ArtisticThreadWorks.com Website Design Review

ARTICLE SNIPPET - ArtisticThreadWorks.com, a Popular Membership Website, does an Outstanding Job of Serving a Growing Niche Market of Needle Crafters

Just yesterday, it seems, needlecraft was the work of grandmothers. But things have changed. The craft of embroidery, for instance, has reinvented itself, in part, by calling itself  ''stitching.''

Today, needlecraft includes crewel, appliqué, cross-stitch, crochet, knitting, tatting, quilting, darning and embroidery. Some of these crafts have been practiced for centuries. Samples of embroidery, for example, have been found in Egyptian tombs, on ancient Maori costumes from New Zealand and on medieval church vestments.

As a hobby, needlecraft is growing in popularity. So far in 2006, several new needlecraft magazines have been launched including Quilter's Home; Beading Basics; Cross-Stitch & Needlework and Woman's Own: Afghans.

This renaissance has created a growing demand among hobbyists for kits, supplies, tools and—you guessed it—online information, most especially, designs and patterns. New techniques enable the growing number of needlecraft hobbyists to use software for embroidery designs. Simply download the design into a sewing machine and then stitch it up!

It's a lucrative niche. According to Larry Pike, co-publisher with his wife, Holly Pike, of ArtisticThreadWorks.com, their members are 98 percent female, average age between 40 and 65, have a household income four times the national average and spend an average of $3,000 annually on their needlecraft hobby.

At ArtisticThreadWorks.com, members have access to 9,000 instantly downloadable embroidery designs for home and commercial machines. Membership is $9.95 for one month, $19.95 for three months, or $49.95 for six months.

• Discover a change this site made for the worse and how it could easily be improved - page 8
• Learn all the neat ways this site builds relationships with its visitors and prospects - page 9, 10
• Discover the two pages on this site that are so well-done, they're worth modeling your own pages after - page 11
• Learn how this site encourages members to participate (and we're not talking only about their very active discussion forum) - page 14
• Understand how, despite growing competition, this site has built a brand that projects the right image - page 22

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