What To Buy a Blogger For Christmas

Christmas is fast approaching and buying for a blogger is pretty daunting. Bloggers are the already obsessed with social media and are up to date with most technology, what could you possibly buy for someone like this? Fear not, follow my list and check what they don’t have already. Maybe they have pined for a particular item here, too expensive? get together with a few people to pitch in and I’m sure you will have the happiest blogger on your hands- there’s nothing better!

 

Top 10 Things To Buy For A Blogger

 

1. Diary/Planner

Having a trendy diary means everything. You will enjoy writing, keeping organised and feel comfortable carrying it around everywhere with you. A planner is a bloggers best friend for that whole year so it’s very important to pick out the most suitable one for each individual.
Kate Spade diaries are hugely popular with all walks of life. They are cute and do the job. Kiki-k is one of my favourites. I used to have one for 2014 and loved it! Busy B has lovely designs and fabulous planning equipment within every diary. Passion Planner look more minimal but are ideal for the super busy and organisation will be on point with the Passion Planner. Also check out The Dream Job and Paper and Prosper.

2. Portable Charger

Losing all your battery power is a nightmare. This goes for all walks of life not just bloggers, can anyone remember a time when we didn’t have to charge our devices every single day? Nowadays you can carry a portable charger with you that does not need to be plugged into a socket.
iNailz are an Irish company (keep it local) that have designed the perfect portable chargers for your female blogger friends. You can also find other designs easily by looking on Amazon or eBay.

3. Website Domain

Buying someones blog name on a “.com” is a huge deal. This may seem like a different language to non-bloggers so I will try to be as clear as possible.
The easiest way to find out if your blogger buddy could benefit with this gift is by simply going to their blog online, check if their blog is “blogname.com”- this means the blog is already hosting itself and this section won’t help you. However, if their blog looks something like “blogname.blogger.com” or “blogname.wordpress.com” then you could potentially become their new favourite person. Self hosting a blog is a huge step in the blogging world. It involves a yearly payment. It’s usually not too expensive, depending on the blog name. Here is where you come in. The best present for this blogger is for you to commit to pay their yearly subscription by going to their blog dashboard with them and you can input your card details. Maybe it might be a nice gesture to say you will commit until your card expires and then your blogger buddy can get their own independence and pay for it themselves. By giving this gift it is the ideal blogger push in the right direction and there’s nothing better than starting off a new year with a nice clean slate.

4. Blog School

Do you know someone who says they’d love to start-up a blog but doesn’t know where to start? Has your friend recently began blogging and you are sick and tired of hearing how time-consuming and how much hard work blogging is? Send them to blog school!
Into The West Blogging Network (ITWBN)host a Irish blogging workshop for all beginners. In the workshop they go through how to set up your blog, how to get it going and how to keep it going.
As well as the Blog School, ITWBN are an amazing group to keep in contact with. They host blogging events (mostly in Galway) where you get to meet and interact with other bloggers all over the country. They bring in guest speakers to keep your inspirations high, and they give you opportunity to work with many brands which offer content to your blog. I, personally, have never been part of a more supportive group and love every one of the events I’ve gotten the chance to attend. I highly recommend any Irish blogger who hasn’t connected with the group to do so. You’ll be happy you did, I promise.
Contact ITWBN to see when the next blog school is taking place.

 

5. Blog Theme

On every blog website there has to be a ‘theme’ which forms the structure. The theme is how the website looks. Many bloggers will be working off a free theme which limits the design of the blog. Each blogger who works off a free theme has a favourite theme out there they would love to buy. This is where you, the blogger friend comes in! Similar to the self hosting gift, it is usually an annual payment by card. These themes can be more expensive. Depending what your blogger buddy wants, they can range in price, some being around €150. A lovely and unique gift idea, and it definitely will not disappoint!

6. Camera and Equipment

OK. This is a huge deal. If you get your blogger buddy a DSLR camera, or equipment for a camera they already have you will literally (I’m not kidding) be the BEST friend in the ENTIRE world. Blogging evolves around image. If you can take a high quality image then you can use that image to represent your blog everywhere. Bloggers have become highly aware of how extremely important imagery is to a blog.
This present will be hard to make a surprise unless you are coy. You will need to ask them loads of questions about what camera and equipment they have already. especially if they are vloggers who put videos up on YouTube too, any camera-related present should be top of the list.

-Camera. what do they use already? If they say oh a “canon”, “nikon”, “sony” or any other brand name the golden question for you to ask is “is it a DSLR?”. if they say no, there you go. present sorted.
Lenses. If they say “yes, my camera is a DSLR”, making sure to be clever say “oh do you have many LENSES“, if no, go to your nearest camera shop and ask the guy behind the counter for the most popular lens for their brand camera. If they already have a few lenses, be sure to find out what they have already and maybe ask them what would be another lens worth while getting, or again go to the camera shop and ask.
-Light Box. A covatable item for all bloggers of late, you might not know what it is, just get it. It’s ideal for taking the perfect picture
-Camera Stand. Sometimes taking an OOTD can turn out to be a one person job. Get them a camera stand to take selifies on timer.
-Studio Lights and Backdrops. Ideal for the vlogger to up their YouTube game.
-Memory Cards. You can never have enough memory, and it’s always handy to have a back up if things get full.

7. Photoshop

Again with the imagery, you can make a good photo even better with Photoshop. It can be a bit expensive and the blogger needs to be willing to learn how to use it before you commit to buying it.
Final Cut Pro is a good one for vloggers and for regular bloggers Adobe is most popular.

8. Business Cards

Every blogger needs their own business cards. Having all their information in the one card makes networking ten times easier.
I got my business cards with moo.com and I love them! As a gift get them a gift card or voucher. Don’t go making up their business card for them lol.

9. Photoshoot or Blogger Illustration

When looking up a blog its nice to see professional images of the person behind the blog. Organise a portfolio portrait photo shoot with a local photographer for your blogging buddy.
The new hip thing to do to be different and stand out is to get a personal illustration for the blog! Check out Emma Kenny Illustrations and Holly Shorthall who will create amazing illustrations for your beloved blogger.

10. Blogger Hat

Leaving the most important present to last, the one gift that is the ultimate “gift for a blogger 2015”, the notorious, the stand-out-from-the-crowd, blogger hat. Yup, simply a hat! a lovely hat that will make your blogger friend very happy. For men, you can buy any hat really, once its stylish enough (obvs…), and for your lady blogger, make it none other than a big fedora! Remember, a blogger hat ‘aint a blogger hat unless it’s fedora fabulous!

And there you have it. The top 10 things you could buy a blogger this year for christmas. Any more ideas? let me know in the comments below.

Until Next Time,
xox

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