The last post in this year’s Gift Guide series is a Gift Guide for Bloggers. I’ve been blogging for over eight years now (which makes me feel REALLY old) so I’ve learned a thing or two about what bloggers might appreciate to find in their stocking on Christmas morning (please don’t go back and look at some of the posts from the really early years – it may get a little scary). Let’s just step away from that for now and talk shop.
When you have a beloved blogger to shop for, it can seem a little overwhelming at first especially if you yourself are not a blogger. You have no idea what SEO is and why its so important and CSS and HTML look like some secret code but its not as hard as you think to shop for your beloved blogger.
Something every blogger needs is a great planner. Some people really love doing everything online and using tools like Evernote and Google Drive to stay content ideas organized (especially since they can be used across multiple devices) or even blog plugins like CoSchedule or the WordPress Editorial Calendar in order to outline a post schedule. I love using Evernote and CoSchedule* is my new BFF but there is something about pen and paper that my brain needs to stay organized.
Starting at the upper left corner and moving in clockwise motion, these are some of the most popular planners on the market: the Erin Condren Life Planner, the Plum Paper Planner, the Passion Planner, and the Create 365 The Happy Planner (which I think is the newest on the market). In addition to using planners to stay organized, there has suddenly become a recent trend to not only keep track of your schedules and to-do lists in your planners but to go hog-wild decorating while you are at it. If you do a search on Etsy for “planner stickers,” you will see pages and pages (and pages) of all types of varieties of stickers and embellishments to keep your planner not only organized but beautifully decorated as well. You can also find supplies at craft stores like Michael’s and Hobby Lobby and I’ve seen things even start to trickle into the Dollar Tree (which is where I pick up most of my supplies). Think of it as a modern day “Pimp My Planner” instead of “Pimp My Ride” (I am really showing my age now aren’t I?). There are even oodles of Facebook groups dedicated to planner decorating. I personally use the Erin Condren Life Planner and I do enjoy doing some simple decorating using washi tape and organizational stickers but on the scale of 1-10 of being a simple planner user versus a mega planner decorator, I probably fall somewhere in the middle. I’ll do a separate post on that.
The only one of these planners that doesn’t lend itself as easy to the decorating trend is the Passion Planner but in its place, it offers a uniqueness that really focuses on goal setting and creating step by step guides to achieving those goals (even including pages for mind and bubble maps). Another cool thing about the Passion Planner is that you can download a couple of pages of the planner to try to see if you like it before ordering or you can download the entire planner for free and then take it to your choice of stores, such as Staples or Office Max, to have it bound which I think is a pretty amazing option.
There are also all kinds of ways to build your own planner with free printables (Pinterest is loaded with them) and you can even find planner printables that are blogging specific. If you don’t want to purchase a planner as you aren’t sure what your blogging loved one might prefer there is always the option of purchasing a gift card or you can create a basket full of goodies such as a cute binder, nice pens, and fun decorating and organizational items.
Other gift options for your blogging loved one include books on blogging. I have read 3 out of the 4 of these shown (and I am really hoping to get my hands on #4 really soon!). Just like above, I will start in the upper left corner and work my way around clockwise.
If your loved one is just starting out with blogging or is a seasoned blogger that wants to up his or her game, I highly recommend 31 Days to Build A Better Blog (affiliate link). It has been listed on my Blogging Resources page for ages because it is that good. I went through the book the first time with a group of bloggers with SITS and it totally changed my blogging game. I am actually planning on going back through it starting January 1 since 2015 was kind of an off-year with blogging because of the what felt like one health crisis after another this year so I really want to start 2016 off on the right foot (I would love to have you join me!).
I cannot say enough amazing things about the book Blog Design for Dummies and I won’t linger on it too long since I did write a complete review of the book. I know the author, Melissa Culbertson, personally and she is AMAZING and runs an amazing blog called Blog Clarity and teaches a variety of amazing courses so I would recommend anything that she puts out as a gift idea for your blogger loved one.
Packed with over 60 worksheets, this one-year planner will help you review the past year and hatch a plan to improve your online presence. It includes worksheets to evaluate and plan blog content, social media posts, products and services, email newsletters, marketing, advertising, your budget, and website design. No more late-night post idea panic or stressing over social media! You’ll take action with the confidence to create compelling and shareable content, promote your brand, organize your website, set goals for growth, plan product launches, and feel excited and inspired all year long.
Sounds like just what any blogger needs to start the year off right, don’t you think? This book doesn’t take the place of a traditional planner but would work wonderfully in conjunction. I use my Life Planner to obviously keep my family life managed as well as my blogging but this takes it up to a whole other level. Santa, if you are reading this, I would really love to find this under the tree!
The last book I am recommending is called Blog, Inc: Blogging for Passion, Profit, and to Create Community by Joy Deangdeelert Cho. I have already read through this book once and plan on reading through it again next year. It is another book that is great for a beginner but will also help take a seasoned blogger up to the next level with their blogging, especially if they would like to start running their blog more like a business and make a career out of blogging. It is packed full of great and useful information and written in a way that helps you put that information straight into practice.
There are a lot of other great books on blogging available (I have some that I read myself on my Blogging Resources page) but obviously I cannot list them all here. If your blogger loved one prefers reading on a Kindle (or using the Kindle app), a Kindle Unlimited gift subscription would be a great idea so that he or she could have access to all the amazing books on the market.
If you really want to get your loved one a big gift and your budget allows it (and they have expressed interest in it before), gifting a trip to a blogging conference is another great option. Bloggy Bootcamp is a great one day conference offered in various cities throughout the year and it is only $75! This was my first conference experience and I loved every minute of it. The 2016 schedule is not yet posted but you can always create your own gift voucher and wrap it up for your loved one and they can choose which location they would like to attend once the schedule is posted!
Type A Conference is another great blogging conference option. It started as one three day conference usually held in Atlanta or Charlotte but in efforts to make it easier on attendees to travel for the conference, they now have a Type A Conference West in Santa Fe and Type A Conference East at Disney. DISNEY! Santa, are you hearing me? Disney! And it just just happens to fall right after my birthday. If Santa doesn’t pull through on this, I know what I’ll be saving up for for my birthday! I went to Type A Conference in 2013 and had a great experience and would love to go again. Who’s coming with me?
And last but not least, there are tons of e-courses and online training seminars that would also make awesome Christmas gifts for your beloved blogger.
As I mentioned before, Melissa over at Blog Clarity offers a variety of course with many of them being self-paced so you don’t have to worry about course dates. I have taken Content Brew* (which teaches you how to plan and create fresh content and equips you with tools on how to organize and share content) and Media Kit Smash* (which teaches you how to make a professional media kit to work with brands and professionals) and Pinning Perfect* (which will dig into strategies for driving traffic to your blog from Pinterest and build followers) are both next on my to-do list.
These are just a few of my ideas of things that I put together for the Gift Guide for Bloggers so you can be on the lookout for when shopping for your beloved blogger! The best part about shopping for a blogger? A lot of these things can be bought online at the last minute! December 24th sign him or her up for a course, create a nice pretty gift voucher showing that you are sending them to this course they’ve been wanting to take (Canva.com is great for that – they even have templates!), and pop it into a pretty box and BOOM. You’re all done!
Do you have any bloggers on your shopping list or are you a blogger and have an idea about what needs to be added to the list?
Disclosure: Any link marked with an * refers to an affiliate link.
P.S. Have you checked out the Gift Guide for Beauty Lovers Giveaway yet? I keep adding to the box so I’m not sure how I’m going to get the thing to close! You’d better go check it out! It’s almost time to draw a winner!
Disclosure: I was not paid a dime to review this book but wanted to write this Blog Design for Dummies Review because it is an AMAZING resource that I think every blogger should check out! This post does contain affiliate links. All opinions are 100% my own. These resources rock.
Although I started blogging back in 2007, it took me couple years to really begin to understand what blogging really was and the whole bloggging community that existed beyond my own blog’s front door. The best thing I ever did for my blog was discovering The SITS Girls and signing up for a group class of 31 Days to Building A Better Blog. I met so many amazing ladies who have now become friends and supporters both of my blogging journey and my personal journey through life with chronic illness.
One of these amazing ladies was Melissa Culbertson.
Melissa blogs over at Adventuroo as well as over at Blog Clarity, which is a fantastic site that provides blogging, writing, and social media tips for bloggers. When Momcomm began, Melissa hosted weekly blog design critiques (which I was lucky enough to be one of the first critiques – check out this blast from the past blog design!) and these critiques went on to pave the way for Melissa writing Blog Design for Dummies so I totally take credit in helping her become the design rockstar she is today! Totally kidding! Melissa is a rockstar all on her own!
As I mentioned yesterday, as a part of reclaiming my life, I am working towards a new look here at a New Kind of Normal so I jumped at the chance to become more hands-on in the blog redesign this time around so I picked up her book, Blog Design for Dummies!
I am a total design and coding dummy and while I consider myself a pretty logical and analytical person, I have absolutely no background in anything graphic design related (I have degrees in music and pastoral care) so I was a little apprehensive.
My fears were totally unfounded.
I felt like this book was written for me. It was like a blueprint on how to plan your blog design from start to finish. From how to access what your goals and needs are to how to implement them from the overall theme to even the smallest of design elements so that you could feel your voice, your goals, and your dreams in every aspect of your blog design.
On my first reading of the book, I felt like I was back in grad school going highlighter happy.
The language of the book was written in a way that anyone can understand. Its technical in each the reader about the important aspects that make up an effective blog design while insuring that the important information doesn’t get lost in over technicality.
I have always used a blog designer in the past and while I will continue to use a designer with this upcoming redesign, I felt like I am twenty times more aware of each integral pieces that makes up a design. I know know how to take a look at my current design and assess what is working and what is not working which helps me plan an effective redesign from the ground up. I have such a clearer understanding of how to find my voice and set my goals so that I can see those things throughout the design from the overall look and feel of the blog to how the navigation works to using those finishing touches that tie everything together.
On my second pass of the book, I went Post-It note happy and bookmarked each of the sections I wanted to focus on the most as I begin to plan my redesign.
Thanks to Melissa and Blog Design for Dummies, I have my to-do list started for planning this redesign and I think I am more excited than ever for things to come here at A New Kind of Normal!
I wanted to write this Blog Design for Dummies review because I know there are other people out there who want to step up their blog design so that they can achieve their dreams! If you are considering adding a custom design for your blog for the first time, planning a redesign like I am, or are simply looking for ways to assess your current design and make small adjustment that increase the overall functionality of your blog, you need to check out this book!