Millennial Mogul Turns Clicks to Cash

By GABRIELLA BOCK | Reporter

John Crestani knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur early on.

The renowned marketing magnate got his first taste of free enterprise at age 9 when he ran a lemonade stand in the driveway of his Pacific Palisades family home.

Fast-forward 21 years later and Crestani has built himself an empire––all without selling a single product.

It’s sometimes known as the “dark art” of affiliate marketing.

With fresh eyes following a soul-searching sabbatical to Thailand, Crestani returned stateside and began harnessing his craft at a corporate marketing agency.

Crestani caught on quickly and soon became an all-star at the company by bringing home business deals worth an extra $110,000 per month.

But after a year of earning his employers higher dividends with little return, the budding businessman quit his corporate nine-to-five and embarked on a journey that would eventually lead to millions.

“Corporations are built around getting the most value out of their workers for the lowest price,” Crestani told the Palisadian-Post. “I was craving freedom and that world no longer made sense to me.”

Incorporating his background in affiliate marketing and his passion for health and wellness, Crestini set up various websites that promoted products developed by all-natural health companies. In return, Crestani collects fees for referring customers to the e-commerce websites.

In his first year, the 25-year-old made nearly $500,000 in revenue.

“The first few years didn’t come easily,” he revealed. “I worked every hour of the day and hit the pavement as hard as I could. I was single, had no social life and kept my expenses low.”

From there, things only got better.

Crestani capitalized on his success by branding himself across multiple social media platforms, including YouTube, where he teaches others how to adopt a similar career path.

With some of his affiliate marketing-themed videos hitting up to 990,000 views, Crestani has followers from all around the world, some of who even pay to take his premium web courses.

“I give out about 80 percent of my content for free,” he said. “But those who pay for my courses receive group coachings and gain assistance in building their niche brand.”

Now, five years later, the self-made millionaire is married with a 6-month-old daughter named Lily.

“It sounds cliche, but having a child was completely life changing,” Crestani told the Post. “I want to make the world better for her.”

Just shy of 30, Crestani is already working on his next startup––this one a little more ambitious than its predecessors.

Launched in November 2016, Crestani’s Pendragon Labs is currently developing a virtual reality education system that ultimately aspires to bring free, government-approved education to the masses.
The platform would work by offering a $0 cost education to students and would monetize on its graduates through partnerships with companies that require a motivated and trained workforce.

“What does education look like in the future?” Crestani inquired. “Everything is moving toward tech and technology is constantly evolving––we are at a point where knowledge is dying to be free.”