Digital Storytelling: How Does Erik Qualman Get It Right Every Time?

Welcome to the Marketing Growth Podcast. I’m your host, Shane Barker, and I’ve been discussing focus building with Erik Qualman in the last two episodes. For this episode, I plan to learn more about digital storytelling from Erik. He’s been doing some great animation work in his studio, Equalman. Plus, I’m super excited to find out more about his animation stint with Disney. So tell us a little bit. I want to talk a little bit about the digital storytelling, right? So you have social media revolution, right? Which I think, would you say that’s what got you on the map? Because I remember when that came out, everybody and their mother used that for this and used it for that. I think that was like, that’s got to be—you were the crazy guy on stage. And everybody’s like, what is this guy talking about? Like, why is he not talking about search, and he’s talking about social stuff that is for these 14-year-old kids? Why is he trying to pull us into this? And then you had the video, the social media revolution. Do you think that’s what catapulted everything? I mean, you were doing other things, but I feel like that was it. Just how many views did that video get?

I didn’t steal your video. Actually, you actually stole mine. In fact, here’s my attorney if you want to go talk to him.

The Social Media Revolution, as Erik said, is here to stay. Like it or not, you need to leverage the massive reach and influence of social media. With the pandemic, people are more active on social media than ever before. For modern brands, social media marketing isn’t negotiable now—it’s the best way to meet consumers where they already are. Plus, you can build tight-knit communities and provide value. But since literally everybody and their mother is on social media, it’s a crowded place. To stand out, you need to piggyback on social media influencers like me. When you partner with influencers, you tap into their ready-made, engaged audience. You can leverage their authentic relationships to promote your brand. On top of that, your authority and credibility grow if you partner with the right influencer. Sounds awesome, right? It is. And the best part is the ROI. For my clients, we’ve been generating 3.5 times ROI from influencer campaigns—covering campaign ideation, execution, analytics, and amplification. We do that for all our clients. So if you need help managing your influencer marketing campaign, head over to ShaneBarker.com for a quote. With that out of the way, let’s get back to talking with Erik.

That video—if I had a dollar for every client or potential client I sent it to, saying, “Listen, you’re missing the boat. Let me show you this,” I don’t know how many people I closed because of it. They watch the video and think, “How can you listen to Fatboy Slim and not feel pumped?” It makes you want to go do a backflip or run in a park for two hours. Right here, right now—that was such a great job.

So I was wondering if it transitioned into the animation studio because it makes total sense. It’s like, “Do you do this?” You’re like, “No, it’s just for me.” And then you realize everybody’s asking for it, so maybe there’s something there. You think the secret sauce to that success was the fact that you just gave it away? Like, “We’re going to give it for free. Everybody can use it. Don’t worry about it.” The more you share it, the better.

Yeah, I think that’s what made it like, “Oh wow, I didn’t realize that.” You hear a billion and go, “Okay,” but then you compare it to something else and think, “Oh wow, that’s huge.” When it’s just a number by itself, it’s no different. It’s like buying something—you compare two things and decide, “I like this because of that.” So it makes total sense when you put it in context. I think that’s what was different about it. It wasn’t just informational—it was full of “aha” moments.

Yeah, exactly. Like, how many employees do you think lie? Someone says, “Listen, honey, I’ve got to tell you these stats because if I don’t, Erik’s going to be on my butt tomorrow. Let’s just get this thing approved.” And his wife’s thinking, “Why does he keep giving me these random stats to hold onto his job?” But I get it—it’s that “wow” or “aha” moment. You hear it and go, “Oh, I didn’t even realize that.” It’s something you’ve got to talk about.

So, with all the companies you work with—and we talk about storytelling, specifically digital storytelling—are there any that you think do an amazing job? Anyone that really stands out? I have a few in mind, but I’d want your opinion for a few.

Yeah, making them advocates. I’d heard that at Tony’s company, Zappos, they’d actually give bonuses if you stayed on the phone longer—not just mindless chatter, but like, “Hey, you did four hours, congratulations.” I was thinking, “Wow, that’s a metric for them?” If you’re on the phone for four hours, you’re clearly not mad the whole time—at some point, you start talking about sports or something, and the person’s like, “This is awesome. I’ll send you a free pair—no problem. We’ll take care of shipping.” By the end, you’re thinking, “I made a friend. This is awesome.” Their metric was always, “Just try to make them happy. If they’re still upset, move on to the next one.” That changes the culture. Now your mindset is, “I really want you to succeed, and you want me to make these customers happy,” which is so different.

I talk to a lot of companies, and they’re missing the boat on customer service. They tell me it’s not possible, and I’m telling them, “I know it’s possible.” You have to look at the bigger picture: how do you change your mindset? But most companies don’t think that way. I think that’s why Zappos ended up with Amazon, and Amazon said, “Hey, just keep doing what you’re doing. You’re doing everything fine; keep it going.” That’s why they got so much attention.

Yeah, yeah. Well, it’s the same thing we talk about. I love that—the WHI, the acronym. That’s what I talk about with companies. It’s like, “Hey, if you were gone, could you leave for a week? Could you leave for two weeks?” And you’re asking, “When you’re gone, what would happen?” Which I love. People say, “Well, God, my company wouldn’t know what to do if I was gone for a week or two. They wouldn’t be able to get ahold of me.” And I go, “Well, then you don’t have a company, right? Because you’re the head. What if you get hit by a bus tomorrow?” Hopefully that never happens, but if it does, then what?

Yeah, that’s probably more uplifting than getting hit by a bus—it’s kind of morbid. So if you win the lottery and leave, that makes a little more sense. So, cool, man. Hey, I’ve got a quick question about Equalman Studios. What do you guys have going on? Obviously, you’ve got the book, you just did your Audible, so I’ll be one of the first to buy it. Tell me a bit—what other projects do you have now that you’re super ultra-focused? You’re practically a guru at this point, like a shaman. What do you like? What’s your next step with the studio?

That’s awesome. You get a new set of lenses on it, right? Where you’re like, “Hey, I don’t need to know all your other stuff. Let me just take a look at it and tell you what I see,” which is beneficial. Because when you’re in the middle of, say, Disney—or whoever it might be—you’re very jaded. You’ve been punched a few times, and you’re like, “I don’t know what to do.” Then you have somebody else say, “Let me put another set of eyeballs on this and tell you what we see.”

I’ll take it—yeah, that’s awesome. We used to do promotional items, and we did a thing with Disney. I remember that excitement—anything Disney-related is like, as a kid, you just grew up with it. You giggle a bit: “Oh, this is awesome.” So that’s awesome. You got a chance to work with them. I’m gonna hit you with some questions—some of these might be the hard ones about the book. Everybody’s gonna go get it. I’m gonna go get it. I’m gonna check it out again on Audible so I can grab my beer from a brewery five hours away.

Yeah, they have a great IPA. Actually, you know, it’s funny—I had Founders for the first time in Chicago. This is a funny story, so I’ll tell it real quick. I was coming from Boston, supposed to go to Sacramento, but I got rerouted. I’m from California, and there was snow everywhere—I got dropped off in Chicago. In California, I wear shorts and a short-sleeve shirt, and they lost my luggage. Now it’s snowing in Chicago, so I’m out there in shorts. Everyone’s looking at me like, “This kid should be medicated. Why doesn’t he have a jacket?” I finally go to a hotel, walk in the front door, and the guy says, “What are you wearing?” He’s thinking, “Where are you from?” I’m like, “I’m from California, and I lost my luggage.” He says, “Man, come on in here.”

So I get into the hotel, and there’s a bar a block away. I’m in shorts, so I’m like, “Hey, what’s a good beer I wouldn’t know about?” They go, “Founders.” This was a few years back, and I’ve been a fan ever since. They’ve got some awesome ones. I’m a big IPA fan. Founders, yeah, all day, and Bell’s is awesome too.

So, you travel to 55 countries, right? Only a couple left! If you could go anywhere in the world for free—no COVID—where would you go? What’s the place you were like, “Oh my God, Shane, this was the country that blew me away. I had a great time, brought my family—where’s that spot?”

They have a booming apparel industry too. They used to produce a lot of stuff there—huge apparel. I’ve actually been to Vietnam. The food—how do you not love it?

You’re like, yes, I remember. I’m not gonna talk about software and stuff I’ve gotten trips for—back when software was huge. But I remember going to a certain country, and it was like, “You want Adobe? Sure, five bucks.” What is going on? This was probably 10, 15 years ago. Of course, I didn’t buy it because that’d be illegal, but if I had, the opportunity was there.

So, give me this: what about superpowers? I always ask—if you could have a superpower, what would it be? You can’t tell me focus, because you already wrote a book about that. You’re set there. What other superpower would you look at?

That’s awesome. I love that. Because that’s part of why you speak: it’s nice to educate people and have them feel really good about what they just saw. You can motivate them—there’s that capability once you reach a certain point. And I think that’s awesome, just making people feel like things are better, you know? Everything’s about perspective when it comes to life. You can either wake up and say, “Man, I can’t; this is going to be hard,” or you can push through. Especially during COVID and all the political stuff, you have to focus on what you should be focusing on. Really laser-target that.

So my last question for you—this is the big one. I’m glad you’re sitting down because a lot of people fumble through this. If you could have dinner with three people, dead or alive, who would they be? Who would be at that dinner table?

Yeah, it was when, like, the ’30s that he wrote it? It’s absolutely insane how relevant it is today, even though so much has changed. I read his book once a year, and every time I do, I think, “Man, this is so applicable to everything.”

Oh yeah? Have you guys seen it already?

You’re like, on purpose? Well, yeah, I was gonna say—it happens, it happens. Erik, thank you so much for being on the podcast, brother. Once again, we already talked about The Focus Project. You guys, go check that out. And Erik, if anybody wants to get in contact with you—whether it be for events or anything like that—how can they do that?

That’s awesome. I did see something funny—I was looking at the quotes you have in your book. I love one of them: “Hey, perfection is the enemy of great.” I thought that was awesome. And the other one is, if somebody borrows $100 and they skip out on you, it’s probably a good thing—like maybe it’s better they’re not in your life. That didn’t happen with my aunt. I love you if you’re listening to this. But awesome, man. Erik, you’re a gentleman and a scholar. Thank you so much for being on the podcast today. We’ll be in touch soon.

Absolutely, brother. We’ll talk here soon.

You too. Bye.

I’m sure you picked up a few hacks from Erik to nail your digital storytelling and beat your competition. I’ll be back next week with another interesting guest on the show. Stay tuned to Shane Barker’s Marketing Growth Podcast. And if you’re listening to the podcast and you like what you hear, make sure to subscribe.