AUGUST 14, 2009: Ron Samuelson, CEO of Samuelson’s Diamonds, the premier downtown diamond destination in Baltimore, Maryland was interviewed by the National Jeweler publication about their involvement in online social media:

Ron Samuelson, chief executive of Samuelson’s Diamonds in Baltimore, Md., has taken that philosophy to the extreme. On his 12-year-old Web site, he offers links to the company’s official Facebook page, Twitter account and MySpace profile. He’s also got links to his personal blog and Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn profiles.

As if all that weren’t enough, a year ago Samuelson created a Facebook fan page simply called “Diamonds,” that has since amassed 260,000 fans, all of whom he can blast with updates about his business. While some of those fans live as far away as Australia and Saudi Arabia and therefore have little value to him as potential customers, he does not underestimate the value of free marketing.

“People ask me, ‘Do you get business from this? How do you have the time?’” Samuelson says. “That’s my job. The old way of doing things is handwriting tickets, making double your investment and those days are over. Young guys getting engaged–they’re all on Facebook. It’s like going to a big party.”

Samuelson is such a strong believer in the power of digital marketing that the JCK Show tapped him to lead a roundtable discussion in Las Vegas on May 31 titled “Become a Digital ‘Rock’ Star.” Naturally, Samuelson promoted it via Facebook and is also offering his consulting services to jewelers who need guidance on where to begin.

(Note: the aforementioned diamonds fan page now has closer to 280,000 fans.)

Samuelson’s Diamonds maintains its focus on interactive marketing and online networking in the digital age. Find us on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Flickr, and look for Ron Samuelson on various other mediums, including his blog.

The original article is available here: “Can social networking boost your bottom line? | National Jeweler“