Centers of influence are people in the community that generate sales for your business through referrals. Sometimes they’re customers. Sometimes they’re not. Some are members of your target market who influence their peers. Others operate complementary businesses and share their customers. They are well connected. They have ability to generate large volumes of business for your company by referral — and they’re online.

via Selling social to the C-suite: The power of referrals | SmartBlog on Social Media.