What's your creative process?

[kara_susvilla]

Having a process also allows you to think of ideas that may not be easily apparent. What's one thing you do to help come up with new ideas? How can you incorporate this into a repeatable framework (for yourself as well as those you collaborate with)?

*To learn more about this, check out the Generating Content Ideas lesson via HubSpot Academy. 

[samlore]

I am curious and enjoy reading a lot, absorbing information and concepts from everywhere I can. After that, I like to take time to walk in the city or in nature and imagine my own concepts, creating some stories or characters. I find it really important to me to maintain this creative mindset and stay inspired. It allows me to think about new things.

[Chay04]

For me,
Just randomly talking to people over a cup of tea really helps generate ideas and getting some lead to what you are working on.
Also it helps to write the stuff you are a thinking and liking for a piece of content. Helps when generating ideas with multiple touchpoints or keywords.

[LeMark]

Become use to being uncomfortable, eat when thirsty, drink when tired, rest when annoyed, play when you don't have any idea what is happening. Regardless, keep going.

[bhavyach]

In real-time projects, whether I am designing thumbnails or creating blogs and written content, I begin by fully understanding the concept and visualizing how it should be presented. I search for references and inspiration to shape my ideas and ensure accuracy. I then create an initial draft and refine it by exploring different styles, structures, and creative options to avoid repetition. I focus on meeting the content requirements while also adding fresh elements, unique perspectives, or new design features. This approach helps me produce engaging, original, and visually appealing work that communicates the message effectively.

[AParks24]

My creative process usually starts with an uninhibited dump of ideas or a 'free write' of sorts. Nothing needs to make sense or have a rhyme or reason; we're just trying to empty the brain
Next, I'd start to take in new ideas with a lens for filling in gaps in the content of competitors and so on. 
Next is to broaden or share the wealth and do a group brainstorming session where a broader team can pool ideas or an individual can get feedback from people, either related or completely unrelated to the content at hand; the key is that it starts to make sense, even to someone with net-zero knowledge.
Finally, it's time to execute the idea and enter into feedback and processing until a finished product comes about

[LSetlenela]

My cretaive process involves hanging out with other people in public places like food joints, public bars, sporting events etc just to gather how they think, what they think about and what is in people's minds currently or what matters to a lot of people at that present moment. I watch youtube videos, read books and blogs to gather knowledge and inspiration. I also create my buyer personas so that i know for whom the content is. After this I find my peaceful quiet space and allow what I've consumed to float freely in my mind, ideas hitting at each other at free will. This together with my buyer persona helps flood ideas into my head and thats where inspiration and ideas hit.

[NPn]

In order for creative ideas to visit me, I need to step away from noise. If I recognize that I am overwhelmed in other areas, I try to find a moment to recollect my solitude through journaling or relaxing to music. Once I reach a clearer mind, I can look forward to creative thoughts that visit me.
I recognize that I do not often write my ideas down, because there is no work that required me to outside of an essay for a class. I will try to write down my ideas more frequently.
I can incorporate my method for making space for creative thoughts into a repeatable framework by setting a time to actively clear mental clutter to help such thoughts feel invited to come in.

[MTorres65]

sounds great!

[TZainab]

I look for inspirations online and write down ideas that pop in my head as they come, so I do not forget.

[BLittlefield]

My creative process is about immersing in context, exploring bold possibilities, and refining ideas until they feel authentic and alive.

[PMartens]

Whats your creative process?

I will take inspiration from other companies and I will reflect on the most asked questions that the customers have asked in the past.

I will also think about things from the client perspective, "If I were a potential customer, what would I want to know before deciding on a company" 

[Hemanth28]

Basically , I use to sit alone for a while for getting new ideas as well as to collaborate with others as well . Yeah , i agree that having a process allows me to think of ideas , but eventually that alone will not help . So here is a small explanation

For me, new ideas usually come when I stop pushing for them. So I take a moment to pause and observe — people, conversations, small details. It feels simple, but that’s where the best ideas show up.

To make it a repeatable process, I follow a small framework:

Pause → Observe → Note → Build

Pause: Take a short break from the rush.

Observe: Notice interesting moments, behaviours, colours, or moods around me.

Note: Write the spark down before it disappears.

Build: Later, turn those small notes into solid ideas.

It works for me, and it’s easy for others I work with to follow too.
Minimal effort, clear output

[NPn]

Hi, thank you for your input. I was curious, would you advocate for utilizing AI, such as ChatGPT to input raw ideas and see what kind of concrete ideas it generates? Or do you feel that it would take away from the process of creation you've built for yourself?

[JWilliams101]

Yes, I constantly pull from Ai for inspiration. It is like my own creative
block reversal assistant. It has been an asset.

[MKAedge]

Hi there, for me, I think it depends on how you use it.

If you already have a creative process that feels personal, then yes,
relying too much on AI can take away from that.

But if you use AI to help shape your ideas instead of replace them it can
actually make things better.
You can throw in your raw ideas and see what comes out. Sometimes it helps
you see things from a new angle or express something you couldn’t quite put
into words yet.

[BérangèreL]

Hi @NPn and welcome, we are so glad you are here! 🎊

Thank you for your thoughtful question on the HubSpot Community!

Hi @Hemanth28, @MarynaBond, @TZainab, what are your thoughts on this?

Have a great day and thanks so much!
Bérangère

[JLegarda]

I usually write down a rough idea that comes to my head. After, I do cursory research to see if I will stick to this idea or switch to something tangentially linked, or compeltely different. And then, when I'm writing something long developed from that finalized idea selection, I do a rough word document outline to focus on what points I have to cover, like a college paper. This includes links to all the researched sources I utilized to present the idea in a way it makes sense to anyone who reads the final product.

[CPatrik]

One thing I can do to help come up with new ideas is to apply braindumps by creating time to write down ideas that come to mind. To incorporate this into a repeatable framework for myself and those I collaborate with, I can leverage the use of visual aids, such as sticky notes, by grouping relatable ideas or topics for easy identification. 

[Jaycee_Lewis]

Hey, @CPatrik 👋 Welcome to our community! I use sticky notes too. One thing I do is gather them and dictate my ideas to Claude or ChatGPT and ask it to group them by topic or theme and create a Markdown file I can export. This helps bridge the gap for me, and I don't lose my ideas when I lose my notes 😂 

If you haven't already, make sure to check out our Community Learning Paths. They're here to help get you up and successful faster! — Jaycee 

[JRibeiro04]

One thing I do to help me come up with new ideas is write down or say the first thing that comes to my mind then I typically like to build from there. Another thing I like to do is tell myself there's no such thing as a wrong answer.

[OzoneEL]

I think to get a great result , the mind must be really calm , there are a lot of noises that goes on in the mind and environment, if your mind primarily is not calm enough , you might still miss important things in the "eureka moment " . From ideation to execution, a wandering mind would still miss the whole thing