From Rockland, a New Take on Networking

Pattie Simone is tapping into a niche market that hasn't yet been capitalized on—a .

Simone—whose career has encompassed writing and marketing—has been travelling the world and meeting professionally-minded women for years. In 2005, she founded the WomenCentric brand as a means to connect the folks she met during her travels.

Now, the site functions on a plane similar to LinkedIn—women can sign up and share their talents, set up workshops, find speaking and lecture opportunities and more.

"I'm calling it a directory of women experts," Simone explained. She added that her idea and plan came together around the same time Facebook and Twitter were taking off. But WomenCentric is not about social networking.

"It's a self-promotion vehicle for anyone who's an expert," Simone said. "If someone is an expert in knitting, they can put their information out there and interact with other people."

"It's a great space to find people who are upwardly mobile and highly educated," Simone added.

Simone already has an international audience—members hail from Canada, Bulgaria and Australia. The next step? Track down more investors. "We're still aggressively seeking investors," Simone said. "People who are interested in focusing on this niche."