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.

Amalesh Das is a freelancer content writer.