As we launch into the New Year, here are 15 things to do, in no particular order,  to bring out your best creativity in marketing in 2015.

1. Follow

Seth Godin is the marketer’s marketer – he is the one every marketer in the world is subscribed to (or should be).

Out of the hundreds of blogs I’ve subscribed to over the years, his blog is the only one I make sure I read daily.

2. Commit

Creativity is a muscle. Commit to blogging daily, weekly or (at minimum) monthly.

“Make and you will make more”.

3. Ritualise

Like it or not we are creatures of habit. Knowing this, why not use this to your advantage?

Setup a daily morning ritual that includes:

• Exercise
• Juicing
• Spirituality / Meditation
• Creating

4. Read

To appreciate the current zeitgeist around online culture and marketing, why not read some of the classics that have got us here:

• [Original Wired Magazine Article] The Long Tail – Chris Anderson
• Permission Marketing – Seth Godin
• Purple Cow – Seth Godin
• [Blog Post] 1000 True Fans – Kevin Kelly
• The Tipping Point – Malcolm Gladwell
• Tribes – Seth Godin
• Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell

And here’s a few bonuses for marketers, advertisers & creatives:

• Influence – Robert Cialdini. Timeless truths about why we are influenced the way we are
• Scientific Advertising – Claude Hopkins. All time classic and a must read for any Direct Response advertiser
• Tested Advertising Methods – John Caples. Yet another classic and a must read for anyone advertising on Google or Facebook.
• Ogilvy on Advertising – David Ogilvy. Classic from one of the original Mad Men, David Ogilvy
• Confessions of an Advertising Man – David Ogilvy. Yet another page turner from David Ogilvy
• Thinking Course – Edward De Bono. Must read for any Creative Director – the precursor to ‘6 Thinking Hats’

5. Join

Join other like minded people at various Meetups held in your city – I highly recommend Creative Mornings.

6. Redeem

Redeem wasted time – get inspired by listening to audiobooks during public transport, driving or even chores time.

Buy a subscription to Audible and ‘read’ a new book every month.

7. Go

Get out there and be inspired by going to:

• Arthouse flicks
• Art Galleries
• Creative & Design Festivals

8. Watch

• Art & Copy – An entertaining and award winning documentary history of modern advertising
• Project Re:Brief – What happens when the best Creative Directors from the Mad Men era are given online creative freedom.
• Mad Men – The hit TV show that glamorised the Mid Century Modern period of Madison Avenue.
• Cannes Lions 2014 Highlights – Learn from 2014’s top Creative Directors at the ‘Oscars of Advertising’

9. Listen

Once upon a time we had to read biographies to get into the heads of entrepreneurs, creatives and pioneers. Today, they podcast! Here are some marketing and creative zeitgeist podcasts I’d recommend:

• Tim Ferriss – author of the 4 Hour Work Week, interviews top ‘artists’ in every field for tips on mastery
• Stanford Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders – Each week Stanford University gets top Internet Startup Founders to guest lecture. (Listen to Mark Zuckerberg talk about his dreams for ‘The Facebook’ back in 2005!)
• Design Matters – Debbie Milman interviews top designers for their thoughts on creativity and design. Definitely one for typography nerds too. (I love the interviews with Massimo Vignelli and Stefan Sagmeister).
• The Long Now Foundation – This is TED on a whole other level. LongNow guest speakers tackle issues that benefit humanity for 10,000 years or more. Hosted by Stewart Brand, founder of the Whole Earth Catalogue (which inspired Steve Jobs to start Apple).

10. Learn

• How to blog – from the ‘nicest guy in the industry’, ProBlogger, Darren Rowse
• Adwords – from my mentor (& mentor to anyone who’s anyone in Adwords), Perry Marshall
• Marketing on Facebook & Twitter – enrol in this and various other courses on Lynda

11. Rest

If even God rested on the seventh day, we probably should too.

Obey the sabbath and switch your phone to inflight mode.

If you’re really ambitious, for the sake of your creativity, you may even employ an entire Sabbatical year.

12. Imagine

If we are what we eat, how much fiction and imagination are you consuming?

Go someplace your mind has never been before.

Here are some places to start.

13. Build

There’s a saying in online marketing: “The money’s in the list”. With the introduction of Facebook (& Twitter) Custom Audiences last year, this has grown exponentially more important. The value of email addresses to your business has just risen and is going to rise yet again when Google, Pinterest and Instagram follow suit.

If you haven’t started rallying your 1000 True Fans by collecting email addresses, start today.

14. Travel

They say nothing stirs creativity more than travel – so go and get out there!

Even better, change your business model so you can be location independent.

15. Subscribe

Last but not least, don’t come back to our website – let it come to you!

Subscribe to the Intentional blog for daily (well, weekday!) posts exploring personal and brand Identity, Business as Art and marketing and advertising in the new Connection Economy.