On Friday, Owen Richards, Founder of Air Marketing Group and I, together with Becky Brennan from Optix ran our first Clubhouse Room. We called it “Sales and Marketing Tips for SMEs”. It lasted two hours. These are my thoughts on the session and how I see Clubhouse fitting into other businesses in the future.

I can say one thing with absolute certainty. Audio is here to stay and one platform, either Clubhouse as first mover, or one of the big platforms copying it (its happening already btw) WILL win this space.

So at Noon on Friday we jumped into our room, quite unaware of what might occur. The three of us setup a WhatsApp group in the background so we could talk to each other. I’d recommend this to anyone. Almost immediately people we knew and some we didn’t, started to enter the room. When you’re in a room, you can ‘ping’ people into it so we spent a few minutes before we started doing just that and then we were ready to begin.

As moderators, we did a little intro and then we started into questions. With Owen’s expertise in Sales and my own in Marketing, we began asking each other a series of questions on the other’s specialist subject. It was fun. We riffed with a couple of other people joining us on stage and covered everything from Sales Leaders to Cold Calls, from SEO tactics to Digital Strategy. We even threw in 20 mins on Entrepreneurship while we recounted some of our own journeys and lessons learnt.

We didn’t reach mega numbers but I guess there were 20 people there at one point and this session was always going to be about learning for us. One of my key takeaways was that to run a room you really do need a skill in hosting. There is a fair bit of admin in letting people know they can come to the stage, asking for questions and keeping the conversation flowing. Next time we’ll definitely be asking more people to get involved. If you’re interested, drop me a line :)

What’s the Future for Businesses?

The platform has received quite a bit of negative press over the last few weeks. As with all new things, people who don’t immediately see the benefits struggle to stick with it and call out the downsides. Its a textbook adoption cycle and we are firmly in the early adopter’s stage.

So how will a tool like this fit in when we reach the majority stages? Well that’s yet to be seen but here’s a few of my thoughts.

1). Imagine a Solicitors using the platform to put on a session about the latest in HR law. They have HR experts on the panel and invite their clients or prospects to either an open or private room. Lead gen at its best.

2). Imagine a networking group setting up a club and allowing their members to setup rooms within that club. Members would be instantly advised of these taking place, helping those members attract more people to their rooms. Community building.

3). Imagine a Digital Marketing Agency running drop in sessions, private rooms for their clients which they could jump in and out of and ask experts in the team certain questions. Retention.

4). Imagine Gyms and Leisure centres hosting experts for their members to come in and ask and learn about health/fitness/nutrition. Adding value.

5) Imagine Wedding venues hosting rooms on top tips for wedding planning and everything that goes with it. Cross sell / Up Sell Potential

6). Imagine professional sports clubs running sessions with their players, giving insight into what a normal day in their life looks like and tips/advices to fans. Engagement and Community Building.

7). There is a lot of talk of monetisation of the platform right now. Imagine running and charging for a room or club, much as you would an event in real life (but without all the travel). Companies and individuals could earn good money for getting people to attend their events.

There will be loads of innovative ways this can be used in business and those who act now will be ahead of the curve.

Feel free to be a hater, just not around me please :)

[image shows our first ever Clubhouse room]