Using Facebook to Recruit

"Want to friend me?"

If that makes sense to you, you're probably on Facebook.

If you're like most executives, you started using Facebook to stay connected with your kids and a few friends and relatives. You're doing some networking with business associates and – to your surprise – are now in touch with people you last spoke with back in high school.

But are you using it in recruiting?

Facebook is an amazingly powerful tool for recruiting agents.

There are many ways to use Facebook in recruiting... One way is to place ads on Facebook to recruit agents, paying only when someone clicks on your ad. You can restrict the ads to your geographic trading area, as well as selecting who will see the ads by age and other characteristics.

There is even more that you can do for free. Here are some ideas...

Check out prospective recruits

Start by doing a search on Facebook for anyone you are thinking about recruiting and look at their profile page. You can tell a lot about people by looking at their status updates, their likes and dislikes, their feedback. You can also find ways to relate to them– if they golf or fish, that's a good conversation starter.

Expect them to check you out

They'll check you out too, so take advantage of that. Use your profile page to let people see what it's like to work at your company. Show them the kind of support and encouragement you provide your agents, how you treat people, how you run your business.

• Promote your agents' listings on your Facebook page.
• Share kudos and compliments when your agents do something special.
• Welcome new agents to your company.
• Post events you're attending.
• Invite your friends to office events, wine and cheese parties or community celebrations.
• Share links to educational resources your company has developed, such as videos for first-time home buyers, staging tips for sellers, training programs for agents.
• Place Career Night events and send to your friend list, asking them to share this information with anyone who might be interested in a career in real estate.

Friend them

Send them a friend request. They might not accept, but if they do it's a great low-key way to begin a relationship.

One of the advantages of beginning your dialog with someone through Facebook is that you are giving them control over the relationship they have with you.

You're not cold-calling. You're not in their face. They can receive your messages when it is convenient and respond when they have time, at whatever level they want.

As a result, they can be more open to having a relationship with you. That means you can open the door, and then court them over time.

"Like" what they do

Check their status updates and respond from time to time by clicking "like" or commenting. This shows you're interested.

Compliment them

Post a message on their wall congratulating them when they win an award, conclude a deal or get a new listing. Tell them you noticed a sign of theirs. Share positive things you have heard about them from others.

A public compliment is appreciated not only because you're reaching out to them, but also because it shows all of their friends and co-workers that you think highly of them.

Share online resources

When you find something that might be useful to agents, such as a new website or web service, post a status update about it. That lets all of your friends see it.

Or if it is something specific to someone you are recruiting, post a message on their page. Don't forget that many of their friends are probably agents too, so when you post on their page your reach extends far beyond one person.

When you do this, you're showing them that not only do you understand how to use the web, but you know how to use social media too. That's powerful. If their current broker isn't doing these things, you're going to look pretty good by comparison.

Which brings us to our last tip...

Don't forget your current agents

Everything you do to recruit, you should also be doing for the wonderful agents who are already associated with your firm. Partly this is a preventive measure – when they get regular reminders of how much you value them they will be less inclined to listen to other offers.

But this also makes you look good to recruits, who can see how you interact with your current agents.

So start today...

Get on Facebook now and start using these tips to attract the agents you want for your company.