Mike Maddock

BUSINESS CONTEXT & STRATEGIC GOALS

Mike, you've built something remarkable.

Multiple time best-selling author. Well-reviewed keynote speaker commanding premium stages. The founder behind Maddock Douglas's proven track record of breakthrough thinking. Your work with Flourish Advisory Boards isn't transactional - it's transformational. A straight shooter driven by purpose, not just profit, who means what he says because it all comes from a place of service.

You are a shining example of why I choose to work exclusively with experts and founders in the first place.

Now, your primary objective is to scale Flourish to $10 million while launching the Brain Trust to 1,000 users. You've already built the relationships, expertise, and trust and have multiple entry points bringing the right people into your world - EO, YPO, podcast subscribers, book readers.

The opportunity? Compliment who you are and what you've built with your visual presence. That's where the Visual Storytelling Library comes in.

VISUAL STORYTELLING LIBRARY

While this isn't a cool Venn diagram, it is a cool model - the model that helps experts like you see the different pieces to the visual puzzle. It's the Visual Storytelling Library comprised of three different categories of professional photos you need, plus how smartphone photos fit into the mix:

THE THREE CATEGORIES

CORE ASSETS

Your foundational promotional images - headshots and wider portraits that anchor your website, speaker bureau pages, and social profiles.

This will refresh the Lego shot and replace the wedding photos with professional images that convey your personality and essence: curious, fun, authentic, optimistic, connector, challenger, innovative, and trustworthy.

1. Headshots - Tighter cropped images that display a variety of expressions in different outfits so you don't simply roll with the same shot every single time you need one for a promotional opportunity

2. Wider portraits - You in your Elmhurst office, Wisconsin farm, Tennessee property, or other locations that resemble places you conduct business

3. Vertical portraits - Same locations, just framed differently so it offers event planners and media outlets image options for their marketing materials

Here's some examples of what this looks like:

HEADSHOTS

WIDER PORTRAITS

VERTICAL PORTRAITS

VISUAL EVIDENCE

Professional photos capturing you in action, both solo and client-facing. These photos showcase that you've done it before, done it recently, and done it for people just like those that are deciding whether or not to bring you in to speak, sit at one of your tables, or become part of the Brain Trust.

In terms of smartphone photos, you've already got some great "calm before the storm" shots from your keynotes and the CEO wall of selfie photos on your website is fantastic, but more professional documentation shows people you're relevant and in-demand - long story short, they need to know you and hire you.

Here are some specific types of professional and smartphone photos that fill in the gaps.

Professional Photography:

1. You keynoting stages and facilitating Flourish sessions

2. Mind map "doodling" and preparation work

3. Virtual roundtables shot off the screen plus behind-the-scenes

4. Photos of you working on your laptop

Smartphone Capture:

1. Pre/post-event moments

2. Real-time "idea monkey" doodling

3. More virtual session captures as they happen on your screen to share in the moment

Here's some visual inspiration for what this would look like for you, including some visual evidence photos I’ve used for my feeds:

VISUAL EVIDENCE (PROFESSIONAL PHOTOS)

VISUAL EVIDENCE (SMARTPHONE PHOTOS)

MISSING DETAILS

These are the professional signals most leaders overlook, such as the awards you've won, plus smartphone photos that capture human elements that create relatability and tie directly back to your personality and essence.

Currently, you've got strong personal moments created with your phone, but need to consistently push more of that out into the world, as well the professional signals to balance it out.

Professional Photography:

1. Your books - inside and out like we discussed on the call, frameworks, and other IP

2. Awards and recognitions that establish credibility - even though you said you don't want to :)

3. Team during annual planning sessions and the social activities connected to those gatherings

Smartphone Capture:

1. Grateful Pond and farm moments

2. Tree planting sessions

3. Fishing and biking

4. Family and travel that reinforce the flourishing life

Together, these visual pieces work to paint the broader picture for event planners, founders and CEOs and other decision makers to truly get a sense of your expertise, value, and essence as a human being.

Here’s some examples of what this looks like, including some smartphone missing detail captures I use in my feeds:

MISSING DETAILS (PROFESSIONAL PHOTOS)

MISSING DETAILS (SMARTPHONE PHOTOS)

Mike Goldman's Visual STORYTELLING Evolution

Mike Goldman and I have partnered for the past four years. He was already was a successful leadership team coach of mid-market, privately owned businesses. But like many leaders, his professional photos were an afterthought. His professional photos, one session taken over three years prior to connecting with me (see BEFORE gallery), and barely used them.

Through our ongoing work, Mike embraced the Visual Storytelling Library approach. I've had the privilege of photographing Mike through numerous branding sessions, captured his impact at various events, and even provided visuals for his books. We've also collaborated on how to weave these images into his story, ensuring each visual communicates his unique message and impact through his online content.

You'll see here how this strategic approach transformed his visibility:

STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS

The assessment is clear. You've got the relationships, the expertise, the trust. And now, a starting point for a visual storytelling starting point. What's missing is how you want to move forward.

The way I see it, you have three options:

Option 1 - Take this assessment and run with it.

Work with your team, find some local photographers to take care of your branding photos, and hire local photographers in the locations where your keynotes and other events happen, and get the assets on an as-needed basis. Have the team implement as you go.

Option 2 - We work together to build out the professional photos for your library.

After a short pre-session strategy call to work out logistics and other specifics, we conduct a day-long, professional branding session to create the Core Asset, Visual Evidence and Missing Details foundation. Plus, we work out a more detailed smartphone strategy so you can keep creating on-going and relevant content to share strategically across your online presence.

Option 3 - We become partners for a year.

We'll start with the foundational branding photos, plus we'll earmark 5 of your most high-impact moments - events, team-related, Flourish-related - throughout the next 4 quarters and I'll be on site to capture them. Also, we have monthly calls to help support you and the team to implement these photos throughout your online presence and marketing materials.

At the 6-month mark, we'll assess whether you're getting your money's worth. If not, we can end the partnership early. While it's not a guarantee, it's a promise.

Want to talk through more details and determine which path makes the most sense for where you are right now?

Let’s schedule a call and go from there.