Michelle Glogovac 0:01
You’re listening to the My Simplified Life podcast and this is episode number 68. Welcome to the My Simplified Life podcast, a place where you will learn that your past and even your present. don’t define your future. Regardless of what stage of life you’re in, I want you to feel inspired and encouraged to pursue your dreams, simplify your life and start taking action today. I’m your host, Michelle Glogovac, and I’m excited to share my stories and life lessons with you. We’ll be taking you on my own journey. This is my simplified life.

Michelle Glogovac 0:46
Hey, friends, welcome to another episode. I’m your host, Michelle Glogovac. Have you heard about the latest social platform called Clubhouse? It’s giving those who don’t have an iPhone or invite some serious FOMO but what the heck is it all about? How are you supposed to use it? And more importantly, how can you benefit from using it? My guest today is business strategist and influencer Jenny Melrose. Jenny’s started out her blog in the early 2000s and ended up selling it for a mere six figures, which let her retire from her teaching career. She’s been on the forefront of various social media platforms and clubhouse is no stranger to her. We’re discussing how you can utilize clubhouse for your business, what the benefits are, and what kind of boundaries you should set for yourself. Because it is after all, more social media. And one more thing to consume.

Michelle Glogovac 1:43
Hi, Jenny.

Jenny Melrose 1:44
Hi, Michelle, thank you so much for having me on. I’m so excited to talk to you about Clubhouse.

Michelle Glogovac 1:49
Ah, it’s my pleasure, I am stoked to get to finally talk to you. We email, we Instagram message, so this is a great opportunity to be able to chat with you. Can you take a moment and introduce yourself to everybody, please?

Jenny Melrose 2:02
Yes, of course. My name is Jenny Melrose. I am a formal lifestyle blogger where I created quick and easy recipes and products for busy parents. And I had that lifestyle blog for about 10 years. And in 2019, I sold it for six figures. Back in 2015/16, I had retired from a teaching position as an Inner City School District teacher at the age of 35, because that lifestyle blog had replaced my income. And once I did that, of course, I had a lot of bloggers, influencers and then entrepreneurs asking, how do we do this full time? How do I make it work online and having been on mine since 2009? I was very willing to share my knowledge. And what I had kind of grown up with is the way I look at it. I was pre Pinterest and pre Instagram. So I had really figured out how to use social media in order to market my business and was getting asked to speak around the country. So I decided to create JennyMelrose.com where now I am a content strategist and business coach that helps female entrepreneurs really figure out how to grow their online presence, whether that’s through social media email, but really understanding how they can scale their business in attract the right audience to their products and services that they offer.

Michelle Glogovac 3:27
That is incredible. Six figures for your blog! That’s like everyone’s dream.

Jenny Melrose 3:32
Yes.

Michelle Glogovac 3:35
And you obviously were there at the right time with blogging, and now you have a podcast. So you’re in the right place at the right times, it seems nice.

Jenny Melrose 3:46
No, definitely. And I think I also was a late bloomer at some points. I think it was great place great time. But also at other times, there wasn’t as much information as there is out now. Like you can hop on to five different podcasts and be ready to set up a blog. Whereas when I started in 2009, that didn’t exist. So there was a lot of kind of pushing through the mud and trying to figure it out and try to find connections. Whereas like now, it’s just so easy with social media and podcasts.

Michelle Glogovac 4:18
It’s easy. And I think at the same time, it’s hard to find those genuine ones sometimes.

Jenny Melrose 4:22
Yes, absolutely. That’s why I always tell people ask people what they’re listening to find out what they’re connecting with. Because if you’re friends with her, it’s probably likely that the podcast she listens to you’re probably going to be attracted to as well because there’s certain personality traits that people are always going to be attracted to.

Michelle Glogovac 4:42
Absolutely. So let’s jump into what we wanted to talk about today, which is Clubhouse, the newest platform on the scene that everyone’s talking about and only some get in and it’s invite only and you have to have an iPhone. Teach us all the things of Clubhouse because I’m in there and I’m still overwhelmed!

Jenny Melrose 5:02
Yeah, no, I think the best way to describe Clubhouse is to me, it’s like going to a conference in person. And when you go to a conference in person, there’s all different rooms normally going on with different talks. And that’s exactly the way the clubhouse is set up. So when you first come in, they ask you about your interest and things are going to fall. But then their homepage that you go to is called the hallway. And what you can see in the hallway is all the different talks that are happening based on the interest that you put in the people that you start to follow. And the clubs that you start to belong to see you’re able to determine whether or not that talk that’s going on is one that you want to listen in on. And you can just hop into the room just like you would at any conference, take a seat, listen. And then you have the opportunity often depending upon how the hosts or moderators are running their talk, to raise your hand and come up to the stage to be able to ask questions, sometimes. Other times you can add in your own two cents if you have certain experience in the topic that they’re talking about. So it gives you an opportunity to really find like minded entrepreneurs that you can collaborate with. And that is what I am finding is the best thing about Clubhouse right now. I think I have landed in the past two weeks, probably five different podcast interviews. And one of the podcast interviews is someone that I have been dying to get on her podcast for probably two years. Wow, it was able to create that quick relationship in there be able to kind of talk while they were on stage. And then continue the conversation on Instagram. And one of the things I love is that Clubhouse actually connects to Instagram. So what’s happening is not only am I growing followers and clubhouse, my Instagram followers are growing as well. And

Michelle Glogovac 6:55
I’ve seen the same. And that was just in one room where I got up on stage and said my piece and it wasn’t, you know, something earth shattering. It wasn’t something long. It was a couple minutes. And afterwards, I had DMS, I had new followers, Clubhouse and Instagram. So I absolutely agree with that one for sure. I feel like it’s a TED talk. That’s what’s in my head. I feel like you’re going up there you’re doing a TED talk. But then you’re all Oh, from the audience, let’s choose you and choose you and bring you on stage.

Jenny Melrose 7:26
Yes, no, that’s such a good way of describing it. Because you’re able to go in with a topic idea, kind of what you’re going like your TED Talk would be. And then any take any questions or answers towards the ends that kind of go along with it.

Michelle Glogovac 7:40
So now one question I have is because I’m seeing people scheduling their talks. And, you know, I’ve also seen comparisons to Clubhouse being like a podcast, except that there’s no recording. So you know, it’s like one and done. How would you because these also seem like they’re longer conversations that people are having of like, an hour, two hour? I think someone said they were in one that was all day long. How do you go about figuring out what kind of time you should set aside for it, whether it’s to listen or to simply give your talk?

Jenny Melrose 8:14
Yeah, so I think it really needs to start with what your goal is for joining Clubhouse. So one of the conversations I actually had today in my membership site was, if you don’t have a product or service, there’s really not a huge reason for you to be in Clubhouse, because if you’re monetizing from podcasting ads, or you’re monetizing from affiliate marketing or sponsorships, that’s not really going to help you in club apps. But if you have a product or service, then that’s where you’re going to show yourself as an expert clubhouse gives you the opportunity to really be that expert and to be able to then collaborate and find people that if you do have your own podcast, be able to interview on others to be able to share your level of expertise on a specific topic. So we think that piece is really important that knowing whether or not it’s the right platform for you, and whether or not your audience is going to be there because the way that people see rooms and talks are based on their interest and their followers. So we were having this conversation this morning, where I have a very large on postpartum, she talks about motherhood. She deals with postpartum. She deals with loss in fertility. And she was the thing that even though she has products, she doesn’t have services, but she was stating that if people came in, even though they may not be following her or their for the reason of talking about infertility or loss, they could then still go into the room and see it. The only thing is, is that they have to be following her or following someone else that’s co hosting with her. So unless they’re there and they’re already following them, they’re not good. To see that, so it’s important to really think about why you’re going to be creating it and how you’re going to create it. And then as far as hosting your own room, I think you definitely have to put up expectations for yourself and boundaries. As far as how long you’re going to be in. I was asked to host a room as a moderator probably two weeks ago, it started at 7 Eastern, and 9pm Eastern, they were still going. And I was like, yeah, this is enough for me. Two hours is my max, I have to like, I have to keep some form of balance. I’ve worked really hard in my business to make sure I have work hours and it doesn’t interfere interfere with my family, my husband, my kids, and I could see it was already. So I just messaged her and Instagram was like, Hey, I gotta go. Two hours is my max, thank you so much for having me and kind of went on. Well, I happened to pick up my phone and just happened to look at clubhouse to see about followers. And if there was anyone else that I wanted to follow. It was two hours later, they were still going and it was 11 o’clock eastern. I was like..

Michelle Glogovac 11:05
Wow, that’s too long.

Jenny Melrose 11:07
Yeah. And it’s great because those long rooms like people are able to come in, and they’re able to dive in deeper with the conversation. But what also can happen is a lot of the questions get asked over and over again. Because if you’re having a room for four hours, you can’t tell me the same question hasn’t been asked twice. Because people normally have the same routine questions about a specific topic. Yeah. So you know, when you’re setting yourself up as hosting a room, I would recommend pick a day and a time and keep it as consistent as possible. So people expect it just like your podcast episode. So we always talk about consistency, people know what to expect, they’ll make sure that the that they are there. Same thing with clubhouse, if you’re going to host a room, I would highly recommend like picking a date, time of day that works best for you a day of the week, and being consistently wrapped around a specific topic that you’re trying to attract clients or an audience to.

Michelle Glogovac 12:06
I’ve also seen where there’ll be rooms with like a hot seat for coaching calls, which I think is pretty interesting.

Jenny Melrose 12:13
Yes, no, it absolutely is. And it can really show your area of expertise if you are a coach to do that. At the same time, you need to have enough hours in order to do that. Because if you don’t, you’re going to be sitting there waiting for people to come into the room, just kind of like begging and pinging and trying to get people to come up to stage to continue to keep the conversation going. So when you think if you’re going to host a room, think about co hosting, think about trying to be have it be around a topic, the one that I had moderated with. She has a show every Wednesday and Sunday. And it’s all about being an influencer. And they cover different topics within being an influencer. So at the same time, Wednesday, same time Sunday, and people know that that’s what the topics we’re going to be, it’s going to be if you’re an influencer, you’re going to be attracted to it, it can definitely be a good fit for you. So I think that that is definitely a great way to do it so that you can kind of carve those boundaries set in place for yourself.

Michelle Glogovac 13:16
And I also I want to there’s a calendar option on there, which I think is really cool, because I do use this. So regardless of whether or not you know, this is a weekly thing, if you schedule it, you can look at what’s coming up. And I’ve done it where the night before, I’ll scroll through, you know, who has something scheduled for tomorrow, just to see Oh, is there something of interest? Can I fit that on my actual calendar? I think that’s a really cool option too.

Jenny Melrose 13:43
Yes. And that’s such a great way to make sure that it fits into your schedule know for sure I have a habit of with I have downtime, which isn’t good for my mental health, of course, because then I’m not getting any downtime, because everything then is business oriented. So doing that, and it not only does it have that calendar, but you can actually add it to your Google Calendar. Like they make it super simple to be able to do that.

Michelle Glogovac 14:06
So I love this idea. Do you have any information on the background? And like how this came about? Because I feel like it just popped up and then everyone was scrambling for invites and are still you know, talking about it? How did this even come to fruition?

Jenny Melrose 14:21
So from what I understand, and what I have heard, I haven’t done a ton of research into it. But that there are two guys that had started it. I want to see it started beta packet all the way back in March, like it’s been going on for quite some time. And I think it just because of the way it’s difficult to get in. So one is only available for iPhone or iOS. And two, you have to have an invite to be able to get on. And in order to have an invite you the person that’s inviting you needs to have your cell phone number needs to be able to send you a text that gives the invite which is also really interesting to me, because it’s making sure You have that relationship with someone where you’re okay with them having your cell phone number. So you know, like the people there, I look and see who’s nominated them to be able to come in and like that’s part of your profile. And I think people are just being a lot, like, almost careful with who they invite, because they know that person is always going to be associated and always be tied to them. With the invites, when you first get in, you get one invite, and to be able to use on whomever you have in your contacts, you can always add person to your contacts and be able to send it to them. But then as you continue to use it, you’ll get more invites, like if you’ve been in there for a certain amount of time, there was not a lot of information they just seem to appear is what I’ve noticed, if someone does have you in their contacts, they can not know that they don’t have to necessarily use one of their invites in order for them to invite you That was one of the interesting things to me is someone signed up that I had in my contacts, and I got a notification from calpads that said, Hey, so and so that’s in your contacts just signed up for clubhouse to reserve their name, you can actually invite them and it won’t use one of your invites. So making sure you’re in close friends contacts, that would be the perfect fit for clubhouse is a great way to be able to get on as well.

Michelle Glogovac 16:24
It’s funny, because I think that it’s great in the sense that it has to be a real person, it can’t be a bot, like we see, you know, on Instagram, where you know, do you want 10,000 more followers and you’re going this isn’t a real person. But at the same time, it’s a little big brotherish of, Oh, I have access to all of your phone contacts. And I see that you know, this one’s on, do you want to invite them? It’s a little eerie that way?

Jenny Melrose 16:50
Yes. I feel like everything is eerie like that nowadays with I mean, for example, the great thing not great thing. One of the things about Facebook, I think most people noticed around the holidays was that if they were talking about a certain gift that they wanted, all of a sudden when they opened up Facebook now all of a sudden it’s in their feed as a sponsored kind of ad trying to get you to that then buy that product. So I think everything is a little like, eerie.

Michelle Glogovac 17:17
Yeah, there’s a lot of stalkerish tendencies going around, especially around Facebook. I mean, just yesterday, I’ve got a prospect call today. And so yesterday, I was stalking them as that’s my job, right? Looking at their website and social media, and all of a sudden, I’m getting all of their ads in my Instagram feed, my Facebook feed. I’m like no, not interested in what they’re doing. I didn’t even know who they are. Right? Yeah. So that that part is a little weird, but we’re obviously giving them permission to because we all want to be a part of this, you know, next big thing, you know? What is, what’s your opinion around this versus podcasts? Because I’ve seen many rooms talking about our is clubhouse going to take over podcasting? I personally don’t think so. I think that podcasting is a completely different platform. You know, it’s something that’s more permanent, because it’s recorded, it’s done. It’s out in the world versus it’s the stage where you’re talking, and then it’s gone,

Jenny Melrose 18:18
I guess no, 100% I totally agree. I think that this has become so popular because we’re all really craving conferences, right? None of us can go we haven’t been able to go in almost a year now with COVID. So because of that we are craving that like education form that we can have. But like you said, Because Clubhouse isn’t recorded, I do not see it replacing podcasts. What I actually see happening is Clubhouse kind of almost being in addition to the podcast. So I had heard someone else talking about they were thinking about ways that they could have a Clubhouse room that they could monetize through their podcast, to be able to say like, hey, if you want to join us in this Clubhouse room, like make sure that you’re following me over there. And then you can do like an access payment to be able to be part of it. So there’s a lot of different ways that people are starting to think about, like, how can I use this, and in Not, not in response to you but almost more of, to kind of really make sure that I’m meeting my audience. I think podcasts are just so binge worthy that they can go from content to content, it’s searchable, they can go after the topics that they’re looking for. They’re all recorded, you have access to everything that’s ever been done in the past for that show. Where is this? Like? There’s just a real hunger because it’s that fear of missing out like, even whether it’s the pie, getting the invites, or the content like regardless, they have set this up. And I think that’s part of the reason it’s so popular is people feel like they’re the last person getting picked for gym class if they don’t have an invite to Clubhouse.

Michelle Glogovac 20:02
So true.

Jenny Melrose 20:05
That’s all you hear people talking about, I saw someone else that actually, there were people selling their Clubhouse invites, I saw, someone else did a giveaway for Clubhouse invite on Instagram, like, there’s eight is so ridiculous. Like, people definitely want to be there. And because of that, because of this, like, just this fear of missing something and not being involved, it’s gotten huge. I think every time I log in, and I go into a room, one of the things they do is they give you that little confetti party hat that you have for seven days. First of all, I couldn’t wait to get rid of my confetti hat because it made me feel like a newbie. But you constantly see them. Every time you’re in a room, there’s someone there with one of those little party hats, there’s people constantly coming in.

Michelle Glogovac 20:54
Yeah, it’s true. And I, you know what, I didn’t even, I felt like I just jumped into it without knowing exactly what I’m doing. And I did not know that when you’re in a room, you can actually still do things on your phone. I thought it if the app is up, so that’s a good tip for everyone to know that if you’re in a room listening, you can still close out the not, close out the app, but you know, minimize it and go on Instagram or check your emails. Because for my first room, I’m like, oh, my goodness, I can’t do anything on my phone, you know? Or what if I accidentally unmute myself, that’s not possible, unless you’re up there, you know, invited. So those are big tips too.

Jenny Melrose 21:34
Yes, no 100% there were a lot of little things like that, that I felt like, oh, where should I be. One of the things, though, that I loved was that they have Clubhouse rooms going all the time, kind of talking about like your profile builds, you have people that will actually do like an audit of your clubhouse profile live, you get called up to the stage and they’ll go through and you can sit in the audience and listen to the audit and be like, I need to fix that on mine. And there have been so many times like when, especially in the beginning that I would sit and just listen to the audit and like, just fix up my profile based on the feedback that the person on stage was getting. There’s also then like how to use clubhouse to the best of your ability. Nicole Walters did a room probably I want to say two, three weeks ago. And it was about like how to use Clubhouse to the best of your ability with out being, you know, selling and trying to like get you know, you get in those rooms, sometimes you can always tell the people to they get on stage. And you think they’re coming up to ask a question. But what they’re really trying to do is like sell themselves. And it’s really, really tacky and noticeable. So like she talked about how to make sure you’re adding value to any content, any talks that are happening. And you know how to make it work for you and your business. And that was one of the I saw she a notification came up that she was doing it and I adore her her podcast is awesome. She’s just a great person. I met her in person before at a conference when that used to happen. And she got on and she explained she’s like, I’m going to go for an hour. And I’m going to give my kind of view on Clubhouse and how to use it. And then at the last end, I will do question and answer first nine people to raise their hands that gets come up on stage and asked me a question. I hit my button so fast. And I was I was the ninth person that got pulled up to stage. So and being able to just have a conversation with someone like Nicole Walters. I mean, she’s got her own show on USA Network, like TV show, podcast, like she’s just, you know, she’s one of those people that you just dream of being able to have a conversation and ask questions too.

Michelle Glogovac 23:44
Yeah, there’s some big people I saw. I follow Van Jones and he had a room the other day. I’m like, this is kind of a big deal. You go talk to Van Jones.

Jenny Melrose 23:54
Yes.

Michelle Glogovac 23:55
You know, so more and more. I think he’s the biggest celebrity I’ve seen, at least that I follow. I haven’t been searching as much. But have you seen celebrities on it as well?

Jenny Melrose 24:07
I haven’t seen, I have read articles where they were talking about like someone’s thought Oprah come in and got in on her room. I’ve definitely seen Gary Vee up there talking and hosting the room. I think I had read something about Kevin Hart was in at one point which I would have been all over that. But I didn’t actually see I wasn’t there at the time. And that’s that’s the thing about it. Like it’s that fear of like crap, I would love to know about that and to be a part of it and to be in that room. But I missed it because it’s not recorded.

Michelle Glogovac 24:39
There it is. So when those notifications come up, you have to click on it.

Jenny Melrose 24:43
Yes, no, but I think like you said about as far as the calendar like if you can plan ahead like that. Absolutely. And then for things like that, where it’s just one off kind of like they just sporadically decided to jump on and like start a room. Yeah, your notifications needs to be on for that person. Personally, I have to pause notifications because it’s just it, I lose focus on on what I’m trying to get done in my business. And I know that about myself, my anxiety just goes through the roof when I know that there’s notifications coming on my phone, and I’m not able to like clear them and make sure that it’s nothing important putting out fires. So I have definitely paused them, I will probably turn them back on for a couple days and then turn back off once I feel like my anxiety goes back up.

Michelle Glogovac 25:26
I’m not following enough people yet for the notifications to blow up my phone. But I’ve paused you know, emails and Instagram and Facebook, none of those notifications come to the phone that has that very reason. So as I grow on Clubhouse, I’m sure I’ll be muting the notifications for a bit to to keep my sanity. One thing I’ve thought of, and I don’t know if this is even possible, if you have a podcast, if you could actually somehow record your conversation. I’m sure you could, the quality probably wouldn’t be great, but to record your Clubhouse room and turn it into an episode,

Jenny Melrose 26:00
There are ways to do that. The important thing is that you have to make sure that you’re disclosing that on your description of your room, because otherwise, it’s against Clubhouse to us. So if you put your description of like what your talk is, and then in parentheses in all caps recorded, then you’re covered by doing that, I’ve seen a couple different people doing that. But again, like you just said, I wouldn’t imagine that the audio is going to be that great, especially if you like invite people up because guess people understand they’re supposed to mute. But even when they’re talking, sometimes you can hear the kids in the background as they’re trying to talk. So I wouldn’t imagine the audio is the best,

Michelle Glogovac 26:42
it might be a good option for if you’re having a bunch of hot seats. Instead of figuring out how to record you know, different tracks and what’s a good platform to have all of these people on. That might be a good option just for that if you’re not expecting something good, like a one on one.

Jenny Melrose 26:59
Right? I guess, no, 100%

Michelle Glogovac 27:02
What would be your biggest tip for Clubhouse for people who want to get on? What’s the biggest tip for making the most out of it making the most out of their time and for them to see the best benefit?

Jenny Melrose 27:15
I think the first thing and most important thing is your profile. Your profile, just like Instagram is super important. The difference in Clubhouse to Instagram is that Clubhouse gives you so much more room, like you really want to be able to tell about what it is that you do, you’re going to be can normally see the first set two to three sentences. So always tell like what it is your role is what it is that you do. So for example, mine says business strategist, and then it tells the next sentence tells you what I do I teach women dah dah dah dah, dah, dah dah, like your elevator pitch is that first sentence, then kind of giving the different aspects of why you would be there. So like, for example, mine’s a podcaster speaker. And I also have, then I’m an author, and then I will go into where I’m from, I would also put that there because I think that gives you an opportunity to connect with other people, they find a quick connection, because people are looking for reasons to feel okay with having you up to speed when they’re hosting a room. So they get enough information off your profile, they’ll be more likely to let you up onto stage because they’ll probably find some sort of kind of connection with you if you’re putting that information. And then also what I have recently added is like how you got to the point that you’re at, so prove to me because that’s one thing I have noticed about Clubhouse, there’s a lot of people in there telling me that they’re millionaires. I’m not buying it. Just because you got the picture of you sitting by the hot car does not mean you are a millionaire, I’m not buying it. So I think like really explaining how you’ve gotten to that point, almost like your resume. So the profile for Clubhouse definitely gives you a ton of space to kind of really make sure that you are sending people the right direction. You’re, you don’t have clickable links as far as like to your website or to an opt in. You can write it out, and then they can copy and paste. The only clickable links you have are Twitter and Instagram, I think I don’t know if Twitter is actually clickable. I never go to Twitter. So I don’t know. But Instagram is definitely clickable.

Michelle Glogovac 29:24
Those are great tips. I’m on Twitter because that’s where the media hangs out, so I have to keep those connections alive. And I feel a little antiquated in doing so because back when I had a wine blog 100 years ago, it was like that’s where I was was on Twitter and you know, then Instagram and so on. So you have to be in all the places. Just how it is. Jenny, you are a wealth of knowledge. I feel like you just schooled me on it. So I can only imagine what the listeners are, you know, thinking right now too. Can you share with everyone how they can find you and listen to you, please?

Jenny Melrose 30:01
Yes, of course. So my podcast is called Influencer Entrepreneurs. I actually just celebrated four years in the first week in January. So there’s tons of content on learning how to build your business and really grow that online presence in social media, as well as with your podcasts, blog, whatever it might be. And then the best place to reach me is in my DMS on Instagram at Jenny underscore Melrose. I am the only one answering those DMS and I love answering questions being that former teacher, I just want to be able to answer and be able to give you the weights to move forward.

Michelle Glogovac 30:39
And what’s your Clubhouse handle?

Jenny Melrose 30:41
Oh, that would be helpful to handle is at JennyMelrose.

Michelle Glogovac 30:46
We have to mention that so everyone can find you once they get that invite.

Jenny Melrose 30:50
It sounds so funny. Like we were just talking about that. That’s the whole point.

Michelle Glogovac 30:57
Thank you so much. I really appreciate all of your information, your expertise on this

Jenny Melrose 31:02
Cf course, thank you so much for having me on, Michelle. I appreciate the opportunity.

Michelle Glogovac 31:07
Okay, who is ready to go hit the Clubhouse stage. I would love to listen to your talks, collaborate with you on some and learn from all of you. So go find me on a Clubhouse at MSLcollective and together we can rock this new platform and grow our businesses together. Until next week, my friends, stay safe, stay healthy and stay happy.