Kay asks: I'm kind of stuck. When someone has a new product, do they put it out on Clickbank right away? The downside is that the lack of gravity numbers (or lack of) will deter affiliates. Is that something to worry about? What's the best way to introduce a new product and get affiliates? Thanks.

Answer: For a multitude of reasons, when a vendor launches a new product they elect not to have it appear in the Clickbank marketplace. One reason could be to ramp their gravity first. While this makes a certain amount of sense, adding a product into the marketplace with low gravity doesn't deter all affiliates. In my experience, if the sales page is well done and the product has a demand; it begins to attract affiliates almost immediately. If the product converts well, word has a way of circulating, gravity starts to trend upwards, and more marketers begin to promote the product. Realize that most will see the product date and realize it's new and while some might take a wait and see approach, some will take a chance on it right away.

My father recently launched a product on CB and we put it in the marketplace immediately. While we recruited a small handful of our own high-powered affiliates within the industry the product falls under, we attracted a half-dozen new ones via the CB marketplace who started bringing sales. Perhaps if we had built up our gravity first, before adding it the marketplace, it would have enticed more to take a chance earlier. I can't say for sure, but we were suprised by the number that did pick it up. It's a niche industry and I thought people might not know how to market it. By the way, this is my dad's product. http://www.cbengine.com/res/stat.cfm?v=leadflow

If I were launching a new product, I would add it to the marketplace immediately despite a low gravity. Then I would work on recruiting some large affiliates to give it a big kick. Recruit as many affiliates as you can. Spend your first month after product launch on nothing but that task.

Several weeks ago I wrote a blog about recruiting new Clickbank affiliates. You can read that here:

http://www.cbengine.com/blog/post.cfm/how-to-get-clickbank-affiliates