Here's what I learned about SEO and inbound marketing from my career as an independent hiphop artist.

1. What Being An Indie Rapper Taught Me About SEO … and Inbound Marketing in General Michael King | Global Associate

2. Meet the Old Me

3. This Was Me Until May 2010 Before people on the web called me iPullRank I was known as iCON the Mic King

4. I Released Some Records I’ve put out critically acclaimed CDs, vinyl and digital records since 2002. Sold ~15k 2002 2010

5. I Won Some Emcee Battles I competed and won a lot. Even placed 2 nd at Seattle’s Brainstorm2 in 2003.

6. I Played Some Concerts I’ve played hundreds of shows in North America, Australia and Europe since 2003

7. Modeling & Sponsorship I’ve modeled and been in commercials for music equipment and small clothing brands I’m great at rapping but ironing…not so much

8. Fantastic! But what does that have to do with Inbound Marketing? Everything.

9. I Was A 1-Man Startup There are very strong parallels between building a rap career and building a brand online News/Media/PR Forums Social Networks Video Show Bookings Product Email Podcasts Blogs Word Of Mouth

10. I Failed A Lot Unlike the picture there was no crystal ball so I made a lot of mistakes Failed Tours Failed Album Releases Failed Marketing Campaigns Failed Relationships Bad Credit

11. … but I Got Better Everytime I learned from those mistakes and became more proactive with every iteration

12. 5 Principles to Better Inbound Marketing that Being a Rapper Taught Me

13. Agility and Hustle is Everything Take risks other people won’t in order achieve your goals; always be ready to improvise. Early in my career no one would pay for my travel so I toured on a counterfeit Greyhound bus pass for 10 months to get the ball rolling My job wouldn’t send me to MozCon so I paid for it myself.

14. Lead by Example Don’t try to fit in; be a standout. Find the style or tactic that sets you apart. My blindfold freestyle trick make my live shows unique and unforgettable My co-relevant extended metaphors makes my content unique and digestible

15. Know Your Audience Understanding your audience is the most powerful thing you can do for any campaign Whenever I got to a new city I hung out with the people and read up on it in Wikipedia to inform my freestyles and better connect with my audience Creating Mental Models or Personas of Your Audience is No Different.

16. Involve People Make people feel included instead of in the crowd; minimize barriers

17. Improvise This slide is blank on purpose.

18. 3 Principles to Better SEO that Being a Rapper Taught Me

19. Fulfill Peoples Needs Create Experiences That Show You Value People’s Time When I put out CD-Rs it was the equivalent of a bad UX When I put out high quality retail ready albums it was the equivalent of good UX

20. Execute, Execute, Execute Following through on a decent idea is better than not following through on a weak idea

21. People Hate Form Letters Read: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/throw-away-your-form-letters-or-5-principles-to-better-outreach-link-building Form letters did not work well for me when I booked shows and that’s why they are unacceptable to me for outreach link building. Persona-based Social Outreach > Form Letter Outreach

22. The #1 Thing I Learned From Being An Indie Rapper

23. Success is Relative I was never satisfied by any achievements in my rap career. Define success in terms of you Don’t Try to be the next anybody. Be the first You .

24. Q&A? @ipullrank www.ipullrank.com [email_address]

25. Michael King | Global Associate http://downloadurl @ipullrank www.ipullrank.com [email_address]

26. www.seomoz.org/freetrial