Punk came about in the 1970s as an alternative to rock. Rock music was becoming increasingly polished, heavily produced, and commercial. Musicians were very technically impressive but record labels were investing in producing albums that appealed to the widest possible audience.
Punk took off because it refused to sound like everyone else. It provided an alternative to the mainstream people didn’t know they wanted until it arrived. People were hungry for a different perspective, not just a different sound.
When bands like The Ramones came onto stage as a few dudes in t-shirts playing two-minute songs with just a few chords, people loved it! Commercial music was starting to feel abstract and punk brought music back to its roots, which was a few people in a room, playing songs, as a means of connection.
The same principles apply to business. People want something different, they want something authentic, and they want something meaningful. Businesses create authority when they challenge common assumptions and mainstream perspectives with something new.
Standing Out Isn’t About Being Loud
Many founders operate under the belief that they just have to do more. If they want to become more visible, they need to post every day, send a weekly newsletter, and weigh into every conversation online.
This sounds exhausting. And unsurprisingly, many founders are exhausted. When founders’ focus is on churning out more and more content, they burn out while losing their voice at the same time.
Nearly every company is producing content. The internet has no shortage of content. What it’s suffering from is a lack of original thinking.
As soon as you say something that sounds different, people will stop scrolling on LinkedIn and pause to read your post. The businesses that become authorities are the ones giving people a perspective that feels fresh and new. They change the way you think about something, give you language for a problem you couldn’t quite articulate, or challenge an assumption you didn’t realize you held.
If you can make someone stop and say, “Huh, I never thought about it like that before,” they will remember your name. That is authority.
Give The People What They Want…Authenticity!
In the age of AI and content, people are drowning in information and simultaneously bored. People are hungry for something new, and the younger generations can sniff out whether or not you’re being authentic.
When you’re presenting yourself as a real human and not just a corporate bot or an AI-generated “thought-piece,” people will give you an extra minute of their time.
AI can summarize information, competitors can copy your services, and pricing can always be undercut. What cannot be replicated is the unique perspective you’ve developed through years of experience. This is what people want to hear. Your lived experience is your strongest asset for attracting attention and establishing authority.
If the 70’s rock crowd was primed for punk to come along and remind us that we’re all just humans, the business world of today favors the niche, the weird, and the real. Put it out there. Your people will find you.
Being Different Only Works When It’s Meaningful
Plenty of businesses try to be different just for the clicks. But in the same way people can sniff out authenticity, they can also sniff out whether something is empty or filled with integrity. It’s subtle and it’s hard to replicate, so don’t try to fake it. But if you build your business or your voice around something you genuinely stand for, your audience will be able to tell the difference.
The businesses that become authorities are those who have gone through some things, learned a lot, and can share their real experience with the people who want to hear it. If you stand for something and speak with integrity, people will want to support you. The best part is that when your voice is true to yourself and you’re speaking about things that matter to you, the work of producing content gets a lot easier and a lot more enjoyable.
Become Known for Something
When people consistently associate you with a particular way of thinking that’s uniquely you, they begin seeking you out because they want your perspective.
That’s what books, articles, podcasts, and speaking engagements do at their best. They strip down all the production and performance and allow humans to feel another’s pulse, learn from their life, and hear what the world looks like through that person’s eyes.
If you want to stand out, stop asking how you can create more content. Start asking what you want to become known for. Once you have that answer, every article you write, every presentation you give, and every book you publish becomes another opportunity to reinforce it.
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