You’re saying the right things. Using the right tone. Following the rules.

And still—no one cares.

Dead-behind-the-eyes, scroll-past-without-reading, completely-fucking-indifferent.

I know because yesterday I caught myself mid-sentence during a client call, spouting the same vanilla bullshit I used to mock.

“Well, you want to create content that resonates with your target demographic while maintaining professional credibility across all touchpoints…”

I stopped. The client nodded politely.

That’s when it hit me: If I was boring myself, what was I doing to my audience?

The Sellout Test That Changed Everything

After that painful call, I knew I had to face the truth. So I put myself through what I now call “The Sellout Test” - three brutal questions that reveal whether you’ve traded your authenticity for acceptance:

Question 1: Would Your 5-Years-Ago Self Recognize Your Current Business?

I pulled up my earliest emails and compared them to what I’d been sending recently. My younger self would have roasted current me alive.

The early stuff was raw, unfiltered, full of strong opinions. My recent emails? Vanilla ice cream pretending to be sriracha.

I had become the enemy I used to fight.

Question 2: Are You Saying “No” to Anything That Matters?

When I audited my client roster, I realized I was working with companies whose values I didn’t respect. I was taking their money while biting my tongue about their mediocre approach.

Real rebels turn down money that doesn’t align with their values. I was saying yes to everything like a desperate freelancer.

Question 3: Do You Still Make People Uncomfortable?

This was the killer question. I looked at my recent content and realized it was all diplomatically crafted to avoid offense. No strong opinions. No controversial takes. No lines in the sand.

I had become professionally inoffensive. And professionally forgettable.

The client who’d hired me for my rebellious edge was getting the same safe advice they could get from any LinkedIn marketing guru.

Most content dies not because it’s bad, but because it’s safe.

When I Realized I Wasn’t Alone

That night, I called Sarah—a business coach who’d been complaining about her dying engagement.

“Sarah, I need to ask you three questions, and I need you to be brutally honest.”

I walked her through the same Sellout Test.

Her Answer to Question 1: “Fuck. My old content had edge. I used to call out the productivity porn industry. Now I write tips that could come from anyone.”

Her Answer to Question 2: “I haven’t turned down a single client in two years. Even the ones who want me to teach toxic hustle culture because ‘that’s what sells.’”

Her Answer to Question 3: “When’s the last time someone got mad at my content? I can’t remember. That’s… that’s not good, is it?”

She failed all three questions just as spectacularly as I had.

The Moment We Both Realized the Cost

Two years ago, Sarah’s controversial post about “why most productivity advice is toxic” went viral. 50,000 shares. 200 new clients. Best month ever.

But instead of doubling down on what worked, she got scared. Started playing it safer. Began every strong opinion with “Now, I know this isn’t for everyone, but…”

Her content became a beige wallpaper of business clichés.

When I showed her posts from 20 different business coaches with names removed, she couldn’t identify which ones were hers.

She had become interchangeable.

Just like I had.

“Would your audience miss your voice if you disappeared tomorrow, or would they not even notice?” I asked.

Long silence.

“They wouldn’t even notice, would they?”

The 72-Hour Authenticity Reset

We both knew we had to act fast before we lost ourselves completely. Here’s what we did:

Day 1: The Uncomfortable Truth We each wrote down the one opinion about our industry that we’d been too professional to share. The thought that made us think “I could never post that.”

Mine: “Most marketing advice is designed to make you blend in, not stand out.” Sarah’s: “Most of my industry colleagues are full of shit and selling fake transformation to desperate people.”

Day 2: The Position Statement We turned those opinions into content. Not diplomatic “some people might think” posts. Clear, unambiguous position statements that would definitely piss some people off.

Day 3: The Commitment We posted them. And watched what happened.

My email about blending in got more replies than my previous 5 emails combined. Three people unsubscribed. Twelve people wanted to hire me immediately.

Sarah’s post about industry colleagues being “full of shit” exploded. More engagement in 24 hours than her previous 10 posts combined.

But more importantly, it attracted the right people and repelled the wrong ones.

Three of her best clients this year came directly from that “controversial” post.

Your Turn: Take The Sellout Test

Right now, be brutally honest with yourself:

Question 1: Pull up your content from when you started. Compare it to what you’re posting now. Would your younger self recognize your current voice, or would they be disappointed by how safe you’ve become?

Question 2: When’s the last time you said no to money because it didn’t align with your values? If you can’t remember, you’ve probably been saying yes to everything.

Question 3: When’s the last time your content made someone genuinely uncomfortable? If everyone always agrees with you, you’re not saying anything worth saying.

If you failed even one of these questions, you’re in danger of becoming forgettable.

If you failed all three, your audience is probably already scrolling past your content without reading it.

The Choice That Defines Your Business

You can keep playing it safe and watch your influence slowly evaporate.

Or you can rediscover what made people care about your voice in the first place.

The market is begging for leaders who will take positions, not diplomats who offend no one and inspire no one.

Your audience isn’t looking for more information. They’re looking for someone brave enough to have an opinion worth following.

So what’s it gonna be?

Another safe post that disappears—or a real opinion that makes people stop, think, and remember you?

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Jan

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PS: Tired of watching quieter voices steal the spotlight while you’re busy being “professional”? Reply with “EDGE” and I’ll send you the exact framework that brought Sarah’s fire (and top-tier clients) back.