, or education knowledge-based entrepreneur.

My favorite day on the app was International Women's Day celebration.

I spent most of my time in one room most of the day and even was able to get my feet wet moderating a room in progress. It's all good practice.

The most powerful part of that room experience was that the moderators set the tone of how the room would be run.

Women would come up to the "stage" to the top of the app window, where they now had the function controlling their mic. They could turn it on and off to speak. The intention was that everyone would get a chance to speak. Then that person would introduce the person "sitting" next to them in the room.

They were essentially "passing the mic" giving each beautiful woman a chance to shine. As I sat there and listened to one person after another empower the next strong female voice to speak her truth, I realized the true impact this app will have for women.

There is no pretending or faking it on the app, people can see through your shenanigans if that is how you choose to use the app. We can hear it.

The giggles, laughter, and shouts of joy praising the unique things accomplished in her life! Then she would pause and reflect on the power of listening to the person before she shares her voice. If only for a brief but powerful moment she felt honored. She felt seen. She felt heard. This is true women's empowerment.

Now, I'm going, to be honest. Prepare yourself, bad actors are everywhere. They haven't ruined the app yet and they do listen to the users. Townhalls have become the norm. March 17, 2021, is the one-year celebration for the clubhouse app. It's still relatively new.

Maybe you have never been given the chance to speak or the opportunity to shine? Come join me form real relationships and real connections.

If you use your time wisely you can see your community grow and strengthen which also helps grow and strengthen your brand.

Join me? Click the link below for a safe space to try it out.

👋 Brand Your Truth™ Club