"What I’ve Learned About Naming Your Product Or Service...

...and How One Wrong Word In A Title Cost Me My First Copywriting Job"

The name you give your product or service is crucial.

My first copywriting job was at a company that went bankrupt because they called their private membership club the "Millionaire’s Circle".

Three states in the U.S. said the name WAS an income claim, in and of itself. That’s right, just having that ONE word in a product title put the company under.

After bankrupting the company fighting 3 attorney generals, they changed the name to the "winners circle" instead of the "Millionaire’s Circle." But that little naming mistake put the company under and caused me to lose my first copywriting job.

A lot of people wonder if I’m just a sour puss for making a big deal over the proliferation of blatant income claims. There IS a reason for it.

If you’re in UK, Australia, or Canada, I bet there are similar precedents in your country you should be aware of.

But naming goes much deeper than just not using "potty words."

Let me illustrate the vital importance of the name you choose with several of the names I’ve given products.

1. The "Cash Like Clockwork" system.

That’s a great name.

The only reason I don’t use the name more is that I really hate to use things that have too blatant of a money appeal in them.

The good things about the name are that it conveys a benefit. Your product name should usually have a benefit in it. The other good thing is that it isn’t too generic. It implies a brand. Plus, it lends itself to a visual — a CLOCK!

So, overall, it’s a great name. I would be more comfortable with "Sales Like Clockwork" than I would "Cash." Thing is, people like names with two letters that are the same.

Think of Coca-Cola as an example. You’ll also find a lot of celebrities with names that follow the same pattern. Marilyn Monroe, Alan Alda and many others.

Marketing With Marlon came out #1 on our name survey. Part of the reason for that is the two use of the two M’s.

2. "The Amazing Formula"

It isn’t as good a name as "Cash Like Clockwork." And the reason I say that is there isn’t a clear benefit in it unless you add the rest of the name "….That Sells Products Like Crazy." But now, you have a really LONG name.

The positive is that the word "Formula" still hasn’t made the rounds nearly as much as the word "System." Overall, the title has worked well. But if I did it over, I’d try to get a benefit in the core title.

3. "Milcers"

Milcers has a problem. It’s a coined name that is hard to pronounce. Most people called it Milsers instead of MILKERS. Plus, I thought the idea of "milk your cash cow" was obvious but implied.

To me, "Marlon’s Internet Lifestyle Club" explained the benefit. But to many others, they didn’t like the word "lifestyle."

Thing is, my style is to NOT put money directly in the title of a product. One reason is you risk Paypal feeling that you went over the line. I don’t like my titles to seem too "bizopy" (short for "like a business opportunity").

One of the first laws of online business is:

"Protect your merchant processeing at all costs."

Without it, you don’t have a business. I’m going to rename Milcers. I’ll keep what I feel is good in the concept. But add a new angle or twist.

4. "The Marketing Diary"

The name is too generic to be honest. But I liked the word Diary. And I chose the word "marketing" over some name that more directly implied money.

At least I should have come up with a "D"-word to use in place of "Marketing." The name would have been better.

The main problem with the name is, "What’s the benefit to the buyer?" Who cares if they buy a diary about marketing? See, there’s no benefit.

That’s a problem.

5. "Articles By Marlon"

The title I’ve been using for my ezine is "Articles By Marlon" or "The Sell Products Like Crazy Ezine." I’m going to move to a NEW title. It’s a secret right now, because I want to create a blog to match. The problem with the existing title is, "what’s the benefit?" Is there REALLY a benefit to getting another article by email?

The only benefit that the article is "By Marlon" is that it isn’t "By" someone else. That doesn’t quite cut it in this age of noise.

Tips On Naming Your Products, Ezines, and Memberships

The biggest problem with names is finding a DOMAIN. It seems like most of the good, short ones are taken. I tried like crazy to find a nice, short domain for the renaming of Milcers and got nowhere with that search.

I had the same problem with my blog. I’ll probably end of using "marlonsblog.com" or something like that. The blog isn’t up yet, so don’t go there.

The reason short names are good is that they’re easier for people to spell. The chances people will type a long domain without a typo aren’t good.

You may have seen the article in Inc. magazine about the guy who is registering thousands of domains that end in .cm instead of .com to get the typo traffic.

It costs something like $600 to register a .cm name. But he made a deal directly with the country (Cameroon or something like that). Point is, a lot of people can’t even type .com without making a mistake!

Normally, your product name should have a benefit in it. However, web sites do well with coined names. Think Google, Yahoo and others.

MSN isn’t a particularly good name.

Oh, if you wanna learn more about naming, I recommend the book "Positioning" by Trout and Ries. It’s a classic.

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