The invite-only, drop-in social audio app Clubhouse, which emerged in April 2020, took over the internet for a while. What’s certain is that, even though it’s no longer making shocking headlines, the rise of audio is still here and growing – just quieter in the background. What’s more uncertain, however, is whether or not creators can make money on Clubhouse.
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How do you monetize on the Clubhouse app if there’s not a visual aspect? When you think of monetizing social media, you typically think of graphics, images, and an aesthetic Instagram grid. But Clubhouse doesn’t have Snapchat Spotlight or viral TikTok features.
Instead, Clubhouse’s power lies all in audio. And just like podcasts, there is a huge audience who prefer to tune in and listen to insightful, educational, fun, or totally bizarre conversations.
So how can you make the most (money) from an audio-only app like Clubhouse? In this guide, we dive into the nitty-gritty of what makes Clubhouse tick, and how you can optimize your content to attract paid brand partnerships, audience tips, and host live chatrooms for paying members.
Can You Really Make Money With The Clubhouse App?
What Is Clubhouse?
Clubhouse is a voice-first social media network app available on iPhone and Android devices. It hosts drop-in chatrooms that anyone can join. Think ‘group podcasting’. The creator/host of a chatroom can enable/disable the mic for its guests, and choose guests who have their ‘hands raised’ to speak and contribute to the conversation or not.
Why did Clubhouse become so popular?
Not only did the invite-only feature grab massive attention, with some invites selling on eBay for up to $125, but celebrities, big thinkers, CEOs, and even politicians joined the app to partake in conversations and share their ideas. Elon Musk, in particular, created quite the buzz around Clubhouse in a succession of Tweets.
What’s more, the app definitely stood out from the competition by offering people to gather and just talk about a variety of topics that interest them. As founders Paul Davison and Rohan Seth put it best on the Clubhouse blog, “Our goal was to build a social experience that felt more human — where instead of posting, you could gather with other people and talk.”
Over the course of the year, Clubhouse surpassed 1 billion dollars in value with over 10 million users. Such a crowd has obviously attracted sponsors and a push for Clubhouse to create monetization methods for creators to stick around.
That said, how can you make money on Clubhouse? Currently, there are three main ways to monetize.
Ways To Make Money On Clubhouse
1. Closed Clubhouse Chatrooms
If you have been able to grow a following on Clubhouse by participating in many discussions and actively engaging with the community, then you have the possibility to host paid, private Clubhouse Chatrooms.
A paywall is essentially set up, and users must pay to gain access to the live Chatroom. This is pretty much like selling tickets to a virtual event – except there will be audio-only and no visual aspect (except for everyone’s profile photos).
Clubhouse Chatrooms are basically TED talks. You can pay to listen to your favorite creators in the industry and even get the chance to ‘raise your hand’ to speak, ask questions, and get that 1:1 feedback directly with the host.
That said, if you are a leader, influencer, or creator in your field of expertise, you can tap into this monetization method. The best way to succeed at this is to provide real value for your audience. Otherwise, why would users pay to listen to you ramble?
First, you can offer a free chat as a sampler – and then dive into the deep content with a private Chatroom. There are many ways to offer teaser content. For example, you could offer your audience a 3-day free training about how to start an affiliate blog and then set up a paywall for the remaining 7-days of training that get at the heart of the lesson.
2. Clubhouse Sponsorships
Paid brand deals are perhaps the number one way to monetize your Clubhouse following, especially if you have access to a large and engaged audience.
Sponsors, even though they may not be evident visually, are present on every social media app – even Clubhouse. As a creator or influencer, you have the unique opportunity to strike up a paid partnership. Sponsors are particularly in search of:
- Featured Mentions
- Paid Product Promotion
- Product Placement
- Sponsored Chats
Although Clubhouse, in many ways, is still in beta mode – testing what works and what doesn’t – sponsorships work very similarly to podcast marketing.
Ever listened to a podcast and heard, “But first, a shoutout to X brand for sponsoring this episode…etc, etc.”? Well, that’s how you could present paid brand deals in your Clubhouse Chatrooms, as well (whether you put them on Open, Social, or Private).
How much could you make from sponsorships on Clubhouse? Not enough reports have been shared, for now. But as one can imagine, rates all depend on your following, audience engagement, deliverables, etc.
3. Clubhouse Payments (Tips)
Last but not least, the other official way to make money on Clubhouse is through tips. This works just like the Twitter Tip Jar, except you need to pass through a third-party app like PayPal, Venmo, or Patreon to finalize the payment.
For now, there’s talk that Clubhouse is working on enabling tips directly through the app.
That’s right – Clubhouse Payments will enable users to tip their favorite creators directly via the Clubhouse app, thanks to a partnership between Stripe and Clubhouse.
What’s even cooler is that 100% of the tip will go to the creator. Clubhouse takes no cut, so you pocket everything your fans want to give you.
Not only will this allow creators and hosts to earn money directly off the app, but it also enables them to “raise money for a great cause.”
Other Ways To Monetize Clubhouse
Are there other creative ways to monetize Clubhouse? Certainly! Here’s a list of ideas for how you can make money on Clubhouse:
- Post Chatroom recaps on a blog or YouTube and use affiliate links
- Offer discounts for your audience to use on your online course, ebook or shop
- Redirect users to follow you on other social media platforms where you monetize
- Create private panels with expert hosts and offer paid access
- Sell Clubhouse replays by recording your voice
- Grow your email list and create sales funnels
Even though you can’t make money directly from Clubhouse (as in, Clubhouse doesn’t issue you payments in exchange for content creation), you can still make money by generating traffic, coupon codes, and other incentives your audience can take advantage of.
How Much Money Can You Make On Clubhouse?
For the moment, there isn’t a large number of creators who are transparent about how much they make on Clubhouse – whether through sponsored brand deals, private Chatrooms, etc.
In the below YouTube video by entrepreneur Mike Vestile shares how users, particularly beginners on Clubhouse, are making between $100-700 per day.
One of his businesses actually pulled in over $34,000 in commissions from applying these strategies, which included inviting high-leverage people to speak and draw in more viewers.
How To Grow On Clubhouse
The secret to making money on Clubhouse is networking. Makes sense – right? In order to sell to an audience, you first need to build an audience!
Quick steps for growing and making money on Clubhouse are:
- Get an invitation to join the app
- Actively participate in topics in your niche
- Host Chatrooms and invite high-level profiles to co-host
- Market your Clubhouse profile on other social apps
- Build a lead capture form and use it to grow your newsletter
- Set up affiliate links, land paid deals, and set up a tip jar
Easier said than done, in most cases. However, with the right content strategy – and a tad of patience – you can certainly grow and establish a dedicated, engaged audience base.
Is Joining Clubhouse Worth It?
At the moment, Clubhouse isn’t the fastest – nor the most practical – path to monetizing your social media content. If you are just getting started, then consider growing on another platform first – whether it be a blog or YouTube or a blog or podcast.
In that case, is joining the app even worth it?
Consuming audio-only media is only going to continue to gain in popularity. It’s the same with short-form videos with TikTok and Instagram Reels. So, yes – in this case, the best way to take advantage of any lucrative opportunities on Clubhouse is by starting right now and not standby waiting for money to come to you.
Simply put – Clubhouse isn’t going to pay the bills without a strong presence and followership. But it’s still worth it if you’re curious and eager to learn or participate in discussions surrounding your favorite topics.
Want to learn more about monetizing on Clubhouse? Then look to the app itself. There are even Chatrooms you can join and listen in on that delve into that very topic!
Nathaniell
What's up ladies and dudes! Great to finally meet you, and I hope you enjoyed this post. My name is Nathaniell and I'm the owner of One More Cup of Coffee. I started my first online business in 2010 promoting computer software and now I help newbies start their own businesses. Sign up for my #1 recommended training course and learn how to start your business for FREE!
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