Like any professional business, especially of the entrepreneur variety, bloggers have a lot of things that they need to help grow their business.
They need better equipment, better skills, better networking, and better tools to help them do what they do even better. But, most bloggers start small, build slowly and invest their money frugally and as wisely as possible.
When you start a blog, it doesn’t require a lot of money, but the more you grow the more tools you want and need to take advantage of.
It can be hard to know what to gift the blogger in your life, so here are 29 suggestions. And it’s totally cool to gift these to yourself as a blogger. The plus side is that you can deduct them as a blogging expense.
23 Things Bloggers Really Want to Receive as Gifts
9 Gifts to Improve Blog Photography
One of the best investments a blogger can make is in her photography skills and photography equipment. Stock photos are nice and all, but learning how to take better images is pretty darn essential. Here are different blogger gift ideas relating to photography:
DSLR Camera
I have the Nikon D3100 as an entry level camera. It’s been great to learn the ropes of shooting in manual. Any high quality DSLR with interchangeable lenses make for a great gift idea.
Camera Lens
You may already have the nice camera, but what you really lack is the great lens! I love my Nikkor 35mm fixed lens! It takes such pretty pictures and allows for better pictures in lower light too.
Camera Tripod
If you want to do take video or photos while your hands are doing something else, a tripod sure is handy! A basic tripod with a bag is what I use and it works well!
Phone Tripod
If you are into Periscope, taking selfies or videos with your phone, then you should look into a phone tripod. This universal smartphone holder is great for when you are out and about as it is flexible and can hang out almost anywhere. If you want a tripod for your home, this one is great. Or you could just get yourself a selfie stick.
Camera Flash and Lighting gear
The flash that comes standard on DSLR are not usually anything too exciting or awesome. Investing in a great camera flash is wise, as is investing in some light boxes and softbox ligths, and multi-disc light reflectors.
Camera Microphone
If you plan on doing any videos, podcasts, or voice overs, then think about investing in a camera microphone as well as a great USB microphone.
Photography Backdrops
If you take a lot of product photos or do staging at all, having a great photo background and props is so awesome. Everyone I know loves the vinyl photography backdrops from Swanky Prints on Etsy.
Photography Courses
Improve your craft by taking photography courses. You can see if your local college, local photographer or studio is offering one. Check Groupon for any available and discounted courses in your area. Otherwise you can do some online photography courses. Craftsy offers dozens of affordable photography courses, teaching different skills, like Lightroom Essentials, natural-light portraits, product photography at home, and mobile photography. From 12/1-12/12 you can get 50% off all classes too!
If you are a food blogger check out Pinch of Yum’s Tasty Food Photography book. Even if you don’t write about food, it will help improve your photography. I meant Lindsey in Indiana at a workshop and she is fantastic!
There is also Courtney Slazinik, of Click it up a Notch‘s ebook “The Unexpected Everyday” that will help you get to know your DSLR and shooting in manual mode, especially to capture great pictures of your kids and family.
If you are a food blogger, you should definitely look into Food Blogger Pro and their current coupon discounts to save you money on your membership.
Photo and Video Editing Software
Bloggers can greatly benefit from owning Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, and Adobe Premiere or other photo editing and video editing software for their computer. Even a simple subscription to PicMonkey is cool though.
8 Blog Tech and Office Gift Ideas
Along with photography goods, there are other great tech products and office goods that a blogger will love!
Computer
Every blogger needs a reliable and awesome computer. I don’t care for Apple products that much (but some do), and currently use a custom built desktop computer for most of my blogging needs. But, my husband picked me up a Lenovo Yoga laptop (my first laptop EVER) so that I could blog on the go, and I think it’s pretty sweet. But, with so many options out there I’ll let you figure out what great computer would fit the blogger in your life.
Computer Chair
I know laptops are great in that you can take them anywhere, but honestly, your blogger needs a great chair (and desk) so that the hours they spend working doesn’t do a number on their back.
Hosting
If your blogger friend still hasn’t made the leap to self-hosting, help them out by paying for their first year of hosting with BlueHost for them. I have a tutorial on how to start a blog with BlueHost so it’ll be super easy to help them get started.
Design
It can be hard for a blogger just starting out to want to splurge on their blog. So do it for them. Buy them the Genesis Framework for WordPress and a pretty StudioPress or Restored 316 Design theme too (let them choose which one).
Grammarly
If you are looking for something much better than spellcheck, sign up for Grammarly. It’s a powerful tool to help really polish your content. And then be sure to sign up for my friend’s Sticky Blogging course. It’ll have you writing killer, got to stick-around content.
Printer/Scanner or Silhouette/Cricut
As a blogger, you need to be able to scan documents (like contracts and tax forms) and email them to people. It’s also helpful to print off those Printables you design for blog posts. Printers are pretty darn important. I don’t have a strong preference for what brand (I currently use a Canon one), but get a printer with a scanner/photocopier that comes with Wi-Fi, then buy some ink, and some high-quality stock paper.
You could also gift a Silhouette machine or a Cricut machine. I still don’t have one, but would love one! Think of all the pretty DIY and craft things I could do (maybe it would help me actually be crafty). If the blogger in your life is a crafter, they need this, or supplies to run the machine they already have.
Laminator
This is always useful! Love this Scotch Thermal Laminator!
Blogger Spreadsheet
If your blogger is venturing into the world of monetization, it is super helpful to have an excellent Excel spreadsheet to track income, expenses, blog growth, and more. I highly recommend purchasing (for $20) my friend Hilary of Pulling Curl‘s Blog Income Spreadsheet. It is super detailed, but she breaks it down for you via a 5-day email course. It’s well worth the money to see how you are growing in certain areas.
6 More Blogger Gift Ideas
Conference Tickets
Attending a blogging conference is not only great for honing your craft but for networking! I don’t think you need to attend every conference, and some are certainly better than others. I’ll be hitting up the Type-A Parent Conference in Santa Fe next summer which looks awesome. They also have one in Vegas and at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
Branded Items
Your blog seems more legit when your website logo is branded onto products! Take your blogger’s logo and put it on a ceramic mug, or a T-shirt, or iPhone Case, or mouse pad, or ornament on Shutterfly.com.
House Cleaning
Blogging takes a lot of work. And many bloggers could use a little gift of house cleaning duties being done by someone else other than themselves. Hit up Groupon and save money on house cleaning services in your area for your blogger. If you live in Texas, I also currently have a giveaway going on for FREE house cleaning.
Childcare/Babysitting
If your blogger is also a parent, chances are they are juggling many things, and totally don’t want to drop the ball on parenting. But, they also are very passionate about their blog work. Help them out by offering your own services to babysit their kids a few times, or pay for someone else to come in and help.
Gift Cards
Bloggers are known to buy supplies to help them run their blog. Help them out with a gift card. Grab them one to:
- Amazon
- Michaels or Hobby Lobby or Jo-Ann (or their favorite craft store)
- Starbucks
- Groupon Bucks
Books
It’s always helpful read books about your industry. I personally recommend How to Blog for Profit Without Losing Your Soul by Ruth Soukup of Living Well Spending Less. I have been told that Launch by Jeff Walker is amazing and life-changing. I also love all the information that’s packed in Abby Lawson’s (of Just a Girl and Her Blog) Building a Framework: The Ultimate Blogging Handbook plus all the amazing extra videos and tutorials you can grab along with it. I know there are dozens of other great blogging books too (I’d love your recommendations!). Here are some to consider:
- Blogging on the Side: Where Passion Meets Profit
- Why Your Blog is Failing and How to Fix It
- Work From Home Blogging
- The 4 Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
- FaithLeaps: The Christian Mom’s Guide to Starting a Virtual Assistant Business
If you are looking for more gift guides and gift giving ideas, be sure to check out the following gift guides:
30 Must Have Gifts For The Grill Master
The Ultimate Gift Guide For Any Woman
Health, Beauty and Fashion Gift Guide
The Ultimate Gift Guide for Bakers & Cooks
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I may have to ever-so-subtly post this idea for my family looking for gifts for me! 🙂
Ha. Exactly!! An email isn’t too much, right?
This is an awesome list! I would love to get a lens, new computer, laminator, or conference tickets!
Come join me at Type-A Parent in Santa Fe! 🙂
I’m not even a professional blogger and I want all of these!
Professional or not these are pretty great right? You probably know better than me what camera and lenses to buy!
When I saw the title of this post I was really hoping you’d say TIME! Of all the things I want for my blog, more time to work on it is what I’d love for Christmas (or any time.) It could either be in the form of childcare or cleaning my house, each would be much appreciated.
Love this! Sharing everywhere I can! 🙂
Ha. You are sweet! Thanks Lena!
I liked your thoughts regarding bloggers gifts. All the ideas are just great. Keep sharing such more ideas.
Great Article! I believe the more the gift is personalized, the better. You should try to stand out by personalizing the gift with their name along with their blog name, which makes the gift item even more special.