Lock-In: Clubhouse

We wanted to wrap our latest series of LNPG’s Expert Lock-In a little differently this time. So, having been through a host of partners, soon-to-be-partners, and fellow property experts, we decided to get to the bottom of the latest social media platform to bite into a chunk of the property investors market.

The app is called Clubhouse, and despite us having used it a few times ourselves, we knew you’d want to hear from the experts, so we invited super-users Edward Sloan from iProTours along wit, Kam Dovedi from Premier Property Club, who couldn’t help but getting involved when he heard what we had planned.

What is Clubhouse?

Let’s start at the beginning and find out what Clubhouse is and how it came around. It seems that there’s a new social media platform out every week these days, but it’s very rare to hear of one of these newbies sticking around for much longer than a few months.

Clubhouse has managed to find its niche in this crowded social scene by presenting something at once timeless and also genuinely novel – ladies and gentlemen, we give you the conversation 2.0.

Once you’ve set up a profile, you’ll get a selection of interests to follow – within these interests are ‘rooms’ – areas for which different conversations can be had on these topics. At this point it’s up to you to sit back and listen in leisurely, leave quietly and find something else, or stick up a virtual hand and add something yourself.

It’s audio-only, so once you’re in a conversation that’s all there is to focus on – and that’s why so many property professionals have taken a shine to it.

Interesting

Once your profile is set up, it’s time to start seeing what’s out there – and that means going door-to-door slipping in and out of people’s rooms.

Despite the obvious inference, this behaviour is standard for the platform, and we’d go as far to say that we encourage it. This is where clubhouse has an edge over regular networking as you can listen in on a conversation for long enough to see if there’s any value – if not, just take off into a new one with no awkward goodbyes, small-talk, or coming back to pick up the coat you’d left on your seat at the beginning of the evening.

We’ve done a quick search to see what’s available for property-minded folk like you and… well, it’s a lot.

Searching the word property will bring close to one hundred of clubs where regular property discussion is virtually guaranteed, and tens of thousands of individuals who have indicated it’s what they’re there to talk about – interesting!

We’ll Do It Live!

Aside from its audio-first approach, Clubhouse sets itself apart from other platforms through a raw, unfiltered approach to conversation – meaning the content is steered directly from the audience. In other words, you can get the answers you need without wasting any time.

It also means each conversation only happens once and isn’t be recorded or re-winded, you will find this gives speakers more confidence to say what they like and speak off-the-record.

It also allows for spontaneity – in only checking the app out a few months ago, LNPG’s founder Nick was spotted in the audience and thrown on stage in front of hundreds to give his two cents. That’s how quick it can happen.

Before the Fall

When we said we’d be trying to find out whether Clubhouse was worth it for landlords, we meant the good and the bad – so let’s take a look at some of the criticisms levelled against Clubhouse.

For one, it’s easy to get stuck in the app for long periods – not due to technical difficulties, but just because it’s so easy to get sucked into conversation after conversation. The portability and accessibility of the app means you need to be careful not to prioritise a quick fix over a real-life connection, which will always be more beneficial.

Another criticism is one that all social media networks will be familiar – but it’s important pointing the finger at Clubhouse all the same. To a certain degree, there’s an art to finding out who’s there to connect and share value amongst the community, and who’s on an ego trip to up their follower count.

It’s always worth exercising caution, especially now that anybody can create an account – remember, just because they look like a millionaire in their profile picture, doesn’t mean that’s the reality.

Here to Stay?

At first we were hesitant to get stuck in, and honestly it took a couple of false starts before we decided it was worth the time.

As you’d expect, both of our guests were glad to have mad ethe leap of faith. We’d met Ed only a few weeks ago on the platform itself, and already he was here on our Lock-In Series gearing up to launch iProTours to the membership.

Our other guest speaker, Kam Dovedi, spoke how he has had to move with the times and change his company’s approach to social media during the last 18 months to advertise his business, network himself and combat the issues everyone has faced including international stock shortages.

There’s no way of telling where Clubhouse will be in a year’s time, but the future looks bright – let’s hope it continues with a bang, not a whimper.