You’ll find me in the club…
You may know me as a people photographer, working on personal brand photography for small businesses and storytelling imagery for families in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Angus.
So why would someone like me - someone who speaks the visual language - become such a vivid supporter of the relatively new platform – the Clubhouse?
And, has it peaked before it even launched?
The answer is simple – while yes, Instagram is absolutely the obvious choice for being my bae of all social media platforms (and it still is, btw), Clubhouse has unexpectedly snuck in and become a firm favorite.
If you haven’t heard of Clubhouse yet – or maybe you have, but in very vague terms, let me give you a little run down.
So basically it is a social media platform. It’s audio-based and its visual capabilities are very limited – you can make the most by working hard on your bio and play with your profile pic, but that’s it.
The rest (everything!) comes in the form of your authentic self.
The beauty of Clubhouse is that you can’t completely pre-plan how the conversation is going to go.
Yes, you might have some topics in mind, but all in all (and what works best), it’s a free-flowing conversation tool, enabling people to network, collaborate, meet new people and strengthen existing relationships.
It's a platform where you can learn, communicate and so much more.
In my experience, your experience will be enhanced only if you are willing to share the stage – if you’re looking to have a monologue for an hour, consider other methods of communicating to your audience – Clubhouse is not even a two way street, it’s a roundabout!
Word of warning though, there is a risk of joining the platform and either going down the black hole of rooms and losing track of time or not seeing anything that resonates with you, signing off and never coming back – thus missing out on many opportunities.
And I would be dishonest if I didn’t mention the whispers about the platform not only slowing down, but drawing to halt - I will share my point of view on this in a couple of paragraphs below...
So how do you maximise your experience on Clubhouse?
Well, going by my own personal journey, here are three top tips on how to make it an asset in your personal and business life and not a time suck:
Follow the leader-leader. More to the point follow some people that you know will deliver value in everything they do. You’ll be surprised how many mentors and peers are already on the platform – just search their name and follow. Do the same with Clubs – search on some key terms of your interests – and, by the way, this doesn’t necessarily have to be what you do for work, this could be a hobby or an interest, or something that inspired curiosity in you – for example, I am a member of the Business Scotland Club, which is pretty self-explanatory, a foodies’ club, a club for UK creatives and various photography clubs. Once you start following a bunch of people and clubs, your feed (Hallway) will fill up with rooms (conversations) that you are likely to find interesting.
You can dip in and out and see how it resonates with you – if you like the conversation, follow more people talking or the club, set a reminder for this room taking place next time etc.
This way you can start actively curating your experience on Clubhouse.
Don’t be afraid to leave.
There is a nifty little button, once you enter a live room, ‘leave quietly’. At the beginning of my journey on Clubhouse, I felt so self-conscious leaving – as if I was betraying everyone in the room! But as time goes on, you learn that people come and go and one thing is for sure – you’d rather have a small, engaged audience (whether you’re speaking or simply listening in) than a crowd of many just sitting there to be seen (yes, this is a marketing ‘strategy’ for some!)
Persevere and cultivate. Just as with anything new, things take time. Clubhouse was originally a bit of a dark horse, where you could only join the platform, if you got an invite from someone – and the whole process was a bit extra (and unnecessary). Together with the app only being rolled out to those with Apple devices and thus alienating a whole bunch of Androids and their users (and any other techno-makers), Clubhouse is said to have lost some of its momentum – BUT.
There’s usually a ‘but’ – Clubhouse has now rolled into the Android app market and invites have become a LOT less scarce – which means more access for the masses and more opportunities to reach wider audiences as well as learning from more people.
As often with things that storm the scene, there was a period of a lull, where people started feeling a bit lost and disillusioned – attending a few rooms with trolls or people only interested in serving themselves can do that to you – but I believe that Clubhouse is here to stay – and it can and will be the platform you make it to be for yourself.
In the meantime, I’ll close with this…
You’ll find me in the Club – likely the Business Scotland Club, either hosting the Personal Brand, Social Media & Visibility room at 12:30 on Thursdays, moderating the Networking & Intros room at lunch time on Wednesday, or listening in to any other chat.
As the club founder Yekemi Otaru says – if you’re in Scotland, want to be in Scotland or want to work with Scotland – this is the place for you!
In addition to all the fabulous rooms Business Scotland Club is hosting weekly, there is a very exciting event being planned for end of August 2021 – its first online Summit, where we will come to learn, share and grow – as business owners and also individuals. The Summit topics will range from property to food to personal brand to running a business in Scotland - you will not want to miss it!
If this sounds like an event you cannot afford to miss, be sure to follow Business Scotland Club here
And on a slightly different note - and wearing my family photographer hat, I would love for you to read this awesome blog by Melissa Jeffcoat, who specialises in Newborn Photography Boca Raton
and sharing a beautiful family session with a newborn. If you need something to smile about today, this will sure raise your spirits!
Hey, I’m Iana, Personal Brand & Professional Headshot based in Aberdeen.
Passionate about all thinags local, a self-proclaimed small business champion, I work with small business owners to create storytelling imagery of your brands.
With beautiful, professional photography you can make the right first impression, mesmerise and charm your audience.
Ready to become irresistible?
Let’s start here - I’d love to hear from you! 👋🏽
