Three years ago, I invented a social media metric. I’d be lying if I said this was a divinely inspired event. I did it because it was necessary.

Here’s the story: Three years ago, I was prepping for a meeting where I hoped to convince a major CPG brand that my celebrity client was more influential in social media than other celebrities, and therefore they should invest their dollars in my proposed "social media endorsement deal." (Remember at the time, Facebook was just emerging from its college roots and Twitter was nowhere yet.)

via Return on Influence, the New ROI – Amy Jo Martin – Harvard Business Review.