I recently had a conversation with a colleague about naming your products and why names are so crucial to sales. I want to share the information with you because not many people talk about it.
Whether you’re creating your first product (get product ideas here!) or your next product, the name you choose will decide your product’s fate. Will it fall or will it fly?
In this post we’ll explore why product names are so important, and I’ll give you some tips for choosing the best name for your products.
Let’s get started!
A Rose By Any Other Name
In Shakespear’s play, “Romeo and Juliet,” Juliet contemplates about the handsome, young man she’s just met – who is from a rival household. Juliet’s parents and Romeo’s are sworn enemies. This presents a problem for Juliet, but she dismisses it with, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
Juliet then says that it doesn’t matter what Romeo is called, he is still the man she loves.
This may be true in Juliet’s case, but does this work for products? Let’s find out.
Are you familiar with a search engine called BackRub? No? How about Google? Of course, right? Who doesn’t know about Google!
For it’s first year of existence, Google was named BackRub. The name was in reference to Google’s algorithm and how it uses back links to determine the relevancy of websites. Can you imagine if Google had kept that early name? It reminds me of a massage studio!
Have you ever bought anything from relentless.com? No? Oh, that can’t be! I’m sure you’ve bought something from them. Most of us have.
Relentless was Amazon’s original name! And the original name still points to Amazon.
You can find more original names of companies you know here, plus the ones I mentioned above.
As you can see, names matter ALOT! Do you think you would have wanted to do business with a company called Relentless? Kind of sounds like a horror flick, right? Or maybe a company that’s going to hound you relelentlessly if you subscribe to their email list or buy from them. Any way you look at it, the name isn’t good.
But Amazon is a name that denotes size. It says that this company is BIG – a force to be reckoned with! Or, big in a way that means they have a wide variety of items to offer.
Of course, the name Amazon doesn’t tell you what they sell – just like the name Google doesn’t tell you what it does. Neither do Yahoo or Bing for that matter. But, these companies were forged in the infancy of the internet. Nobody knew how big the internet would become. And because these companies are behemoths online today, we all know their names and what they do.
So what’s the take-a-way here? It’s that even the big guys have made mistakes in naming their products. But they corrected their mistakes. And if you’ve got a product that isn’t selling, you might want to rethink naming your product. Or, if you haven’t created that first product yet, you’ll want to choose its name carefully.
Why Naming Your Products Is One Of The First Steps To A Sale
One of the first things you’ll do as a digital product creator is name your product. Most of the time, your product will need a name before you can market it. It makes the marketing easier because it gives both you and your market an idea of what your product is.
Because the name of your product is the first thing people see or hear when they discover it – or when someone tells them about it – naming your products requires careful consideration.
You want the name of your product to be compelling. It should tell people very clearly what the product is. If possible, it should also tell people who the product is for and what it will do for them.
So much can be conveyed by the product name that it is literally one of your first steps to a sale.
For example, the book title “How To Win Friends And Influence People” has been a best seller for years. The title is very clear as to what the book will do for you – help you win friends and influence people.
As I’m writing this, on my desk in front of me I have a book about using direct mail to reach your audience. The book is called “Million Dollar Mailings.” The name is kind of cliche now, but it’s attention grabbing and makes a big promise.
The sub-heading fills in the rest of what the title leaves out – “The art and science of creating money-making direct mail.”
Anyone interested in or currently using direct mail for their marketing will stop and take notice of that title. And the subtitle will clarify that this book is for them.
A book is a product – usually a digital product (an ebook) as well as a physical product. And your digital products need to have good names or “titles” just like books do.
A good name will get attention and create interest. And while these won’t guarantee the sale, they are a step in the right direction.
Tips For Naming Your Products
So, how do you find the best names for your products? Here’s a few things you can try to spark some ideas:
1) Go to Amazon and find books that are targeted to your market. Look at the titles of the best sellers.
2) Look at your competitor’s products. What did they name them?
3) Look at the big Gurus’ products – both in your niche and outside of it. Even those outside your niche can have parts of names that might be useful.
4) Brainstorm. Come up with as many name ideas as you can. Then run the names by friends and family to get their take.
5) Use an online dictionary and thesaurus.
6) Find out what your market is asking for. Sometimes you’ll find the perfect name in a question asked by someone in your market. Look at forums, facebook and Quora.
When you name your products, you’ll want to keep the following in mind:
1) Make sure the name is unique. It’s ok to look at other product names for inspiration, but you want the name to be unique to your product.
2) Keep your branding in mind. If you don’t have a brand yet, think about your business as a whole and what it and you stand for. You want your product names to reflect well on your brand.
3) Your product names should be easy for potential buyers to understand. It should tell them exactly what the product is, and what it will do for them or how it will help them.
4) Avoid names – or words in your names – that are clever or cute but are not descriptive.
5) Try to keep the name short, or use an acronym to help people remember it.
6) Keep your market in mind. What’s a product name that is likely to attract them?
As you can see, naming your products is a very important step toward your sales. The name will reflect on your company and brand, and give your prospective buyers an idea of what to expect after they make the purchase. Make sure each name you choose is as good as it can be!
If you liked this post let me know in the comments below, ok? I always welcome your comments and suggestions for future posts!
With you every step of the way,
Kim Hillman
PS: If you’ve been thinking about starting an online business with digital products, grab my free guide below. Do it now so you don’t forget!
