Meredith Corp, nation's top publisher of magazines and websites for women, had originated from a journal that was sold door-to-door featuring tips to help farmers get ahead in the early 1900s.

Since then, Meredith Corp. survived depression, recession, the Internet and an increasingly crowded field of magazine competitors, and has now finally grown and evolved to reach more than 200 million people a month.

The magazine publisher managed to do so by developing a keen understanding of its readers, and used its huge database for polishing how women seek and use information in the areas of food, home, parenthood and health.

The portfolio of Meredith Corp. includes Better Homes and Gardens, which is one of the most widely, read magazines in the nation, and Allrecipes, the world's largest digital food brand visited online more than 1 billion times a year by home cooks.

Mary Berner, CEO of MPA-The Association of Magazine Media, an industry trade group, said they deliver content as well as product experiences around that particular woman and they know more about her as compared to others.

Meredith, with an average of 800 data points for each one, has a collection of an unmatched database of 100 million women.

The detailed information is based on about three-quarters of American homeowners, which helps the company cross-market its products.

CEO Stephen Lacy said, "If you come to Better Homes and Gardens you might come because you're a decorator. You might come because you're a gardener. You might come because you're interested in food".

In the previous years, Meredith has made acquisitions to help it in reaching those women, adding EveryDay with Rachael Ray, Allrecipes, Shape and Myweddings.

It took over the advertising and business management for Martha Stewart Living and Martha Stewart Weddings, last year.