Day 10 Transcript
NOTE: Today’s transcript is followed by an AI prompt that can be used with your AI provider of choice. Just copy and paste it into ChatGPT or Perplexity and it will help you answer today’s questions for your specific side hustle… the way a human teaching assistant would help you in an Ivy League university. If you’re eager for more on today’s topic, I’ve included a Secret Dessert Course at the very end — a bonus section that isn’t directly covered in today’s video but has a lot of value practical, hands-on value. That dessert also comes with its own AI prompt.
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Part 1: Build Your Website with Purpose
If your website doesn't make me feel something... I won't care about your stupid little call to action.
Welcome to week 2, Day 10 of starting your side hustle! We’re taking 28 Days-- 28 small steps-- to build a business that’s meaningful, impactful, and profitable. Today’s focus is on how to build a website for your hustle, how to create a professional site with clear calls-to-action.
Ok. You’ve claimed your domain name, locked down your social handles, and now it’s time to build the digital home for your hustle. But before you dive into templates and hosting providers, let’s elevate the conversation. Because I’m not going to recommend one site building company over another. I’m not going to recommend company 1’s set of functionality over company 2’s. Because it doesn’t matter. And I’m not here to sell you anything.
The larger point though is that building a website is never about functionality or even aesthetics—it’s about strategy and storytelling. So the two most important questions to answer:
1. What is the one action you want visitors to take when they land on your site?
2. How can your website amplify your brand story without overwhelming visitors?
A quick real-life example to prime the pump: Tobias Lütke, the founder of Shopify– who by the way should be doubly respected for his accomplishments because he had to live his entire life with a name like Tobias. Anywho, when he built the first Shopify website, he didn’t start with fancy features or a huge product catalog. He focused on a single action: getting visitors to start their own online store with one clear, irresistible call to action. Every design and copy choice on the site—from the headline to the signup button—was about making it easy and inviting to take that step. By keeping the site simple, focused, and true to Shopify’s brand story, Toby turned a side project into a $100 billion company. The point here is that your website’s power doesn’t come from bells and whistles. It comes from clarity– a good story– and a single, well-chosen action.
Ok. Let’s jump back to the questions. That first question forces you to focus on outcomes rather than distractions– which is important because every element of your website—its design, copy, navigation, everything—should funnel visitors toward that one action, whether it’s signing up for your newsletter, purchasing your product, booking a consultation with you, whatever. Websites that try to do everything end up doing nothing well. Clarity drives conversions, stories sell, and simplicity wins attention in a world where every one of us decides whether to stay within a millisecond.
That first question forces you to showcase your hustle—it immerses visitors in your narrative. But here’s the catch: too much storytelling– for instance… needing to scroll on a mobile screen– can bury the call to action. So that second question challenges you to strike a balance between emotional resonance and functional design. If you get it right, your site should evoke trust, excitement, empowerment (whatever aligns with your brand identity)-- and just to bring back question 1: it should guide visitors seamlessly toward their next step– your call to action.
Today’s questions are important because they help you flex two of your three most important muscles– focus and prioritization– that you need to keep developing every day– along with the third one– delegation– not just for your hustle but also for your day job… so you can effectively manage both jobs at once. Focus… because building a website should be a 1 day activity for your hustle. Let me say that again because some people spend weeks or months doing it. That just means you’ve lost focus… if you forget that your website has one purpose—a singular focus– to drive results. Focus on that. Prioritize the hell out of it.
And– going back to that second question– male sure that your website’s purpose is wrapped in meaning. Think back to your Why exercise last week, to your branding exercise this week. Design your site the way you’re designing your hustle– to connect with people on an emotional level. Usability is important. But do nothing without the feels.
Ok. Take a moment and try to answer the Day 10 questions for your hustle without AI and before you listen to the next section-- the 28-Day Ivy League MBA. I personally think it's useful to try to answer questions without AI first, but if you'd rather do that: The AI teaching assistant prompt will drop with today's case study... in a couple of hours. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out Lunch Break Millionaire Day Zero... or go over to superserious.com where I’m posting daily transcripts. The AI prompts are there too. That's it. Hustle smarter.
Part 2: 💼 Set Your Pricing Strategy: Today's Ivy League MBA Skill
Day 10, Part 2 of Lunch Break Millionaire– where we turn whatever you're eating for lunch into an Ivy League MBA degree. It’s Wednesday– and we should do tacos again– just to challenge the whole bs “only on Tuesdays” thing again. I don’t know of any MBA programs that teach you how to build a website. That’s why God created Schools of Engineering. And Design. And unpaid internships. So the MBA skill we’re going to pick up today is NOT web design– it is the hardest part of any website– not your javascript– your price. Unless you have just a single-page landing-page, you shouldn’t have a product or a service on your website without a price. So let’s talk about pricing strategy models.
Pricing is where most side hustlers freeze up. You don’t want to charge too much and scare people off. You don’t want to charge too little and end up working for free. But pricing isn’t just a gut feeling—it’s a skill. The best hustlers use strategy, not guesswork, to set their prices. That’s what we’re doing today.
So, let’s break it down. Pricing strategy is about figuring out how much to charge so you hit that sweet spot: the intersection of “people want what you’re selling” and “you’re actually making money.” There are a bunch of models, but you don’t need to know them all. You just need to know which one fits your hustle right now.
First up, there’s cost-plus pricing. This is the classic: figure out what it costs you to make your product or deliver your service, then add the plus in cost-plus… add a markup. If your widget costs $10 to make and you want a 50% margin, you charge $15. Simple, buuuuut it doesn’t always match what people are willing to pay.
Then there’s value-based pricing. This is where you charge based on the value your product brings to your customer. If it only costs you $10 to deliver something or some service and you’re saving someone $1,000 a year with, you can charge more than $15. I know that sounds obvious but hustlers still get it wrong. This is how software companies and consultants make serious money—they focus on outcomes, not inputs.
There’s also competitor-based or market-based pricing. Look around—what are others charging for something similar? If you’re new, maybe you go a little lower to win your first customers– always a bad idea. Offer something better or more unique, and charge a little more. Way better idea. Why? What do we keep saying? “Riches from niches bitches.” The key is to know the market, but don’t let it dictate your price. The point here is that you want to stand out.
Balanced Revenue Management at the center of the Venn is just jargon for “you’ll get the right price if you take all three bubbles/approaches into consideration.”
And it’s not in the Venn but we shouldn’t forget about psychological pricing. There’s a reason things cost $9.99 instead of $10. That’s behavioral economics for you. It feels cheaper, even though it’s a penny difference. Or maybe you offer three pricing tiers—basic, pro, and premium—so people feel like they’re choosing. Most folks pick the middle option by the way. That’s not an accident; it’s pricing strategy.
Now, let’s tie this back to today’s questions. When you’re thinking about what price will make your offer a no-brainer for your target audience, you’re really asking: “How do I balance what my hustle is worth with what my customers are willing to pay?” And when you ask how to test and refine your pricing, you’re setting yourself up to learn from real feedback—so you can tweak your price, your offer, or even your product until you find the sweet spot that drives both sales and profit.
Take a sec and sketch out your own pricing plan. Start with your costs, but don’t stop there. Look at what competitors are doing. Ask yourself what value you’re actually delivering. If you can, talk to a few potential customers and feel out what they’d pay. And by feel out I mean “ask them.” Try out a few price points—test them if you can. Don’t be afraid to adjust as you learn more. Pricing isn’t set in stone; it’s a living part of your business.
And this is your reward for staying to the end of the segment: the counterintuitive secret to pricing– be 100% transparent with your clients. Tell them how much your product or service costs you and then be honest and open about how much you need to charge to make it worth your time. This kind of unflinching transparency is especially powerful in gray markets like healthcare– where clients have never had any transparency into their costs. Even if you’re prone to flinching, cost transparency can be your hustle’s differentiator.
Keep telling yourself, the right price isn’t just a number—it’s a message. It tells your customers what to expect, how to feel about your brand, whether you’re honest and open or not– whether you’re worth coming back to. Nailing your pricing strategy– especially if unflinching transparency is involved– means you’re building relationships; you’re building a business that lasts. That’s how you hustle smarter.
Part 3: Covet My Website Design: The 28-Day Case Study
This is Day 10, Part 3 of Lunch Break Millionaire. This is the segment where we #BuildinPublic– where I answer the daily questions every hustle should– using the MBA skills we just learned– and showing my work– sharing how I’m building my hustle from scratch-no filters, just the real journey. You don't need to actually like or subscribe. I'm not doing this for the clicks. But if you’re leveling up from other creators you follow or know, introduce us. I want to learn from them and help them level up, too. We all deserve better than just making rich people richer.
Ok. I’m going a tiny bit off format because I’m still working on my pricing strategy… so I’m not going to apply today’s MBA skill section. Instead, I’m going to focus on the day’s larger topic– building my website. That makes it an easy day for me because I completed the exercises earlier this week.
Remember– I have 2 domains I could be working with. So I took one of them– the new domain I bought– metatorial.com– and I pointed it to one of the landing pages I built in the brand identity exercise– specifically, the one aimed at enterprises (not individual creators). I took one of the other landing pages– one that’s creator-focused– and made it the homepage to superserious.com. That’s how I resolved the 2 domain problem: one for enterprises that expect you to be an adult (metatorial) and one for creators who are more chill (and would be cool with a name like superserious).
The other thing I did today is to make my “Join the Uprising” button link to a working form that emails me. It’s my call to action. If you click on it and fill it out, you get a 1-on-1 session with me. If the 1-on-1s start to eat too much of my time, it’ll put visitors on my waiting list.
That’s just administrative work. Not as important as what we talked about today. So let's drive home how I applied today’s questions and answers to my site.
I didn’t start with design—I started with intention. What do I want visitors to do? For me, it was simple: watch the demo video and if you like what you see, reach out to me. Ok that’s two actions– not one– but those actions drive everything else—interest in the product, understanding its value, and ultimately signing up for early access. So I designed the page around that singular goal.
Did you see my amazing About Us section? Did you see all my testimonials? My case studies? My logo parade? Nope. They all build credibility… at the cost of clarity.
So I focused just on how to tell a story without overwhelming people? Both versions of the product: Metatorial for companies and Superserious for creators– are all about breaking past social media’s algo problem– empowering anyone who creates something and wants every one of their followers to see it– by imbedding their content across other people’s platforms—but explaining that in detail risks losing people who just want to see it in action. So instead of cluttering the page with pages and pages of text, I focused on concise messaging and a demo. If I get it right, it’ll evoke curiosity… maybe some excitement… but the really important part is that it’ll guide visitors to connect with me.
Your website isn’t a brochure. It’s an experience that leads to a handshake. I’m not diminishing that every design decision matters—the placement of a button, the color palette, even the loading speed— we all know that design contributes to how people perceive your hustle but the only thing that matters is if they take action… actions that convert anonymous visitors into real people who share your values; people who you want to break bread with.
Prompt #1 - Launch Your Website with Purpose
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Prompt #1 - Launch Your Website with Purpose ○
Today, you’ll take the leap from planning to launching by building a simple, effective website for your side hustle. You’ll be guided by the writings and frameworks of Ivy League faculty whose research is foundational in digital strategy, customer experience, and pricing:
- **Professor David Bell, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania:** Expert in digital marketing and online presence.
- **Professor Sunil Gupta, Harvard Business School:** Specialist in digital strategy and pricing models.
- **Professor Sheena Iyengar, Columbia Business School:** Authority on choice architecture and user experience.
**What Today’s Coaching Will Help You With:**
You’ll create a clear, customer-focused website that builds trust, communicates your value, and has a simple call-to-action-plus, you’ll set your first pricing strategy so visitors know exactly how to buy or sign up.
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### Step 1: Reflection Questions
Please answer these questions in a few sentences each:
1. **What is the single most important action you want a visitor to take on your website?**
- Is it to buy something, book a call, sign up for your list, or something else?
2. **What is the one message or promise you want every visitor to remember?**
- This should be your core value proposition, in plain language.
3. **What is your starting price or offer, and how did you decide on it?**
- Share your initial price, package, or offer-and whether you’re using competitor research, cost-plus, or value-based pricing.
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### Step 2: MBA Skill – Website Conversion & Pricing Basics
Today’s MBA lesson combines two essentials:
**A. Website Conversion:**
- Make your homepage focused and simple. Remove distractions.
- Use a single, clear call-to-action (CTA) above the fold.
- Build trust with testimonials, guarantees, or proof points.
**B. Pricing Strategy:**
- Anchor your offer with a clear price or entry point.
- Use value-based pricing: set your price based on the benefit to the customer, not just your costs.
- If you’re unsure, start with a “founder’s special” or “beta rate” to learn and adjust.
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### Step 3: Coaching & Launch Checklist
After you reply, I will use the writings of Professors Bell, Gupta, and Iyengar to:
- Help you clarify your website’s main message and CTA for maximum impact.
- Guide you in structuring your homepage for easy navigation and high conversion.
- Suggest ways to build instant credibility and trust with new visitors.
- Offer practical tips for setting and communicating your starting price or offer.
- Share examples of effective first websites and pricing pages from real-world founders.
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**How to use this prompt:**
- Respond with your answers to the reflection questions and your draft homepage message or offer.
- I’ll help you refine your site, pricing, and CTA so you launch with confidence.
- Remember: Your first site doesn’t have to be perfect-it just has to be clear, focused, and ready for real customers.
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Ready? Share your answers and draft website ideas below. Let’s hustle smarter, one lunch break at a time!
Secret Dessert Course
I was going to do an AI coaching segment on search engine optimization (SEO) basics but SEO isn’t what it used to be. AI has already neutered search and AI is going to continue to kill all learning-related website traffic in favor of direct answers. Because no one wants that extra click-and-hunt that was so exciting back in 2005. Anything more than zero clicks today is too many clicks..
That means the point of business websites is no longer about teaching people something– your products, your team, your many many many marketing words that say nothing. Websites in the age of AI have one and only one task– and it doesn’t take a lot of words: it is to make people feel something so they can be directed to a clear call-to-action. That’s it.
And that’s not coming from some dark Boomer place where I fear losing the value of my graying expertise. Because for me, expertise has never been about being able to answer questions. It’s always been about being able to ask the right questions, the hard questions.
So it’s silly to design websites in the age of AI that serve up old fashioned expertise. If you have expertise to share– and we’ll talk about this tomorrow– make it entertaining and post it on social media– the ultimate sales funnel that maximizes your reach and engagement.
In the meantime, the only thing your website needs: a clear call-to-action that efficiently converts visitors into customers or leads. So that’s what the prompt below does. It coaches you on how to refine and improve your website’s call-to-action.
Just copy and paste this prompt into your favorite AI assistant to enjoy Day 10’s dessert course.
Prompt #2 - Build a Compelling CTA
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Prompt #2 - Build a Compelling CTA ○
Today’s focus: making your website’s Call-to-Action (CTA) irresistible, clear, and effective-so every visitor knows exactly what to do next and feels compelled to act. You’ll be coached by Ivy League experts in digital marketing, behavioral science, and conversion optimization:
- **Professor Sunil Gupta, Harvard Business School:** Specialist in digital strategy and conversion-focused design.
- **Professor David Bell, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania:** Expert in online consumer behavior and funnel optimization.
- **Professor Sheena Iyengar, Columbia Business School:** Authority on choice architecture and persuasive communication.
**What Today’s Coaching Will Help You With:**
You’ll learn how to refine your CTA so it’s not just visible, but magnetic-removing friction, clarifying value, and maximizing conversions. By the end, you’ll have a CTA your visitors can’t resist.
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### Step 1: Tell Us About Your Current CTA
Please answer:
1. What is your website’s main goal (e.g., collect emails, sell a product, book a call)?
2. What is your current CTA text (e.g., “Sign Up,” “Get Started,” “Book Now”)?
3. Where is your CTA located on your site (homepage, header, popup, etc.)?
4. Who is your target audience?
5. (Optional) What’s one thing you wish your CTA did better?
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### Step 2: CTA Refinement & Coaching
After you reply, I will use the writings of your Ivy League coaching panel to:
- Analyze your current CTA for clarity, value, and urgency.
- Recommend improvements to your CTA text, placement, color, and supporting copy (Gupta).
- Suggest ways to reduce friction and make the next step feel easy and rewarding (Bell).
- Guide you in using behavioral science (like clear benefits, limited choices, and social proof) to increase conversions (Iyengar).
- Provide 2–3 revised CTA options you can test right away.
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**How to use this prompt:**
- Respond with your current CTA details above.
- Your coaching panel will return a step-by-step plan to optimize your CTA for maximum impact.
- You’ll leave with actionable, expert-backed tweaks to turn more visitors into customers or leads.