Tag: blogging

Gift Guide: Great Tech Gifts for Bloggers

by Katherine Elsasser

Lots of people blog, of course, but some of them take it more seriously than others. So here’s our gift guide for anyone who wants to blog professionally, or at least seriously, and for bloggers already out there creating posts.

 

Nespresso maker
Nespresso U

Nespresso Coffee Maker: $199 & up

You’ve probably seen those single-cup coffee makers. This is the same idea, but for espresso. And it’s delicious. And bloggers love coffee (maybe even more than normal people).

Nespresso’s currently running a promotion, so you get $100 credit toward the disposable cups of espresso. They come in many different styles, so there are many to pick from starting at $199.

More from the Nespresso website here.

 

 

Moo Cards Sample of Gifts for Bloggers
Woodmoore Photography Moo Cards

Moo Cards Gift Certificate

If you’d like to get a gift for someone aspiring to take their blog to the next level, try a gift certificate to Moo Cards. Moo Cards are affordable business cards that look like they cost way more than they actually do. The paper’s nice, you can do rounded edges, and you can use your own photos or their design. My favorite business card source out there. 50 double-sided cards in full color starts at $19.99.

 

16GB flash drive from Staples
16GB Flash Drive

Flash Drive: $28.99

Another thing you can’t have too many of, especially when there are photos or videos involved. Usually you see flash drives in smaller amounts, like 4GB or 8GB. And those are useful, but not nearly as useful as gigantic one, like this 16GB model from Staples. They make prettier models, but when you choose function over form you get a lot more bang for your buck.

 

Blue Snowball Microphone Blogger Gift
Blue Snowball with Tripod

Blue Snowball USB Mic: $60.88

Podcasts and interviews are a great way for bloggers to create interesting material to engage readers. This Blue Snowball mic will let just about anyone create professional-sounding audio with just a mic and their computer. The mic works just by plugging it in via USB, with no extra setup or software.

You can read more about the Blue Snowball on their website, or it’s available for purchase for Amazon for $60.88.

 

 

Gift for Bloggers: Roll-Up Bluetooth Keyboard
Roll-Up Keyboard from Brookstone

Roll-Up Bluetooth Keyboard: $60

Yes, the idea that bloggers work at coffeeshops is a stereotype. But there’s some truth to it. If nothing else, bloggers need the flexibility to work whenever and wherever. This keyboard is great for anyone doing a lot of traveling and/or mobile typing, since it rolls right up to save space, but still gives you a full keypad so you can actually write. It pairs via Bluetooth, recharges via USB, and is especially great for tablet users. $60 from Brookstone.

Tumblr Gets Social Analytics to Help Out Marketers

by Katherine Elsasser
Union Metrics' Analytics for Tumblr
A sample of Union Metrics’ Analytics for Tumblr

Social network and microblogging platform Tumblr has recently announced a few new features that should make it even more attractive to marketers, including analytics to let brands look at how well their messages resonate on Tumblr.

By all measures, the service is incredibly popular. It hosts over almost 70 million blogs, and receives billions of views each month. Almost 50% of its users are under 25, making the service an especially appealing platform for marketers looking to reach the coveted 18 – 25 year old demographic. Plus it’s the kind of service that’s addictive: interactions with other users take place within the site’s “dashboard,” and it’s really heavy on video, visual and joke content. In other words, it’s fun.

If you haven’t used it, the big thing that sets it apart is the “Reblog.” Basically, with one push of a button you can copy the content of someone else to your own blog, and then comment on it if you want. Until now, there was no way for a brand to really measure the reach of all those reblogs or likes (the other key way of interacting with a post). That’s like not being able to measure the impact of retweets on Twitter, or shares on Facebook, and it was a real problem for marketers.

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#Blogalicious12 Q&A With Mario: Can You Make Money With AdSense?

by Mario Armstrong

blogalicious 2012 avatarThis Q & A series is a continuation of Mario Armstrong’s presentation at the Blogalicious Conference, a leading industry event celebrating diversity in social media. You can see highlights from his presentation & submit your own questions here. 

Question: About earning revenue for your blog, what are your thoughts about Google’s AdSense for blogger, where ads are placed on your blog based on text and content related to the advertiser?

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Answer:
One nice thing about AdSense for Blogger is that they’re both Google products, which means it’s super easy to implement, so that’s good. The bad news is that for most of us, it’s never going to bring in the kind of money that sustains a business. It’s harsh but it’s true.

Google AdSense LogoIt’s really hard to predict how well AdSense will perform for you. The Pay-Per-Click Google offers varies based on a lot of things, like how much traffic you get, the keywords users searched, competition between advertisers and much more. For every ad click, you could receive anywhere from a penny to several dollars, but that number tends to be low, especially as you start out.

A couple of other things to remember if you do decide to use AdSense. First, be respectful of your reader’s eyeballs: don’t go overboard with ads, and make sure your actual content is still easy to read. Second, AdSense basically uses a “match-up” between advertisers and search to deliver ads, so it’s extra important you’re doing your best with SEO.

Bottom line: there’s no real harm in using AdSense unless it’s taking up site real estate that could be put to better use, like making you more money. But to really turn your blog into a business, you’re going to need to come up with more revenue-generating strategies beyond just AdSense.