How I Transformed Bridal Inspiration Boards Into a Business

How does Lover.ly make money?

Our business model is comprised of four different types of partnerships: shop, advertiser, vendor and editorial. On the content side, we work with our exclusive Lover.ly bloggers and curated vendors to create the extensive collection of inspiration images on the site. In exchange, we sell advertising on our partner blog sites. The gorgeous 250,000+ products that appear in the Lover.ly ecommerce vertical and throughout the site come from the more than 2,000 brands we work with. Partners can also reach Lover.ly users via sponsored email campaigns or as part of the various events we execute.

Tell us about the role of inspiration in your business.

All wedding planning starts with inspiration, whether it’s a theme, color or place that inspires a couple. Our goal with Lover.ly is to make that inspiration transactionable. So if they’re looking at inspiration, whether it’s a color palette, or looking at a destination, like vineyard weddings, we’re connecting them with vendors and products that actually make that wedding a reality.

When you look at a lot of platforms people are currently using, whether it’s for shopping or discovery or Pinterest or flipping through magazines, the big frustration comes when you can’t take action. And I think that’s what’s cool about technology — you can easily take action. Our goal is fusing those two things together. As couples discover what’s important to them and what they want their wedding to be like, they’re easily able to make that inspiration or dream a reality.

What inspired the entrepreneurial seed in you and your sister?

My parents are serial entrepreneurs too. My mom was a florist; she had her own flower shop and would create store flowers. In the ’80s, if you ever walked into a Bullock’s or a Saks, they had little boutique floral shops in those stores; those were my mom’s. She had her own standalone then she started supplying flowers to all the big retailers in the LA area. So she was super creative and also had a business side to her.

Then my dad came from the Middle East, didn’t speak the language and got involved in the only industry that was accepting to him, which was the convenience industry, predominantly run by foreigners. So, he started out as a teller at a gas station, then a manager, then became the owner, and as he built his roots within that industry, he ended up building a marketing company that at one point represented 5,000 local convenience stores, helping them negotiate advertising deals with large brands like Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay.

Being a young kid growing up in a house with two entrepreneurs, those conversations were at the dinner table when us five kids were around. Our dad would share his stories about what happened that day, and on the weekends, I’d go to the gas station with him and count the money or work the register.

Article Appeared @http://www.dailyworth.com/posts/2299-kellee-khalil-is-making-inspiration-actionable/2

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