What Are The 21 Best Gifts For Bloggers This Year?
Giving gifts to a blogger is SO difficult. Like, what do they even do? Most of my family and friends don’t understand this line of work so I wanted to make a list of gifts for bloggers that you can reference whether its a birthday, Christmas or a just because gift.
There are so many aspects involved in running a successful blog, so whether you are looking for a gift idea for a food blogger, Instagram influencer, youtube content creator, travel blogger or even someone with a hobby blog, this post has you covered.
No matter what you pick from the following list, your blogger friend will be over the moon with the thoughtful gift you have given. They’ll be shocked to realise you even knew what to get them.
Read on for the top practical, fun and thoughtful gifts for bloggers – The ultimate blogger gift guide!
Disclaimer: Some links in this article are affiliate links, which means that if you purchase through them, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. For more information on my disclaimer click here.
Contents
THE BEST GIFTS FOR CONTENT CREATORS AND INSTAGRAM BOSSES
1. PHOTO PROPS
No matter what industry your friend is in as a blogger and content creator they’ll be needing to take photos. To create stunning images, just take a look at what the pro’s are doing on social media. You’ll notice a common theme on Instagram – they have props.
Props create excitement and allow for extra creativity. They give the viewer perspective and an invitation to draw their eye to a certain area. If you know a blogger who loves taking photos (or may need to step up their photography game) consider buying them some props to add an extra flair to their images.
Great gift ideas include wide-brimmed hats, blankets and throws, floral wreaths and coffee cups.
2. BEST CAMERA FOR BLOGGERS
Photo props and creativity are important for getting the perfect shot but a good quality camera is not to be overlooked. If you’ve got a few pennies to spend getting a decent camera will do content creation wonders.
The best camera for bloggers is a DSLR. There are some great entry-level cameras perfect for those just getting into photography and learning to shoot in manual mode. There’s no point buying a super fancy camera if they aren’t going to use all of the features. I use a Nikon 3300, now an outdated model, but you can buy the Nikon 3500 or the Canon EOS Rebel.
If your blogger friend travels a lot, a mirrorless camera is the ultra-compact version of the DSLR and offers the same quality but comes at a higher price. The mirrorless camera on my wish list is a Sony A6000.
3. LIGHTROOM SUBSCRIPTION
While good equipment is essential to delivering on the technical aspects of a photo, it doesn’t hurt to be able to make a few tweaks to it here and there to make it pop. Sometimes you’re just trying to get an image to strike you as strongly as the original sight struck you. Other times, as with bloggers, they might also be trying to stick to an aesthetic that spans hundreds of other posts.
Adobe Lightroom is one of the most popular options for editing photos on the go and offers a wide range of capabilities to satisfy beginners to pros. Users can access their library on both mobile and desktop.
Lightroom subscriptions start at a highly affordable US$ 9.99 per month and can come with up to 1TB of cloud storage on the initial plan.
Check out the example below. Lake Skadar in Montenegro is so beautiful, but my camera just didn’t pick up the actual colours. Lightroom helps brings out what the eye sees.
4. PRESETS FROM HELENE IN BETWEEN
Part of what makes Lightroom so attractive is the ability to create or download a particular configuration of edit settings called a preset. Presets are like custom-made filters that save users time by allowing them to achieve a certain look across photos without having to individually edit each one.
One of my favourite travel bloggers, Helene in Between offers preset bundles to help bloggers and Instagrammers achieve photos that stand out and inspire. Each selection is meant to offer flexibility over a range of lighting situations and subjects, from landscapes to architecture to portraits and selfies. They’re actually the same ones she uses in her own posts, so you’ll see how a handful of presets can deliver striking results.
Having a handful of presets whether your own or bought seriously saves SO much time!
5. LIGHTING EQUIPMENT (SELFIE RING)
A ring light provides bright, even, but soft lighting on a subject. It brings out detail without the harsh shadows that flash gives. Shrunk down to clip onto a phone, encircle the lens, and light up whatever is at arm’s length, a ring light can instantly give selfies a lighting boost that makes them seem more professional.
They’re not only for selfies of course, so it won’t just be beauty bloggers who’d appreciate a selfie ring light. Anyone who styles flat lays (think food shots taken directly overhead) or does macrophotography will also appreciate this small but helpful add-on. They’re also really useful for people who teach English online or do anything with video.
Make sure to check out a kit with a gooseneck tripod to help a blogger make the most out of their equipment!
THE BEST GIFTS FOR BLOGGERS TRYING TO STEP UP THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA
6. SOCIAL MEDIA TEMPLATES
Since the vast majority of bloggers also run social media accounts it would be great if they had some help in that department too! Social media templates provide ready-made layouts that show off a blogger’s photography and brand. Some template packs are even designed with a whole Instagram grid plan in mind.And there’s something for everyone out there, as you can see from offers over at sites like Creative Market. Every platform, every style, every function (regular posts to covers to graphics), they’ve got you covered. The materials provided on their site are all created by independent creative professionals, so you’ll be supporting other independent digital creators just like your blogger friend.
7. PINTEREST TEMPLATES
It might surprise you to think of Pinterest as a search engine rather than a social media platform. It works much the way Google would, except that results for keywords people type come up as pictures rather than text results. This has made it a mainstay platform for bloggers looking to promote themselves, so pins need to do the job of catching people’s attention and getting them to click.
Nina Roman of Mama of Five offers smartly designed Pinterest templates ready to edit in Canva. As you can guess from her blog title, she’s got a full life with five kids, but she also makes a full-time income blogging. Templates are precisely what helped her manage this.
The fonts against solid blocks of colour are clean and striking and make titles standout. But there’s still plenty of room for images to take centre stage, which a blogger can easily just drag and drop into the templates.
BLOGGING TOOLS AND PROGRAMS
8. FOLDABLE LAPTOP STAND
For all the time you yourself spend on a laptop, you know it pays to make sure you’re as comfortable as possible while using it. A laptop stand can raise your screen to eye level to help minimize strain on your neck and back. It can also angle your keyboard to reduce strain on your wrists. If a stand is both lightweight and foldable, this makes it a practical aid for bloggers to take with them wherever they go.
I own this foldable laptop stand and get so many passing comments about where I bought it. It folds up into next to nothing and is a steal at less than $20.
9. TAILWIND SUBSCRIPTION
If your friend runs a blog, then you can guarantee they are managing a Pinterest account to help drive traffic to their site. Preparing content to sustain a regular, engaging stream of material on these platforms can be challenging enough. But managing all that content—scheduling posts, organising an 80:20 split of your own and other content and monitoring analytics—can be equally time-consuming.
The good news is a top-notch service exists for these platforms to grow your accounts easily and intuitively, with research and guesswork taken out of the equation. Tailwind, an official partner of Pinterest, offers features that help users manage their content following the current best practices. You can help a blogger friend grow their followers by signing them up for a year at just $9.99 per month (though you can also save $60 on the annual plan).
Using Tailwind saves me countless hours every month. I spend one day organising my Pinterest posts for the month ahead and Tailwind does the rest.
10. CONVERTKIT MEMBERSHIP
Besides drawing in new readers or followers, bloggers also want to deepen relationships with readers and keep them coming back. Whether you just want to stay in touch with readers, have digital material to sell, like online courses or e-books, it is especially worthwhile to invite visitors to subscribe to a mailing list. Research shows that email newsletters have remained a reliable way to keep a site’s audience when mailing lists are handled well.
A subscription to an email service provider such as ConvertKit will help creator bff’s get the most out of having a mailing list. ConvertKit was designed by a blogger for bloggers, so its features focus on what content creators would find most useful.
Your friend can get their feet wet with a free account. But to unlock ConvertKit’s most compelling features, like automations, you can help them out starting at just $29 per month to manage up to 1,000 unique subscribers.
11. TRELLO MAGIC
Sometimes the sheer volume of tasks and material to manage can overwhelm a person trying to run an online content business. It might even be getting in the way of growing that business. Lots of organization and productivity tools already exist, but sometimes, even those don’t work. They just become another thing to learn and manage.
If you’ve lent a sympathetic ear yourself to your blogger friend lamenting feeling overwhelmed but didn’t know how you could help them out, throw them a line through Kate Doster’s Trello Magic course.
Firstly, Kate is hilarious! I bought this course for myself over a year ago and still reference and use her boards regularly. For just $24, the course comes with instructional videos for how to maximize all of Trello’s features. But more significantly, it also comes with almost 30 pre-set up Trello boards with detailed workflows for various tasks including blog posts, podcasts, and YouTube videos. You’ll actually be buying your friend a video course and business system rolled into one!
12. BUSINESS BOOKS – RUSSEL BRUNSON SERIES
You’ve probably come across Russell Brunson’s work many times on the web without ever realizing his influence. Maybe you’ve never even heard of him. Some of the most compelling and successful sales-delivering websites on the internet were built with his software called ClickFunnels.
Brunson popularized the concept of sales funnels and changed the game of online marketing with his keen insights into the customer journey from awareness to purchase. He’s also enthusiastic and generous about wanting to empower entrepreneurs. In a trio of bestselling books, he shares a ton of valuable info behind the powerful, successful online sales strategy he uses. It could inspire the bloggers you know, particularly those with a product to sell, whether physical or digital.
If you’re curious to see his strategy in action—though actually, you may not even realize what you’re seeing—check out his website where you can actually get his books for free and all you’ll need to do is pay for shipping. Maybe you’ll end up getting copies for yourself and the blogger you want to support!
13. KEYSEARCH SUBSCRIPTION
The vast majority of website traffic is generated through search engine results rather than ads. So an essential part of putting up a successful website is making sure search engines can easily tell what it’s all about. Doing this requires a balance between using phrases people actually search for but also staying away from keywords used by lots of competitors. It can get tricky trying to make out what will work best.
If you’ve heard them mention the term SEO, or search engine optimization, this is what it’s all about. A subscription to a keyword research service like Keysearch will help your blogger friend be more confident at figuring out the essential phrases for their posts. Keysearch offers a starter plan at $17 per month that will help any blogger come to terms with SEO. Of all the subscription services I have, Keysearch is my most valuable and I get my money’s worth every month.
Sign up to Keysearch here and use the code KSDISC for a 20% discount.
14. DOMAIN HOSTING
It might look like a website can simply be conjured out of nothing to exist on the internet. It certainly looks this way with emails and social media posts. Actually, everything on the internet has to be hosted somewhere. If your friend has a website that includes the words WordPress/Wix or Squarespace before or after their name they’ll love the gift of a domain host.
The best hosting for someone getting started is with BlueHost. It’s super cheap at just $3.95/month and was what I hosted my blog on for the first 3 years.
After this time, I switched to BigScoots. If your friend runs an established site and looking to upgrade their domain provider, I HIGHLY recommend BigScoots. The customer service with these guys is some of the best I have ever encountered and for a bigger site, they run a bit faster. The shared hosting plans start at $7.95/month. Some of the top features include security, daily backups, troubleshooting, and safely updating all the bells and whistles to a site that come in the form of plug-ins.
FUN GIFTS FOR BLOGGERS
15. NOTEPADS/DIARY/PLANNER
Although bloggers do a lot of work with a laptop, camera, and other devices, sometimes nothing takes the place of old-fashioned pen and paper. The act of writing something down by hand has a way of helping some people sort through their ideas. Me included!
Besides monthly or weekly spreads, some planners even include space for goal setting or habit tracking. Some are more flexible, and if you’re into bullet journaling, they’ll have space for that. Alternatively, if you know paper’s not your blogger’s thing and they manage their entire lives digitally, you can get them a digital planner like this one on Etsy.
16. SEASONAL MUGS
For other bloggers, themed mugs are their thing. If you know they’ve already begun building up a collection of their own, toss in something for the season. Christmas and, for half the globe, winter is just around the corner. Check out this trio of handmade ceramic mugs or even this one, whose red and white glaze match other seasonal décor.
Don’t feel limited though. For birthdays or just-because gifts for any other time of year, there are other possibilities. This pair of mugs feature either a surf or paddleboard theme that make for super cute summer presents.
Plus these double as cute photo props!
GIFTS FOR TRAVEL BLOGGERS
17. EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE
Us travel bloggers are media-heavy computer users, especially if they do a lot of video. As your business grows, so will the files. Most external hard drives offer 2TB of storage space. But users will also want something fast, secure, and reliable. The worst thing imaginable is losing all of your files.
There are plenty of choices on the market. Seagate Backup Plus Slim and Western Digital My Passport Ultra generally appear on recommendation lists. There are also external SSDs. They’ll be faster, though also quite a bit more expensive. The Samsung T5 Portable SSD features on many lists.
Just make sure whatever you buy is compatible with the system your friend’s computer uses, whether that’s Windows or Mac. Some drives work with either, but some are formatted for one or the other.
18. PORTABLE CHARGER
If you’re out all day but rely heavily on a gadget for your blog material, whether that’s a phone or camera, eventually that gadget’s going to need extra power to keep it going. Single-handedly one of the best gifts I bought myself has been my portable charger. I don’t know how I went without for so long. Any portable charger you choose will have to balance portability, charge capacity (look at the mAh number), and charge/recharge rates, so try to figure out a little bit more about your blogger’s particular needs.
Anker PowerCore 10000 makes the cut for many recommendation lists, as does RAVPower 20000. At the very least, from either of these power banks on a full recharge, you can get two to three full charge’s worth for a high-end smartphone. I own the Xiaomi 20000mAh Mi Power Bank that I bought in Asia but unfortunately isn’t available on Amazon.
19. CUTE TRAVEL BAG
Bags come in a much wider variety of designs than tech accessories, so it might feel like a bit more fun to shop for something people can express a little more personal style with. There are backpacks, crossbody bags, and messenger bags.
This customizable waxed canvas tote is roomy enough to fit a laptop but works well as a large purse for walking around town. The backpack design of Fjallraven Kanken for laptops gets nods for being a practical carry-on choice as well.
Wandrd is a respected brand among travel bloggers and has enough features to fit all the camera equipment, laptops and still look cute. If you think that blogger you know has pretty much got things covered by way of laptop-friendly bags though, an eye-catching handcrafted overnight bag might be a welcome addition to their bags onboard.
KEEP READING – Check Out the Top 10 Backpacks for Travelling Europe
20. EDITORIAL PLANNER
Ever notice how magazines will tend to follow themes? For some titles, maybe each issue will focus on just one theme. For others, you’ll notice that at least highlighted content nods to the seasons of the year or important holidays and cultural events. It all adds up to build up a very recognizable brand that’s apparent in any given issue.
All of that doesn’t just happen. It takes planning to be that consistent. And not just in the month before an issue. Issues can be planned from several months to a year in advance. The same thing goes for the most impressive bloggers, Instagrammers, and YouTubers who seem so put together. They really are: they have a plan written out to capture all their ideas and the release dates they want them out. Whatever stage your blogger might be, beginner or seasoned, an editorial calendar will help them make sure they stay on track.
21. TRIPOD AND REMOTE
A lot of bloggers are generally solo operators. This means that when it comes to photos and videos, they’ve really got to take care of everything all by themselves, even if they need to be in front of the camera. This doesn’t mean they need to be running from behind to in front of the camera all the time. With a Bluetooth remote, they can manage their phone or DSLR from right where they are in front of the lens and stay relaxed in that perfect spot.
If the blogger you know does a lot of indoor or close-up work, a tabletop phone tripod might suffice. Sometimes these even double as a selfie stick. If the recipient carries out most of their work on location outdoors though, a regular-sized tripod will be more appropriate.
