Michael Meanwell ~ A Work in Progress

A professional writer for more than 25 years, Michael is an experienced journalist, editor, commercial writer and author, who has produced several business books and novels.

Growing Up

He was born on August 25, 1963 in Sydney, Australia. He has one older brother, Scott.

Due to his father's upwardly-mobile career, the family moved among the three eastern capitals of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, where they eventually settled. While at school, Michael tried his hand at various forms of writing, including essays, poetry, short stories and a three-act play. After he completed high school at Brisbane Grammar, the family moved again; this time a little closer to home ~ an hour's drive to Queensland's Gold Coast.

Journalism

Meanwell began his professional writing career at 17. While holding down a few sales jobs, he wrote his first novel and produced freelance articles primarily on conservation and the environment for publications, most notably:

• Gold Coast Bulletin (regional daily newspaper)
• The Hinterlander (regional newspaper)
• Australasian Post (national weekly magazine)
• People (national weekly magazine)

At 19, he became a staff journalist with the Daily News / Gold Coaster, a regional daily newspaper based in Tweed Heads, New South Wales. He spent four years with the paper, covering a wide range of tasks, from general news, sport, police rounds and court reporting to writing advertorials and features, and sub-editing. In his spare time, he also produced weekly columns and reviews on entertainment, and interviewed visiting celebrities. He was fast-tracked through his cadetship and ultimately resigned from the paper as a C grade journalist.

At 23, Michael became a B grade journalist with Leader Newspapers, the largest suburban newspaper group in Melbourne. In addition to working as a general news sub-editor on the group's two dozen titles, he also continued his passion for writing entertainment reviews. He wrote in his spare time weekly columns on the latest-release cinema movies, videos, music and books which were syndicated across all newspaper titles in the group, and occasionally quoted by distributors in their promotional material. The following year he was promoted to the features department as Entertainment Coordinator, where he continued writing his columns in addition to his day job as a sub-editor. He also freelanced for other publications, most notably:

• Herald-Sun (metro daily newspaper)
• Sunday Observer (metro newspaper)
• BBW (national monthly magazine)
• Small Business Success (national monthly magazine)
• New Idea (national weekly magazine)
• TV Week (national weekly magazine)

During this time, Meanwell got his first taste of corporate communications. For a number of years he edited and produced the layout and design for Ford's monthly in-house newspaper, which was nominated for an award. He also handled the production of the Hawthorn Football Club's newspaper for its members.

At 25, he became an A grade journalist with Minnis Business Press, where he was a reporter and sub-editor for a stable of industry-leading trade magazines, including Ink, Overseas Trading and Building Today.

PR & Marketing

That same year (1988), he left journalism to join a small public relations and advertising agency, Penman Promotion Services, which specialized in the computer and information technology industry. Michael produced a range of marketing communications, from media releases, newsletters and brochures to advertising copy, direct mail and also arranged media events.

He was soon promoted to Senior Consultant and, in 1989, the agency merged with another consultancy and became Penman Atkinson. With the new company's broader focus, he worked on a wider range of accounts, including those in pharmacy, education, retail and property development.

Michael's own Business

On December 13, 1991, at 28, Michael left the security of full-time employment to start his own marketing communications business, The Write Advice Pty Ltd.

He began humbly, working on a couple of accounts from a bedroom at home. But, within three months, he moved into professional offices in Surry Hills and soon attracted clients in retail and franchising, technology, corporate training, health care and manufacturing. In 1993, his then-wife joined him and together they grew the business, both in clients and in the services they provided. The following year the consultancy moved to larger premises in Box Hill.

At its peak, it had a staff of five full-time consultants, and provided a full gamut of marketing communications services. In addition to regular PR, the consultancy developed web sites, and managed direct marketing, telemarketing and market research campaigns. It also produced advertising creative for print and broadcast media, direct mail production and fulfillment, corporate events and promotional videos.

In September 1996, following his divorce, Michael changed the name to Marketzing Pty Ltd to reflect his new direction. Since then, he has operated the consultancy solo but still managed large projects by either partnering with other agencies or hiring freelancers. This second phase of his business life has been even more exciting and profitable, allowing Michael time to explore other passions.

He has been a member of a number of professional bodies, most notably the Australian Institute of Management, the Australian Marketing Institute, the Public Relations Institute of Australia and the Australian Society of Authors of which he is still a current member.

Over the years, his business has handled a wide range of marketing communications for dozens of clients, ranging from small businesses and non-profit bodies to government organizations and well-known international companies. These include:

• AAPT (telecommunications)
• Acumen People & Productivity (corporate training)
• ANZ Bank
• Australia Post (postal service)
• Connect Australia (telecommunications)
• Cross Writing Instruments
• Danfoss (mechanical and electronic products)
• DAF Trucks
• DMG Industries (CAD/CAM)
• Eastnet (small business association)
• Erni (electronic components)
• Giesecke & Devrient (smart cards and security products)
• Honda
• Kenworth Trucks
• Kodak
• Leigh-Mardon (security printer)
• Mark Sensing (thermal paper and synthetic film products)
• Maroondah City Council
• Medibank Private (healthcare)
• Océ (commercial photocopiers and plotters)
• Royal Selangor Pewter
• Simplot (packaged food)
• Swiss Time (premium international watches)
• Target
• Telstra (telecommunications)
• VDO (automotive parts)
• World Vision

Michael's other Life

In 1997, he formally pursued his life-long interest in spirituality by founding Meanwell, a personal empowerment center which he operates today with his wife, Yianna. He invested considerable time gaining a formal training in several modalities, most notably:

• Meditation (Silva Mind Method)
• Reiki and Seichim (Level III Master / Teacher)
• Spiritual consulting (Americana Leadership College)

For a number of years, Meanwell has offered consulting services and experiential workshops in natural healing and developing latent abilities. In addition, he produced a range of CD programs, including guided meditations and interviews with experts on spiritual topics. He also produced and hosted a weekly radio show for two years (aptly titled Meanwell, which aired on Melbourne community radio station, Ear-FM). In 1999, he wrote and presented a two-part motivational television program, which aired several times on community television station, Channel 31. During this time, both he and Yianna were regular panelists on Pathways, a weekly TV series that examined various metaphysical issues (also on Channel 31).

In 2000, while continuing with his two businesses, Michael began work on what would be the first of three business books for writers. The critically-acclaimed The Enterprising Writer (self published as an e-book in 2001 and later in print by Hardie Grant, Australia, 2003 ISBN-10: 1740660935). This book, like his follow-up, The Wealthy Writer (Writers Digest Books, USA, 2004 ISBN-10: 1582973113) show how to establish a professional writing business and capitalize on the lucrative commercial writing market. While The Enterprising Writer is now out of print, The Wealthy Writer still sells well around the world.

In addition, he produced The Write Advice, a compendium of more than 520 poignant observations from classic and contemporary wordsmiths about various aspects of their craft. What separates this quotations book from others is the inclusion of mini biographies on each of the writers featured as well as a number of in-depth author profiles and over 210 positive affirmations to help inspire and motivate today's writers (this was originally produced in 2001 under the title 'Writers on Writing', but was fully updated and expanded in 2008 and re-released under the new title). He has also contributed an article ('Do you Network or work the Net?') to a reference guide on online writing opportunities and resources, Writers' Wonderful Web, by Suzanne Harris (PublishAmerica, USA, 2005 ISBN-10: 1413756840).

Today, Michael has come full circle and returned to his original passion ~ writing novels that inspire and enlighten. He has just completed the first in a new series of spiritual adventures which is awaiting publication. The topics covered in this series have fascinated him since he was a child. Writing these novels is the culmination of not only his professional writing career but his entire life.

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