Podcast appearances and mentions of maggie lord

Send us a textIn this episode of the Ambitious Bookkeeper Podcast, Serena chats with Maggie Lord, a powerhouse entrepreneur who sold her media company to David's Bridal and now helps female founders do the same. Maggie shares her journey from starting a wedding blog in 2008 to selling her company 12 years later, and reveals insider knowledge about business valuations, exit strategies, and how bookkeepers play a crucial role in preparing businesses for sale.In this episode you'll hear:Why Maggie is passionate about helping female founders prepare their businesses for acquisitionThe three common scenarios when founders seek M&A helpHow bookkeepers play a key role in successful M&A transactionsBeyond-the-numbers valuation factors that founders often overlookResources mentioned in this episode:The Whisper Group: https://www.wearethewhispergroup.com/Meet MaggieMaggie Lord was an early pioneer in the online digital wedding media space establishing her media company, Rustic Wedding Chic in 2008. As the founder + CEO of Rustic Wedding Chic, Maggie led the company for 12 years before it was acquired by David's Bridal in 2020. Maggie is also the author of 6 books. Today, Maggie has become a sought-after strategic advisor to female founded brands allowing her to focus on sharing her knowledge and expertise with other like minded entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses. Maggie and her businesses have been featured in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, Success Magazine and much more. Maggie is a partner at The Whisper Group, working daily with female founders to help them sell their companies and close the exit gap.Connect with Maggie

Join us as we dive into the inspiring journey of Maggie Lord, a trailblazing entrepreneur who transformed a humble wedding blog into a thriving business empire without a detailed plan. Discover how she navigated the challenges of scaling her business, balanced motherhood, and ultimately achieved a successful business exit—all while staying true to her passion. Maggie shares her insights on self-belief, community support, and taking that bold first step towards your dreams.

Maggie Lord, founder of Rustic Wedding Chic, highlights her incredible entrepreneurial journey. Maggie shares how she transitioned from being a teacher to starting and scaling a successful digital media business without prior business experience.   Learn about her strategies for building and monetizing her company, navigating the decision to sell to David's Bridal during COVID-19, and her shift to a corporate role post-acquisition. Maggie also discusses her current focus on mentoring female entrepreneurs, offering insights on strategic partnerships, business valuation, and the importance of mindset.   This episode is packed with valuable advice for women in business, from entrepreneurship and scaling a business to selling it effectively.   00:28 Meet Maggie Lord: The Woman Behind Rustic Wedding Chic 01:37 From Teacher to Entrepreneur: Maggie's Journey Begins 03:36 Building a Media Empire: Strategies and Growth 05:44 Monetization Mastery: Turning Traffic into Revenue 08:32 The Decision to Sell: A New Chapter 10:51 Preparing for the Sale: The Inside Story 12:14 Initiating the Sale: From Cold Email to Leadership 12:48 Valuation and Deal Structure 14:56 Maintaining Brand Independence 17:36 Transition to Corporate Life 19:16 Navigating COVID Challenges 22:15 New Beginnings: Consulting Female Founders 24:46 Final Thoughts and Contact Information

When David's Bridal reached out to Christy and Michelle about being on the podcast - it was excitement all around! David's Bridal is an iconic brand that has been around longer than any other company of its kind. Though they are best known for the sale of wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses, you're in for a treat as you learn about the many other services they offer. Including the most comprehensive and up to date information on what's happening in the wedding market. Maggie Lord, Vice President and Head of Strategic Partnerships at David's Bridal and the founder of Rustic Wedding Chic, a popular wedding blog and directory acquired by David's joins Christy and Michelle on the show today. Maggie is also the author of six books and a sought after wedding expert and she's offering insider tips for creating a memorable wedding. Click HERE to become a premium subscriber and unlock all of the amazingness:       Ad-free, full length episodes      The TBWPP Wedding Planning Resource Center with  Access to 6 mini courses of The Big Wedding Planning Master Class  Wedding Planning Templates and Tools Big Takeaways In a David's Bridal store, you can order a tux and color match with bridesmaid dresses. There is a large prom and junior section. They also offer tangible items for the wedding and other celebrations, not just the clothing. Dresses start at $99, and include a wide range of sizes. The Pearl Report is a comprehensive report put together by David's Bridal. They include information about what is happening in the wedding market and with their customers. Some specific stats from this year's report: 82% of brides are confident when looking att heir financial future 70% more brides are now comfortable shopping and buyinginstore 29% of brides will have more than 5 bridesmaids Concerns over venue availability are up15% 37% of brides are not worried about COVID at wedding Event guest limitations have dropped 14% Quick Tips For Wedding Decor on a Budget Not every single table needs to have the same arrangement or fancy centerpiece Candles/Hurricanes make great center pieces for the tables without flowers You can have non-floral centerpieces Quick Decor Ideas (Outdoor weddings) The more simple the better Find a focal back drop for the ceremony (an arch with flowers, barnd oors, etc.) Make sure there is dedicated spaces that are easy to discern (ceremony, cocktails, dining area) Signage is great for directing guests Think of your guests, and what kind of accessibility you might need Links We Referenced rusticweddingchic.com theblacktux.com davidsbridal.com Get In Touch:  The Big Wedding Planning Podcast is… Hosted and produced by Michelle Martinez  Music by Steph Altman of Mophonics  On Instagram @thebigweddingplanningpodcast and be sure to use #planthatwedding when posting, so you can get our attention! Easy to get in touch with. Email us at hello@thebigweddingplanningpodcast.com or Call and leave a message at 415-723-1625 and you might hear your voice on an episode Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When David's Bridal reached out to Christy and Michelle about being on the podcast - it was excitement all around! David's Bridal is an iconic brand that has been around longer than any other company of its kind. Though they are best known for the sale of wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses, you're in for a treat as you learn about the many other services they offer. Including the most comprehensive and up to date information on what's happening in the wedding market. Maggie Lord, Vice President and Head of Strategic Partnerships at David's Bridal and the founder of Rustic Wedding Chic, a popular wedding blog and directory acquired by David's joins Christy and Michelle on the show today. Maggie is also the author of six books and a sought after wedding expert and she's offering insider tips for creating a memorable wedding. Big Takeaways * In a David's Bridal store, you can order a tux and color match with bridesmaid dresses. * There is a large prom and junior section. * They also offer tangible items for the wedding and other celebrations, not just the clothing. * Dresses start at $99, and include a wide range of sizes. * The Pearl Report is a comprehensive report put together by David's Bridal. * They include information about what is happening in the wedding market and with their customers. Some specific stats from this year's report: * 82% of brides are confident when looking att heir financial future * 70% more brides are now comfortable shopping and buyinginstore * 29% of brides will have more than 5 bridesmaids * Concerns over venue availability are up15% * 37% of brides are not worried about COVID at wedding * Event guest limitations have dropped 14% Quick Tips For Wedding Decor on a Budget * Not every single table needs to have the same arrangement or fancy centerpiece * Candles/Hurricanes make great center pieces for the tables without flowers * You can have non-floral centerpieces Quick Decor Ideas (Outdoor weddings) The more simple the better Find a focal back drop for the ceremony (an arch with flowers, barnd oors, etc.) Make sure there is dedicated spaces that are easy to discern (ceremony, cocktails, dining area) Signage is great for directing guests Think of your guests, and what kind of accessibility you might need Links We Referenced rusticweddingchic.com theblacktux.com davidsbridal.com Quotes “After you buy your dress, and your have your amazing wedding - well most people want to do something with it, right? It doesn't just hang in the back of your closet. We would be falling short if we weren't standing with her in that moment, to how to preserve it, the right way.” - Maggie “What is magical about David's, along with a lot of other things, is that you can walk in the store and try on something in your size. Or find something really close, and it's not about the clips and the grips and everything else. You put it on, and you feel like yourself, and you see yourself exactly how you might look on your wedding day. And that is phenomenal.” - Maggie “Everybody wants to look and feel their best. And nobody wants to feel like they are settling for a dress that isn't the perfect dress.” - Maggie Plan your wedding using The Big Wedding Planning Master Class (https://www.thebigweddingplanningmasterclass.com/). A self-paced digital course created with love for you by Christy & Michelle. The Big Wedding Planning Podcast is... * Hosted and produced by Christy Matthews and Michelle Martinez. * Edited by Veronica Gruba. * Music by Steph Altman of Mophonics (https://www.mophonics.com/). * On Instagram @thebigweddingplanningpodcast and be sure to use #planthatwedding when posting, so you can get our attention! * Inviting you to become part of our Facebook Group! Join us and our amazing members. Just search for The Big Wedding Planning Podcast Community on Facebook. * Easy to get in touch with. Email us at thebigweddingplanningpodcast@gmail.com or Call and leave a message at 415-723-1625 and you might hear your voice on an episode * On Patreon. Become a member (https://www.patreon.com/thebigweddingplanningpodcast) and with as little as $5 per month, you get bonus episodes, special newsletters and Zoom Cocktail Hours with Christy & Michelle! Our Partners (https://www.thebigweddingplanningpodcast.com/partners) Special Deals for Listeners - TBWPP Enthusiastically Approved! Wedfuly (https://wedfuly.com/bigwedding/) SuitShop (https://suitshop.com/?utm_campaign=EngagedLeads&utm_content=BWPPPartnership&utm_medium=BWPP&utm_source=ReferralLink) The Flashdance (https://www.theflashdance.com/virtual-party-the-big-wedding-planning-podcast) Cactus Collective (https://www.cactus-collective.com/the-big-wedding-planning-podcast/) Unboring Wedding Academy (https://www.unboringweddingacademy.com/bigwedding/) Special Guest: Maggie Lord.

In anticipation of Leah's elopement, she and Rachel discuss wedding celebrations, traditions, and rituals. Check out what we talked about: Books mentioned: "Emily Post's Wedding Planner" by Peggy Post. "The Knot Guide to Wedding Vows and Traditions: Readings, Rituals, Music, Dances, Speeches, and Toasts" by Carley Roney and "The New American Wedding: Ritual and Style in a Changing Culture" by Diane Meier Delaney. "The Green Bride Guide: How to Create an Earth-Friendly Wedding on Any Budget" by Kate Harrison and "Diane Warner's Complete Book of Wedding Vows" by Diane Warner. "Words for the Wedding: Creative Ideas for Choosing and Using Hundreds of Quotations to Personalize Your Vows, Toasts, Invitations & More" by Wendy Paris and Andrew Chesler. "Celebrate Everything! Fun Ideas to Bring Your Parties to Life" by Darcy Miller and "Lauren Conrad Celebrate" by Lauren Conrad. "Barn Weddings" by Maggie Lord. Past Sadness by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5024-past-sadness License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license To access complete transcripts for all episodes of Not Your Mother's Library, please visit: oakcreeklibrary.org/podcast Check out books, movies, and other materials through the Milwaukee County Federated Library System: countycat.mcfls.org hoopladigital.com wplc.overdrive.com oakcreeklibrary.org

Got a wedding question? This week we sat down with Maggie Lord of David's Bridal! We discussed questions, like: How can you make any venue look "rustic?"  Do you know where to shop for your entire wedding day look?  Can you have a luxe designer gown at a barn wedding? And more! >> Follow @davidsbridal on Instagram. >> Check out David's Bridal on lovestoriestv.com to see learn more about them. >> Do you have a wedding question you want answered on a future episode? DM us on Instagram @lovestoriestv!

On this week’s episode of Nina’s Got Good News, host Nina B. Clarke is joined by her Good News VIP Guest of the Week, Maggie Lord! Maggie is an author, creator and entrepreneur, and the founder of the wedding blog and guide, Rustic Wedding Chic, as well as the Vice President of David’s Bridal with a focus on Partnerships and Business Development. Nina and Maggie sit down to discuss her wedding blog and guide, Rustic Wedding Chic, and what led her to start it back in 2008. They talk about the importance of consistency when building a social media following, Maggie’s experience joining David’s Bridal, the influence of COVID-19 on the wedding industry and so much more! ——————— Follow Nina on Instagram: www.instagram.com/ninabclarke/ Follow Nina on Twitter: twitter.com/ninabclarke Visit Nina’s blog: www.ninabradleyclarke.com Visit Rustic Wedding Chic: https://rusticweddingchic.com Visit Maggie’s website: http://maggielord.com Visit David’s Bridal: http://davidsbridal.com Follow Rustic Wedding Chic on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rusticweddingchic/ Follow David’s Bridal on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidsbridal/ Buy Maggie’s latest book: https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Romantic-Weddings-Maggie-Lord/dp/1423650603

Have you struggled to find the confidence to take the leap? Or maybe you’ve  stretched your legs out and finally jumped into the next stage of entrepreneurship? Either way fears and questions race through your mind. How big should my audience be? Will I be able to keep up with all of the cultural and technological changes? How do I stay true to myself and audience? How do I monetize my brand as efficiently as possible? Today’s guest, Maggie Lord, has answers to these questions based on her experience as founder and editor of Rustic Wedding Chic and Rustic Wedding Guide. Maggie created a website and tools for brides ten years ago, before Pinterest and Instagram inspiration was even a concept, to provide a space for ideas, inspiration, and resources for brides looking for similar things she needed when planning her own wedding. She has published five books and soon to be six. In this episode you will…  Understand the importance of speaking to a niche audience See how working with advertisers and brands has changed Discover the different ways of monetizing your brand  Master consistent methods for dealing with change Hear about the power of flexibility within entrepreneurship Acquire tips for yielding your biggest ROI QUOTES: “We didn’t really have a formal business plan but I knew what we needed to do to make X, Y, and Z to replace my salary.” Maggie Lord “It was only me. We didn’t have a team of people. I didn’t have tech specialists. I didn’t have anyone helping me with social media. I wore every single hat in the company and I was very glad that I did; because now that we are a little bigger, I know how to do everything. I understand each part of the company, why it’s important and why it needs to be done a certain way.” Maggie Lord “Focus on your niche and focus on how to really connect the most amount of people within that niche who really cares about it. Because you want strong consumers. You want strong readers. You want strong investors.” Maggie Lord “We work really hard with our advertising team to make sure we are bringing content we feel our reader should know about, is going to care about, is going to add something to their wedding planning process.” Maggie Lord “Things change. Your Google ranking is going to change. Your social media following is going to change and you can’t rely on one source. You need to be diversifying how you bring in your money to your company, and you need to be able to always know where you are going to go next so that when there’s a shift in the industry you can still monetize your brand.” Maggie Lord “No matter what stage your business is in you need to be able to treat it with this sort of feeling of it’s already a business, whether it’s bringing in money or not. And if you treat it like a business, it’s going to be a successful business.” Maggie Lord RESOURCES: Coastal Living Magazine Country Living Magazine Maggie Lord’s Website Rustic Wedding Chic Website Rustic Wedding Chic Instagram Rustic Wedding Chic Twitter Rustic Wedding Chic Pinterest Rustic Wedding Guide Rustic Baby Chic Style Me Pretty Website

Tara’s guest this week is Maggie Lord. Maggie is the founder of the popular websites Rustic Wedding Chic, Rustic Wedding Guide, & Rustic Baby Chic and the author of 5 books. Maggie is a sought after wedding & lifestyle expert who often appears on TV, radio, and podcasts sharing her insights on everything from wedding […] The post Episode 86 – Building a Business While Growing a Family with Rustic Wedding Chic founder Maggie Lord appeared first on What Works.

Millions of people read Rustic Wedding Chic, which is the #1 resource for rustic and country weddings online. What you may not know is this popular wedding blog is run by a Mom of 2 with her 3rd on the way, Maggie Lord. Maggie calls herself a naptime entrepreneur and we SO resonate with that idea. Welcome to the show, Maggie! We’re so excited to have you! On the Podcast 1:10 - An Inspired Bride3:01 - Curating A Site5:50 - Solving Problems Through A Directory Site7:01 - Monetizing Your Platform9:52 - Advice For A Blogger Building A Platform12:20 - Working With A Team16:27 - Working with Freelance Photographers17:40 - Growing A Pinterest Following20:06 - Thoughts on Content Schedulers22:55 -  What Makes A Popular Pin25:26 - A Frequent Pinner27:50 - Testing Out Promoted Pins29:34 - Maggie’s Embarrassing Mompreneur Moment Listen Now   An Inspired Bride When Maggie and her husband were planning their wedding 9 years ago, she had a very clear vision for how she wanted things to look. She pictured a rustic but chic and elegant feel for her northern Wisconsin, small town wedding, but struggled to translate it to vendors. There was no Pinterest or Instagram 9 years ago (can you believe it!?) and Maggie found it difficult to plan a wedding without a quick way to save and share the magazines and images she loved. She thought if she was having trouble, surely other brides were, too. So she thought, “I bet I could start a blog.” And back then, starting a blog was super easy! There were a million different blog formats to choose from, so she picked one and set out to help other brides just like her. In the back of her mind, Maggie thought her new venture would be a great profession someday, but she wasn’t sure how the details would work out. In the meantime, she enjoyed planning her own wedding! And, of course, sharing the process on her blog. Where did she find inspiration? Where did she NOT find inspiration? Where did she struggle? She compiled these thoughts on her blog, and Rustic Wedding Chic began. Curating A Site How did Maggie go about gathering and sharing content that was the best of the best for rustic weddings? She thought if she could share ideas from other brides and photographers, then her readers could translate those ideas into their own weddings. Initially, she had the idea to reach out to photographers and ask if she could share photos of their beautiful, rustic weddings. She offered to do a write up on their work, with a link to their services. In the early days of blogging, this is how blogging was done. When Maggie started 8 years ago, there were maybe 3 wedding blogs in the niche: The Knot, Style Me Pretty, and Martha Stewart Weddings. She had access to ‘real weddings’ (not even a term yet) that she could showcase. As this virtual collection grew, brides all over the country were able to find the right florist or cake decorator for them. RWC started by asking to feature the work of vendors, and now they get hundreds of requests a month from vendors. Maggie quickly learned that ‘rustic’ was an umbrella term - and there were tons of wedding types you could call ‘rustic’, from lakeside to barn settings. Shortly after launching Rustic Wedding Chic, Maggie launched RusticWeddingGuide.com as a way to help couples connect with vendors and venues. Creating this resource came out of requests Maggie would constantly get about finding the best venues. It's fantastic to see savvy business owners become the solution to their own problems. Solving Problems Through A Directory Site Did Maggie need a bunch of expensive software to make a directory site? Did she have to become a tech whiz? She admits that putting together a directory site was a challenge. Maggie was very comfortable producing content in blog format. She had post-writing down to a science. Putting together this directory site forced her out of her comfort zone. She made the decision to start small, and build from there. RWC was getting requests from both sides: vendors wanting to get listed and brides wondering how to connect with vendors. Since the Rustic Wedding Chic team is small, they had to really focus their efforts. Maggie pulled everyone together and they made their plan. Starting small and building up worked in Maggie’s favor, as currently there are over 5,000 vendors listed on this directory site. Monetizing Your Platform Since Maggie has monetized successfully, I wondered if she could walk us through that process and break down her income streams. Early on she got help from her brother, who is the president of an internet company. He helped her brainstorm and make a plan to monetize WRC. She knew she had a strong readership and impressive social media numbers, but the path to starting a business wasn’t so cut and dry. Along with her brother, she tested ideas - and it turned out that advertising was her strong suit. Maggie intentionally wanted to make sure that she could work with smaller vendors like Etsy sellers, so they worked out a model that was more like direct sales. She also partnered with Google and used Adsense for selling ad spots. The wedding world is perfect for featuring sponsored posts or Instagram campaigns. The game has changed a bit now than when she started, but still, the model of featuring products and services on your platform works. Maggie is also an author! When she signed her first book deal, she was unsure of how the process worked. She signed with a good publishing company and invested in a book attorney to make sure she was making wise choices. We love how diverse Maggie’s income streams are. She’s got many pieces of the pie all fitting together. Advice For A Blogger Building A Platform What would Maggie say to a blogger who’s new and trying to build a platform and create a package that would be attractive to advertisers? Maggie’s advice is on-point: “People have to be really cautious of the niche they’re in. I felt comfortable being in the rustic country wedding space because it came from a very organic place, and people could tell I was passionate about it. I was going to be true to that topic.” Once you find a niche, spend a lot of time and effort learning how you can dominate that niche. You want to have the best site, be the most authoritative, and give readers a good experience. “Be brand conscious, even if you’re not a huge, well-known brand yet,  you still have to think of yourself as a brand.” Maggie says that when bloggers try to work with bigger sponsors, they have to be confident in who they are as a brand. It’s difficult for any company to part with money, even if they have deep pockets! So you have to prove that your blog is worth investing in. The company wants to make sure that if they send you X dollars, it’s going to be worth their effort. If you can put a package together to explain who you are, why they should work for you, and who your readers are in a compelling way, that makes the decision ten times easier. A simple start is, "I am the expert in this world because...(your reason)" Brands have a million options when it comes to spending their advertising dollars. They want a blogger who will be the perfect fit. Working With A Team Maggie’s site is INCREDIBLY busy! She has lots of logistics going on behind the scenes to manage regular advertising spots, sponsored posts, working with publishers, and so on. She accomplishes all of this with a small team! We had to ask how she makes it work. When RWC first started out, she was a one-woman-show. All she had to do was create the content and publish it to social media. When the social scene exploded, especially with the development of Pinterest (Rustic Wedding Chic was one of the first Pinterest users) and her site gained more readers - she was responsible for more work. Maggie knew they had to grow as a company or she’d be limiting her potential and opportunity. When Rustic Wedding Chic decided to develop the Rustic Wedding Guide, she needed a team member solely dedicated to that project. Since their list of vendors is curated, Maggie had to make sure the vendors were high-quality  - and this took a great amount of attention. She also needed a team member to handle paid subscribers advertising in Rustic Wedding Guide’s showcase listings. Maggie was able to hire someone to dedicate their time exclusively to the wedding guide and taking care of advertisers. A couple years ago, Maggie’s husband left a job he had for a long time and transitioned to managing advertising on the blog. RWC would get tons of requests asking for a media kit or ad prices for social posts, or to personall review a dress - her husband was able to completely take this responsibility off of Maggie’s plate. (We love wife-husband teams!) Maggie handles all of the content creation and does media appearances for Rustic Wedding Chic. Rustic Wedding Chic hires freelancers from all over, from California to New York. Maggie frequently hires photographers to do styled shoots, as well as freelance writers to assist here and there. Her team is a healthy mix of full-time and contract employees. Working with Freelance Photographers Sometimes Maggie will work with a company who wants her to review or showcase their product. In some instances, the company is very direct that they want Maggie’s special touch on these features. Maggie likes to be hands on with that content. Other times RWC will field a request for something like a sponsored post, and the sponsor wants Maggie’s team to only be responsible for creating images and sharing the product. She talks with the company to see what their vision is, and they find a solution that works for her and her team as well as the company. Maggie really wants Rustic Wedding Chic readers to know that they can expect only product and photos that will deliver high value to their lives. No matter your niche, this standard is great for any blogger. Growing A Pinterest Following Maggie has an impressive 161,000 followers on Pinterest, and has leveraged the platform well to grow her business. We had to hear more! At the time when Maggie joined Pinterest, it was still by invitation only during their small roll out! The friend who recommended Pinterest to Maggie wasn’t even thinking of her wedding business, just that the social media platform might be something Maggie would personally enjoy. But it wasn’t long before Maggie started looking at Pinterest that she thought it would be the perfect place to share their beautiful featured weddings, so she sign-up as a person, but with the first name "Rustic" and last name "Wedding." They grew very quickly and early because they saw the value of people being able to look at, and curate for themselves, hundreds of images at once. When RWC started on Pinterest, there weren’t a lot of Pinterest users or competition. She certainly credits that early adoption to their success. As we know, Pinterest isn’t perfect. Maggie says that now she will go onto Pinterest and it kills her to see other pinners stealing her images! Swiping an image that they have exclusive rights to, and linking to their site, which means her fabulous photographers don't get the credit they deserve. As great as Pinterest can be for business growth, there are certainly drawbacks. Nowadays if you were to search ‘rustic weddings’ on Pinterest, you would probably get thousands of images from so many people. But just a few years ago, you would have only seen Rustic Wedding Chic content. We think this is totally a lesson in being an early adopter of new technology; don’t be afraid to try something new for your business! Thoughts on Content Schedulers Maggie says she has seriously signed up or paid for practically EVERY content scheduler out there. Some she found helpful, and some were just downright frustrating. She did use Tailwind for a while, but wasn’t a fan that her items would be scheduled SO far out. She’s also worked with a company that uses a bulk uploader for Pinterest. But despite trying out these many different scheduling options, Maggie just didn’t see that her pins were performing as well as they did when she pinned organically. Maggie has gone back and forth as to whether or not a 3rd party service is useful. These days she still does take the time to daily pin organically and see what performs well. She will go back to her blog archives and see what post she could recirculate since there are always new brides needing to see past weddings. Bottom line: Maggie has paid for ALL of the scheduling tools, but still feels that the best return on her investment is organic pinning. That said, Maggie does use Pinterest Analytics. She thinks it’s very valuable to keep track of how many people you're reaching and which pins are most popular. Maggie did work with a social media expert to help her make sense of Pinterest Analytics. Her consultant asked Maggie if she’d ever notice that her pin view rate was about 4 million a month!! And then the consultant explained that a  pin view rate means a number of times your pins are interacted with in a month - in Maggie’s case, 4 milion! It was one of the highest the consultant had seen. You can imagine that brides using Pinterest to plan their weddings are highly dedicated, if not a little obsessed! And the numbers show it. Maggie finds it helpful to use analytics to know how to hone her Pinterest strategy. While content schedulers weren’t right for Maggie’s business, the value of gauging performance and observing trends certainly has been. What Makes A Popular Pin So what ARE those insanely popular pins that keep driving traffic back to Maggie’s site? Maggie continues to be FLOORED that some of her content has been pinned over 145,000 times. Surprisingly, many of her top pins are fairly simple images. She’ll even see images of simple wedding features like mason jar centerpieces doing incredibly well. (Though the success does come with difficulty. You can imagine how annoying and frustrating it is when Maggie sees her amazing pins pointing to OTHER people’s content. Let this interview be a friendly PSA: don’t steal pins!) Highly popular pins are ones in which people feel like they’re going to get a piece of information or insight that can only be found at Rustic Wedding Chic. One of her pins is a lovely image with the title: ‘This Wedding Was Planned Under $10,000, See How They Did It’. A user can pin any pretty image, but it is highly valuable to be able to go to a site with solid information. Maggie has a pin called, ‘How To Have The Best Unique Guest Book’ that did very well, and another ‘Rustic Wedding Sign On Pallets’ which has had over 400,000 repins. This kind of success makes total sense! Maggie’s not just throwing around pretty images, she’s giving practical advice that helps others. One final note: while DIY projects aren’t a huge part of the Rustic Wedding Chic brand, those select posts do pin well. Again, Maggie wisely has observed that any pin through which the reader knows they’ll get exclusive information of how to recreate a look or complete a project will be a success. A Frequent Pinner Maggie’s favorite strategy is to pin content directly from her blog. On any given day, her site produces a few brand new featured pieces of content. Her daily Real Weddings posts will have between 12-24 images, each of which Maggie turns into a pin. She also spends time going back to more popular posts or seasonal interests and searches for pinable content. (For example, at the time of recording we’re heading into summer. So Maggie is looking for posts like ‘25 Beautiful Summer Wedding Ideas’ or ‘Best Outdoor Seating Ideas’.) She estimates that she’s pinning between 50-100 images a day. She is constantly checking her Pinterest analytics to see what pins are popular and resonating, looking at stats like the pins with the most impressions, saves or click throughs in the last 30 days. A lot of bloggers or business owners are curating content from not only their site, but also other related sites. Because Maggie has Sso much brand content, she could easily fill out a Pinterest profile with only her own images. But does she? Maggie says probably 90% of her boards feature pins from her own site. And considering they have 9 years’ worth of content, it makes sense! But Rustic Wedding Chic does believe in sharing the love. They do try to pin and share content from other brands that they know Rustic Wedding Chic fans will love. Though on the whole, of their 60,000 pins most, maybe 90%, are from Rustic Wedding Chic. Testing Out Promoted Pins Just like us, Maggie was excited to see Promoted Pins roll out. She thought it would be a great way to reach new followers on Pinterest, but admits that for her brand she’s always been a bit disappointed with the outcome--they got repins but not new followers. The best way for Rustic Wedding Chic to get new followers is still to create gorgeous content and work with great companies their readers will love. In Maggie’s opinion, she thinks promoted pins are probably a great tool for businesses just starting out and trying to gain more followers because you need to be seen. Personally, she likes seeing promoted pins because she gets amazing suggestions of ideas that she truly enjoys. Maggie’s Embarrassing Mompreneur Moment Maggie calls herself ‘The Naptime Entrepreneur’ and has written a few articles on that topic. She has 2 boys - and one on the way - so her house is a bit crazy! She used to try to work all hours of the day, but realized it wasn’t working when she made one embarrassing mompreneur mistake! She was at the park with her kids and drafted a hastily written email to a very prominent magazine, full of misspellings. She thought to herself that she would save the draft and polish the email once she was home. But when Maggie went to fix and send the email, she realized it had already sent! Enough was enough. She realized she really couldn’t do it all! So now, she works when her kids are napping or sleeping. As anyone with kids and a business or creative outlet knows, it’s never easy. Maggie says it well: “When my kids are awake I’m CEO of Mommyhood, and when they’re asleep or at school I’m CEO of Rustic Wedding Chic.” Connect with Maggie Site: RusticWeddingChic.comPinterest: @RusticWedChic Now It's Your Turn To Head Out There And Be Brilliant!

This week on Mom Talk Radio, Learning Specialist, Dr. Odey Raviv, shares tips for motivating an unmotivated college student who learns differently. Spotlight on Moms features Maggie Lord of RusticWeddingChic.com and MaggieLord.com. Pediatrician, Dr. Jean Moorjani, talks about achieving a healthy screen time balance. Ruth Rumack, creator of the pre-reading series Alpha-Mania Adventures, shares the importance of phonological awareness. Beth Knapp, co-creator of the MamaBirdBox, shares how she and her sister created a product to be another “sister” to expecting moms.

Do you dream of starting a business during your baby's nap times? Are you trying to work around your child's schedule? While the advice may be to sleep when baby sleeps, our guest today decided to start a business during her baby's nap time. Learn how she developed a successful website that now reaches nearly 2 million visitors each month!

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, ‘The only constant is change.’ Boy was he ever right. Times they are a changing. Some things for the good, others for the not as good, but that’s all a matter of perspective. From my perspective, one of the better changes to come about in the last decade or so is bringing an element of casualness to once very formal and very serious institutions. Showing that just because something looks more relaxed from the outside doesn’t mean that all of the emotion and substance that makes it special is not still on the inside. On the contrary, it can make it even more special as it becomes approachable and inviting to a larger group a people. One example of this is modern ‘fine dining’ institutions. Most of the famous young chefs in the world work at restaurants that you can feel at home in. No tuxedo necessary, just come in and enjoy the warm, unique atmosphere and amazing food. This similar change has come around to the institution of weddings. Gone are the days of 90% of people getting married in churches and country clubs, here are the days of my wife and I getting married outdoors in Yosemite. Today’s guest, Maggie Lord, sensed the writing on the wall and created a Rustic Wedding (and Rustic Baby) empire. She is the founder of one of the most popular wedding blogs, RusticWeddingChic.com, and proves that you don’t have to be precious and formal to be beautiful, memorable, and filled with emotion.

On today’s wedding podcast I catch up with the gorgeous Maggie Lord, founder of rusticweddingchic.com, the original wedding website highlighting all of the wonderment that is rustic weddings, country gorgeousness, DIY touches and more. The rustic look can be very DIY oriented but as I always like to push on the show, when it comes to working your craft magic, some things are fab to DIY for your wedding & others are best left to the professionals. Maggie loves her niche and it’s easy to see why so many couples have been inspired by her gorgeous website the projects and real weddings that she’s featured Be on your way to wedding Planning Zen with the Bridechilla Guides! Visit the Bridechilla Store and use the Codeword LISTEN for 10% off your order! Join the Bridechilla Community on Facebook. The best Wedding Planning community around. It's bullshit-free, jerk-free and a nice place to be! Keep up to date with the Bridechilla Blog, read podcast show notes and be inspired by real Bridechilla Weddings Join Bridechilla founder, Aleisha on Instagram, for wedding inspiration and more!