12 Traits of Highly Effective Bloggers
ProBlogger
What makes a successful bloggers? Darren Rowse rightly eschews this question at first, pointing out that no two bloggers are going to possess all the same qualities. But perhaps there are a list of traits that a successful blogger could possess. He offers 12 examples; did he get them all? "There are many blogs with great information - but it's those that are able to draw in and build up a community of passionate and energetic people that often go to the next level. Readers are no longer satisfied just to consume content - they want to participate and belong online. Successful bloggers don't always actively participate in or lead the community aspect of their blogs but they do have an ability to attract other community builders and to empower them to build a community around the content on the blog."

How Much Should Metrics Matter?
Social Media Explorer
Metrics continue to be a big topic in social media circles. Why should we spend time and money investing in something when there may not be a tangible way to measure the results? Jason Falls wonders if we should even be attempting to measure social media ROI at all. "The reason? The core reason social media programs are successful is because they're about people, not money. Look at the social media buzz words - community, conversation, dialog, sharing - all of them are people-centric, consumer-centric. Social media isn't about sales. It isn't about market share. It isn't about profit margins. It's not company or brand-centric."

No Time to Spare?
Shel Holtz
There's really no end to the number of excuses those who don't necessarily want to participate in social media will offer to get out of it, but today Shel Holtz examines one that might actually be valid: the time factor. CEOs and entrepreneurs in particular are busy folks, how do they find the  time to commit to blogging and other social media endeavors? "I remember speaking to a CEO who told me his board has expressed concern over the amount of time they perceived he must be spending on his blog. His answer to them: He was spending no more time communicating today than he was before blogging. He had simply reallocated some of the time devoted to other communiation channels to the blog. The reason is the very same one Levy expressed: Blogging is a useful tool that didn't exist 10 years ago. In some instances, it's better than a phone call or conference call, better than a speech at an industry conference, better than an email missive."