Just as the internet has become a way to quickly find and share information in the last twenty years, social media networks have become an easy way for us to connect with other people - across the street or across the globe. As these networks grow, many businesses are recognizing the advantages of being able to connect with potential customers through them. However, they are not always sure what the actual value is or how to add it.

In this second of a two-part series about how establishing an online presence adds value to your contracting business, we are focusing on social media and how it can make your contracting business more valuable.

It can be a low-cost, effective addition to your overall marketing strategy.

While most networks now have options for you to pay to run ads on their site, setting up an account on a social media network and posting to it regularly is free. The time investment once you set things up is as small or as large as you want it to be, and the returns are high. A well-maintained social media account will make your business more recognizable, drive customers to your website (if you have one), improve your company's ranking with internet search engines, and create a greater sense of loyalty in your customers.

It helps you create a community, not just a customer base.

Two of social media's greatest draws are its ability to create a sense of community for its users and the opportunities it creates to carve out a space for that community. With a presence on any one of these social media networks, you can create a community around your business - a community that includes loyal customers, and other contractors and companies you work with.

It gives you a voice and establishes you as an authority in your area of expertise.

Sharing interesting and relevant content regularly on social media accounts not only builds a community around your business, but can establish you as an expert within your trade. Sharing posts from your company's blog, posting updates on current jobs (with shout-outs to other contractors you may be working with), or sharing articles related to what you do that you find interesting gives you a voice and lets your community know you keep up with what is going on. Their confidence in your business and your work can only grow.

These are not the only ways a social media account can add value to your contracting business, but they are all very important things to take into consideration as you decide what your online presence looks like.