Is Clubhouse the next powerful online business-building tool for direct sellers?
The ability to develop genuine relationships while delivering value to a target audience is one of the main reasons why certain social media platforms are such a perfect fit for direct sellers. Now, Clubhouse is emerging as the next innovative business-building app, attracting a wave of direct sellers.
What is It?
Clubhouse launched in the spring of 2020 and now has more than 1 million users at any given time. It’s a live audio-only conference social platform, much like a live podcast that allows listeners to jump in and participate. You can connect with speakers and listeners to grow a following and to follow others in your interest categories. The app lets you select and follow topics you are interested in and then suggests users, rooms and clubs to follow.
Rooms are much like physical conference rooms where speakers address an audience from a virtual stage, and can even invite audience members to join them on stage to speak. When you navigate the app, you start in the hallway, which includes several suggested rooms for you to join based on the topics, people and other rooms you follow. Clubs include members interested in a particular topic or industry. You can receive notifications whenever speakers or clubs launch a room for a discussion. For now, you need an invite to join Clubhouse. When you join and participate, you are given a certain number of invites to send to others.
That’s the Differentiator?
Clubhouse is much more than just another conferencing platform. It’s a way for people to connect with and learn from speakers and other users within certain interests and industries. This makes it a terrific way to build a network and generate a loyal following. Because it’s live audio, there are no recordings or playbacks. This creates a FOMO (fear of missing out) mentality, which helps keep users engaged in an in-the-moment conversation.
Rooms are made up of three sections:
1. The Stage—where the speaker delivers the talk.
2. The Front Row—showing people followed by the speakers.
3. The Audience—people in the room listening to the conference.
Rooms could be a large keynote-style event or a handful of people discussing a certain topic. This allows you to discover and follow others you meet in a room. Anyone who starts a room is the moderator, giving you control over who joins you on stage, and giving you the ability to mute people or grant others the role of moderator. Audience members can pop in and out of public rooms whenever they want. There is an event calendar to help you keep up with upcoming events, speeches and discussions.
“If you start to think about the possibilities, there’s a great opportunity to use this platform to grow an agency or gain clients.”
Michael Stelzner / CEO, Social Media Examiner
Unlike a one-way podcast or speech, Clubhouse speakers can invite audience members on stage to be part of the discussion. Members can also “raise their hand” by clicking the hand icon in the lower-right corner to ask to come on stage. This lets users hear different perspectives and ideas. People who follow you will be notified if you go on stage to speak, which helps grow a following. You can partner with others who have larger followings so that you’re not always the only one on the stage.
Since there is no video, users don’t have to be shy about being seen or worry about their surroundings. The only images shown are user profile pictures.
Why it Matters to Direct Selling
The functionality and purpose of Clubhouse are right in line with what powers the direct selling industry by developing relationships and providing value to a targeted audience. Users create a profile with bios that can include keywords around their industry. This helps the platform suggest users to follow and rooms to join. Profiles can link to your other social media accounts, which is important since there is no personal messaging feature.
The main benefit Clubhouse provides direct sellers is to be a go-to source for information, guidance or services. The social aspect creates connections and grows networks. The strategy is to answer questions and solve problems through audience discussions, testimonials, product experiences, business-building tips, market research, or simply hold educational events.
“I’ve already had many private conversations with people I’m interested in working with,” says Social Media Examiner CEO Michael Stelzner. “If you start to think about the possibilities, there’s a great opportunity to use this platform to grow an agency or gain clients.”
