How to Craft the Perfect Course Name for Your Next Launch

If you’ve ever experienced the joy and wonder of becoming a parent, you know choosing a name for your precious baby is hard. And since we all know your business is really just another one of your babies, it makes sense that choosing names for things related to your biz would be difficult as well. So if you’ve been struggling to come up with a catchy (but still straightforward) course name for your next launch, you’re not alone. And you’ve come to the right place!

My team and I know firsthand that naming your book, your course, your offer, etc. for that upcoming launch can be daunting. We recently went through the dance of choosing a course name with one of our amazing clients, and it took some definite back and forth before we landed on the right one (but more on that later!).

Thankfully, we are here to help with your overwhelm and share with you our best tricks to craft the perfect course name for your next launch! 

Step #1 To Crafting Your Course Name: Brain Dump

Set a timer on your phone for somewhere between 5 and 15 minutes and let your brain go wild with ideas! This is not the time to be judicious or critical. This is where you jot any and everything down.

Don’t just focus on full course names here, but also on the feelings you want your customers to come away with or the results you want them to get from your program.

Will some of the ideas be garbage? Yes. However, you might also find some treasure mixed in with that trash. Don’t discount anything in your brain dump.

Step #2: Get Really Simple

Now that you have lots of ideas about your course out in front of you, break down your thoughts into just a few words about what the course is or what it does for people. This does NOT need to be creative, powerful, or catchy.

In the most basic terms, what are you offering? 

For instance, the client I mentioned earlier is a private therapist who developed a fabulous 28-day course to help professional women overcome anxiety and calm their busy minds. So we started simply with the name “Calm Your Mind.”

Maybe not the greatest or most creative course name, but it was simple and descriptive — two things that are important when choosing a name. You want your audience to clearly know what you’re offering. 

Step #3: Combine The Creative Brain Dump With The Simple Option

Now that you have both a simple, descriptive name and your creative brain dump out in front of you, begin to add more spark and personality to your simple course name.

This might also be a good time to find a thesaurus or dig into keywords that your audience frequently uses in their conversations — especially their conversations about the problem you’re helping to solve.

For instance, going back to our client, we knew the women she was serving were high-performing professionals who valued taking charge in their own life. And after several conversations and ideas, “Calm Your Mind” became “Claim Your Calm.” Similar in many ways. For instance, both are short and include the keyword “calm,” but the second one put her ideal client in the driver’s seat (where she loves to be!).

BONUS: A Few Other Tips To Keep In Mind When Creating Your Course Name

Many of the following ideas come straight from the course queen herself, Amy Porterfield, but there are a few of my own thrown in as well. (PRO TIP: Keep this list handy any time you go to create a course name or offer name for your next launch.)

• Keep the name short. 3-5 words are ideal. If you need more words, make it a two-part name with a colon in the middle to break it up, essentially forming a “title” and “subtitle” in your course name.
• Say your course name out loud and have a few other people do the same. Some things will sound different when spoken aloud.
• Create interest and curiosity, but don’t get too creative or mysterious. (If you’re struggling with this balance, err on the side of simplicity.)
• Throw in a power word, but choose this wisely. You don’t want to come off as slimy or overly sales-y. Some power words include: impressive, innovative, latest, painless, and so many more! (Just Google “power words” to find hundreds of options.)

In the end, don’t spend too long on this task! Your course name is NOT the most important part of your offer. You’ve got plenty of other things to focus on when it comes to your next launch, so don’t let this particular task bog you down. 

If you need help with your course name or any other part of your launch, I would love to connect. You can start by scheduling a FREE 30-minute consultation. I am happy to chat, offer you some valuable tips, and determine if we are a good fit for one another in future endeavors!