I have been discussing various kinds of blogging community widgets as a core topic for close to 10 months now, first Mybloglog, then Bumpzee, and shortly after Blogcatalog.
From every single one of those communities I have possibly gained more traffic than I have given them in return, though it is very difficult to judge exactly when you start gaining traffic, and maybe that isn't really the point. You can't easily track RSS clicks to a site unless you destroy the SEO advantages of syndication by having nice clean links and ultimately you hope for people to discover you once, and
Supporting Your Most Valued Communities Without WIIFM
Awards such as the Open Web Awards are a great way for members of a community to show support for the free services they find valuable, and giving something back to the people who run them.
What's In It For Me?
Honestly… nothing directly, unless the community owner pays you to vote for them, either directly or with prizes. I must admit I am not a big supporter of offering prizes and gifts to encourage participation. As an example I can encourage you to join the Collective Thoughts Community on MyBlogLog, but I am not going to offer a specific incentive. I have