Can you guess what it is? Aside from a product, that is.
It’s a list – you absolutely need to have a list before you can have a product launch. You can’t just stick a product up on Clickbank (for example) and call it a launch. You can’t just set-up a sales page and drive organic traffic to it and call it a launch. You need a list.
But here’s the cool part: the list doesn’t have to be yours.
If you want to use someone else’s list though, you’ll need to give them a reason to let you “borrow” it. Have you read my report about how to attract more JVs and affiliates yet? If you haven’t, now would be a good time to do so 
The main things that JVs and affiliates look for are:
- a really good product
- solid conversions (“good” depends on the product)
- lucrative sales funnel (high payouts + good conversions)
They care about other things too, but these three are biggies.
The bottom line is that if you want someone to promote your stuff, you better give them a reason to. I see too many people asking for affiliates, but offering nothing in return.
Everyone wants super affiliates with big lists to promote their stuff, but these folks only have so many slots available. That’s why they only have room to promote friends, trusted JV partners, or up-n-comers with wicked products.
So back to my original point about needing a list for product launches.
It’s obviously better if you have your own list.
You can test conversions on your own list. You can promote the products of potential JV partners to get on their radar. You can do some ad swaps to boost your list size.
Making money online is so much easier with an email list.
In fact, the surest way of breaking into the inner circles you keep encountering is to sell a LOT of their stuff. There’s two ways that the gurus we all know and love (or not) got to know each other:
- Meeting and chatting at live events back in the day.
- Selling a TON of the other person’s stuff during a product launch.
I believe that’s how Gary Ambrose (the guy behind such sites as Email Aces, List Bandit, List Wire, and more recently, MemberSpring) met Mike Filsaime.
Back in 2006 I think, when Mike first released Butterfly Marketing, some random guy sells well over $200K worth during the launch. Do you think Mike was excited to introduce himself to this guy? He calls the guy (who turns out to be Gary) and a friendship was born.
You see how having your own list makes your product launches so much easier?
Having a good list attracts other people with good lists. It’s simple.
Now all you need is your own list 
Curtis
P.S. Sometime last year, I bought a neat little list building report from a fellow young marketer (he’s a year or two younger than me, I think). It wasn’t ground-breaking, but it does give you a few proven ways to build your list for free, in addition to some other important list building fundamentals. It’s not bad – well worth the asking price. Check it out.