Hurdles of Affiliate Marketing: Industry expert Gustavo Geraldes chooses sustainability

Gustavo Geraldes describes himself as a success-driven entrepreneur, avid digital marketing enthusiast, and passionate mentor. His experience in the digital advertising field, although lasting less than a decade, is rich, impressive, and very diverse. DripX Media is the fifth company Geraldes has founded, and it’s his way of steering attention onto more sustainable and predictable sectors of digital marketing that address the ongoing issues in the market.

Affiliate marketing is where an individual will buy ads on advertising platforms, such as Google, Meta, TikTok, Instagram, and others to drive sales and receive commissions from their referrals. According to Gustavo, affiliate marketing very often turns out to be profitable but doesn’t provide a stable, consistent cash flow.

“In affiliate marketing, you don’t have enough control. People can go from making seven figures in one month to earning nothing. The reason is that affiliate marketing is completely reliant on advertisers and ad accounts. For example, an advertiser could reduce their budget at any moment or change their terms which would abruptly restrict your earning potential as an affiliate. If any of your ad accounts get shut down, you might go through weeks or months of no revenue, ultimately losing out on the opportunity to build long-lasting, sustainable wealth. Affiliate marketing is a game of high risk, high reward with exceptional highs and destructive lows. I prefer predictable and sustainable income, and DripX Media is my way of achieving this goal,” explains Gustavo.

Those who are attracted to the world of affiliate marketing are often entrepreneurs or solopreneurs who work alone or in small teams. According to Geraldes, those who succeed possess excellent media buying skills, are excellent at acquiring customers, and generate considerable cash flow. Affiliate marketers are particularly adept at attracting customers because they only get paid when they meet a target, and many large companies take advantage of this. However, working on a commission basis means they never get to create an empire of their own, which deprives affiliate marketers of the opportunity to experience a significant liquidity event, such as selling their company.

Geraldes was born in Portugal and raised in Australia. He left Melbourne in 2010 and travelled the world for over three years. After that time, the young entrepreneur decided to find a more permanent home in the US. It took five years of wrong partnerships and poorly selected business ventures for Geraldes to start seeing success. The success was derived from focusing his efforts on digital advertising and ultimately discovering various ways of making money online. After gaining recognition and winning several awards within the industry, Geraldes moved away from focusing on high-cash-flow online advertising campaigns and began shifting his efforts to building a company to sell.

This endeavour led Geraldes to co-found Ambrose Health, a preventative health care offering genetic testing to combat some of the most fatal illnesses in America, such as cancer and heart disease. Gustavo’s expertise enabled Ambrose to acquire hundreds of thousands of customers and generate an average of $10-14M in revenue a month. When Geraldes’s efforts and knowledge finally started to pay off, one of his vendors began getting more and more greedy and jeopardized Geraldes’s business through illegal actions. As the founder of the company, Geraldes encountered legal trouble, which temporarily damaged his name, and derailed his progress.

Good things never come easy, and Geraldes has had a fair share of hurdles during his journey. “All the wrong ventures, greedy business associates, and even legal issues taught me what to beware of. I’ve learned my lessons, and I’m ready to make a mark in the industry again. DripX Media is my way of developing brands into household names via omni-channel direct-response advertising. Our mission is to partner with funded direct-to-customer companies, to drive hyper-growth, and increase customer lifetime value. DripX focuses on building systems and nurturing connections with customers, ensuring longevity, predictability, and a stable cash flow. I’m excited to see my vision through and build companies with high enterprise value, leveraging our digital advertising expertise,” shares Geraldes.

Amalesh Das is a freelancer content writer.

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