Shifting From Producer to Recruiter: How to Flip Your Social Brand and Attract Top Talent

If you’re still posting like a top producer but expecting people to follow you like a top leader, it’s time for a shift. In this episode of Recruiting Conversations, I break down how to reframe your social media presence to attract talent, not just clients.

Your digital brand is your recruiting reputation. I’ll walk you through a proven framework to flip your message from “I close deals” to “I build leaders.” Because if you want top talent to follow you, you need to show up like someone worth following.

 

Episode Breakdown

[00:00] Introduction – The disconnect between producer-style social posts and recruiting outcomes.
[01:00] Why Your Brand Isn’t Working – Your profile says top producer when it needs to say top leader.
[01:30] Step 1: Define What You Want to Be Known For – Focus on your vision, your value, and your voice.
[02:30] Step 2: Elevate the Conversation – Talk less about volume. Talk more about growth, mentorship, and development.
[03:30] Step 3: Document Your Leadership – Share real moments, coaching sessions, growth wins, behind-the-scenes leadership insights.
[04:30] Step 4: Build a Consistent Posting Rhythm – Use a weekly content cadence that includes vision, wins, insights, values, and gratitude.
[05:30] Step 5: Remove Distractions – Market updates and closings? Move those to stories or separate accounts to avoid confusing your audience.
[06:00] Coaching Case Study – How one leader went from “Superman” producer to team-building recruiter in just six weeks, and started getting inbound interest fast.
[07:00] Final Challenge – Audit your social media today. If your last 10 posts don’t reflect leadership, change the message.

 

Key Takeaways

• People Follow Leaders, Not Closers – If your feed looks like a producer’s, it’s time to evolve your message.

• Vision, Value, Voice – Define and share what you stand for and who you're building with.

• Make It About the Team – Highlight others. Show development. Move from “look at me” to “look at us.”

• Be Consistent – Social branding works when you show up frequently and with clarity.

• Your Brand Is Either Attracting or Repelling – Be intentional. Start speaking directly to the people you want to lead.
  
  

Your next recruit is already watching. Now it’s time to give them a reason to reach out. Shift your message, step into your leadership, and let your brand do the recruiting for you.

Want help building a social presence that actually brings talent to you? Subscribe to my weekly email at 4crecruiting.com or book a strategy session at bookrichardnow.com. Let’s flip the script together.

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
So the big question is this, how dorecruiting leaders like us who have
12 to 15 other job responsibilitieswin at this game of recruiting?
How do we build a system that allowsus to recruit effectively in a minimal
amount of time while motivatingrecruits towards meaningful change?
That is the question, and thispodcast will give you the answers.

(00:21):
My name is Richard Mulligan, andwelcome to Recruiting Conversations.
Hey everybody.
Welcome back to Recruiting Conversations.
I'm your host, Richard Milligan,and if you're still posting like
a producer, but trying to recruitlike a leader, today's conversation

(00:41):
is going to be a wake up call.
Let's just get right into it becausethis is a pain point I see constantly
when I coach recruiting leaders.
You want to attract people to your team.
You want your social presence tosupport your recruiting efforts.
If I pull up your LinkedIn or yourFacebook today, I still see pictures of

(01:02):
closings videos about market updates,and maybe some celebration posts about
how much volume you did last month.
Now, don't get me wrong,that content has value.
It serves your clients, but if yourgoal is to attract top talent to your
team, then your message has to shift.

(01:23):
Because right now yourbrand is telling the market.
I'm a top producer when it shouldbe saying I'm a top leader.
So how do you flip the switch?
Let me walk you through this.
Not in theory, but in the exact framework.
I've helped dozens of leaders use tocompletely rebrand themselves socially

(01:45):
in a way that leads to recruiting wins.
Now first, and this is where it starts.
You've gotta understand that socialmedia isn't just a platform anymore,
it's your digital reputation.
In many cases, it's the firstimpression someone has of you.
So ask yourself this.
If a top producing loan officeror agent came across your profile
today, would they wanna work for you?

(02:07):
Would they even know that you're hiring?
Or more importantly, would they seeevidence that following your leadership
would help them get where they want to go?
If the answer is no.
We've got some work to do.
So here's the framework.
Step one, define whatyou wanna be known for.
You can't build a compellingbrand around everything.

(02:27):
You've gotta narrow it down.
And for most recruiting leaders,this comes down to three big areas.
Your vision, where you're going,and who you're taking with you,
your value and what you do to serveand grow the people on your team.
Your voice, your beliefs,your convictions, and the
why behind what you do.
Now the problem is if I scroll throughyour last 10 posts and all I see is

(02:51):
just close another deal, or congratsto my buyers, there's no vision.
There's no voice.
There's no value for a potential recruit.
So once you've defined what youwant to be known for, and listen
if you're stuck on that, yeah.
Go back to your dream team avatar.
What kind of person doyou want to attract?

(03:11):
Start speaking to them.
That brings us to step two.
Elevate the conversation.
Stop talking about volume.
Start talking about growth.
Start sharing what you'rebuilding as a leader.
Start showing how you'rementoring, developing coaching.
Share your leadership philosophies.
Talk about how your team iscollaborating, winning, leveling up,

(03:34):
shine a light on other people's success.
Lemme give you an example.
Instead of posting, I closed threewave million dollar volume last month.
Flip it and say, I'm so proud ofJennifer, one of our newer los, who
just crossed her first $1 million month.
We spent the last 90 daysfocused on building her

(03:54):
referral network and watching.
Too many leaders think socialmedia has to be polished.
It doesn't.
In fact, the more authentic youare, the more trust you'll build.
Document your leadership journey.
Show the behind the scenes.
Snap a picture in a coaching session.
Share a quote from a conversationyou had with a team member.
Talk about what you'relearning as a leader.

(04:15):
This is one of my favorite partsto coach because it's simple.
You don't have to create content.
You just need to start noticing content.
It's already happening around you.
Just pay attention and listen.
If you're doing things like dreammeetings or mapping out growth
plans with your team, talk about it.
Those little moments build massivecredibility with future recruits.

(04:38):
Step four is about consistency.
You got to show up regularly.
One post every two weeks won't cut it.
You're competing for attentionin a noisy world, so aim to post
something five times a week.
Yes.
Five.
And you don't have to overthink this.
Here's a simple rhythm I giveleaders Monday Vision Post,
where the team is headed.

(04:59):
Tuesday, team Win or Spotlight Wednesday.
Leadership or recruiting Insight.
Thursday, personal value or belief.
Friday behind the scenesmoment or gratitude.
You follow that for 90 days,people will know exactly who
you are and what you stand for.
More importantly, they'll start to seeyou as the kind of leader they'd follow.

(05:21):
And now this part might sting, butif you're still doing closings and
market updates, that's fine, butkeep that in your stories or move it
to a personal account because if itdominates your feed, it waters down the
leadership brand you're trying to build.
Let me give you a coaching moment here.
One of my clients, we'll callhim, Brian, was doing about

(05:42):
20 deals a month personally.
Big producer, but he kept saying, Richard,I can't seem to attract any talent.
I looked at his social and said,Brian, your entire brand is built
around you being Superman, but noone wants to join Superman because
there's no room for them to shine.
We spent six weeks shifting the message,less, look at me, more, look at them, more

(06:04):
team wins, more value, more vulnerability.
And wouldn't you know it?
Four people reached out within30 days asking if he was hiring.
One joined within six weeks.
Why?
Because people are always watching andwhen you start showing up like a leader
worth following, they'll start leaning in.
So here's your challenge.
Audit your own social.
Scroll your feed.

(06:25):
If someone looked at the last 10 posts,would they know you're building a team?
Would they see evidence that you'rethe kind of leader who develops people?
If not, it's time to change the message.
This is the power of social.
In today's recruiting world, youronline presence is working for you
or against you every single day.
So choose what it's going to say.

(06:46):
Start speaking like the leaderyou are, show what it's like to
follow up, you and I promise theright people will take notice.
That's it for today's episode.
Go implement this and let me knowwhat shifts you start seeing.
I'll catch you back here nexttime on recruiting conversations.
Want more recruiting conversations?
You can register for my [e-mail].

(07:10):
If you need help creating your ownunique recruiting system, you can book
a time with [e-mail].
I.