New categories need products to link to

Hi
I am installing and configuring Zencart for the first time. I like its many features. I have succeeded so far but need to ask a question.

In my case, I have accessories for sale that need to be associated to a certain item that the customer will already own. So the customer will come to my site and want to view accessories for their product. They will need to search for their product in order to find the related accessories. I have already put in all the products in their own categories. Now I have created a new category, with sub-categories identifying each possible product the user will already own and want to accessorize.

In order to link existing products to a category (or sub-category), the new category(or sub-category) needs a product. Otherwise, the "multiple links categories manager"(MCLM) will not let you link a product to an empty category(or sub-category).

Is there an easier way to accomplish this than to make a dummy product in each sub-category? THEN link each product to the sub-categories in the MLCM? If not, I would like to create a dummy product in every sub-category in a given category. Is there an easy way to do this?

God I hope this makes sense to someone. Thanks for any help! I can clarify anything!