Below is a guest post written by Michael Lee, a good friend of mine. He shares his thoughts and feedback on a recent project after the first 3 weeks. I can’t state enough how impressed I am with his transparency and accountability. Many organizations could learn a lot from his example. Enjoy!

Three weeks ago I launched a small project called Made in the Triangle or MINTT for short. Made in the Triangle is a directory of internet businesses made in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, North Carolina or anywhere in between.

I started MINTT because all across the web, I came across companies or startups with a small tagline that resembled, “Made in _______” or “Made with love in _______” or “Built in _______” in the footer of their site. These tag lines were usually linked to a website directory that represents businesses in a certain region.

Doing a quick Google search, I realized there wasn’t anything similar that could represent the Triangle area so I made one.

It’s just a website with a list of companies, what’s the benefit in that?

In essence that’s true, mintt.us is just a website with a list of companies from the Triangle area. But it’s more than that. It’s a place for the community of entrepreneurs in the Triangle area to announce to the world that we’re here and we’re making some pretty awesome stuff so watch out!

Each company that’s listed on the site has agreed to add the tagline, “Made in the Triangle” on their own site that is linked back to mintt.us. Along with the tagline the company has the option to add the Made in the Triangle badge which serves as a visual indicator for visitors that they are part of the MINTT community.

Visitors checking out MINTT could also check out one of the member’s site. Or visitors checking out a site by a MINTT member could be led to the Made in the Triangle site and a fellow member’s company could receive new exposure (We’re here to help each other out).

Well is it working? Got some numbers to back it up?

The main reason for this blog post was to share some numbers. I’ve broken down the numbers into three categories. Engagement, location and referrals. I’ll explain each of the categories as I introduce them.

Engagement

Engagement is made up of membership signup and the number of people following on Twitter.

Since starting there has been a total of 5 companies from the Triangle who have inquired of membership, 4 of which were granted membership upon meeting all requirements.

On the twitter side, MINTT tweets from the account @wearemintt. Since the launch of the site the number of followers are 14.

Location

Location are the different regions in which mintt.us has seen traffic. This is important because it is an indicator as to if Made in the Triangle has a global reach or even a national reach.

Since January 25, 2013 to the time this blog post was written, mintt.us has had 71 unique visitors. Out of which visitors originated from Canada, France, United Kingdom, Portugal, Romania and the US.

In the United States most visitors came from North Carolina but we saw visitors from California, Minnesota, Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Maine, New York and Virginia.

Referrals

Referrals are the various sources that have linked to mintt.us and have directed traffic to the site. I’ve split up the list between members’ sites and blog or other social sources.

• Members’ sites

◦           netsertive.com: 19 unique visitors

◦           jasztech.com: 12 unique visitors

◦           pathosethos.com: 6 unique visitors

• Blogs and other social sources

◦           anthonypompliano.com: 12 unique visitors

◦           triangletechtalk.com: 4 unique visitors

◦           google.com: 4 unique visitors

◦           twitter.com: 2 unique visitors

So going back to the question, “Is it working?”. I think it is. Just look at the places from which visitors are coming from. Not to mention the visitors coming in from members’ sites. In three weeks Made in the Triangle is starting to show up on the radar of the global community and it’s very exciting!

These numbers are a humble beginning. With time I hope the Made in the Triangle community grows with quality members. If you’re reading this blog post and you own a company in the Triangle why not join us at mintt.us? We’d love to have you as a member.

Made in the Triangle is here for the entrepreneurs in the Triangle area. Got an idea that could make MINTT even better? I’m listening, so hit me up at hellomichaellee@gmail.com or via twitter at @wearemintt.

I hope this post has been helpful and thank you Anthony for allowing me to share.