EQUTE — The uproar over flogs or fake blogs continues, but who is really responsible for them?

I liken the current Federal Trade Commission crackdown and all out Oprah war on flogs to the banking crisis. Both bring up the question of where is the regulation and who should be doing the regulating?

All along the way from the fake blog to the CPA action, people could have stopped and said, “Well, this doesn’t seem right, maybe I should stop.”

The affiliate marketing writer cold police him or herself, but when it’s a matter of livelihood, are they really going to stop when their storefront site is getting hammered by Lucy’s Juicy Diet and Wally’s White Teeth? Adding pressure to make more commissions from affiliate managers also pushes them to follow the path that works. Sure, one could ask if everyone were jumping off a cliff, would you? Affiliates would likely answer, “Sure, if we’re landing in a big pile of money.”

Then there is the networks, they might throw a line or two into their 40-page terms of service about fake blogs and trademarks. But beyond that, they don’t have the time or resources to wonder where each link is coming from — especially if that link is bringing in money for them and their advertisers. Adding regulation at this point seems logical until you think about how many thousands of new landing pages pop up every day for everything from acai berries, Obama grants, Google money, teeth whitening and all the rest. Unlike entities like Facebook, affiliate networks aren’t going to set up an expensive lander submittal process that would only succeed in making them less money.

Then there is the advertiser, the one visible person that gets a negative image in the eyes of the consumer if they catch on that what they’re reading is a flog. Some advertisers have sought out flogs and stopped them, but more often than not, even the advertiser isn’t going to be eager to cut themselves out of the profit. Perhaps they could send that free trial offer to reviewers and bloggers — which some do — but that means more overhead and putting a lot of trust in the blogger’s hands. If they are hawking acai berries and colon cleanse anyway, do they even want people telling the truth?

So where does that put us? Nobody wants to lose money by quashing flogs altogether, but nobody really likes them. It’s not an easy question to answer, and in the sea of dubious information that is the Internet, aren’t flogs exactly what everybody expects to find?

EQUTE — Every writer needs fresh ideas at some point, bloggers are no different. If you’re running out of ideas and need a quick blog entry to keep the brand blog going, try one of these out.

Show your readers one of your tricks or how you use a tool. A cake maker could give a demonstration on the best frosting techniques or the best way to color icing. A SEO expert could show readers how they analyze and use a keyword density tool or analytics software. Any pro blogger will tell you, giving away free information lets you show off your skills and expertise in a field. This freebie might also attract new clients, peers or just new friends in the industry.

Write a detailed blog entry about pros and cons of a current industry trend or news item. A doughnut maker could write about the trend of hole-less doughnuts. And what it does to the classic shape of the doughnut. Or a public relations expert could talk about the good and the bad of free press release services and what it does to the industry. Every industry has confusing topics and highly opinionated subjects — look at what people are arguing about and start from there.

Controversial people can bring a lot of traffic to a blog, just their name will help a blog show up on searches, news aggregators and other sites. An interview with a controversial person in any industry will bring traffic from new and old users alike. An interview with a big name is easy traffic, but not an easy task — especially for smaller bloggers. A random music blog, for example, isn’t going to have the clout to interview Bob Dylan, but it can still capitalize on his name. A profile of a famous person can do just as well sometimes as the person themselves. Profiling Bob Dylan’s career or how he inspired people at the time a new album release could bring a lot of happenstance traffic and people newly interested in his biography or discography. Every industry has a controversial person, pick one and start writing.

Writing about a client’s question is an easy way to keep readers reading. No matter how mundane or inessential a question is, if one person asked it, there are likely many others who are thinking about it too. A straw manufacturer could, for example, take a few pictures and write a blog post about how they get the paper around their straws — magic probably. It’s not a crucial piece of information or anything, but it could grow interest in your company and if it’s an interesting answer to a novel question, the entry could burn up Digg or Twitter and bring a lot of readers and possibly clients to your blog.

Write your own views about something that has you delighted or disturbed — even if it’s not in your industry. Writing a post about the a current topic in the news is a great way to show your customers and clients your values and your personality. This can, however, be tricky, you want to show who you are, but you don’t want to alienate your base. While politics and religion can really stir up the pot and get traffic comments and like-minded readers, businesses should think hard about what kind rhetoric is hosted on their blog. If a yogurt maker starts railing on presidential politics they could turn off potential yogurt fans. The gamble could pay off though, see Ben & Jerry’s; their politics bring attention to the brand and make earth-conscious consumers feel even better about that Chubby Hubby.

The fact that you’re not the only blogger out there isn’t even worth saying, but many bloggers act like they are. In the mad dash for more readers and better traffic, bloggers sometimes forget that people read blogs because they like reading blogs — simple as that. Giving out some good information or a link to a great blog might sound like a farewell wave to some bloggers, but showing readers where you find inspiration or information isn’t a bad thing. Any good information, even if it’s from another site, is good information and your readers will appreciate your desire to show them something new and great. Don’t get jealous , just because your reader is looking at another blog, they’ll probably bounce back to the great blogger that pointed them there.

Everyone needed novice information at one point — from lumberjacks to web site designers. Teaching the very basics might not educate your regular readers much, but it can be a wonderful way to bring new traffic. Pose a very basic question, then answer it. A good one for marketing might be “What Is Affiliate Marketing?” It might be an obvious to hardened marketers, but the industry is always growing, and fresh faces might not know the answer. Give those greenhorns the Wikipedia rundown with a few tips or insider information scattered through. It’s a fast and easy post, but one that could mean big traffic gains from new readers.

It might sound mundane, but telling people what you saw, what inspired you and what you did throughout the day could be a great post. Throw up a few interesting, funny or educational links or pictures you saw throughout the day. With so much news out there, many are looking for collections and lists to point direct them onward. Showing your readers what you look at throughout the day can bring your personality into the blog while giving good information. Tell your readers what you were doing when you stumbled upon this great image or precious nugget of information, then tell them what you did with it. For instance, a designer showing their inspiration can give clients a taste of how their mind works.

Jumping on a Twitter trend or popular Facebook posting can really propel a blog into realtime especially if you’re blogging at odd times. Expanding on an extremely current topic is a good way to bring new readers and help current blog readers stay abreast of trending topics without seeking a more general site like Wikipedia. If a topic is burning through social media, it’s likely a talker or it will be soon. Jumping into the global conversation about the next Macintosh product and how it could affect your industry is easy bait for readers — it’s just a matter of timing. In a blog entry like this is, timing is crucial, you don’t want to be the blogger coming in two days late on the iPhone — you’ve already been beat by the tech savvy crowd and the Twitter spammers. A marketer could even jump in on a movie discussion, a quick article about how the movie District 9 crafted its ads will insert your expertise into an extremely popular conversation. Try these out if you run out of creative juices, they can be a great starting point on a slow day and keep your blog rolling.