In this article we will look at some strategies that could increase your commissions with affiliate programs by as much as four times.

Here are some of my top tips for increasing your commission checks practically overnight:

1. Find out the best affiliate program and products to promote. Look for a program that will allow you to earn the greatest amount of money in the least possible time.

There are several things to think about when choosing an affiliate program. Look for the ones that have a very generous commission structure. Choose the ones that have products which will appeal to your target market. Also check they have a solid track record of paying their affiliates on time. If after a while of trying your commissions don't increase simply dump that program in favour of a better one.

There are tens of thousands of affiliate programs on the Internet so you can afford to be choosy. Always ensure you select the best program to promote to avoid wasting any cash on advertising.

It's a good idea to write free reports, reviews, or even short eBooks that you can distribute from your website or blog. Remember you will be competing against other affiliates promoting the same program. If you create unique content you can differentiate yourself from the other affiliates out there.

In your reports you should provide free valuable information. Make recommendations about the products and build credibility. That way readers will be enticed to try the products or services you are endorsing.

2. Always ensure that you gather the email addresses of people who are downloading your reports or eBooks. Many times people will not make a purchase on their first contact. You might sometimes have to send them as many as six messages to make a sale.

Using the email address you can keep in contact. If you use an autoresponder such as Get Response or Aweber you can create a follow up sequence that will be sent out automatically in the sequence you choose. You can choose the delay between each message so that the emails appear natural.

Remember that you are providing a free advertisement for the affiliate company. You will only be paid when a sale is made or a lead is generated depending on the program. Rather than sending prospects direct to the vendors website it is much more prudent to collect their email and send them a free report so that you can market to them again in the future.

As well as the initial product or service you are promoting once you have their email address you can also recommend other products or services to them in the future that are related.

You can turn your list into an online newsletter sometimes called an ezine. This is a great way to build a relationship with your readers and instil trust so that when you recommend a product or service they will be more likely to buy it because they feel they know you and trust you.

Try to get the balance right between providing useful information and making a sales pitch to your subscribers. If you post say three useful editorials followed by one recommendation of a useful product

3. You can sometimes negotiate a higher than usual commission from the vendor. Simply email the vendor and ask them to increase your commission level especially if you are doing well with a particular promotion.

Merchants will often grant your request because otherwise you could look around for a better offer. The merchant has no risk whatsoever so don't be shy about asking for more commission.

Make sure that if you use pay per click advertising your ads are written very strongly. Arguably PPC is one of the most effective means of advertising online. It provides quick results and accurate targeting. Just make sure you monitor which keywords are giving you a positive return on investment and drop the ones that aren't making you a profit.

Give these strategies a try and you should see a big increase in your commissions within a short time.