Tips for artists getting started on Clubhouse!
When I heard that another new social media app was apparently taking the world (and art world) by storm, I initially hesitated to join because I couldn’t imagine having yet another platform to keep track of and figure out. That said, over the past month of listening to, participating in, and even moderating discussions with other artists and industry professionals, I’ve converted to being a fan of Clubhouse! In this article, I’ll share why.
What is Clubhouse?
For those who aren’t yet part of the app, the premise is fairly simple. Clubhouse is an audio app that allows you to listen to live conversations happening between people from all around the world. Some describe it as a live podcast or chat room. When you click on the app, it will bring you to a main screen called the “hallway”. Instead of seeing a stream of recent posts like in other apps, however, you’ll see available rooms you can join on a variety of topics based on the interests you’ve selected and clubs you follow or are part of. For example, when I log on, I’m likely to find rooms about business, digital marketing, art industry trends, and a variety of other topics related to art and entrepreneurship. The platform is growing quickly and new clubs in every sector are being added daily. If you wanted to connect with others interested in health and fitness, politics, sports, tech, or a multitude of other topics, for example, you can find clubs for those too. Since the platform is international, you’ll find rooms happening at every hour of the day!
Intrigued? Well, the first thing to keep in mind is that as of right now, it is still an iPhone and invite-only platform. Ask around to see if any of your friends have a spare invite or request one on the app. Once you’re in, make sure to set up your handle (I’ve heard you can only change this once so pick wisely!), add a profile photo (it can be an artwork image if you’re an artist), and link your Instagram and/or Twitter (they don’t allow you to link to Facebook, Pinterest, or TikTok accounts). As of the writing of this article, there is no way to directly message other Clubhouse users within the app so that’s why having a link to another one of your social media profiles is crucial. If you’re participating in a conversation and someone is interested in what you’re saying, it’s likely they’ll want to follow you. There are even rooms that do live art auctions or connect artists with collectors, so you don’t want to miss the opportunity for people to easily be able to reach you outside of the Clubhouse app to follow up and/or make a purchase. Your bio is also important since you can’t share posts to show what you do. Describe your work in a few key phrases in the first three lines and use emojis as they are searchable within the platform.
How can Clubhouse be useful to artists?
If you’re willing to give it a try, Clubhouse can end up being beneficial to artists specifically in several ways. First, it’s a free learning platform. There are many experts in our field - think major curators, gallerists, collectors, art advisors, artists, and more, who openly share their knowledge through Clubhouse discussions. You’re getting unprecedented access to these voices and in some instances, depending on the room and moderator, you may even have the chance to ask them a question directly. How cool is that?
Clubhouse can also be used as a networking tool. While the rooms that host celebrities and top executives might not allow you to interact with the speakers directly, there are numerous smaller rooms where you can share about your work, listen to other creatives, practice your pitch, ask for advice, and so much more. For the most part, I’ve found people on Clubhouse to be welcoming and supportive of each other. They’re usually genuinely interested in making connections. As such, my Instagram following on PxP Contemporary has grown a little each time I’m active on Clubhouse and I consistently find exciting new creatives and entrepreneurs to follow as well. If you’re looking to gain new followers, this could be a different and interesting way for you to do so.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly for some, Clubhouse can be utilized to sell your artwork. They do not have any built-in ecommerce capabilities like Instagram or Facebook, but you can look into participating in a live art auction or try to find rooms with collectors or other artists who are talking about their work. Make sure you’ve practiced your artist pitch so that you can share your art (and prices) with confidence! Remember that you’ll want to use your profile picture in the app to share an artwork image and that the potential client will have to contact you through Instagram or Twitter to finalize the sale. It could be a good idea to have a highlight section on IG ready to go with available works and a link to your webshop in your bio.
What to expect on Clubhouse!
Upon entering any room you’ll see the speakers up at the very top on what’s called the ‘stage’. The moderators of the room can be identified by the green icon next to their names. Underneath that you’ll find a section of people who the speakers are following and at the bottom is the general audience.
If you want to ask a question or join in on a conversation, click on the hand icon at the bottom right of your screen to signal to the moderators that you are ‘raising your hand’ to speak. You only have to click it once, they’ll get the notification on their end and invite you up if it is an appropriate time. Keep in mind that in bigger rooms, they might get many requests and not be able to invite you up to the stage due to time constraints. The moderators can also turn off the hand-raising feature at any time if they want to focus on the speakers already on the stage.
When you are invited up, you’ll see a green text banner flash across the top of your screen and you simply accept to join as a speaker. Then you’ll see your profile icon move up to the stage. PLEASE NOTE - when you first get up to the stage, your mic (microphone icon at the bottom right of your screen) will be UNmuted so make sure to tap the icon as quickly as possible to mute yourself so that the rest of the audience is not distracted by your background noise. In general, you’ll want to keep your mic on mute the whole time you’re not speaking.
It can get confusing to know whose turn it is to speak! You might notice that people begin by introducing themselves and end by repeating their name and saying “I’m done speaking”. It takes some practice to remember this at first, but you get used to it. Not only does this ease the transition between speakers, it also helps those using the app who are visually and/or hearing impaired.
When it’s your turn to talk, go ahead and unmute yourself by clicking the microphone icon. You’ll want to be in a quiet place and speak loud and clear enough for others to be able to hear you. You won’t be able to hear how you sound, but others will usually tell you if they can’t hear you for whatever reason. If your internet signal is weak you may cut in and out so check where you can get a stronger connection. In rooms where they’ve specified a time limit of 30 seconds or a minute per speaker, do your best to stick to that or you may be gently reminded to get to your question. Some moderators are more strict than others about people who go off on tangents or try to take the conversation in a different direction unrelated to the topic. Just note that you may run the risk of being sent back into the audience if you don’t follow the guidelines set by those hosting the room. However, this shouldn’t be an issue as long as what you have to say is relevant to the conversation.
Take cues from the moderator. The ones leading the conversation should regularly ‘reset the room’ which simply means to remind people what the discussion topic is, who the moderators are, and their particular guidelines for how they want their room to flow. In smaller rooms the hosts may allow people to jump in and talk whenever they have something to say while in others they might ask that you be called on first.
You might also hear the acronym “PTR”, which stands for ‘pull to refresh’ and that means to swipe down on your screen so that the order of people on stage can update. If you join a room, but find that the discussion isn’t what you expected (or you realize you’ve been on for two hours and should take a break!), you can click the peace hand icon at the bottom of the screen to leave the current room you’re in. Because of this capability, people tend to hop in and out of rooms fairly regularly and refreshing/resetting the room allows everyone to see who is still there as well as welcome the new people who have recently joined.
Show some love for other speakers when they say something you agree with or found especially insightful. If you’re on stage with them, you can quickly mute and unmute your mic, which is everyone’s way of ‘clapping’ for each other. As you’re listening to the conversation, make sure to check out the moderators’ and other speakers’ bios and follow them if you’d like. You can also search through the audience for other potential connections.
Finally! For the first week that you’re on the app, you’ll have a little ‘party hat’ emoji on the bottom of your profile pic. This lets other users know that you’re new and gives you a bit of a grace period for getting the hang of things ;)
There is so much more I could share about getting started on Clubhouse, but the best way to learn is really to jump in, join a few rooms, and not be shy about raising your hand to get up on stage to talk! Looking forward to connecting with you all there soon (I’m @aliciapuig).
Cheers,
Alicia
I wrote this based on my own experience joining Clubhouse, but found additional general insight in a free PDF download by Lindsay Woods from the Cascade Creative Group and also learned a few useful tips from artist Brittany Minnes (@brittanyminnesart). Thanks so much for reading! You can see more of my writing at www.aliciapuig.com and view what’s new at my gallery at www.pxpcontemporary.com.
