Four years of failed campaigns. Then one day, a campaign finally worked, and John Crestani was making about $1,000 a day in profit. 💥
In this Inside A Hustler’s Brain interview, I sat down with super affiliate John Crestani, based in Malibu, California, to talk about how he got started, what he teaches, his favourite traffic sources and the mindset behind his millions. 🎙️
When I did this interview, he was so focused and didn’t show any kind of ego or attitude, even though he’s a super affiliate. He was nice, and we shared positive vibes when we met. 😊
📊 In this episode, we unpacked:
- 📖 How The 4-Hour Workweek pulled him into affiliate marketing
- 😩 Four years of campaigns that didn’t make money
- 💥 His first winning campaign: about $1,000 a day
- 👥 How a one-man business supports 12-15 people
- 🎓 What the Super Affiliate System teaches
- 📺 Why YouTube ads beat Facebook for him
- 💰 Earning money vs keeping money
- 🏠 How he invests: retirement accounts and real estate
🎥 Watch the full episode:
📖 How John Crestani Got Started in Affiliate Marketing
John got started back in college, in 2009. He read The 4-Hour Workweek and thought: travel the world and make money? “That sounds cool.” He decided to figure it out, and affiliate marketing looked like the easiest way in. 🌍
His first attempt was advertising a weight-loss product on Facebook Ads. It didn’t work. He kept trying different things for about four years without making money. 😩
Along the way he learned website development, landing pages and advertorials. He also took a job at an ad agency doing PPC, working on ads about 10 hours a day, then going home to learn programming. 💻
I got a job that would allow me to learn how to be an affiliate marketer.
John Crestani
💥 The First Winning Campaign
His first affiliate dollar came in 2012. Then one day a campaign finally worked, making him about $1,000 a day in profit. 🚀
That campaign only lasted about three weeks, but it brought in an extra $20,000 while he was still working his job and living paycheck to paycheck. “I was like, I’m ballin’.” 😄
What did he do with it? He was planning to quit his job soon, so he mostly kept it in the bank, and admits some went on “something stupid” like clubs and fancy things.
For another story of a breakthrough after years of struggle, read how Renz Gonzales became an affiliate millionaire. 💪
👥 A One-Man Business That Supports 12-15 People
John says he’s the only person who works for him directly. But around him are contractors and agencies:
- 📞 About eight salespeople
- 🛟 About four people running his support desk
- 🤝 One or two others whose livelihoods depend on the business
All in, around 12-15 people. He also has a business partner on his main program, Mike, who handles email copy, conversion, landing pages and sales pages. John’s job is getting more traffic: he runs the ads and does social media. 📈
🎓 What the Super Affiliate System Teaches
At the time of this interview, John had just one course, staying focused: the Super Affiliate System, a six-week course that retailed for about $2,000. 🎓
It covers the affiliate marketing business model, common mistakes, and how to drive traffic with Facebook Ads, Google Ads and YouTube ads, plus how to build pre-sell pages and advertorials.
He sums it up as people, place, product:
- 👥 People: your traffic
- 🏠 Place: your website or pre-sell page
- 📦 Product: the offer you promote
He says the course is for newbies, though advanced people can benefit too. What he teaches is “pure white hat”: he admits he sometimes does a bit of grey hat in his own aggressive advertising, but doesn’t teach it because it’s not sustainable or healthy. ✅
Of course he has some rough reviews on Google, but people start shouting scam without actually knowing the truth. Many never bought his course or any product from him; they heard it from somebody and started judging him. Stop listening to other people’s opinions, do your thing, and success will follow you. 💯
If you want to check it out, here’s John Crestani’s course.
📺 Traffic Sources: YouTube Ads vs Facebook
John’s favourite traffic source right now is YouTube ads. He loves Facebook too, but it’s up and down: account bans are “horrible” and “annoying”. 😤
If you want Facebook to work, he says you either have to play the account game or be really non-aggressive with your offer, using innocuous pre-sell pages. It can work, but it takes a lot of work.
Trends he was watching:
- 📺 YouTube ads
- 🛒 Platforms and marketplaces that bring many products together, like Expedia-style comparison sites and listicles such as “10 things you need to go camping”
- 🆓 Scalable free traffic methods
- 🤖 Automation, including messaging automation
Affiliate marketing is in its infancy.
John Crestani
For high-ticket offers, he points to the investment space and financial services, like investing, stock trading and gambling, plus business-to-business software. For more on paid traffic, see Alex Fedotoff’s Facebook ads interview and Depesh Mandalia on his Facebook ads journey. 💰
💰 John Crestani’s Mindset: Earning vs Keeping Money
John still works around 14 hours a day, sleeps about six hours, and plays video games for two or three hours. “I don’t have balance,” he admits, “but I have a goal.” ⏰
When I asked why he still works so hard, he pointed to Elon Musk: everyone has their own number. He thinks it’s “ridiculous” to stop working when you make a little money, calling that a broke mindset. 🚀
His big realisation was that he’d focused on how much money he made, not how much he kept. He’d make $100,000 in a month, but parties, purchases and loans to people he’d never get back meant little stayed in the bank. 💸
When he got married, he changed his goal to how much money he has. His stated goal: to become a billionaire.
I’m not naturally smart. I don’t have that advantage, so I have to work hard.
John Crestani
He’s blunt about laziness: people whose goal is comfort often lack confidence, and when a Facebook account gets banned they cry, blame others and quit. For another view on the grind, read Akram Hamam’s 7-figure affiliate story. 🔥
🏠 How John Crestani Invests His Money
His investing approach is all about keeping more of what he earns:
- 🏦 He puts as much as possible into his 401(k) retirement account, managed by a wealth manager, for the tax advantages
- 🏘️ He’s been buying real estate, including property in East LA, and planned to invest in commercial property
- 📉 He uses accelerated depreciation: splitting a property into buckets and depreciating some over one year instead of 27, to reduce taxes
“I’m always about maximizing my game,” he says. 🎯
❤️ Family and Personal Life
John is married. He met his wife in college, where he used to throw parties at his place in Santa Monica, and they started dating around 2014-15. ❤️
She’s a marriage and family therapist with a growth mindset. She doesn’t have to work, but likes working and being useful, and John says he really respects that.
He’s been to Affiliate Summit about a dozen times, and the long flight from the US is one reason he skips some events now that he has a family. ✈️
📝 Key Takeaways From the John Crestani Interview
- 📖 John started in 2009 and didn’t make money for about four years
- 💻 A PPC agency job taught him advertising while he learned to build pages
- 💥 His first winner made about $1,000 a day for three weeks
- 🎓 The Super Affiliate System covers people, place and product
- 📺 He prefers YouTube ads; Facebook works but means fighting bans
- 💰 Focus on keeping money, not just earning it
- ⏰ He still works about 14 hours a day toward a billion-dollar goal
❓ FAQs About John Crestani
Who is John Crestani?
John Crestani is a super affiliate marketer based in Malibu, California. He started affiliate marketing in 2009 and runs the Super Affiliate System course.
Is John Crestani a scam?
John has some rough reviews online, but in this interview he explains exactly what he teaches: a six-week course on the affiliate business model, paid traffic and pre-sell pages, which he says is white hat.
What is the Super Affiliate System?
At the time of this interview, it was John’s only course: a six-week program, retailing for about $2,000, covering affiliate marketing, Facebook, Google and YouTube ads, and building pre-sell pages.
What is John Crestani’s favourite traffic source?
YouTube ads. He likes Facebook too, but says account bans make it up and down.
How did John Crestani make his first money online?
His first affiliate dollar came in 2012. Soon after, a campaign made about $1,000 a day for three weeks, roughly $20,000 extra.
🎙️ More Inside A Hustler’s Brain Interviews You’ll Love
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- 23 yrs Old Marco Guarracino Built a Profitable 7 Fig Affiliate Marketing Empire
- Affiliate Marketer Ian Fernando Interview at Affiliate World Asia
- Dennis Yu Facebook Advertising Expert Interview Founder of BlitzMetrics
- Chai With Kj #4:From Rags to Riches: How Jitendra Vaswani Earns 6 Figures in Affiliate Marketing!
If this interview with John Crestani gave you even one idea, share it with a friend who’s trying to break into affiliate marketing. 💬
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Jitendra Vaswani is a well-known expert in SEO and AI-driven digital marketing. He has spoken at international events and founded Digiexe, a digital marketing agency, and AffiliateBooster, WordPress plugin designed specifically for affiliate marketers. With over 10 years of experience, Jitendra has helped many businesses succeed online. His bestselling book, Inside A Hustler’s Brain: In Pursuit of Financial Freedom, with over 20,000 copies sold globally, underscores his influence and commitment to empowering digital marketers.