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Clubhouse's Path to Ubiquity and Monetization: Mallory Lee
53 Plays4 years ago
How’s Clubhouse going to make money?
Given the platform’s growth, it’s a fascinating question.
Of course, Clubhouse has time given it just raised more VC.
But, at some point, Clubhouse will embrace monetization.
Mallory Lee says the possibilities are endless.
She believes the options include:
- Advertising
- Sponsored rooms
- Private rooms for companies looking to connect employees via audio rather than video
Personally, I think podcasting a huge opportunity for Clubhouse.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Marketing Spark Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
It's Mark Evans, and you're listening to Marketing Spark, a podcast that delivers insight, tools, and tips from marketers and entrepreneurs in the trenches in 25 minutes or less.
Clubhouse - The New Social Media Sensation
00:00:10
Speaker
In the past month, Clubhouse has gone from a low-profile social media platform to a red-hot entity, despite being invite-only and limited to iOS users. Many people are enthusiastically exploring the audio platform to learn more about how it works and its potential benefits.
Guest Introduction: Mallory Lee
00:00:28
Speaker
And one of those people is Mallory Lee, who has established herself as a popular room moderator, which we'll get into. Mallory, welcome to Marketing Spark. Thanks for having me.
What Makes Clubhouse Appealing?
00:00:38
Speaker
So for the uninitiated, maybe you can provide us with your take on Clubhouse. What is it? How does it work? Why is it so popular? I think, you know, there was some scarcity of invites, so it made it really popular, right? People were like, what is this?
00:00:51
Speaker
And I didn't even know what it was when I first signed up. I just knew I had to be a part of it. Right. And then I really dove in and I akin it to, there's two, two parts of it. There's the, it seems like a conference, right? Where you can listen to people speak on a subject or topic that's interesting to you.
Integrating Clubhouse with LinkedIn Strategy
00:01:08
Speaker
And maybe you get to pipeline and ask questions, but maybe not because there might be a thousand people in the room, or it's more like a live podcast where you can interact and there's a topic and there might be, you know, 20, 30 people in the room.
00:01:19
Speaker
and I've seen them as low as 10 people. So you can get firsthand knowledge and information from subject experts that you may not have otherwise been able to connect with.
00:01:29
Speaker
One of the things that I'm curious about is that a lot of hardcore LinkedIn users have jumped on Clubhouse. So a couple questions to ask you, have you discovered what the synergies are between the two platform, how you can make one plus one equal three? And the second one would be, how do people split their time? Because LinkedIn is a creature that needs a lot of love and attention and so does Clubhouse.
00:01:51
Speaker
So when I first dove in, I was on Clubhouse a lot more. And now I'm more methodical with my time. I don't just go in rooms to go in rooms. I go in rooms to learn and to share information. And I think with LinkedIn, what I've been doing is when I'm in a room, whoever's in that room, I connect with them immediately on LinkedIn, hey, saw you on Clubhouse. So I'm able to transition the conversations I'm having on Clubhouse into a forum
00:02:15
Speaker
where I can control it a little better. You can't control it as much because there's moderators and you can't chat with the other person while you're on it. You've got to take that conversation elsewhere to nurture it. Tell me about your Clubhouse backstory. How long have you been on the platform?
Mallory's Clubhouse Journey
00:02:30
Speaker
Who invited you? Was it immediately appealing or do you have to think about it?
00:02:35
Speaker
So I I saw chatter on a LinkedIn and I had no idea what it was and I messaged my friend Ariel Lee and I was like, Hey, what's clubhouse. Can you get me an invite. And she's like, I got you. So she got someone to give me an invite.
00:02:48
Speaker
And the first week I like was on it way too much. I mean, I like was walking around with my headphones and ignoring my entire house. And I realized that that was too much. So, you know, you have to be a little, you know, a little bit better where you put your time and stuff. I've been on it for a few weeks now and I enjoy it. I enjoy it now that I control it a little better. Like it's really easy to get sucked in and you know, have that mentality where you just don't want to turn it off, but you, you've got to, you've got to be more wise with your time. I think, you know,
00:03:17
Speaker
Yeah, it's like a shiny new toy, especially for people who love social media. And if you spend a lot of time on LinkedIn and you're seeing the benefits, there's almost this sense of FOMO because people don't want to miss out on something.
Why is Clubhouse Addictive?
00:03:29
Speaker
If Clubhouse turns about to be amazing, they don't want to be a laggard.
00:03:33
Speaker
One of the things I found is, like you, I spent a lot of time on Clubhouse listening to random conversations, a lot of them about LinkedIn, ironically. And I was really amazed by the fact that people are so enthusiastic and so rabid about it. Do you think Clubhouse is addictive or you think it's just new and interesting and people just can't help themselves?
00:03:51
Speaker
I think, you know, with the climate of COVID, everyone having to be on Zoom and look pretty and presentable, it's nice to easily be able to hop on a platform and not worry about what you're doing, right? So that's something that I enjoy about it. Like I could easily pop it onto my car or I'm getting ready for work or, you know, I don't have to worry about how I look and I can still engage with these people that I otherwise would have in a Zoom situation too. Do you know what I mean? I think it's a great tool to use if you're using it correctly.
00:04:17
Speaker
And it's important to know too, it's not just about business. Like I'm in a nutrition one that I listen to on time to time. You know, there's other aspects of it that's beyond just, you know, the business side too. So.
00:04:28
Speaker
That's interesting because the more that I explore Clubhouse, the more that I realize there's rooms about everything and anything.
Connecting on Clubhouse
00:04:35
Speaker
I think what makes Clubhouse appealing these days is a lot of people are feeling disconnected and lonely and isolated. They also want to connect with people, like-minded people, really easily. Clubhouse is a great platform of that. I think one of the things I like about Clubhouse, if you can get an invite, is that
00:04:52
Speaker
any rooms available to anyone. And for the most part, you can raise your hand, get on stage and participate. And I think that's it's almost like they're democratizing the platform. I think that's the really interesting thing about Clubhouse.
00:05:04
Speaker
I think if you're going to start out in your first learning, really just learning etiquette too. When we first started, there was a bunch of us that would get in a room and just talk about clubhouse etiquette and just making sure that you're not over speaking the moderators and you're asking appropriate questions and you're not rambling on, right? You need to treat it like a forum where you're asking experts questions versus we're having a conversation to have fun. Do you know what I mean?
Networking Strategy: Clubhouse to LinkedIn
00:05:28
Speaker
One of the things that I'm interested in is just a lot of people are trying to see the value of Clubhouse, both professionally and personally, because it can be a rabbit hole. You can get on Clubhouse and an hour or two hours later, you're still listening and still participating. So far, you've been on at a short time. What's been the value to you? Like, what are you getting at a Clubhouse that is going to make it part of your social media portfolio?
00:05:51
Speaker
I think because I've been very methodical about how I use it and I don't just go on there and not connect with the people that I'm engaging with because they're starting to get to know me, especially because I moderate rooms a lot and I host rooms too where I'm the subject matter expert. I always make sure I connect with them on LinkedIn. Someone might be in the room with me and I'll never see them again, where I maybe had a good conversation with them.
00:06:14
Speaker
or if I pull that conversation onto LinkedIn, I can nurture it. I think that's been the most beneficial thing for me and I've met really good people that have become great connections for me and now they're in my professional network, which I think is really helpful.
00:06:28
Speaker
So if someone's new to Clubhouse and they're trying to be strategic about the content that they consume and the rooms that they participated in, can you give them some tips?
Tips for Newcomers on Clubhouse
00:06:37
Speaker
Because it is very hard A to know exactly where to be because Clubhouse doesn't really have a good scheduling interface yet. So how do you identify the places where you should be or you want to be and then plant it within your schedule?
00:06:51
Speaker
I would start here. I wouldn't go into scheduled rooms quite yet. You probably have a friend on Clubhouse if you're on there because you have to have an invite. I would look in your app to see people that you're following, which rooms they're in, and go into those rooms. Because then you've already got someone that you know, and usually I'll say, my friend so-and-so just popped into the room if I'm moderating. I think it'll help you get more comfortable with the platform.
00:07:17
Speaker
and then start popping onto rooms that you don't know the person or it's like a new room for you. That's how I got most comfortable with it.
00:07:25
Speaker
So a lot of people start on Clubhouse, they're just participants and they don't want to say anything. They don't want to raise their hand. They're terrified to go on stage. And then people get a little brave or they raise their hands, they get on stage. And it's kind of like where I live in Canada, we go to the cottage and you jump in the lake. So it's kind of like being on the dock of the, in the lake, right? You know, it's going to be cold or you think it's going to be cold and you wait and wait and someone shoves you in. And then suddenly it's not as cold as you think. And that's what Clubhouse feels like. So once you get on stage, it's great. Then you want to host a room.
00:07:53
Speaker
But you've become a very popular moderator.
Becoming a Sought-After Moderator
00:07:56
Speaker
I've used you for three of our rooms and it's been great. How did that happen? I have no idea. I think when we would just host these rooms about LinkedIn and my friends and I would make each other moderators because you need at least two moderators in case you get kicked out of the room as the moderator because your whole room will collapse.
00:08:17
Speaker
We started doing it and then I realized it was fun. I hosted my own rooms a couple of times and then people just started asking me to moderate. Nothing I've ever done before, so it was a skill that I had to learn. I'm a polite Southern woman and sometimes I feel like I have to be a little pushy, controlling a room, but it's just so we can make sure the flow of the conversation is done well. It was just interesting. It happened very organically and I do enjoy it.
00:08:44
Speaker
Couple questions. One is what makes for a good moderator? What are the skills that you need? How do you make a room flow and make everybody feel included and engaged and make it open to participate? And two, if someone asked you to be a professional moderator, would that be something that you jump into?
00:09:02
Speaker
Sure. That sounds fun.
Qualities of a Good Moderator
00:09:04
Speaker
I like to talk. I've almost lost my voice by the end of every day, but I think one of the things that when you're moderating is you're going to have questions and answers. I've noticed rooms go a couple of ways. People are very engaged and they ask a lot of questions, or they're not. There's no other time. Whoever you're a subject matter expert is,
00:09:27
Speaker
it's good to give me some questions to ask you. So that way, if it does get a little bit of a lull in the conversation, we're not just him and Han trying to figure it out. And then as the subject matter expert, having to be able to pipe in and give some information. Also too, when you have someone that is asking questions or helping, like having the conversation with you that is on stage, when maybe it's gone long or someone else is waiting to ask the question, learning how to pipe in politely,
00:09:53
Speaker
and move to the next person, I've kind of gotten better at that. And a little trick I've learned is whoever is on, whoever I'm moderating with, I have them on chat, LinkedIn, where I can message them while I'm on it. So if I need to help, like, almost like a back way of saying, hey, I need help here, or hey, say this real quick, it really helps drive that conversation that
Crafting Valuable Clubhouse Rooms
00:10:14
Speaker
way too.
00:10:14
Speaker
So what makes for a good room? Some rooms are awesome and you get a lot of value out of them and some they just drone on and on. And it seems like the hosts are more interested in promoting themselves than actually having a conversation. So in your experience, what makes for a good room? I think having an actual topic with talking points that you're going to discuss and keeping it on that topic will be a good room.
00:10:36
Speaker
You have to stick to what you're speaking about. I just did a room about creating a badass culture in your company. I did that with someone who is in leadership and has a consulting company for leadership. Somehow, everyone in our room was car dealership people. I guess one went in there and then everyone followed them. That's crazy. Yeah.
00:11:00
Speaker
I had to kind of tailor the conversation to them because it was, you know, it was all about partnerships, but we were able to talk about leadership in that. So really being able to adapt to is very helpful.
00:11:12
Speaker
The question that I have when it comes to rooms is, how do you get people to actually come to a room? Because there can be rooms where it's crickets, right? No one shows up and you're sitting there going, I hope someone appears, although it's going to be just me and my other moderator. And some rooms are packed. What are some of the tricks? Is it the number of followers you have? Do you ping people? Do you invite people off-site? How do you do that? So I will just screenshot the clubhouse.
00:11:34
Speaker
like invite and then just post that. I believe that helps a lot, but also what I recommend and have the moderators do this as well, the entire time I'm on that room, I'm pinging. Anytime, and I don't just do it in the beginning, I do it like every five minutes, I'll ping people that follow.
00:11:52
Speaker
And whenever I'm in a room, I follow people. So if I'm following them, I can ping them and that's helped a lot. And then what's cool is a lot, like I said, like a lot of people will go in rooms where they know people. So I think that's how this one with this car dealership happened. We had like 10 people that worked in car dealerships. It was so interesting. So they just probably saw their friend go in there and, you know, I've never asked anyone in the room to ping anyone, but I mean, I don't see the wrong in doing that. That might be a way too.
00:12:18
Speaker
Exactly. So here's a loaded question given that Clubhouse is about a year old.
Future of Clubhouse: Monetization and Beyond
00:12:24
Speaker
It has nine employees. It just raised another round of venture capital. People figure that it's probably valued at about half a billion dollars these days, which is pretty crazy considering it has no revenue. Where do you think Clubhouse is going? Where would Clubhouse be a year from now if you and I decided to do another podcast? I think that my thought is that eventually
00:12:46
Speaker
you'll be able to go in a room and I've heard like maybe they're talking about, you might be able to tip the person that's speaking. I think that might be a monetized, maybe companies will sponsor rooms so that's how they would be monetized. Like that's where I'm seeing it. And you joked, I mean, maybe there are people that are professional moderators. It's really interesting. It's so fresh and so new. It'll be interesting to see where it goes.
00:13:12
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, one of my theories is that Clubhouse will turn into some kind of podcast platform where it's interactive, it's engaging, it's just the two of us talking. It would be people from the audience as well. And maybe Clubhouse will allow people to record rooms and then they can repurpose the content in another place. That may be somewhere, something that they could offer as a paid service.
00:13:32
Speaker
Well, and it's, and I can see like teams using it in companies is like big companies where they need to be able to easily conference people into a room. So maybe they don't want to do video, but they need to have like a quick team meeting and there's 20 people on them. You might then I could see them charting companies to do that. Right. So then you can host your own private room to have a quick team meeting across the country, especially with this climate of, of working from home. Right.
00:13:58
Speaker
it's going to be fascinating as Clubhouse opens up the platform to more people, including Android users. Apparently, that's coming soon. Clubhouse could be anything and everything depending on how you want to use it.
Mallory's Role as Fractional COO
00:14:09
Speaker
Let's switch gears a little bit and talk about you and what you do when you're not on Clubhouse. You offer fractional COO services. What does that mean? Who do you work for? How do you deliver value? Give me the story of Mallory Lee.
00:14:22
Speaker
So I owned, um, I owned a company. I was a CEO of a company when I was a little younger. I ended up buying that company. Um, and I sold it and I was like, what do I love on a daily basis? And it's operations like operations are my jam. So I go into companies and I help fix their operations, create them, write their process manuals, help them with their employee culture.
00:14:41
Speaker
We do a full review of how their business operates and we perfect it. I work for myself. It's really fun. I really enjoy it because I own the business. I know what it feels like to
00:14:53
Speaker
Pay all your bills and not be able to pay yourself. I know the struggles of starting a company and then I know the fruits of your labor and saying, hey, I did this really great thing and now I have all these employees that are loving what they do. So I just want to pass that knowledge on to other business owners. And it's been a lot of fun and we've been able to help a lot of companies. So if you're a business owner, what are the challenges or the opportunities that you can help them with? Why would they call you?
00:15:17
Speaker
There's two things that I really harp on and one is that disorganization breeds frustration. If your company's disorganized, you're going to have frustrated employees. Frustrated employees have turnover. If I can go in and fix those operations and make sure that it's a well-oiled machine, you take the guesswork out of their job and it makes it a lot easier.
00:15:37
Speaker
And then one of the things I've noticed, especially in the smaller business market, is there's never like an organizational chart. There's never, we're here, we want to get to there.
00:15:47
Speaker
It's always, this is where we are right now. I'm making my clients create a five-year plan, 10-year plan, create positions on a piece of paper that don't exist. That way, when their employees are looking at, this is where the company wants to go, they know that if they put in the work and help the company grow, that there's a place for them later. That's something that I really focus on as well.
00:16:08
Speaker
You're based in Knoxville. Do you do business just in Knoxville or can you work with anybody anywhere? Anybody anywhere. I prefer, I like for my clients when they need more fractional services where they need me a few hours a week. I like going into their actual operation, but I can work with anyone. We also do a full review of their company and I have a system where I can plug everything in and
00:16:31
Speaker
we can get a really interesting pulse on where they are with their business from marketing to their profit and loss to their culture. I throw that in with all my clients when we do things. It's really helped get a pulse on their business.
Connect with Mallory on Social Media
00:16:45
Speaker
This has been great insight into Clubhouse and to what you do when you're not on Clubhouse. Final question, where can people find you and where you are online on LinkedIn, on Clubhouse, and any other places?
00:16:57
Speaker
And so my LinkedIn is just Mallory Lee. Look for the redhead. And my clubhouse is Mal, M-A-L-L-E. Part of my first name, all of my last names. So easy to find you there.
00:17:09
Speaker
Awesome. Well, thanks for the time, Mallory. We really appreciate it and looking forward to listening to you on Clubhouse, participating in some rooms together. Thanks everybody for listening to another episode of Marketing Spark. If you enjoyed the conversation, leave a review and subscribe via iTunes or your favorite podcast app. For notes on today's conversation and information about Mallory, visit marketingspark.co. If you'd like to suggest a guest or learn more about how I help B2B SaaS companies as a fractional CMO consultant and advisor, send an email to mark at marketingspark.co. I'll talk to you next time.