It's true in sports and maybe it's true in business too: It's important to be good. Sometimes it helps to be lucky.

Customers are the test on the 'good' part. The 'lucky' part may come down to timing -- if you're lucky, your idea meets the market at just the right moment, when people are ready and feeling a pain you can relieve.

We entered our beta program with lots of questions and a hunger to learn as much as we can. However one question has been answered rather emphatically: the overwhelming response to our beta program offer shows us there is a significant unmet need. We've fielded inquiries from several hundred organizations of every stripe -- not for profits, political organizations, large and small companies across multiple vertical categories, advertising, direct marketing and public relations agencies.

As gratifying as the response to the beta offer has been, we're also very excited about the growing conversation around influence as the most meaningful way to understand and engage with social media.

As the conversation around influence shows, the timing is right for a new way to think about social media.