[caption id="attachment_914" align="alignleft" width="307" caption="From left: America&#39;s Best Jewelers panelists Patrick Slavenburg, Rex Solomon, moderator Whitney Sielaff, Daniel Gordon and Brian Reid Alter."]<a href="http://blog.biggstock.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/americas-best-jewelers-share-social-media-tips_biggstock.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-914" title="america's-best-jewelers-share-social-media-tips_biggstock" src="http://blog.biggstock.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/americas-best-jewelers-share-social-media-tips_biggstock.jpg" alt="" width="307" height="200" /></a>[/caption]

Las Vegas--Kicking off the America's Best Jewelers program at Couture on Thursday morning, jewelers and online media specialists from Texas to the Netherlands shared their best practices for social networking.

National Jeweler Editorial Director Whitney Sielaff moderated the discussion, which featured panelists Patrick Slavenburg, co-founder of Farlang.com, based in San Francisco and the Netherlands; Rex Solomon, chief executive officer of Houston Jewelry in Houston; Daniel Gordon of Samuel Gordons Jewelers in Oklahoma City; and Brian Reid Alter, managing owner of Alter's Gem Jewelry in Beaumont, Texas.

Here are some of their top tips:

* Think relationships. Twitter and Facebook are for relationship-building. Stay away from hard selling, which can turn contacts and customers off.

* Stick with it. "Tweeting" or posting Facebook status updates might feel awkward at first, but it gets easier. "In the beginning, it's boring and mundane, but it's a building process," said Daniel Gordon of Samuel Gordon Jewelers in Oklahoma City.

* Get personal. Your store has a presence on Facebook or Twitter, but do you have a page of your own? Jewelry is a personal business, so why not let potential customers get to know you?

* Remember the customer. Customer service rules apply, even if you're interacting in cyberspace. Be prepared to answer any online questions or comments with the same attention to detail that you would in-store. And answer them quickly.

REF: <a href="http://www.nationaljewelernetwork.com/njn/content_display/independents/market-developments/e3ib36f6aee9fd639726c7250cce0ab4bda" target="_blank" >America's Best Jewelers share social media tips</a>
