If you've been involved with affiliate marketing for any length of time, then you're probably aware of the fact that affiliate marketing "gurus" have access to knowledge that you don't, and that bridging this "information gap" is the key to earning a solid income online. Here are four ways top marketers are getting rich through affiliate marketing.

1. By marketing to affiliate marketers. This one becomes painfully obvious when you think about all of the infoproducts dedicated to helping affiliate marketers earn more money online.

As long as these infoproducts actually serve to help their readers, they can be a highly effective tool in assisting affiliate marketers in increasing their profits.

Unfortunately, the Internet is littered with scores of ebooks filled with worthless, rehashed information. But if you've had some success with affiliate marketing, why not but together your own infoproduct that helps others to experience the same success?

Or, you could put together a 10-page ebook that presells a product and earns you affiliate commission. And, if you like, allow your readers to give it away and watch as your commissions skyrocket!

2. By capturing e-mail addresses rather than sending prospects straight to a merchant site, and following up with them through long autoresponder series, as well as free giveaways that pre-sell their own products or the products of a third-party merchant.

By operating in this manner, these savvy marketers are creating actual "residual" income. A list of just 10,000 people can result in passive income of thousands of dollars a month. The good news is, that it isn't that difficult to build a list of this size, or that expensive either.

3. By brokering joint venture deals with other list owners. If you can leverage someone else's mailing list for an instant surge of profits, you stand to be highly profitable.

If you already have your own list, why not send out a mailing inquiring about brokering joint venture deals with your subscribers? Take the path of least resistance and use the power of network to your advantage.

4. By embedding affiliate links in free special reports and information products they are selling. If you give me general details on how I can solve a pressing problem, and then tell me that product A, B, or C is the "ultimate solution" to solving that problem, your odds of selling me that product increase dramatically.

So use your free and for-sale items to boost your affiliate commissions, while exploring new ways to achieve greater returns on your efforts.