The research you sent was me was very useful, I hope you can help me further.

I think I told you last time, that I am opening a gemstone,jewelry
site, which already has a somewhat good domain name.

As my budget is limited, I dont want to spread myself too thin,
carrying many different stones, and or jewelry, at many different
price points.

I then wont be great in anything and dont see this as the proper way to go.

When we look at a couple of gem or diamond business's on the net, we
see that there focus is on something specific and they do it well,
whether it be engagement rings or loose stones etc.Although the big
gem company in Thailand sells junk, plays with the color of their
photos, and basically tricks the uneducated consumer.But the point
here is that they do that good.

I need to find my place, and do it really good.
Whether it be a price point $500,$1000, or trying to reach a certain
customer base and spend advertising to reach them.

I know the question is a bit general, but Im sure you can send me some
very pertinent information as to help me decide.

I also need to know what shapes of colored gemstones are most popular.

And about the advertising links you sent me, it sounds good, but I
dont have the time to do it myself, nor can I afford some research
company to do it for me.
Is there some sort of companies that can analyze my important keywords
or maybe even I can provide them, and they can help me do the
advertising without spending too much on their services.

Thanks and be well.

<Deciding your customer base.

This article looks at some possible future trends in the jewelry
business. It predicts that Generation Y will be the next big market
segment to target. Women also represent a major market. 52% of all
households feature a woman as primary breadwinner. Custom jewlery
design may also become a trend.
http://www.professionaljeweler.com/archives/articles/2000/sep00/0900i2.html

Generation Y.
According to Professional Jeweler, Generation Y is the most
jewelry-besotted generation since the Baby Boom. This report was
written in 1999, five years ago and as the article below points out
this group is now reaching its prime jewelry buying years.
http://www.professionaljeweler.com/archives/articles/1999/nov99/1199mn3.html

Generation Y (those born in 1978 or over), children of the baby
boomers are reaching the age of 25, and 27 is the current age for
getting married. According to Blue Nile, Generation Y children are
moving into their prime jewelry buying years.
http://www.bizjournals.com/industries/high_tech/e_commerce/2004/03/29/seattle_story7.html?t=printable

According to CEO Magazine, Generation Y are the biggest population
group since the baby boomers. Forrester estimates that this group will
grow to 37 million by 2006, when 90% of this demographic will be
online. The average disposable income of this group will grow to
$2,602 by 2006. The average amount spent for online purchases will
reach $755, 30% of their disposable income.
 http://www.chiefexecutive.net/dotceo-mag/p50.html>

Women
Women aged 18-34 make up 22.3% of shoppers at online jewelry sites.
http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=10617

According to ComScore, 24% of online women aged 18-34 visit jewelry sites.
http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?id=361

Custom design
According to German-based designer Tom Munsteiner custom design will
be very much in demand in the future, since the client wants to
identify with his or her specific piece of jewelry.

http://www.colored-stone.com/stories/jan04/futuredesign.cfm

A survey of gemstone jewelry retailers found that 25% are selling more
colored stone jewelry now than the year before and that 92% are making
custom jewelry.
http://www.colored-stone.com/promo/aboutcs.cfm#shopping


According to U.S. Trust, Baby boomers (those born between 1946 and
1964) rarely buy jewelry.
http://www.ustrust.com/ustrust/html/knowledge/WealthManagementInsights/SurveyofAffluentAmericans/AffluentBabyBoomers.html

Selling loose gemstones.

The amateur jewelry making market.
This survey from Lapidary Journal looks at the preferences of amateur
jewelry makers.
Favourite facet designs:
1. Round brilliant
2. Emerald or step cut
3. Marquise
4. Oval
5. Pear
6. Cushion
7. Heart
8. Fantasy cuts.
Not so popular are princess, lozenge, kite, antique, baguette, barion
and trilliant.

Faceted jewelry stones favourites are:
1. Tournmaline
2. Corundum
3. Amethyst
4. Garnet.
5. Aquamarine
6. Emerald
7. Topaz
8. Tanzanite
9. Diamond
10 Citrine and other quartz
11. Peridot
12. Opel
13. Spinel
14. Zircon.
http://www.lapidaryjournal.com/feature/998fea.cfm

The reader profile for Lapidary Journal shows that 56.1% of their
readers plan to buy gemstones for personal use or resale.
http://www.lapidaryjournal.com/promo/reader_profile.cfm

Lapidary Journal offers a number of advertising options including
listing in their Website Directory which costs from $290 per item.
http://www.lapidaryjournal.com/promo/direct_reach.cfm#webdir

This article describes the trend for loose gem dealers to sell
finished jewelry items.
http://www.tucsonshowguide.com/stories/jan03/dealers.cfm

Price point
A survey from jewelry.com found that 25% of both genders think they
can buy fine jewelry for $100 or less, 55% believe they must spend
$101-$500 and 20% believe they must spend over $500.
http://www.jewelry.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/LearnDisplayView?storeId=10051&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&lkey=fashionsresults


According to Colored Stone?s annual survey, the most popular price
points were under $500 (35% of those surveyed).
http://www.tucsonshowguide.com/stories/jan03/retail.cfm

Internet pricing
A survey carried out by MVI Marketing found that consumers would be
more likely to purchase online if they could save 15 percent on the
overall price of the jewelry they?re interested in buying.
http://www.jckgroup.com/article/CA444281/jck?industry=Internet+Update&industryid=679

Reaching jewelry buyers.
Direct listline sells a mailing list with 325,000 jewelry buyers
including 55,000 with email addresses. Among those listed 47% buy
jewelry by mail at least three times a year, 53% do so annually. The
price is $70 per 1000.
http://www.directmag.com/ar/marketing_direct_listline_717/

Your advertising project.
You could post your project on elance. This site gives you access to
thousands of professionals in the US & around the world. You can post
your project free of charge. Service providers will then place bids on
your project. You can then select who you want to do the work based on
the price quoted, the providers profile, work samples and feedback on
previous projects.
http://www.elance.com/c/static/main/displayhtml.pl?file=eol.html&module=home>

<Search strategy:>

<shapes jewelry respondents>

<://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=shapes+jewelry+respondents>

<gemstones shapes "most popular">
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=gemstones+shapes+%22most+popular%22>


<Hope this helps.>