Bernadette Schwerdt - Secrets of Online Entrepreneurs: How Australias Online Mavericks, Innovators and Disruptors Built Their Businesses ... And How You Can Too

BERNADETTE SCHWERDT

First published in 2015 by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd

42 McDougall St, Milton Qld 4064
Office also in Melbourne

Bernadette Schwerdt 2015

The moral rights of the author have been asserted

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All inquiries should be made to the publisher at the address above.

Cover design by Wiley

Cover image by retrorocket/iStockphoto.com

Disclaimer

The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based on the information in this publication.

To my wonderful family
Phil, Darcy, Cameron and Maddi

And to the best parents a girl could hope for
Rosemary and David Schwerdt

I would like to thank all those who made this book possible.

To the fantastic team at Wiley Publishing: Kristen Hammond, Ingrid Bond, Peter Walmsley, Clare Mackenzie, Chris Shorten and Sandra Balonyi.

To my wonderful family, friends and business colleagues: the Schwerdt Family, Heather Fraser, Judyth Wiley, Heather Albrecht, Jenny Thurlow, Karen Claren, Paul Austin, Marie Farrugia, Paula Saltalamacchia, Monique Bruggeman, Ami-Leigh O'Donnell, Georgia Power, Bridie O'Donnell, Hugh Kidman, Lynette Palmen, Meri Harli, Joanna Lawrence, Michelle West, Matt Irwin, Jan and Vic Samarias, Allan and Liz Hawkins, all the PEGS mums, Toby Tremayne, Michael Goodchild, John Skinner, Mark Farrelly, Samuel Tan, Gary Hegedus, Kelly McLaughlin, Paul McCarthy, Carson White, Harry M. Miller, Dirk van Lammeren, Marina Vaxman, Melissa Shawyer, Vuki Vujasinovic, Lynda Bredin, Belinda Tierney, Jenny Boden and David Prentice.

• Stephanie Alexander The Cooks Companion
• Matt Barrie Freelancer.com
• Andre Eikmeier Vinomofo
• Daniel Flynn Thankyou Group
• Jodie Fox Shoes of Prey
• Paul Greenberg Deals Direct
• Simon Griffiths Who Gives a Crap
• Phil Leahy The Internet Conference
• Gabby Leibovich Catch of the Day
• Mark Middo The 5 Minute Business
• Kate Morris Adore Beauty
• Tony Nash Booktopia
• Shaun O'Brien Selby Acoustics
• Dean Ramler Milan Direct
• Darren Rowse Pro Blogger and Digital Photography School
• Brian Shanahan Temple & Webster
• Brad Smith braaap Motorcycles
• James Tuckerman Anthill Online
• Pete Williams Simply Headsets, Author
• John Winning Appliances Online

• Kylie Bartlett The Web Celeb
• Tim Davies eBay
• Jordan Green Melbourne Angels
• Jane Huxley Pandora Radio (Australia & NZ)
• Sacha Kaluri Australian Teenage Expo
• Sonya Karras Australian Teenage Expo
• Valerie Khoo Australian Writers' Centre
• Salvatore Malatesta St. Ali and Sensory Lab
• Sandy McDonald Get It Right Online
• Theresa Miller Miller Inc
• Morris Miselowski Business Futurist
• Fysh Rutherford t20 Group
• Toby Tremayne Magic Industries
• Belinda Weaver Copywrite Matters
• Peter Williams Deloitte Digital

A book on entrepreneurship is exciting, but a book on entrepreneurship written by an entrepreneur, more so.

Bernadette Schwerdt is a remarkable woman. And when I heard she was writing a book, Secrets of Online Entrepreneurs and had asked to interview me for it, well, I jumped at the opportunity. Bernadette is a writer, yes, but she is also a formidable entrepreneur. Her copyschool business is one of Australia's most successful copywriting training companies and she has trained over five thousand people in the art of writing words that sell. Like me, and so many other entrepreneurs I have met, Bernadette has broad-view experience in the business world, including as a much in-demand public speaker, a corporate facilitator and trainer and an ad agency executive to name a few.

Bernadette has a passion for this exciting world of online entrepreneurship, one which I was fortunate to have stumbled upon in the latter part of the nineties right place, and right time!

The entrepreneurs she has interviewed for this book reflect the broad range of people who are optimising and capitalising on the opportunities that this technology age provides. Some of the dynamic examples in this book include:

John Winning, the face of new retail in Australia, is still a young man yet runs one of Australia's most successful appliance businesses, Appliances Online, with over five hundred employees.

Tony Nash, a veteran of the internet industry was told that the online book business was doomed to failure when he launched Booktopia. And yet like the bumble bee that is technically not meant to be able to fly, Tony has built an incredible Australian book business, taking the likes of Amazon head on.

Gabby Leibovich, the founder of Catch of the Day and a disruptor to his core, has broken every rule in retail and in a few short years has built one of Australia's fastest growing retail brands.

In the Asian century, technology-led entrepreneurship is crucial to Australia's future and represents the biggest opportunity in our lifetime, but only if we take the wave. This book and the people interviewed present a candid and insightful view of what is possible for all of us. We should read this book, not only for the great stories of courage and determination and of the inevitable thrills and spills along the way, but also to rekindle our own entrepreneurial flame.