Menu
Menu
This course is ideal for: Writers who would like to open up a new and rewarding income stream.
You’ll learn how to:
Start earning money as a copywriter
Write great headlines and words that sell
Take creative briefs and conduct research
Write long content, ads, brochures and more
Use SEO to maximise web copy
“This course makes you business-ready the moment you’ve finished. Bernadette is superb. She knows her stuff and how to present in a way that builds the students’ knowledge in the best, most practical way. The online aspect is a great method of delivery. The fact that I can also listen to the presentations and do the assignments at times that suit me is a major plus. Just do it! You can’t go wrong.”
– Kylie Castor, Copywriting Essentials graduate
This course is ideal for: Writers who would like to open up a new and rewarding income stream.
You’ll learn how to:
Start earning money as a copywriter
Write great headlines and words that sell
Take creative briefs and conduct research
Write long content, ads, brochures and more
Use SEO to maximise web copy
“This course makes you business-ready the moment you’ve finished. Bernadette is superb. She knows her stuff and how to present in a way that builds the students’ knowledge in the best, most practical way. The online aspect is a great method of delivery. The fact that I can also listen to the presentations and do the assignments at times that suit me is a major plus. Just do it! You can’t go wrong.”
– Kylie Castor, Copywriting Essentials graduate
This course is ideal for: Writers who would like to open up a new and rewarding income stream.
You’ll learn how to:
Start earning money as a copywriter
Write great headlines and words that sell
Take creative briefs and conduct research
Write long content, ads, brochures and more
Use SEO to maximise web copy
“This course makes you business-ready the moment you’ve finished. Bernadette is superb. She knows her stuff and how to present in a way that builds the students’ knowledge in the best, most practical way. The online aspect is a great method of delivery. The fact that I can also listen to the presentations and do the assignments at times that suit me is a major plus. Just do it! You can’t go wrong.”
– Kylie Castor, Copywriting Essentials graduate
| Where | Opens | Duration | Presenter | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Online with tutor Learn from anywhere at your convenience. | Monday 8 March 2021 Start any time during the week | 5 weeks (Allow 3–4 hours per week) | Bernadette Schwerdt | $550 |
We’re surrounded by copywriting, but most of the time we just don’t know it. TV ads, radio ads, magazine ads, websites, blogs, billboards, social media posts, brochures, packaging, signage – it’s all copy, it all sells something and someone has to write it. So, why not you?
If you’re tired of working for peanuts to support your creative endeavours, there is simply no better option than to become a professional copywriter. You get to write when you like, where you like, for whom you like, from home, with no overheads, staff or equipment needed. And you’ll get paid well to do it.
This inspirational, hugely popular Copywriting Essentials course gets results – teaching you how to get started without any prior experience. Created by copywriting dynamo Bernadette Schwerdt, the course has kick-started the careers of some of Australia’s most successful copywriters – even training the ones that go on to train other copywriters!
It’s not just about copywriting either. It’s about marketing and how to promote a business. Many of our students studied marketing at university (or have been working in marketing for decades) and many say they wish they’d done this course instead of investing three years at university. It is jam packed with practical strategies, systems, templates and structures that take the guesswork out of marketing and make the process of marketing a business easy and understandable. Yes, it’s a copywriting course but you’ll get a bonus education in marketing too. That’s a lot of bang for your buck.
For those who crave variety, have a huge sense of curiosity about the world they live in, and love to work with a wide range of different products and services, the world of copywriting is for you.
Not only will you get the inside secrets of how to become a world class copywriter, you’ll also get to connect with other like-minded students who are all doing the course at the same time.
Check out the feedback this course generates and discover why so many students love Copywriting Essentials and why you will too.
– Olivia Nankivell
– Kate Taylor
– Carole Ciavarra
– Megan Ralfe
Watch our video tour of the online classroom.
Even if you don’t want to become a full-time copywriter, just having the skills to write great copy will give you the freedom to earn great money while writing your great novel, screenplay or blog. Some of the world’s top novelists and screenwriters started their careers as copywriters – Fay Weldon, Peter Carey, Philip Adams, Di Morrissey, Salman Rushdie, Don DeLillo, Dorothy Sayers, to name just a few.
You will also learn some handy writing tips along the way that will help you in your other work, including how to overcome procrastination, dealing with fear, using deadlines effectively and using copy to promote your other creative work.
Featured in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and on Radio National’s Life Matters, this bestselling course is widely regarded to be one of Australia’s most successful copywriting courses for those seeking practical, real-world training that generates paid work.
Q: Is this course anything to do with the © symbol?
A: Nope, it has nothing to do with ‘copyright’; the © symbol. Instead, copywriting is the art of writing words (or ‘copy’) that sell, and the people who write those words are copywriters – with a W.
Q: Who is this course for?
A: This introductory course is really for anyone looking to dip their toe into these waters and see if this life suits. More specifically, it is brilliant for creative writers who want to earn some regular income from their writing. Also journalists and freelance writers looking to add copywriting to their suite of corporate services. It’s also really useful for entrepreneurs and business owners – to control their message and communicate it strongly.
Q: Can I make good money?
A: This is one of the few writing areas where we can quite confidently say that it’s possible to make good money being a copywriter. (Well, being a good copywriter.) As your confidence grows, you can charge your clients top dollar for the work you create.
Q: I see you also offer another course called How to Build a Successful Freelance Copywriting Business. Which should I do first?
A: Good question! If you’re doing both, it doesn’t matter which you do first, as there is almost no overlap – just try to do them within a year of each other. Both are online and tutored by Bernadette Schwerdt.
Q: I'm interested in the SEO Copywriting course too. When should I do that?
A: You’ll get the most from the SEO Copywriting course if you’ve done the Copywriting Essentials course first. Even if you’re an established copywriter, we still recommend you complete the Copywriting Essentials first as it will give you the fundamentals that the SEO Copywriting course is based on.
Q: What's the difference between the Copywriting Essentials, How to Build a Successful Freelance Copywriting Business and SEO Copywriting courses?
A: Copywriting Essentials (that’s this one) gives you the skills to write great copy, while How to Build a Successful Freelance Copywriting Business will help you get lots of clients and make money! SEO Copywriting will provide you with the tools and techniques to take your copywriting to the next level, offer clients a valuable service they’ll pay extra for and give you a point of difference that will see you become the copywriter of choice.
All courses run multiple times through the year, so check the course dates for each.
Q: Who is the tutor?
A: Most copywriters have had a range of careers and experiences that enable them to see multiple perspectives, appreciate the complexity of human nature and to see the patterns and commonalities that drive consumer behaviour. Bernadette Schwerdt, the course creator and tutor is no different.
Her career spans business, advertising, theatre, mindfulness and corporate training. Bernadette is the founder of the Australian School of Copywriting, a former account director with Young & Rubicam Advertising/Wunderman Cato Johnson, and has written copy and created advertising campaigns for clients such as Apple, Amex, Colgate, BHP, McDonalds, Red Cross and many more.
She is also a bestselling author. Her first book Secrets of Online Entrepreneurs was ranked in the Top 100 bestselling business books for 2016 and 2017, and her new book How to Build an Online Business was a #1 bestselling book on Amazon in 2018. This book has also been turned into an audio book (which she narrated) with Audible/Amazon and is now a podcast on Australia’s leading podcast platform, Podcast One.
She is the producer and host of the web series ‘Secrets of Online Entrepreneurs’ which appeared on the The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age websites.
She is a popular TEDx speaker on the topic of ‘How to bumble your way to success’ and a contributor for BRW magazine, Money Magazine and Smart Company.
If you want a tutor who has truly ‘been there done that’ and is able to provide the wisdom and guidance that comes from working broadly across multiple sectors, then Bernadette is the tutor to choose.
Want to know where all the cool kids hang out? The Graduates’ Club of course! Now, calm down – there are no cigars, leather armchairs or loud ticking grandfather clocks here. But it IS exclusive invitation only (on completion of a course) and it’s free! Meet other writers online and share successes, seek help or just get something off your chest. Many students believe this ‘legacy learning’ is one of the most valuable things about our AWC community, and who are we to argue? So if you want to receive feedback, support and a heads-up on opportunities … join the Club!
| Where | Opens | Duration | Presenter | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Online with tutor Learn from anywhere at your convenience. | Monday 8 March 2021 Start any time during the week | 5 weeks (Allow 3–4 hours per week) | Bernadette Schwerdt | $550 |
© 2021 Australian Writers' Centre | FAQs | Terms, conditions & privacy policy