If you read Personal Branding 101, you likely know at least one social media fanatic. In fact, chances are pretty high that the person is you! To reduce your holiday stress a bit, here are 25 gift ideas for the social media lover in your life – go ahead, splurge.
For the Budding Blogger
1. A personalized domain name from GoDaddy.com, ideally firstlastname.com.
Hurry, quantities are limited! Snatch up a great domain name for that social media buddy who crushes Twitter and Facebook, but has no official web presence “of their own”.
2. One year of web hosting from Rackspace.com.
The perfect compliment to a domain name – really get them started in the right direction with a year’s worth of hosting from one of the rising superstars of web hosting, Rackspace.
3. Thesis premium theme for WordPress.
Simply put, WordPress is the best blogging platform out there, and Thesis is the best premium WordPress theme that exists today. And really, Chris Pearson’s updates and improvements to Thesis are the gifts that keep on giving.
4. 31 Days to Build a Better Blog (by Problogger).
Darren Rowse’s popular e-book outlines how anyone can transform their blog from good to great in just one month. Well worth the cost.
5. Subscription to the ProBlogger.com community.
An exclusive community for elite bloggers to learn and grow from one another – a unique, thoughtful gift that could change someone’s path. Pretty cool.
It’s the Thought That Counts
6 through 10 cost less than one of these.
6. A Twitter Retweet.
Sure, it doesn’t cost anything. But retweeting a few key tweets from your social media amigo might just be the “purest” of all social media presents.
7. A Twitter #FollowFriday recommendation.
Christmas falls on a Friday this year, and so does New Year’s Day. Send a #FollowFriday recommendation, with one or 2 reasons why your friend is well worth a follow.
8. Put your pal on a Twitter List.
Twitter lists are like a permanent #FollowFriday recommendation, and a cool gift that might benefit your connections for years to come.
9. A Linkedin recommendation.
Reserve this gift for only those truly deserving, as Linkedin recommendations are somewhat sacred – only meant for the connections you can truly vouch for.
10. Stop playing Farmville and Mafia. (Apologies if you adore these games, you really are a social media geek!)
What better present to give than an uncluttered Facebook stream? It sounds terrible that your wandering sheep was kidnapped from the farm, but take it somewhere else, would ya?
Kicking it Up a Notch
11. A premium Linkedin account.
A premium Linkedin account comes with all sorts of goodies that might be of real value to power users. Plus, you get that cool little icon next to your name.
@unmarketing's cool Twitter background.
12. A personalized Twitter background.
Design one yourself, or go to TwitBacks.com for templates and inspiration.
13. Professional headshots to use as profile images.
Could your social media fanatic friend benefit from a better looking profile pic? Send ‘em to a pro.
14. A crowdsourced personal logo.
Logos are just plain cool, but who can create them? The “crowd”, that’s who. Check out 99Designs.com for access to some of the best graphic designers across the globe.
For The Wannabe Video Star
So easy a blogger can use it.
15. HD Flip Cam
Flip Cams are so amazingly simple that even I figured out how to operate one. Give one as a gift, and by the end of Hanukkah your friend might already be a viral sensation.
16. Movie Editing Software
Windows Movie Maker probably isn’t going to catapult anyone to the top of the charts. Try some of these top rated programs from Amazon.
17. Logitech Webcam Pro 9000
I stream, you stream, we all stream on UStream (You heard that tagline here first, by the way! UPDATE: Just happened to see an ad with nearly this same tagline. Guess you did not hear it here first…) This webcam/microphone duo is highly rated, and can have you streaming live in no time.
Mobile Madness
18. iPhone
Guarantee yourself the title of “best friend for life”, give the gift of a computer that can (sometimes) make phone calls too.
19. Droid
For the social media lover who refuses to join AT&T, the Droid will have them Googling, Tweeting, and YouTubing all day long.
20. Tweetie 2, Smartphone Twitter App.
For just $2.99, Tweetie 2 can make your pal’s mobile Twitter experience 1000% better.
21. HootSuite, Smartphone Twitter App.
If you are into social media and statistics, HootSuite is the Twitter application for you.
Books, Books, Books
22. Kindle
People still write books? Yes, and good ones too!
Thanks to Kindle, the digital crowd can now read books without fear of vicious papercuts. If your social media buddy is still unsure, just tell him that books are like really long blog posts – that should ease the sting a little.
23. “Me 2.0″ by Dan Schawbel.
“Me 2.0″, the preeminent book on Personal Branding today – solid advice for the Gen Y crowd looking to use social media to kickstart their career.
24. “Crush It!” by Gary Vaynerchuk.
130 pages that will pump you up more than a dozen Red Bulls. Get “Crush It!” for folks who have a passion hiding deep down that just needs to be coaxed out a bit – best value on this list.
25. “Trust Agents” by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith.
A unique look at the social web, get “Trust Agents” for the thinkers out there. Written by a real intelligent duo…for a real intelligent crowd.
That is my list – what do you think? Any glaring omissions that would make an awesome gift for social media fanatics? I already have most of these items, but can never have enough of items 6 through 9, if you’re in the mood to send holiday cheer my way.
Happy Holidays everyone!
Holiday bow by kevinthoule. Penny by matthiasxc. Kindle image courtesy Newsweek.
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