The Design Mistake That’s Bleeding Your Business Dry (While You Focus on Marketing)
Every time someone tells me design is "just fluff," I want to show them my client Sarah’s bank account.
Sarah runs a brilliant coaching business. Gets incredible results. Has glowing testimonials from clients who’ve transformed their lives working with her.
But for months, she couldn’t figure out why her online presence wasn’t converting like her in-person conversations.
Then I saw her website.
It looked like she’d cobbled it together during a lunch break using whatever free templates she could find. The photos were pixelated. The fonts were inconsistent. The whole thing screamed "I threw this together because I had to."
Meanwhile, Sarah was charging $15,000 for her coaching programs.
The disconnect was jarring.
We fixed her visual presence in six weeks. Same expertise, same program, same testimonials—but now everything looked intentional and professional.
Her conversion rate doubled.
The revenue leak you can’t see
Here’s what those "revenue over everything" experts miss: bad design doesn’t just look unprofessional. It actively costs you money.
Recent research from Klaviyo surveyed over 8,000 consumers and found something fascinating: 25% of people weigh visual presentation equally with pricing when making purchase decisions.
Think about that. One in four of your prospects cares as much about how you look as what you charge.
When your brand looks amateur, they assume your service quality matches—no matter how brilliant you actually are.
But it gets worse.
The same study found that inconsistent experiences drive away 24% of potential customers. So if your LinkedIn looks polished but your website feels thrown together, you’re literally pushing people away at the moment they’re trying to connect with you.
The three ways bad design sabotages success
You lose at the decision point. When prospects are choosing between you and competitors, visual presentation becomes the tiebreaker. If you look less established, you lose—even if you’re better.
You create doubt at every interaction. Inconsistent design makes people question your attention to detail. If you can’t get your brand right, can you handle their business?
You fail the first impression test. In our digital world, that first impression is usually visual. Poor design signals poor quality before they even read your content.
What good design actually does
I’ve been designing for two decades, and I’ve seen this transformation happen countless times.
Design isn’t decoration—it’s communication.
When I work with my client David at Sound Ergonomics, his challenge was making acoustic panels seem interesting. His old marketing showed boring product shots and generic office photos.
But when I asked what his work actually does for people, everything changed.
"It creates spaces where people can think clearly," he said. "Where they can have conversations without strain. Where they feel calm instead of overwhelmed."
We shifted from showing acoustic panels to showing peace. A person reading quietly in a busy café. A team talking effortlessly in an open office.
His inquiries doubled in 30 days.
Because people don’t buy products—they buy transformations.
The confidence factor
Here’s what happens when I deliver a new brand to clients: they experience a surge of confidence they’ve never had before.
They stop apologizing for their prices. They stop feeling like imposters when networking with other successful business owners.
More importantly? Their prospects feel that confidence too.
Good design makes potential clients feel safe choosing you over competitors who look less established. It’s not manipulation—it’s accurate representation of the caliber of work you deliver.
Think about my grandmother’s mason jar with "Peach preserves - August 2019" written in her careful handwriting. Every time I see it, I hear her voice and feel her love.
That’s what your typography does. It’s your brand’s handwriting—your personality showing up before anyone reads a word.
The bottom line
Design isn’t about making things pretty. It’s about making things work.
It’s the bridge between being seen as amateur and being recognized as the authority you are.
After working with hundreds of business owners, I can tell you this: the ones who invest in strategic design consistently outperform those who don’t.
Not because they’re better at what they do—but because they look like they are.
If you’re ready to stop losing prospects to visual inconsistency, I can help. I work with established business owners who know their expertise has outgrown their brand presence.
We’ll create a custom roadmap showing exactly what needs to change to align your visual presence with your business goals.
Ready to look as good as you actually are? Let’s talk.