No one needs an excuse to go to Hawaii but I was recently privileged enough to attend the Pubcon Paradise Webmaster SEO conference that was held in beautiful Honolulu in February. For those in the know, Pubcon is a premier SEO, social media, and online optimization conference that has been held annually since 2000 and is sponsored by noted web technology forum WebmasterWorld.com.

Usually held in TX and Las Vegas twice a year, Pubcon recently expanded to Hawaii to meet the demands of the increasingly large Asian and West Coast new media and optimization learning crowd. Since Search Engine News is based on the Main Island, it was a veritable no-brainer that we would attend the conference and continue our quest to present you, our subscribers, with the VERY best and up-to-date knowledge possible from noted experts in the field.

And boy do we have some knowledge nuggets for you today! Thanks to a lot of live Twittering done both by myself (@MediaWyse) and fellow Pubcon attendees, we have several gems to share. From reputation management, to link building and link research, to where to go for the Island's BEST Karaoke, we did all the work, so you don't have to.

So without further ado, here are my Top Five Best Twitter Takeaways from Pubcon Paradise 2012:

• Paradise Takeaway #1 - Reputation Management needs to be a priority in 2012!

Andy Beal (@andybeal) President of reputation management firm Trackur.com got the ball rolling on Monday in his great seminar entitled Reputation Management: 50 Tactics, in 50 Minutes, for the 50th States. Among some of his better takeaways where the following:

"Brand monitoring and tools are great for reputation management. But nothing beats humility and sincerity when you screw up. #pubcon" - @scottcowley

"Social media. Know where your audience is, be there. Own your name everywhere possible. #ORM #pubcon @andybeal" - @ErinJones

Andy had a great discussion on the importance of performing an internal audit and recognizing where you may have issues. He also expanded on the need to have a Press Room where you could control the message by providing detailed resources on everything you do WELL for the community and your customers.

The best takeaway though was his pushing of online branding service KnowEM.com to "lock-up" all your social media profiles which will generate NEW branded content search engines can then rank. If this sounds familiar it's something we covered OVER A YEAR AGO in this SE Byte:

Lock-up ALL your social media profiles with KnowEm.com!

And again in this Reputation Management SE Byte published last June:

8 Reputation Management Tips to Dominate Google Results!

In fact, several of the items covered in the byte above were covered by Andy and other Pubcon presenters in this week which lead me to send out this Tweet myself during the first day:

"Great see most of @andybeal rep management tips are what we've covered in detail w #SearchEngineNews. #pubcon #seo" - @MediaWyse

• Paradise Takeaway #2 - If you are using Twitter for Marketing You're Probably Doing it Wrong!

One of the better seminars during Pubcon Paradise was the Twitter marketing seminar put together by noted Viral Marketing Scientist Dan Zarrella of HubSpot (@danzarrella). Dan had some great takeaways on social media in general and Twitter specifically, including:

"Twitter myth: engaging in the conversation is the most important thing. So true! #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

"Scarce knowledge is power. Recognize information voids...fill them! #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

"Social proof works in concert w/novelty! People want to share NEW content 1st, as opposed to being the 700th tweeter! #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

"Do you want more RTs on Twitter ask "Please ReTweet." RT this if it worked. #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

We've covered the importance of Twitter marketing a lot in Search Engine News and many of the ideas above are NOT new to you if you've been reading our monthly newsletters. In fact, several of Dan's above presentation takeaways are what we covered recently in these SE Bytes:

Want to go Viral on Twitter? Use these Five Strategies!

Need more Twitter Followers? Ten Strategies that Work!

If you are struggling on how to BEST use Twitter for your marketing efforts make sure to read the SEN resources above and take-to-heart Dan's noted knowledge nuggets!

• Paradise Takeaway #3 - Link Building Doesn't Happen in a Vacuum...and it's Hard!

Link building is always a popular topic regardless of whether the conference is a Pubcon, SMX, Wappow! Search & Social, or SES in nature. In fact, with off-page factors being absolutely INDISPENSIBLE in getting your site to rank competitively, competent link building is a must for the average site owner.

Fortunately, Pubcon Paradise had some of the world's BEST link builders in attendance including; Todd Malicoat (@stuntdubl), Michael Gray (@graywolf), Jim Boykin (@jimboykin) and Roger Montti (@martinibuster).

Although it would be impossible to list all the awesome knowledge bombs these guys dropped, here are a couple of great takeaways that are worth noting:

"Sites need to provide a reason to gain links (USP,content, resources, link bait, etc.). Otherwise, you have to buy them! #pubcon @stuntdubl" - @MediaWyse

"Getting a link is like talking to a girl in a bar. Every approach may be different. Become a backlink pick-up artist! #pubcon @graywolf" - @MediaWyse

"Nice @jimboykin link building takeaway: build-in links to existing links to your site, i.e. .edu domains, to make them stronger. #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

"Pro Tip: Did you get an awesome backlink? Tweet about it. Drive social signals to the new link. #pubcon @jimboykin" - @MediaWyse

"Competitor backlink research = a Proctol exam. You need to REALLY get up in there the best data. Ouch! #pubcon @graywolf" - @MediaWyse

To summarize: link building is something you can NEVER do enough. Make sure to check out some of our better, complete, link building resources recently featured in Search Engine News:

Not all Links are Created Equal. Do you Know what to Look for?

How to Promote your Link Bait: 10 Strategies that Work!

15 Tips to Evaluate a Blog for a Blog Post or Link Buy

• Paradise Takeaway #4 - Linkedin is a POWERFUL Business Generation Tool!

Many of you reading this are probably already on Linkedin (feel free to connect with me here). But a majority of you, myself included, are definitely not leveraging it to its upmost potential. Fortunately, Pubcon Paradise had one the world's premier Linkedin experts, Marty Weintraub (@aimclear), present some incredible do's AND don'ts to best leverage the platform.

Some of the more interesting takeaways from Marty's presentation included the following:

"Make use of free filters on Linkedin for competitive research. Easy to implement. Great branding opportunity. #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

"Optimize your Linkedin activity feed. Commonly overlooked problem. #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

"Linkedin groups are valuable but not for participation. But for a degree of contact so you can friend them easier on the platform. #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

"Custom friend request emails IMPERATIVE to Linkedin success. Remember to say "please." #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

"Linkedin pearl of wisdom: "Don't make friends with idiots." Don't say "we've done business together" to game a connection. #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

"Use paid Linkedin DMs and regular DMs as engagement channels. But as a "walk down the hill." Not a run. #pubcon" - @MediaWyse"

You can feel free to "try" to connect with Martin on Linkedin. However, make sure you review the above CLOSELY to increase your chance of success. You've been warned.

• Paradise Takeaway #5 - Scott Stratten of UnMarketing can give a Keynote!

The general consensus from most who attended Pubcon Paradise was that the highlight of the show was Scott Stratten's (@unmarketing) keynote on Wednesday morning.

Scott's a well-known viral and social marketing expert who's company Unmarketing caters to some of the most well-known brands in the world including; PepsiCo, Adobe, the Red Cross, and Saks Fifth Avenue. His book "UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging" is an Amazon best-seller and a MUST-READ for any social media marketer out there.

Here are some of the major takeaways from his speech that set Twitter abuzz during and after his presentation:

"Don't ask me the ROI of a #Pinterest Pin or I will punch you in the mouth. -Scott Stratten. Awesome! #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

"When you create awesome, people link to it. Viral is the opposite of SEO #pubcon @unmarketing" - @brian_mcdowell

"It's okay to trip on the sidewalk of social media as long as you get back-up. People are forgiving by nature. @unmarketing #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

"When it hits the fan, it's not time to hide behind the fan. This is your chance to make your brand better. @unmarketing #pubcon" - @andybeal

"If you hate people don't do social media. @unmarketing #pubcon" - @ChrisChurchill

"Twitter is a conversation not a dictation @unmarketing #pubcon" - @SheilaBeal

"I've seen QR codes used wrong. Everytime you do, you are killing a kitten, stop killing kittens. They're on billboards. WHAT? #pubcon" - @katemorris

There are many, many others but you get the picture. If you aren't following Scott on Twitter, correct that today!

• " BONUS Paradise Takeaway - Karaoke is the REAL reason Pubcon came to Oahu!

Special shout-out to Leslie Drechsler (@ppcbuyers) who helped Search Engine News organize its kick-ass sponsored Karaoke party at the world-famous Wang Chung's. See the awesomeness in Twitter real-time below:

As you can see, if you were "on-the-fence" about attending a Pubcon (Vegas is next up in October) then hopefully the above article will encourage you to give it a try in the near future.

Finally, I'll conclude with a much-deserved hat tip to Brett Tabke (@btabke) and Lane Ellis (@lanerellis) for their FANTASTIC work at putting on this conference. It was truly one of the best I've attended (at least what I can remember of it, damn Mai Tais!). Thanks guys! It was a pleasure meeting you both!