How I’m Using Clubhouse to Grow My Business

Once upon a time, I was invited to join Clubhouse. I thought, here we go again—another “quarantine” app. After test-driving so many others, I was exhausted. Still, my friend convinced me to try since it had her hooked within hours. The first conversation (or “room”) I joined was about the Asian-American experience, where people shared their raw and unedited stories. I actively listened and resonated with what everyone was saying, and thought, if these are the type of conversations we can have on Clubhouse, I’m hooked.

Using real-time audio, Clubhouse utilizes conversations between real people as its main source of connection. Some conversations are highly informative topics that range from business and marketing to the silly and fancy-free that revolve around whether a wing or drumstick is preferred. Yes, really.

So naturally, I thought, can I monetize or capture the audience to help grow my business, Unveil Our Story? Our mission is to create a communal and networking space for creative AAPI womxn. We’ve been bootstrapping and since social media continues to help grow our following, Clubhouse felt like a logical addition. We’re still growing and learning while experimenting but have already seen the potential in this app.

 

Should you gain access to Clubhouse, here are some things to keep in mind:

Know Your Why

What is your purpose for being on Clubhouse? If it’s to meet a community of people that make you feel good, go wild. Perhaps you want to discuss topics you enjoy or practice speaking in a second language. Business isn’t just about the product or service—community counts too. Clubhouse has bolstered the Unveil Our Story mission because it gives us room to authentically share our stories. We’ve been able to reach casual listeners and connect with active speakers. Engagement is stronger because we’re able to talk and share directly versus a photo caption or 140-word tweet.

Get Involved

When I started using Clubhouse, I had high hopes for the first room I hosted. A room consists of one or more moderators (in this case, myself), speakers, people who follow you, as well as people who are interested in the topic. In this case, the topic was “Creative AAPI Womxn.” I’ve been in other rooms with thousands, and while I didn’t expect that many for my first one, I was hoping for a good discussion. It ended up being a small group of five and a great start to more future discussions.

 

Since I had steadfast content, I moved from a room to an official club called “Unveil Our Story.” Each club operates differently but for us, we ask members to be open, share authentically, and connect with other members.

Think back to the clubs in your high school. They typically included a faculty administrator, members, an easily accessible meeting place/time, and an open invitation for others to join. This is how clubs operate on Clubhouse.

Think of “rooms” as one-time pep rallies where everyone is invited. The “club” is more of a mainstay; the admin is the person who started it, members are the people interested in the topic and you can connect with them by tapping on their faces for more info, including their social media handles.

Optimize Your Bio

This is why having an optimized bio section is important. Unlike Instagram, there are no other places to add photos to your account. Besides connecting through conversations, your bio is a space dedicated to you and your work. From there, finding another creator who shares your interests is as easy as entering a topic into the search bar.

Connect Your Socials

Instagram is an effective tool for sharing and promoting Unveil Our Story events. That being said, we had to make sure Instagram followers knew we were on Clubhouse. To anticipate new followers who discover our Instagram page through my Clubhouse bio, I set up a list of links in our Instagram bio too. This is important because right now, there is no ‘DM’ feature on Clubhouse.

The links in our Instagram bio guide our audience to an organized set of resources as well as a way to sign up for our email list. Google forms have also been instrumental in helping us focus our content on what people need and want. We’ve been able to ask questions like “Why are you curious about Unveil Our Story?,” and “What are some important topics that you need to unpack as AAPI womxn?” Being able to find out who our community is has given us more insight and clarity to provide information that will help unify our community and give a sense of belonging for AAPI womxn on Clubhouse, Instagram, and beyond.

Ultimately, interconnecting your social media platforms is something that you can control and expect to promote more engagement! These tactics helped my business grow but the best approach is always to do what feels best for the unique needs of you and your business.

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