#15: Social Media Strategies: Clubhouse | Katie Brinkley

On Episode 15 of the Business 360 Podcast, we continue our conversation with social media strategist Katie Brinkley. We will discuss the new social media platform, Clubhouse and the ways businesses are using it to attract customers and grow.

In this episode, we will cover:

1. What Is Clubhouse
2. Leverage Clubhouse For Business
3. Utilize Clubhouse "Clubs"
4. Monetize on Clubhouse
5. Clubhouse Predictions
6. Social Media Advice

For More Information, visit https://www.thinkbusiness360.com/

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:04 Interview
• 21:56 Outro

Transcript

Rushab Kamdar: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Business 360 Podcast where we will take a 360 degree view of all things business in under 30 minutes. I'm Rushab Kamdar and I help businesses, start up founders, working professionals and master students think business, talk business, launch their business and grow their business.

What's going on Business Heroes? Welcome to episode 15. We're going to continue our conversation with Katie Brinkley, who was our guest last week as well. On last week's episode, Katie talked all about social media strategies and specifically how to leverage Instagram for your business. This week, Katie Brinkley is going to talk about Clubhouse, the new social media app that's causing a buzz around the world. So let's listen to what Katie has to say and how we can use Clubhouse to benefit our business. So with that, let's get to it.

So we talked a little about Instagram, um, and I know you and I met on the new social media app Clubhouse, uh, and you know, for our audience, maybe you can explain what Clubhouse is and then I'll jump into further questions on, on your thoughts of Clubhouse. 

Katie Brinkley: [00:01:22] Yeah. So Clubhouse, man, I feel like, I feel like I've been on it forever, but it's really only been like four months as long as four months of my life.

That's for sure. I mean like Clubhouse really is changing the way that we connect, not just for business, but for person, you know, personal life, too. It really is elevating the entire, uh, social media experience. I, I think. So Clubhouse right now is still in the beta mode. It's still iOS or Apple only.

Rushab Kamdar: [00:01:51] And what is Clubhouse for someone that doesn't know what Clubhouse is? What is that? 

Katie Brinkley: [00:01:55] It's, it's an audio only app and what you can do on Clubhouses, you can join rooms and people in that room will be speaking on a certain topic. So honestly, it's kind of like talkRADIO mixed with a live, um, podcast and a virtual summit all rolled into one and it's all live and after a room ends, that's it. There's, there's no more, that room is over and if you missed it, then you missed it.

And so it, the app is, is brilliant with this because then it gives people the, the feeling of FOMO, fear of missing out. And so people will want to stay on the app as long as they can, because they don't want to miss another great conversation that's happening because once it's over, it's over. 

Rushab Kamdar: [00:02:44] I actually have gone from being on that app every day, having a daily room to now, I don't think I've been on the app at all this entire week. So my question to you is where do you see Clubhouse going? Because there is a, now a growing large subset of people who are saying, I dunno, I think I've come kind of demo Clubhouse. 

Katie Brinkley: [00:03:05] Yeah. You know, it is interesting to see. I mean, because as I said, we are all the beta testers and I joined back in mid December, but I didn't really understand it.

I was like, well, it seems like a giant time suck and I didn't do anything for the first, like two and a half, three weeks. And now I'm, I am back on the app. I am speaking on a daily basis, but I think that it's, I've noticed too that the rooms that they're different and I don't, I think it has a lot to do with the algorithm.

They're still working on it. They're trying to figure out how. Because my hallway, so, for those of you that aren't familiar with Clubhouse, um, you don't see all the rooms that are happening because there's tens of thousands of rooms that are going on at a certain time. And the only rooms that you can even see are the ones that show up in your feed or as they call it on Clubhouse your hallway.

And so my rooms look different from everybody else's rooms. And I might see a ton of marketing rooms because that's what I'm typically speaking on. So if I wanted to find a room all about, um, cruising, it would be really hard for me to find that even though there, there probably is one happening. So I think that a lot of people are getting discouraged because they're only seeing one type of room show up in their hallway.

Um, and with the emergence of clubs, a lot of the rooms that were happening just on their own in the hallway are now happening in a specific club. And if you are not following the club, you're not even going to be shown that room. Whereas before just opening it up to anyone in the hallway, anyone could stumble across it.

So I know that they're still working on figuring out the algorithm to make it better so that people can see more rooms, but they want to make it really a unique experience for each user. And as more people are getting on and more rooms are being hosted, it's hard if the algorithm is having a hard time keeping up.

Rushab Kamdar: [00:05:00] So let's get back to the entrepreneurs. How can they leverage Clubhouse? How can business owners use Clubhouse and benefit from it? 

Katie Brinkley: [00:05:10] You know, it's, it's a great opportunity. Well, one just, so if you're working in Corporate America and you're like, okay, well, I'm, I'm a financial analyst for, you know, whatever, how, why would I want to be on Clubhouse?

And it's not necessarily that you need to go in there and sell, but you could find some great connections for personal or business reasons just for networking. However, if you are selling, if you are selling a product and you want people to be aware of it, whether it's a, you're course creator and you have a, a new course coming out, or if you are trying to sell socks or, or anything, and you can join, you can join the stage or you can start a room talking about your product.

Um, and I'm not saying to go up on stage and pitch it, but at the same time, so, um, for example, just because this is, um, you know, this is what I do regularly is I have Clubhouse rooms and in these Clubhouse rooms, I'm teaching people Clubhouse, but if people want to work with me on social media, I tell them, you know, I'm only talking about Clubhouse.

If you guys have any questions about, you know, Instagram or LinkedIn or anything, just shoot me a DM would be happy to chat with you. That was my sales pitch right there. So I'm talking on a topic that a lot of people have an interest in and then I'm telling them, hey, if you want to work with me further connect with me and we can talk about different ways to work together.

So I think that that's a fantastic way for entrepreneurs to be utilizing this, to say, Hey, this let's all talk about business mindset, but if you want to go deeper on, you know, my coaching or whatever, let's connect in the DMs and let's see what we can do. So it's a great way for you to expand your reach for an upcoming offer that you might have.

Rushab Kamdar: [00:06:59] What you talked a little about clubs and I know Clubhouse is monetizing. Um, do you have any information on that for anybody that is a Clubhouse user? Maybe you can explain a little bit about that. 

Katie Brinkley: [00:07:08] Yeah. So, um, Clubhouse now has implemented the send money feature. So the tipping feature, um, and not, it's still a soft roll out.

Not everybody has it. I don't have it yet, but a lot of people are going on stages and sharing some valuable information that you typically would pay for at a conference or whatever. And so they've integrated this tipping feature. We'll see how that makes Clubhouse evolve. I really am curious on seeing if, if it's going to turn, uh, turn bad because right now anyone like if, if Paris Hilton was in a room and I had a question for him and she was taking questions, I can raise my hand and go talk to Paris Hilton.

Whereas, maybe in the future, you know, they say, okay, well, if you want to come up on stage and ask her a question, it's going to be $500 just go ahead and hit the send money feature. So right now, one thing that I really like is that it it's a very, anyone can get on stage and ask a question to some people that you again, can typically spend a lot of money to go and ask that question to, um, and I really like that fact that, that it does kind of give it like, Hey, look, we're all just people here hanging out, having a conversation. Where now that the money has been involved, I do feel like if things are going to change, but they have to figure out a way to monetize it. So we'll, we'll see what happens and we'll see how things continue to evolve.

Rushab Kamdar: [00:08:38] And as, as you had mentioned before on Clubhouse, you can create your own clubs within Clubhouse. Uh, and that could, for example, I could have the Business 360 Podcast Club, which I don't, but I could create a 360 Podcast Club. And, um, you know, , there can be members that follow me and, you know, I can, I can host a room that's just for those members.

Um, or I can host the room for my members and for anybody on the outside. Now, uh, I've heard, and I don't know if they've been doing this, I honestly, I haven't kept up, but are they monetizing the clubs themselves, where you to be part of a club, you have to pay maybe a monthly fee or something like that? 

Katie Brinkley: [00:09:18] I mean, that's always an option. So I mean, you think about it. So you, you did a great job explaining what clubs are in different ways to have them. Um, one of the things that some people do, so there's free Facebook groups, more people are familiar with Facebook so I'm going to go off of that. So think of a club as a Facebook group, and there's some free Facebook groups. I'm a part about a ton and I'm a part of those groups because I'm put in a group of people that have a similar interest that I do. And we can just go in there and have a conversation with each other. That's the idea behind clubs. Now I'm also a part of some paid Facebook groups. The only it's still free, um, for the owner of the Facebook, Facebook group, you know, for the admin of the group to host it on Facebook.

But what they're doing is giving that the exclusivity of being a part of this, this Facebook group. So when you sign up for my product, you get access to our exclusive Facebook group where we go live, you know, every Friday. And so that's, you know, and it's $300 a year or whatever. So that's what I can, I foresee a lot of clubs turning into. This is just me, um, you know, thinking out, you know, um, with my social media mind because it's been done in the past with Facebook groups so why not let these clubs. 

So, if you wanted to give the listeners of, of the Business 360 Podcast access to your exclusive Clubhouse club, the Business 360 Club and every single Friday after an episode launches, um, you're going to go in there, live with that guest, to speak directly to have more Q and A.

So if anyone was listening to this podcast live, but they could then join on Friday to come and ask you any questions after listening to the podcast, but you only can come to that room if you're a member of the club and it's $10 a week. So that is a way for you to give your biggest brand advocates more access to you and what your product is. So that's, that's what I foresee happening. Again, I, maybe I'm wrong, but any, I mean, money is what makes the world go round. And I foresee a lot of people trying to do that with their, with their clubs. 

Rushab Kamdar: [00:11:35] What's the name of your club?

Katie Brinkley: [00:11:41] So I have a club it's called Next Step Mods and I'm trying, I'll be full disclosure, I'm trying to figure out what direction I want it to go. I, I started the club and I had a strategy of mine. And I think, I think that my strategy has kind of evolved a little bit because what I want to offer, I don't, I don't know if I can do it within the club.

So that's yeah. So I'm in a weird, um, like predatory love- hate relationship with my own club right now. 

Rushab Kamdar: [00:12:09] I'll tell you, uh, I was doing a daily room. From Monday to Friday with another friend of mine. We were talking, it was strictly for solopreneurs and entrepreneurs about your business and we enjoyed it. And we met some great people that became our regulars. What advice do you have for anybody that starts a room and no one shows up? 

Katie Brinkley: [00:12:32] You know, and I think that it does have something to do with, I know I said this before, but with all the clubs and so people they're not being shown your room. So, I have recently been trying a new strategy of posting that same room in different people's clubs. So under different club names. So reaching out to the founders and saying, Hey, this is the room I would love to host at this time. What do you think? 

So I think that's another good strategy too. Um, I think that when everyone had the opportunity for a club that kind of was like club overload. And so, uh, it, it, now the algorithm doesn't really know what to do with all these people that are in all these weird random clubs, because they're just joining the friends clubs. So that's a new strategy that I'm trying. 

Um, and I, I do agree that it can, if nobody, if you decide to open up a room and no one shows up, that's where having your other social media networks in your email list are so important because scheduling your room and putting it out there and then saying, Hey, um, now you have a shareable link and say, Hey, for those of you that are on Clubhouse, be sure to join me on Thursday at 3:00 PM Eastern, because I'm going to be doing a deep dive on how to hosting, how to host and moderate in a Clubhouse.

So that way, all these people that you've already connected with on these other platforms are like, Oh yeah. Okay. Well, I'd actually love to hear Katie's room sometime. I noticed she's posting about it all the time. I will go and show up to this room, so that way you can promote it with your already warm audience.

Hopefully then those people who have already connected with you on other platforms will show up. But if no one shows up to your room, seriously, give it 15 minutes. Um, and that's where it's so helpful to have co-moderators, because if anything, you've already allowed, you've already scheduled this time out of your day. The two of you can just have a conversation and catch up. And if someone decides to join, bring them on up onto the stage and then continue the conversation with them. So as you're getting started, I mean, I come from radio. So I'm used to talking to myself for an extended period of time. Not everyone is. So that's why it's great having your own little mod team that you can piggyback off of each other with. 

Rushab Kamdar: [00:14:44] So we talked about Instagram, we talked about Clubhouse. Uh, there is LinkedIn, which is a medium that I like to use, uh, more prominently. I think you as well. Um, and there's, you know, there's Facebook, there's, TikTok, there's YouTube, there's now YouTube shorts. There's a whole bunch of them, uh, Pinterest as well. 

What are the, and then we're, we're coming close to the end so I think this would be a great time to ask this question too. What is the most, uh, common mistakes that people make when it comes to social media content?

Katie Brinkley: [00:15:21] Yeah. Um, I think it's honestly, so if you're, one it's being on too many social media platforms, um, because as you were just naming there, that's a lot. And if, if you're going to be posting on all of those, there's different ways to be posting on all those that's right for that audience. So, um, that's a huge mistake is trying to be on every single social media platform known to mankind. The other mistake I see a lot of businesses making is that they're not social on social media. They do their post. And then all right, then I'm done with my post and then that's it. But, I mean, imagine it as if you were at a networking event and someone walked up to you and said, hi, my name is Joe and I sell car insurance, dah, dah, this is all about me. Don't you want to buy it? And then turned around and walked away. I mean, it's like, well, wait a second. I didn't even get one to tell you anything about myself and two maybe I want to buy it, but now you've already left the room. You left the party, you know? So that's where I think that a lot of businesses miss the mark is that they are selling, they push out this content and then there's no one there to continue the conversation.

 You know, joining other  you know, commenting on other people's posts, liking other people's posts, answering people that have commented on yours that is all a huge part of social media. And if you just post it and then walk away, it's really no different than being at a party, talking about yourself for 15 minutes and then turn around and heading home.

Rushab Kamdar: [00:16:54] Uh, I, I, I love the analogy, uh, and it's so true, right? I like how you said it. A lot of people go on social media and they're not social. So, um, absolutely true. Well, what's your take on, on people who are follower obsessed, like want followers, want followers want followers?

Katie Brinkley: [00:17:14] Vanity metrics. Yeah. Um, you know, I get it. I do understand why businesses want to buy the followers or buy the likes and I can't recommend enough to not do it because wouldn't you rather have 50 brand advocates, these are your biggest fans. Every time you do a post yet you're only posting three times a week. Every post you do, they like, they comment on it, they're in your DMS, they're opening up your emails, they're responding to your, you know, anything. Those 50 people are your biggest brand advocates and they're telling all their friends about you, or would you rather have 50,000 people liking your page and you only get, you get the same amount of engagement.

No, because you're, you're basically just white noise at that point. So don't worry about the followers that you have. Um, what you want to have is the right followers. You want to have those brand advocates that are all about you and your messaging and are telling their friends about you because they like what you have to offer.

So it's just a vanity metric. Do not be obsessed over how many likes you have, how many followers you have. I know that it can seem tough because it's like, well, don't, I want to have a lot to just show that I am legit, but that's where putting out the right type of content is going to help the right followers come to your page.

Rushab Kamdar: [00:18:42] I love it. Yeah. I call that ghost followers, you know, where you have a hundred, 200, 300,000, you know, a million followers, but, uh, it doesn't transact if you're a business. And if you're a business, your purpose of being on social media is to, you know, promote your brand, of course engage and build a relationship with your followers.

But if they're not transacting, they're just ghost followers. They may have liked the one piece of content. And then they'll never look at your content again because it may not align with them. So, um, I find that in Clubhouse too. I've found there are so many people have 10, 20,000 followers, but their rooms are like eight people, 12 people, and, you know, you collected a lot of people that liked something that you said, but they're not coming back and listening again and again and again.

And you know, that's the funny thing about "followers". So I'll leave you with this last question. Uh, what parting advice would you give to, um, any aspiring or experienced entrepreneur, um, that's listening to this podcast? 

Katie Brinkley: [00:19:44] I love this question because I, I never expected to be an entrepreneur. And if it was not for the other business people who came into my life at the right time and then just gave me the gift of their time to give me some advice, I wouldn't be where I am today. So I really think that believing in yourself is huge and your idea but mindset is everything. Um, we, as entrepreneurs can be our own biggest obstacle.

And a lot of times we're trying to do all the things we're trying to juggle all the balls that are up in the air. And there's a lot of them, um, you know, from, from the marketing to the sales, to the, you know, product development to, I mean, like there's so many, but the second that you take a step back and find the people that you can surround yourself with that will really help you grow your business that's when you're going to grow. When you can focus on the parts that you're most passionate about and contract out or hire somebody else out to do the work that you just don't have time for or that you know is starting to fall between the cracks. So find the right people to help you make you stronger and have the right mindset because you are your biggest obstacle and, um, I think that once you take both of those on, um, I think that's when you're really going to see your business grow. 

Rushab Kamdar: [00:21:11] Fantastic advice. I love it. Um, uh, two big things for me in entrepreneurship mindset, which you just mentioned and empathy. Um, if you can really get yourself to feel what others are going through your, especially your customers, um, then you're going to be that you're going to be, you're going to be a success. So, uh, with that, I really, really want to thank you, Katie, for being a guest on the Business 360 Podcast. 

Katie Brinkley: [00:21:35] This was awesome. Thank you so much for having me. Great conversation. I'm so glad that we connected on Clubhouse. 

Rushab Kamdar: [00:21:40] Yeah, absolutely. See, this is the benefit of networking on social media. A great example, as we talk about social media. Thank you again, Katie. And I look forward to staying in touch with you. 

Thank you for joining us on the Business 360 Podcast. To learn more about our guests, go to thinkbusiness360.com. In life, I follow two things that keep me grounded. Number one, if you only listen to someone's successes and not their failures, you've only heard half the story and number two, compete with yourself and help everyone else. You stay classy, Business Heroes.