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Design does sell with Cathy Olson, Ep 92

Apr 4, 2019

On today’s episode of Just the Tips, Dean and I bury the hatchet and actually compliment each other at the start of the show. Maybe we’re on our best behavior because we have Cathy Olson on the show. Cathy is a pro at making funnels look pretty, rather than simply functional. Her company name, Funnel Gorgeous, says it all. And on today’s show, she talks with us about why marketing so often clashes with design, why focusing on design can really make your funnels stand out, and how good design does sell. You don’t want to miss this episode.

Bridging design and marketing

Cathy came from the design world to the marketing world, and has found that the two sides don’t always get along. In fact, as she says, there’s this idea out there that ugly things sell, and that if you’re creating a funnel the only thing that matters is whether it gets your lead to conversion as quickly as possible. But with her company Funnel Gorgeous, Cathy has been able to merge design and marketing to make funnels that convert because they are so beautiful, which allows them to really stand out.

Design matters

There’s an idea out there that “ugly sells.” If you look at a lot of top performing funnels, they’ll often put form way over function, and their creators may even tell you that the funnel performs better with an ugly design. But what Cathy has found is that the story you’re telling and the offer you’re presenting, it doesn’t have to trump design. In fact, if you work with a good designer, they will be able to highlight what makes your story sing, and you’ll get even better results.

What makes a great design?

I had to ask Cathy, what makes a good design? And she had a great, quick answer for me: A good design is something that reflects the quality of the person or product you’re designing for, and which appeals to the audience you’re attempting to reach. And she differentiates art and design by pointing out that design is really a solution-based art. It’s in service to the copy and to your offer, says Cathy, but it’s also the first thing a potential customer is going to notice.

Principles of good design

Cathy rejected out of hand my question to list off some good design principles. Something about her having to distill years of design school into two minutes on a podcast, but nevertheless she did offer up some great advice for listeners. The first rule, she said, is that the offer has to be immediately understandable and readable for the audience. They can’t wonder for half a second what they’re looking at or what your message is. You also have to think through the “cadence” of your content, how your potential customer is going to experience it and make sure it’s organized in a way that makes sense.

Outline of This Episode

  • [2:16] Cathy cautiously wades into the podcast
  • [3:51] Bridging marketing and design
  • [5:17] How Cathy reconciles all sides
  • [10:47] Proper design principles
  • [13:27] A multi-million dollar case study
  • [16:10] How Cathy got into design
  • [20:05] What is Funnel Gorgeous?
  • [26:22] How much does color matter?

Music for “Just The Tips” is titled, “Happy Happy Game Show” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Resources Mentioned

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