When Christine Cook had her first baby 14 years ago, she felt lonely and isolated but had limited time to meet people.  She was looking for friends on the playground and other kid-friendly spots, but wasn’t making “true blue” connections with anyone. For 13 years, she had an idea brewing – bring parents together to form real, lasting friendships – and now she’s launched TrueBlueMatch.com, a free online site that helps people make new friends.

The reaction to TrueBlueMatch has been overwhelmingly positive.  A lot of people – especially parents of young children – are interested in making new friends to meet at the park or for coffee, but are having trouble starting new friendships.  This new site makes it easy and efficient to meet new people.  TrueBlueMatch is primarily geared towards mothers – both stay-at-home and working moms – but also has a special section for fathers. 

Christine knew she had a great business concept, but the challenge was getting the idea out of her head and into action.  After contemplating the idea for over a decade, she finally decided to launch the business before someone else did.  After hearing a life coach on the radio, Christine was inspired to find her own life coach, who helped her clarify her idea and get direction for the business.

As a former teacher, Christine’s business background was very limited, so she networked to find the right people to help launch her company.  Knowing the importance of research, she found valuable statistics about the power of friendship and its importance to physical and mental health, and she’s used these statistics in her outreach to pediatricians’ offices and other marketing efforts.

Christine embraces social media and uses tools like Facebook and Twitter to promote her website.  She has also gotten great exposure on blogs that target parents.

This busy New Hampshire-based mom entrepreneur, whose two sons are now 14 and 11, enjoys the juggle of running her new business and managing her family obligations.  The key, she said, is to understand that not everything is going to get done – there will always be loose ends and demands on her time.  She embraces her “big, full, exciting, rich life” and celebrates how busy she is.  She regularly takes time for herself, usually hiking or biking to clear her mind and enjoy some fresh air.

TrueBlueMatch’s services are free.  Finding a new “true blue” friend through the site: Priceless. For more information, visit www.truebluematch.com.