Aquaponics Training Affiliate Program

In contrast to some aquaponics consultants who (we’ve heard) actually make you sign a legal agreement that you will never teach the material you learn from them, we want to share this information with the world instead of keeping it for ourselves. To further this purpose, we will partner with anyone who has built and is operating an aquaponics system of our design (Micro System, Family system, or Commercial System) to offer aquaponics trainings in your location using our training materials. You can become one of our worldwide network of aquaponics training affiliates and use our materials to train with! Here are the conditions of the deal:

To become a Micro System training affiliate, you must build and operate a Micro System 64 or 128. You must also convince us, primarily through an open-book aquaponics test, (one-half of which will be essay questions; this means you have to answer the question in your own words, not just by copying words out of the manual), that you are qualified to give Micro Systems trainings. Don’t worry, if you feel comfortable building and operating your Micro System you already know enough to pass this test and give these trainings.

To become a Commercial Systems Training affiliate, you must build and operate a commercial aquaponics system FIRST so you have a system to present the hands-on portions of the training with (HAVE, not have one planned or under construction), AND pass a similar, but much more comprehensive, open-book test on commercial aquaponics. You can give both trainings, but you must have the appropriately sized systems with which to give the practical portion of each course. You must also have access to a decent training room with projector that can accommodate up to 60 people for the Commercial trainings.

You must make a commitment to hold at least one commercial training per year if you want to get certified as a Commercial trainer; and four trainings per year if you want to get certified as a Micro System trainer. You also make a general commitment to keep expanding your aquaponics knowledge whenever you have an opportunity.

How do you prepare for and qualify for this? Get your aquaponics system built and running, then simply convince us you are ready and capable of doing a training. If you want to do Commercial Trainings, your system must be producing, and must be one of your main sources of income if it is not THE main source of your income. This is not AmWay, and we are not interested in numbers and money here, but in turning out as many graduates of these trainings as possible who go on to successfully build and operate their own home and commercial aquaponics systems. The number of people who take our courses or purchase DIM materials who then go on to build and operate aquaponics systems is currently running around 40% according to our surveys (an awesome “hit rate” that we’re quite proud of!)

What’s involved in actually giving these trainings? We don’t teach off the manual, but from our knowledge of aquaponics. You need to develop a similar working knowledge of aquaponics in order to be competent to train others. You need to feel confident enough to work with a room full of people who expect you to magically turn them into aquaponics successes. Our training materials don’t automatically make a training happen, you will be the person giving these trainings, and you need to be able to handle the group and deliver what they expect. Simply put, we need trainers who are going to faithfully pass on the knowledge and technology Friendly Aquaponics has developed, as measured by the number of aquaponics systems the students in your trainings actually build. This is how we measure our success: did it get implemented? If you want to get certified to give Personal Intensive Trainings, you will need to build and operate a commercial aquaponics system plus complete a really in-depth open-book test.

Would you be comfortable leading this roomful?

What we’ll do to make you an ongoing success at your aquaponics trainings:

Anyone who wants to attend one of our bi-annual group Commercial Aquaponics Trainings (who has already attended one or a personal aquaponics intensive) may attend anytime one is given for a fee of $250 to cover course materials and pupus (h’or d’oeuvres). This will give you a reasonably economical way to keep your aquaponics knowledge current. This offer is ALWAYS open to ALL who have already attended one of our live Hawaii courses, not just those who wish to train others.

How do we handle the money, deliver the materials, and advertise our affiliates?

1. After signing a binding agreement with us, we email a current copyrighted version of our Do-It-Myself packages (the same course materials we use) to a commercial printer you select, to use as course materials in your trainings. You pick up the materials there, pay the printing costs yourself, and pay us 50% of the price we normally charge for the same material on the website ($49.90 for the Micro System, $497.50 for the Commercial System). As part of the agreement, affiliates will price their live trainings at the same price we charge for the same live training, or $199 for the Micro System training, and $1,500 for the Commercial Training. This leaves the affiliate with a reason to work hard to do a good job at these trainings, and also means affiliates won’t be able to compete with each other by lowering prices, and then be tempted to CHEAPEN trainings to make up the money lost by lowering the price. Transferring this knowledge whole and complete to a large sector of the general public is our goal here. We’ll update your course materials at least twice a year with most-current technology as part of the agreement with our ongoing R&D in aquaponics.
2. If you wish, and you put together a training with enough people to make it economically feasible, we will come and co-train with you, and teach you how to do aquaponics trainings at the same time we’re giving this training with you. If you’re interested, let us know, and we can give you some approximate cost figures (We need our expenses covered, and will charge a fee also).
3. In addition to this arrangement regarding live trainings, we will also give affiliates (you must have already qualified as a trainer to get this offer) a 10% fee to send purchasers for the associated Do-It-Myself materials to us, with a tracking system installed on your website with an affiliate code. We’ll process the sale, mail the customer their package, and remit your 10% via PayPal when the payment clears. Affiliates will NOT be allowed to print and sell the trainings in Do-It-Myself format (they’re our copyrighted materials). We will directly provide all technical support associated with the Do-It-Myself Trainings you sell.
4. When either a Micro System or Commercial affiliate has been approved, we will put links and contact information for that affiliate on our Affiliate Program webpage. We will advertise all Commercial affiliate trainings in our weekly newsletters as well as on our Group Trainings page on our site, at no additional charge.

How do I sign up for the affiliate program?

1. Simple. Email us photos of your operating aquaponics system (of OUR design; important!) at Friendly Aquaponics, and we’ll send you a copy of the open-book test and the affiliate agreement. Then we’ll start the application process, which will involve phone interviews and more. We will not automatically rubber stamp applications: as stated previously, transferring this knowledge whole and complete to a large sector of the general public is our goal here; and we need to make sure you’re capable of doing that. We will also respect an affiliate’s local area and market, and will not approve more affiliates in a certain geographic area than we’re sure that area can support. As an example, we have a Kona area Micro System affiliate (Chris and Alexis Smith, http://www.coastviewaquaponics.com/, 808-756-1121), and a Hamakua area Micro System affiliate (John and June Greenfelder, 808-962-0515), on an island with a population of 150,000. We’d like to see an educational affiliate who specializes in providing trainings for students and teachers in the school system on our island also.

Other income opportunities that come with the affiliate program:

1. Micro System affiliates are putting together kits for Micro Systems that include all the materials, prepainted trough sides, pumps and tubing, plumbing, and etc, for people who want an aquaponics system but don’t have the skills or tools to do it all themselves. Some are even offering to install these systems on site for the customer! If you’re handy with tools and like working with people, this is a simple and elegant way to add another stream of income to your farm and get some more aquaponics systems out into the world.
2. Commercial Training affiliates are being asked to construct larger aquaponics systems for commercial growers for total costs of $60,000 and up. If you’re not a builder or contractor yourself, you can partner with a local builder to offer this option. Friendly Aquaponics will be happy to help with engineering, greenhouse selection, CAD drawings for site planning and facilities, and system design if you feel less than completely confident in your own abilities in these areas.