This past January, Will Welch, Editor-In-Chief of GQ, wrote “This new iteration of GQ might not be for everyone. But especially in this niche-driven era, if you try to be everything to everyone, you end up not being much of anything to anyone.” In the accompanying picture, Will is sitting cross-legged, wearing white jeans, tie-dyed gym socks, black, worn-in Vans, a long-sleeved woven shirt in a traditional ikat pattern and his hands are tattooed. He is the epitome of the word niche and a well-respected style influencer.

Through his quirky, authentic voice, he has shown how being an original can pay off in a big way. That’s what Influencers and the whole world of Influencing is about. Having a wide breadth of interests and background of career knowledge that informs and hones your particular sense of style is celebrated in this world where there are so many competing voices to hear.

The powerful internet search bar has opened up our world exponentially. In fact, it can be overwhelming. Did you know that if you use Google to search on the words “black dress” you come up with about 7,720,000 results in .5 seconds. That is more than 7 TRILLION results! It’s astonishing but not surprising.

Finding a style, a person or a brand that resonates with you with can mean a lot when there are that many choices to wade through – even for what you would think might be a simple thing to find.

With so many choices out there, businesses are smart to keep in mind words like authentic, original, transparent, unique and niche when storytelling for their brands. Consumers today aren’t always looking for the most perfect brand. They are looking for authenticity in a sea of 7 trillion brand voices.

So, how do we create that authenticity in our storytelling? Take a look at the image at the top of this blogpost. The font is uneven, unusual and playful. The model is having fun and the pattern fill behind her looks like it was hand-illustrated. Nothing on the page is too perfect. It is approachable.

Think about how the clothing you offer could be approached by the wearer or by your company in a way that you have never thought of before. How can the items be layered together in a unique way? Is there an interesting color combination that you could put together that is still within the customers brand guidelines, yet is unexpected?

If there has ever been a time in history for businesses to have fun and try new things, this is it! Consumers are in the mood to find what is unique in the world and they are rewarding those who can do that with their attention and their dollars. So, get inventive and start influencing!