How Do You Ignite Your Creative Passions?
Each day I find myself becoming more convinced that bloggers need to be more creative. Too many people are jumping in and following what they see everyone else doing but they’re failing to really take their online experiences to the highest possible levels.
They’re…excuse me…you’re failing because you refuse to be creative.
I’m constantly asking myself questions like these, “How can I be more creative at Site Sketch 101? How can I do something that nobody else is doing? How can I make people’s eyes really light up when they visit the site?”
As I journey along on my never-ending quest to find the answers to these questions, I find that I’m able to be the most creative when I surround myself with creativity. This is why I’m constantly looking at website designs, other bloggers, advertisements, shopping malls and more.
People sometimes ask me why I post these roundups of beautiful websites or of influential bloggers but I hope that it’s now crystal clear. I want you to view the creativity that inspires me and I want you to get inspired.
I want to fuel the creative nature inside of you. I want you to want to develop your skills to write more creatively, to engage more effectively, to design more beautifully, and to profit more effectively.
Click on any of the images below and you’ll be taken to a collection of creative resources: print advertisements, hand-drawn websites, beautiful websites, beautiful blogs, patriotic photography, and influential bloggers.
Creativity in Print Advertisements
Creativity in Hand-Drawn Websites
Creativity in Beautiful Websites
Creativity in Beautiful Blogs
Creativity in Patriotic Photography
Creativity from other Successful Bloggers
This is only a glimpse at the number of resources that I draw creative inspiration from. Where do look to ignite your creative spark?
Nabeel | Create Your First Website said:
Hi,
I really liked the entire collection of ‘creativity’ posts.
I do surf around the web, and get new and inspiring ideas. The web is filled with creativity.
Kindest,
Nabeel
Steve @Erraticblog said:
Great collection of hand-drawn sites, I had not seen those. For @erraticblog, I draw inspiration from creative blogs like yours Nicholas, and other bloggers I enjoy following. For my online ecomm store I draw inspiration from my 7 and 9 year old daughters. Children’s imaginations are a beautiful thing… I’ve gotten product design and ad design ideas from watching them draw, make crafts and play games.
Jean Sarauer said:
Hi Nicholas. I tend to get the biggest sparks when I unplug, and especially when I spend time alone outdoors. I can’t explain the connection between creativity and nature, but it’s a powerful one for me.
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Tushar said:
i always try to give my readers what they want to get…and i do this by thinking that what do i want to read in the blogosphere…
this has got me few appreciations time to time
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Suzanne Vara said:
Nick
Creative thinking is everywhere. I get thoughts and ideas from my son who at 5 has a truly wonderful mind that never seems to shut down. People and places around me spark ideas and allows a story to be created around them.
I also look to other bloggers to see what they are up to and how I can use that to spark something on my end.
If in a pinch, news stories always are available.
@SuzanneVara
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Jasmine Henry from J Station X said:
Personally, I read books. The way that you improve your vocabulary and writing skills is by picking it up through speech or by reading it. So what better way to learn how to be more creative than in books, especially fiction books though non-fiction books are useful too. Books consistently give me ideas for how to string new words together to form amazing sentences which is why I find them so useful.
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Mary E. Ulrich said:
Thought your first picture was important. Today is the 20th anniversary of ADA–Americans with Disability act. It is a know fact that after a war there are usually an increase in services for people with disabilities (actually goes back to the soldiers who came back from Caesar’s Gallic Wars who were mostly blind)
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Derek Jensen said:
Nick,
I really like how you have joined all of those inspirational and creative posts together to a lesson that I strongly believe in.
Our creativity truly shows what are passion is and who we are as a person. This is how we begin to stand out.
To ignite my creative spark I actually listen to podcasts by Dan Benjamin, Merlin Mann, and Gary Vaynerchuk. When I listen to them talk in the background my mind get creative for some reason.
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Dev - Technshare.com said:
Hey Nick,
Really Great Post.
Awesome collection of beautiful blogs.
I draw inspiration from comments, social sites, forums….!!
Thanks for sharing this great post.
~Dev
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Dean Saliba said:
I don’t think there is anything wrong with reading other blogs to get some ideas on what to write about.
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Kathy said:
I have to admit that I am nowhere near as creative as most other bloggers including you. I think that creativity is more than just a clever use of graphics and other media. I think creativity is about being unique in any way or better yet being first in something that becomes popular.
If you can be the first one or one of the first ones to adopt a new popular trend, then you can ride the wave to the top.
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Onibalusi Bamidele said:
Really great post Nick,
I get inspiration from things around me and also from blogs I read.
Thanks a lot for the great post,
-Onibalusi
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Calgary Escort said:
Creativity is the secret if you want to succeed in the blogging business. The fact that millions of blogger have joined the community, being creative in all aspect could be absolutely an edge. Actually, creativity is not an inborn talent but an attitude that can be learned and acquired through our experience and observations around us. Very inspiring post you’ve got here pal. Keep it up!
Blog Angel a.k.a. Joella said:
This is a very good question.
I think I need to ponder this for a bit.
Mostly I find that creativity and inspiration hit me when I least expect it. Something someones says, writes, creates or otherwise expresses sparks the creative urge right out of the blue.
I wonder if I could cause the spark myself by striking some particular match of my own.
I wonder…
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Reza Winandar said:
Be creative and you’ll get another creativity, just make sure you’ve done the first creativity .
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D'MarieF said:
Thanks for the inspiration and for sharing links to so many beautiful blogs. I tend to be most creative first thing in the morning, more in my writing than anything else.
I enjoy the inspiration and creativity I find here and on a handful of other blogs I visit regularly. For me, it’s like a drink of cool water after a rough day.
Thanks for all you do here, Nicholas.
Peter Greg said:
What a great article and I certainly live by the question of “what is my passion?” in each moment. I would suggest using quality questions ( Q2 ), which are questions about questions based on your goal or vision. e.g. What is the most profound and fun way to generate massive creativity?! I find creativity is a vibration and when i follow my passion it just flows
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Mel Melhado said:
Creativity adds more fun and excitement to life. Its not difficult to try new ideas and be creative. For some people it comes naturally to produce brilliant creative ideas some but its not that easy for some. I guess being passionate about something also creates more creativity.