Brains Beat Beauty: Bethenny Frankel Outranks J. Lo on Forbes List

COMMENTARY | Bethenny Frankel, reality TV star, best selling author and health food chef, is worth more than the most beautiful woman in the world. She out-ranks Jennifer Lopez, named the most beautiful woman in the world by People Magazine, thanks mainly to her little drink that could. According to the most recent Celebrity 100: The World's Most Powerful Celebrities List from Forbes, the newcomer outranks the pop star and "American Idol" judge with pay, press and social rank. So how did this woman fast forward her way to to the top half of the list?

She ranks at number 43 on the list. J-Lo ranks at number 50. On the surface this may be surprising, but when you look into details surrounding branding, social networking and press, it all adds up.

Bethenny Frankel: Take that, RHONY!

The woman was not a housewife, yet she managed to land a place on "The Real Housewives of New York City." She didn't quite fit in with the other women, who were moms, wives and already had thriving businesses. Frankel was the hardest working of the bunch, trying to peddle her Skinnygirl Margarita to the big beverage brands with no success. She even gave away free healthy baked goods in supermarkets to promote her brand.

She Can Thank a Skinny Margarita

The other women on "Real Housewives" tried to diminish her cocktail mix, a low calorie and natural (dye-free) margarita mix, by saying, "She invented the margarita." The housewives must be eating crow, if they can afford it, because that little brand Frankel created recently sold for $100 million to Fortune Brand's Beam Global, according to Forbes.

Keys To Success

Other keys to her success include her drive for perfection, being a workaholic and starring on a TV show to promote and launch a brand. She also earns respect because of her honesty factor. She lets her fans into her therapy sessions, admits when she's acting neurotic and, in turn, people connect with her.

Frankel and Facebook

In addition to pulling in $55 million for 2010-2011 to Lopez's $25 million, she has also been successful at working the press, social networking and using her TV show, "Bethenny Ever After," as an hour-long infomercial for everything from Skinnygirl Margaritas to shape wear and her books. She and her staff also post multiple times a day to her Facebook account, making her one of the most accessible stars on the Forbes list. J. Lo has recently beefed up her accessibility rating thanks to "American Idol," which may help her "social rank" on the Forbes list next year.

Frankel also outranked popular celebrities Sandra Bullock (#44), Brad Pitt (#45) and Robert Pattinson (#53).