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Tuesday, March 2, 2021

Isac Lundestrom’s 3 goals not enough for Ducks in loss to Blues

The Ducks’ Jakob Silfverberg, left, battles for the puck against the St. Louis Blues’ Zach Sanford during Monday’s game at Honda Center. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Isac Lundestrom (48) of the Anaheim Ducks looks back to teammate Max Comtois (53) after Lundestrom scored a goal in the first period against the St. Louis Blues in a game at Honda Center in Anaheim on Monday, March 1, 2021. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Isac Lundestrom (48) of the Anaheim Ducks celebrates after scoring a goal in the first period against the St. Louis Blues in a game at Honda Center in Anaheim on Monday, March 1, 2021. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Anaheim Ducks celebrate after Isac Lundestrom (48) scored a goal in the first period against the St. Louis Blues in a game at Honda Center in Anaheim on Monday, March 1, 2021. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson, center, deflects a shot as defenseman Jani Hakanpaa, right, is upended and St. Louis Blues left wing Mackenzie MacEachern watches during the first period of an NHL hockey game Monday, March 1, 2021, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Ducks goaltender John Gibson, below, deflects a shot as St. Louis Blues left wing Nathan Walker watches during the first period of an NHL hockey game Monday, March 1, 2021, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
David Perron (57) of the St. Louis Blues takes a shot against goalie John Gibson (36) of the Anaheim Ducks to score a goal in the second period in a game at Honda Center in Anaheim on Monday, March 1, 2021 to take the lead 4-1. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Kevin Shattenkirk (22) of the Anaheim Ducks and Zach Sanford (12) of the St. Louis Blues battle for the puck during the first period in a game at Honda Center in Anaheim on Monday, March 1, 2021. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Anaheim Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler, center, moves the puck as St. Louis Blues left wing Mike Hoffman, left, chases and goaltender John Gibson watches during the first period of an NHL hockey game Monday, March 1, 2021, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
St. Louis Blues center Jordan Kyrou, left, celebrates his goal with center Ryan O’Reilly, center, and left wing Zach Michael Sanford during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Anaheim Ducks Monday, March 1, 2021, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Ducks goaltender John Gibson, left, stops a shot as St. Louis Blues left wing Nathan Walker watches during the first period of an NHL hockey game Monday, March 1, 2021, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Ryan Getzlaf (15) of the Anaheim Ducks attempts to get the puck past the defense of goalie Ville Husso (35) of the St. Louis Blues in the first period during a game at Honda Center in Anaheim on Monday, March 1, 2021. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Anaheim Ducks right wing Jakob Silfverberg, left, falls as he battles for the puck with St. Louis Blues defenseman Torey Krug during the second period of an NHL hockey game Monday, March 1, 2021, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
St. Louis Blues center Dakota Joshua, left, is congratulated on his goal by left wing Kyle Clifford during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Anaheim Ducks Monday, March 1, 2021, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Anaheim Ducks center Derek Grant, left, skates against St. Louis Blues center Dakota Joshua during the second period of an NHL hockey game Monday, March 1, 2021, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The St. Louis Blues celebrate after scoring their fourth goal against the Anaheim Ducks in the second period in a game at Honda Center in Anaheim on Monday, March 1, 2021. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
St. Louis Blues defenseman Torey Krug, center, skates with the puck as Anaheim Ducks left wing Sonny Milano, left, reaches in and goaltender Ville Husso watches during the second period of an NHL hockey game Monday, March 1, 2021, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Anaheim Ducks center Rickard Rakell, right, puts St. Louis Blues defenseman Niko Mikkola into the boards during the second period of an NHL hockey game Monday, March 1, 2021, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
St. Louis Blues center Jordan Kyrou, right, falls as he battles for the puck with Anaheim Ducks left wing Max Jones during the third period of an NHL hockey game Monday, March 1, 2021, in Anaheim, Calif. The Blues won 5-4. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Anaheim Ducks center Isac Lundestrom, left, scores on St. Louis Blues goaltender Ville Husso as defenseman Torey Krug tries to stop him during the third period of an NHL hockey game Monday, March 1, 2021, in Anaheim, Calif. The Blues won 5-4. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The Ducks’ Isac Lundestrom, left, reacts as the puck gets past Blues goalie Ville Husso for his third goal during the third period of Monday’s game at Honda Center. The Blues won, 5-4, despite Lundestrom’s three-goal effort for the Ducks. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Anaheim Ducks center Isac Lundestrom, left, celebrates after scoring on St. Louis Blues goaltender Ville Husso during the third period of an NHL hockey game Monday, March 1, 2021, in Anaheim, Calif. The Blues won 5-4. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Anaheim Ducks center Isac Lundestrom celebrates his third goal of the game during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the St. Louis Blues Monday, March 1, 2021, in Anaheim, Calif. The Blues won 5-4. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Anaheim Ducks center Isac Lundestrom, right, celebrates his third goal of the game with defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the St. Louis Blues Monday, March 1, 2021, in Anaheim, Calif. The Blues won 5-4. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
St. Louis Blues center Dakota Joshua, left, and goaltender Ville Husso congratulate each other after their 5-4 victory over the Ducks on Monday night at the Honda Center. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

ANAHEIM — For a while, it looked like a whole lot of fun.

Isac Lundestrom rocketed down the left wing and scored the first of his three goals only minutes into the first period on Monday night at Honda Center. Trevor Zegras then came within inches of scoring his first NHL goal on a lacrosse-like move known as “The Michigan.”

The Ducks couldn’t sustain the good times, though, and dropped a 5-4 decision to the St. Louis Blues, who defeated them for the third time this season. The teams play again Wednesday night, and the Ducks have until then to find a way to beat the Blues and end a 0-5-2 skid.

Hampus Lindholm sat out Monday for the fourth time in five games because of an unspecified lower-body injury. Josh Mahura replaced him in the lineup, forming a defense pair with Kevin Shattenkirk. Lindholm was said to be day to day and it was uncertain whether he would play Wednesday.

St. Louis routed the Ducks by scores of 6-1 and 4-1 in games earlier this season at Honda Center. It looked like more of the same Monday as the Blues broke open an evenly-played game by scoring three times in the second period, outshooting the Ducks 16-7.

But then a funny thing happened.

The Ducks rallied in the final period, with Lundestrom scoring on a wraparound try for his second goal of the game to cut their deficit to 4-2 only 34 seconds into the third. He then scored his third by deflecting Shattenkirk’s perimeter shot to trim it to 4-3 at 15:16.

“Of course, it’s not happening every day,” Lundestrom said of his first career hat trick, only the third, fourth and fifth goals of his 45-game NHL career – all this season. “It’s good for my confidence. I just want to keep going and play my own game. I just want to keep building.”

Lundestrom, a 21-year-old center, seemed to swell with confidence as the game progressed. By the third period, Ducks coach Dallas Eakins teamed Lundestrom with Zegras and Rickard Rakell, and they formed a dynamic line in the final minutes. Zegras was scoreless, but Rakell had two assists.

Zegras, a 19-year-old center who has played left wing since the Ducks recalled him on Feb. 21 after he played only eight games for the San Diego Gulls of the AHL, has injected an element of creativity that was lacking before he joined them.

“If you’re good enough to do it, have at it,” Eakins said of Zegras’ attempt at “The Michigan” in the opening period. “The one thing we don’t ever want to take out of a player is creativity. If you can put the puck in the net that way, then put the puck in the net that way.”

The Ducks couldn’t complete their comeback, however.

Zach Sanford scored his second goal of the game at 18:40, an empty-net strike while the Blues were short-handed to extend their lead to 5-3. Ryan Getzlaf brought the Ducks within 5-4 with a power-play goal 20 seconds later, but that was as close as they would get.

In the end, a lackluster second period proved costly to the Ducks.

Jordan Kyrou’s goal at 19:03 of the first period gave the Blues momentum after the Ducks had taken a 1-0 lead on Lundestrom’s laser from the dot in the left faceoff circle at 5:04. Getzlaf nearly made it 2-0 by shoveling a loose puck wide of the net while the Ducks were on a power play.

Zegras also just missed giving the Ducks a two-goal lead while on the same power play. He scooped up the puck behind the Blues’ net and carried it on his stick toward the left goal post. St. Louis goaltender Ville Husso reached out with his blocker just in time to deny Zegras his first NHL goal.

The audacious play lit up social media by the end of the period.

Kyrou’s goal late in the first tilted the game in the Blues’ favor, however.

David Perron put the Blues ahead 2-1 at 6:35 of the second period, Sanford scored on a deflection while on the power play to make it 3-1 at 12:45 and Dakota Joshua scored his first goal in his first NHL game 13 seconds later to make it 4-1.

Game over?

It certainly looked that way. Lundestrom wouldn’t allow it to happen, though.

“Him skating like that and competing like that, it’s quiet leadership,” Eakins said. “We hope others take notice. … I do give our guys credit. They came out in the third and fought like hell, so that’s encouraging. But for us to win, it’s got to be a full 60 minutes. Every moment is critical.”

That’s a game Isac Lundestrom will remember.

He collects the @Enterprise hat trick. pic.twitter.com/x9waojjDhq

— NHL (@NHL) March 2, 2021

Coming off his FIRST CAREER HAT TRICK , @isaclundestr chats with @AlysonLozoff #FlyTogether I @AnaheimDucks pic.twitter.com/0OfGbIUvbE

— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) March 2, 2021

WE’RE NOT DONE YET#FlyTogether I @AnaheimDucks pic.twitter.com/2maRxjJT6I

— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) March 2, 2021

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Cypress BMX coach convicted of sexually assaulting 3 boys

A former bicycle motocross coach was convicted Monday, March 1, of sexually assaulting three boys and exchanging child pornography on the internet.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Michael J. Cassidy ruled that Mandak Kohn Griffin is guilty of 13 felony charges, including possession of child pornography and lewd acts upon a child along with other sexual-assault related charges.

The judge found that Griffin, now 40, sexually assaulted multiple victims and had substantial sexual conduct with a child. Griffin, a Cypress resident, faces up to 85 years to life in prison.

Prosecutors at the time criminal charges were filed against Griffin in 2011 alleged that he befriended neighborhood boys – some younger than 10 years old – and invited them to his house to hang out and look at pornographic movies and magazines.

During closing arguments in the trial last week, Deputy District Attorney Ann Fawaz told the judge that at least one of the boys “practically lived” at Griffin’s home.

Griffin’s attorney, Cameron Talley, did not deny that his client had child pornography or had taken explicit photographs of at least one of the boys. But the defense attorney said there was no evidence that Griffin had sex with any of them.

Griffin opted for a bench trial, in which his guilt was decided by the judge rather than a jury. During his closing arguments, Talley noted that jurors would likely have seen the explicit material that Griffin possessed and then “folded their arms and said, ‘I’m done.’ “

Griffin was in Orange County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail, according to Orange County Sheriff’s Department records. He is scheduled to return to court for sentencing on April 9.

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Sunset Conference teams form league for girls sand volleyball

The Sunset Conference has created a schedule for six-player girls sand volleyball teams.

The schools with teams in the league are Corona del Mar, Edison, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Los Alamitos, Marina and Newport Harbor.

The California Department of Public Health guidelines allow interscholastic and youth volleyball to be played indoors only when a county is in the yellow tier of its color-coded tier system geared toward COVID-19 infection rates. Orange County is currently in the purple tier.

But outdoors volleyball, which is in the red tier, is allowed when a county reaches an adjusted case rate below 14, which happened last week in Orange County.

The first game is Tuesday, Edison vs. Newport Harbor at Grant Street in Newport Beach. Other locations are courts at Newland Street in Huntington Beach, Main Street in Laguna Beach, and at Seal Beach.

The wearing of masks and physical distancing will be in place, according to Newport Harbor assistant volleyball coach Andrew Mabry.

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Coronavirus tracker: California reported 2,901 new cases, 224 new deaths as of Feb. 28

The end-of-day totals from California public health websites for Sunday, Feb. 28, registered 2,901 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases there have been in the state to 3,544,572.

The 14-day total of new cases, 5,815, is down 86.2% from the Jan. 1 high of 42,268.

There were 224 new deaths reported Sunday, for a total of 52,203 people in California who have died from the virus.

Hospitalizations also continue to decline. There were 5,409 hospitalizations of people with coronavirus-related infections reported on Sunday. That’s a 76% drop since the Jan. 1 high of 22,853 people who needed hospital care.

Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Johns Hopkins University, the World Health Organization, the California Department of Public Health, The Associated Press, reporting counties and news sources

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Masks? Global warming? Chapman survey shows OC voters lean left of perception on several issues

Masks?

Actually, in Orange County, the answer is most likely “sure.”

Despite the county’s recent reputation as a hotbed of voters who flout mask-wearing and other social distancing rules, the 2021 Orange County Annual Survey from Chapman University shows seven out of 10 local voters support a national mask mandate, and similar majorities back other science-friendly views on preventing the spread of COVID-19, including ranking public health over perceived short-term economic gains.

The numbers suggest that high-profile, anti-mask sentiment expressed by some elected officials in Orange County, and a broader push by some supervisors and others to “open the economy” while the pandemic remains a threat, has not found an audience beyond a few pockets of the county.

“Elected officials pay too much attention to noisy people,” said Fred Smoller, an associate professor of political science at Chapman.

While Smoller said the county’s image on mask-wearing and social distancing has been shaped by “public demonstrations and flag waving,” and by “the intensity” of anti-mask proponents, the survey results suggest that’s not true for most Orange County residents.

“Most people in the county back science.”

A similar trend reflects local views about former President Donald Trump and his inaccurate claim that he won the last election.

The survey, released Tuesday, March 1, also shows county residents generally believe (69% to 31%) that the 2020 election was fair and that it was correct to impeach Trump (57% to 43%) a second time following his role in inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection.

In fact, on a range of issues, from global warming to electric cars to support for the Black Lives Matter movement, Chapman’s new data shows Orange County either in-step with national numbers or leaning slightly to the left.

Global warming? A strong majority (73%) of Orange County residents believe the issue is either a “serious problem” or a problem for which “some action is required.” Nationally, some 76% of voters described global warming as “a crisis” or a “severe problem,” according to a poll from Quinnipiac University released early last month.

Renewable energy? A majority (58%) favor the state’s law that will require all energy in California to be renewable by 2045, even if that means higher electric bills. Nationally, 60% of voters told Gallup two years ago that they would “strongly favor” or “favor” national policies to achieve similar goals over the next 20 years.

Race relations? A solid majority (65%) of Orange County residents back the Black Lives Matter movement. Nationally, 51% of voters told CNN last year that they had favorable views of Black Lives Matter.

Smoller, who has tracked local political trends since the 1980s, said the survey results are in line with a county that has voted for the past two Democratic candidates for president (Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden), and where voting registration data shows Democrats with a small but growing lead over Republicans. (As of Monday, March 1, data from the Orange County Registrar of voters shows Democrats with a 50,186 voter edge – about 2.7 percentage points – over the GOP.)

But Chapman’s data also shows a county that’s still narrowly divided politically. In fact, two of the 16 congressional districts across the country that split tickets in 2020 election – meaning voters chose a congressional representative from a party that was different than one of the presidential candidate they backed – are in Orange County, CA-39 and CA-48. Those seats, one that touches north Orange County as well as San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties, and another that includes much of coastal Orange County, are represented by GOP Reps. Young Kim and Michelle Steel. Voters in both districts chose Biden over Trump in November.

And while the Republicans and Democrats who responded to Chapman’s survey fell in line with national numbers on a variety of issues, a third group, identified in the survey as Decline to State voters, swung the county’s overall results to the left.

At least some of those voters are former Republicans who backed candidates such as Mitt Romney and John McCain, but who aren’t inclined to support Trump or others who are voted to dismiss the results of the 2020 election and who back policies that recently would have been considered extremist.

“There seem to be more people in the middle in Orange County than there are around the country,” Smoller said. “There are a lot of moderate Republicans here.” Such voters, he added, won’t identify as Democrats – “probably ever” – but “they’re going to push back from the kind of conservatism that’s being offered right now by Trump and others.”

One question in the survey – regarding the recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom – drew responses that seem to hew to the county’s current voter registration numbers. Slightly more than half, 52%, are against recalling the Democratic governor, while 48% favor the move.

Smoller suggested that number should not worry Newsom.

“He should be cautious, but it would not keep me up at night,” Smoller said of Newsom’s results in Orange County.

“The county has changed a bit, but it still tends to track more conservative than the rest of the state. If, while we’re still battling the pandemic, it’s about an even split in Orange County, he probably won’t be in trouble statewide if it gets to a ballot.”

The survey tracked responses from 703 people over a 20-day window that ended Feb. 15. It has a 4-point margin of error.

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Masks? Global warming? Chapman survey shows OC voters lean left of perception on several issues

Masks?

Actually, in Orange County, the answer is most likely “sure.”

“Elected officials pay too much attention to noisy people,” said Fred Smoller, an associate professor of political science at Chapman.

“Most people in the county back science.”

A similar trend reflects local views about former President Donald Trump and his inaccurate claim that he won the last election.

Smoller suggested that number should not worry Newsom.

“He should be cautious, but it would not keep me up at night,” Smoller said of Newsom’s results in Orange County.

The survey tracked responses from 703 people over a 20-day window that ended Feb. 15. It has a 4-point margin of error.

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Monday, March 1, 2021

Garland’s AG nomination clears Senate committee

By Alex Rogers | CNN

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted on Monday to advance President Joe Biden’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland for attorney general, setting up his confirmation before the full Senate.

The vote was 15 to 7 with all Democratic senators and four Republicans in favor of the nominee.

Garland, the former chief judge of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, has been praised by members of both parties for his intellect and integrity. He pledged in his nomination hearing last month to “fend off any effort by anyone” to politically influence the Justice Department’s investigations, and that his first priority would be to fully prosecute the “heinous” crimes committed in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6.

“He’s a man of extraordinary qualifications,” said Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, the Judiciary Committee’s chairman, on Monday. “His life has been dedicated to public service and advancing values that are vital to the Justice Department’s functioning, integrity, independence, fidelity to the rule of law, and a commitment to equal justice for all.”

Garland will face politically charged questions at the Justice Department, including how to handle a federal probe into Biden’s son Hunter Biden and whether the DOJ should wade into former President Donald Trump’s role in the riot at the Capitol. Garland also said in his hearing that he didn’t have “any reason to think” that special counsel John Durham “should not remain in place” to complete his investigation of the FBI’s Russia probe.

Garland also said he had not spoken to the President about his son’s case. Federal investigators in Delaware have been examining multiple financial issues, including whether Hunter Biden violated tax and money laundering laws in business dealings in foreign countries.

“The President made abundantly clear in every public statement before and after my nomination that decisions about investigations and prosecutions will be left to the Justice Department,” said Garland. “That was the reason that I was willing to take on this job.”

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, supported Garland, calling him an “honorable man” with a “big job” ahead of him to uphold the integrity of the department.

“It’ll be up to him to keep the Justice Department from turning into the social justice department,” said Grassley. “I take him at his word that this is not what he wants.”

In March 2016, then-President Barack Obama nominated Garland to serve as a justice on the Supreme Court. Senate Republicans blocked his nomination, claiming that the public should vote for the next president to decide the lifelong appointment. Yet in September 2020, then-President Donald Trump nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court and on October 26, about a week before Election Day, she was confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate.

Before becoming a judge, Garland served under President Bill Clinton’s Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick and led the Justice Department investigation into the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

Garland said at his hearing that the current threat from White supremacists is a “more dangerous period than we faced at that time.” He also gave a brief, yet emotional, anecdote in response to a question about his family history in confronting hate and discrimination. Garland fought back tears as he explained why leading the Justice Department was important to him.

“I come from a family where my grandparents fled anti-Semitism and persecution,” said Garland. “The country took us in and protected us. I feel an obligation to the country to pay back.”

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Sunset Conference teams form league for girls sand volleyball

The Sunset Conference has created a schedule for six-player girls sand volleyball teams.

The schools with teams in the league are Corona del Mar, Edison, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Los Alamitos, Marina and Newport Harbor.

But outdoors volleyball, which is in the red tier, is allowed when a county reaches an adjusted case rate below 14, which happened last week in Orange County.

The wearing of masks and physical distancing will be in place, according to Newport Harbor assistant volleyball coach Andrew Mabry.

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How to Create a Sensible Social Media Strategy for Your Business

Many businesses find social media overwhelming — there are so many networks available, and they’re always adding new features for you to learn and integrate into your plan.

If you don’t have a full-time team of social media experts at your disposal, your success depends on creating a simple and sensible strategy that fits your resources and goals.

By the end of this guide, you'll know how to develop a social media strategy that'll not only drive traffic but will also quell that overwhelming feeling you get anytime you open Instagram or Twitter.

What is a social media strategy?

Your social media strategy is your master plan for how you create, post, and engage with your social media content.

It encompasses your social content guidelines, posting cadence, social media marketing campaigns, creative plans, and engagement strategy.

Why You Need a Social Media Strategy

The top three challenges that social media marketers face include reaching their audience, measuring ROI, and reaching business goals.

Crafting a social media strategy can help tackle these challenges and more. Social media strategies also equip you to set goals and guardrails, track their performance, and tweak your benchmarks over time. Without a starting point, you can't measure what's working and how to shift your activity to hit your goals.

A social media strategy also helps you set expectations for broader team involvement and get everyone aligned on what they should (and shouldn't) do on your social networks.

Let's unpack how to start building a social media strategy from scratch.

1. Define your target audience.

If you haven’t already identified and documented your buyer personas, start by defining the key demographics of the audience you’re trying to reach — age, gender, occupation, income, hobbies and interests, etc.

Consider their challenges and what problems they're solving daily. Focus on no more than four types of people that represent the majority of your buyers. Don’t get hung up on the exceptions or outliers, or you’ll never get started!

2. Start blogging.

Fresh content is the linchpin of a successful social strategy, so commit to creating new, quality content on a consistent basis. Compile a list of common questions from prospects and commit to addressing these questions with at least one new blog post per week.

3. Create educational content.

Create downloadable content like ebooks, checklists, videos, and infographics that address your buyer’s pains. If your content is truly helpful, people will likely share it on social media and extend your reach.

4. Focus on a few key social channels.

Most startups and small businesses don’t have the bandwidth to establish and sustain a quality social media presence on every single channel. It's also overwhelming to learn the rules of engagement on a bunch of different networks at one time.

Here's a video by HubSpot Academy explaining the social channels on which you can post content for your business.

So, start small. Research key networks to learn where your target audience is spending time and focus your effort on building, nurturing, and sustaining a community there before moving on to another channel.

5. Develop a recipe card to guide you.

Social media isn’t an exact science (and doesn't work the same for every business or industry). To see results for your business, establish a consistent posting and engagement schedule.

Develop a reasonable recipe card — one you can actually stick to and get your team to follow. Set goals for your posting and engagement frequency and hold yourself accountable to following your recipe.

Manage and plan your social media content with our free handy calendar guide and template.

6. Measure your results.

There are countless things to track on your social media channels. Start by looking at how much traffic your social accounts are driving to your website or blog.

Watch your posts to see what people are responding to, and look for trends related to particular topics or keywords that generate more interest than others. Once you get an idea of your average traffic and post performance, set goals for key metrics and keep a scorecard to measure your progress.

Be sure to choose metrics that are easy to gather - if it's too time-consuming to track, you'll fall off the wagon! Examples of simple metrics (to start with) include net new fans and followers, number of interactions, and visits to your website from social.

7. Adjust your tactics.

Social media won't start working overnight. It takes time to build a following, establish your brand, and start seeing results. Experiment a bit to find the right combination of channels, content, and messaging that works for your audience.

Over time, you’ll be able to adjust your recipe card, content, and personas based on the information you’re gathering — which will help you fine tune your strategy and generate more consistent results.

Social Media Marketing Strategy

Social media is a multipurpose business asset. It connects you with your audience, and it also promotes your products, services, and brand. Both functions are equally important.

Building a social media strategy for marketing is a bit different than the process we discussed above. How so? For example, your benchmarks and goals may be more specific to metrics you track for other marketing efforts.

When using social media to market your business, ensure the experience on your social networks is a positive, consistent one. All imagery and content on your social media accounts should be consistent with those on your website, blog, and other digital real estate.

Pay close attention to any questions or comments your audience posts, and be quick to address those (as that engagement could make or break a conversion or purchase).

Take a look at these social media marketing examples of what to stop, start, and keep doing in 2021.

Lastly, align the content you post and how you post it with marketing campaigns you're running on other channels (e.g., email or ads). This brings us to our next section ...

Social Media Content Strategy

Content is the crux of any social media strategy. Without content, you can't engage with your audience, promote your products, or measure performance.

The somewhat fleeting (and brief) nature of social media may lead you to believe that you don't have to plan its content as much as you do for, say, your emails or blogs. That's untrue. Social media content may not be as static as your landing pages or blog content, but it's still equally important for engaging your audience and representing your brand as a whole.

For that reason, you should also have a social media content strategy. This should include:

Posting guidelines and specs for each network on which you're active (e.g., share GIFs on Twitter but avoid on Facebook)
Target audience nuances per network (e.g., the younger segment of your audience is more active on Instagram than LinkedIn)
Repurposing plans for long-form content from your blog, podcast, e-books, etc.
Who on your team is allowed to post and who's responsible for engaging followers
The companies, publications, and individuals you'll repost (and those who you won't/can't)

For more on creating a content strategy for social media, here's a helpful video by HubSpot's Aja Frost.

Social Media Strategy Templates

Social media is overwhelming; I get it. Starting your strategy from scratch is even more overwhelming, which is why we developed 10 free social media templates to help.

In the free download, you'll receive:

Scheduling templates for every channel, since social media channels aren't one-size-fits-all
Complete calendar of hashtag holidays, so you never forget to participate with new, fun content
Social auditing template to track your followers, engagement rates, and more
A social media content calendar to organize campaigns across every channel
A social reporting template to track your monthly social successes
A paid social template to help you manage and optimize your paid budget

Download our free social media template bundle to manage, optimize, and create more social content without sacrificing quality.

Time to Get Social

Still feel like social media is overwhelming? That's OK; I'm not sure that feeling every fully fades. You can certainly diminish it, though, by leveraging the tips in this guide and the free templates above. Remember: Tackle one social network at a time, prioritize your audience, and focus the content that works. You'll see results and traffic in no time.

How to Create a Sensible Social Media Strategy for Your Business was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

Sunset Conference teams form league for girls sand volleyball

The Sunset Conference has created a schedule for six-player girls sand volleyball teams.

The schools with teams in the league are Corona del Mar, Edison, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Los Alamitos, Marina and Newport Harbor.

But outdoors volleyball, which is in the red tier, is allowed when a county reaches an adjusted case rate below 14, which happened last week in Orange County.

The wearing of masks and physical distancing will be in place, according to Newport Harbor assistant volleyball coach Andrew Mabry.

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via Irvine Sign Company

Cypress BMX coach convicted of sexually assaulting 3 boys

A former bicycle motocross coach was convicted Monday, March 1, of sexually assaulting three boys and exchanging child pornography on the internet.

The judge found that Griffin, now 40, sexually assaulted multiple victims and had substantial sexual conduct with a child. Griffin, a Cypress resident, faces up to 85 years to life in prison.

During closing arguments in the trial last week, Deputy District Attorney Ann Fawaz told the judge that at least one of the boys “practically lived” at Griffin’s home.

Griffin was in Orange County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail, according to Orange County Sheriff’s Department records. He is scheduled to return to court for sentencing on April 9.

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Cypress BMX coach convicted of sexually assaulting 3 boys was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns

Sunset Conference teams form league for girls sand volleyball

The Sunset Conference has created a schedule for six-player girls sand volleyball teams.

The schools with teams in the league are Corona del Mar, Edison, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Los Alamitos, Marina and Newport Harbor.

But outdoors volleyball, which is in the red tier, is allowed when a county reaches an adjusted case rate below 14, which happened last week in Orange County.

The wearing of masks and physical distancing will be in place, according to Newport Harbor assistant volleyball coach Andrew Mabry.

from Irvine Business Signs https://ift.tt/3b5zlh2
via Irvine Sign Company

15 Strategies To Get YouTube Subscribers

In the SaaS industry, the most successful companies prioritize the retention of their existing customers over the acquisition of new customers. Why? Because SaaS companies charge a monthly subscription, so in order to turn a profit, they need their customers paying them for many months in a row. If they can't retain their customers for X amount of months, they'll ultimately lose money by acquiring them.

In content marketing, the same principle applies. Retaining your audience's attention positively impacts your brand a lot more than merely acquiring attention.

When an audience engages with your content for long periods of time on a consistent basis, they can easily turn into a loyal tribe that's passionate about your work and recommends your brand to all their friends. In other words, staying laser-focused on retaining attention is actually the best strategy for acquiring new attention because your current customers are providing so much word-of-mouth marketing -- it's like a flywheel.

On YouTube, you retain attention by attracting subscribers to your channel. Subscribers are your most loyal fans and made a public commitment to your brand, content, and values. They're also most likely to be fervent brand evangelists.

In regard to benefiting your YouTube channel, subscribers are crucial because YouTube will send them notifications about your new videos and feature your videos on their homepage. This means they'll see your videos more frequently, which will help you generate more engagement.

Subscribers also watch twice as much video as non-subscribers, so the more subscribers you have, the more watch time your videos will accumulate, and the more likely YouTube will rank them higher on search and feature them in the related section.

Additionally, YouTube keeps track of the number of viewers who subscribe to your channel right after watching one of your videos. So if one of your videos generates a lot of new subscribers, they'll reward it with higher rankings and more features in the related section.

To help you grow your YouTube subscription, we've fleshed out these strategies that will help you retain attention on the video platform -- and not just acquire it.

1. Craft amazing content.

Today, we work in an industry where a lot of people prioritize gaming the system over crafting the best content possible. Fortunately, in regard to their algorithm, YouTube has caught on to this hollow tactic. Their algorithm rewards engagement instead of using only vanity metrics like views and clicks, so creators are incentivized to produce videos that their audience actually enjoys watching.

To craft the most engaging videos for your YouTube channel, consider measuring your videos' performance against engagement metrics, like watch time, average watch percentage, average view duration, audience retention, and average session duration. Then, analyze this data to figure out which topics and videos generate the most engagement. Once you pinpoint these videos, you can solely focus on creating the content that viewers are most likely to engage with, helping you rake in more subscribers.

2. Use playlists to increase engagement.

Placing your videos in playlists is an extremely effective way to organize your videos in a digestible fashion. They help your viewers easily consume videos about their favorite topics and prompts them to keep watching your content.

One way to get your viewers to watch the majority of your playlists is by starting your playlists with the videos that have the highest audience retention rate and ending them with the videos that have the lowest audience retention rate.

Even better, you could create a binge-able series or show and place entire seasons of it in a playlist. And just like your favorite Netflix show, your playlists can entice your viewers to watch entire seasons of your series, subscribe to your channel, and get excited for your show's next season.

3. Add a subscription CTA to the end of your videos.

It seems obvious, but adding a subscription CTA to the end of your videos is one of the best ways to generate more YouTube subscribers. After your viewers watch your entire video, they'll determine if they want to keep watching more of your videos, so to maximize your subscriber growth using CTAs, consider keeping them at the end.

Additionally, if you want more subscribers, just ask. At the end of your video when you include a CTA, ask your viewers to subscribe. This reminds them that you have more exciting content they'll want to watch.

4. Optimize your videos.

To attract subscribers to your YouTube channel, you first need to be able to get found on YouTube. To start ranking, consider optimizing your videos and channel for popular search queries by placing relevant keywords in your videos' titles, tags, descriptions, SRT files (which are transcriptions), video files, and thumbnail files.

You should also check out the most popular queries guiding viewers to your videos, which you can find on YouTube's Search Report. If these queries are slightly different than your video's topic, consider updating your video to fill these content gaps and adding these keywords to your metadata. If there's a stark difference between your topics and the queries guiding viewers to your videos, consider making brand new videos about these popular queries.

5. Create beautiful thumbnails.

Another factor that can affect your search ranking on YouTube, and in turn, your subscriber growth are your videos' thumbnails. Since a video's click-through rate is one of the most important ranking factors in YouTube's search algorithm, especially during its first hour on the platform, an eye-catching thumbnail can make a huge difference in ranking number one for a query and not ranking at all.

If your video has an ordinary or sub-par thumbnail, though, it won't persuade anyone to click through, prompting YouTube to deem the video irrelevant and decide not to rank it in their search results or distribute it through the "Recommended Videos" feed.

To create a striking thumbnail, consider including a talking head. People are naturally drawn to human faces because it's an ingrained survival mechanism to help us quickly gauge someone's emotions and determine if they're a friend or foe. Also, consider contrasting the colors of your thumbnail's foreground and background to really make it pop.

6. Interact with your audience.

One of the main best practices to retain and acquire new YouTube subscribers is to interact with your audience. You should reply to every comment if you can, even if it's just liking it. When a viewer watches your videos and scrolls to see your content, they'll be excited to see that you engage with your audience and have created a community. In fact, it might make them want to join your community and get them to subscribe.

Interacting with your audience will also generate word of mouth and engagement. The more that your audience engages with you, the higher you'll rank, and the more people will find your content.

7. Promote your videos in your other content.

Whether you have a blog or other social media platforms, it's important to promote your YouTube videos in your other content. When you post a video, you should also promote it on social media to get your audience to watch it.

Additionally, if you have a blog, you can embed your YouTube videos as complementary content. This will help you increase your views, and tap into the audience you've already created. If someone follows you on Instagram, or reads your blog, they're probably interested in what you have to say. Don't be afraid to cross-promote on other channels to get more subscribers.

8. Release videos consistently.

One important factor in getting YouTube subscribers that isn't discussed as much in the influencer industry is trust. When you're creating content, your audience needs to trust you. They have to trust that you're going to release quality content, consistently. Otherwise, why would they subscribe?

To build this trust, it's important that your audience can rely on you. You should release your videos on a consistent basis. This doesn't mean you need to value quantity over quality. Whatever your publishing schedule is doesn't matter as much as being consistent with it. Whether you post once a week or twice a month.

9. Be creative.

As we mentioned above, when you're creating YouTube videos, it's important to optimize your content and keep in mind what your audience is searching for. However, that doesn't mean all your videos need to be tied to a keyword.

Sometimes it's okay to stray and just produce creative content that's not necessarily supported by keywords. This content can be trendy, or rely on thought leaders. Regardless, don't be afraid to use content that strays from the organic search strategy. This will help create buzz and hopefully convert viewers into subscribers.

10. Partner with other channels.

When the influencer industry began, brands recognized that they could leverage other people's audience to market or promote their products. The same principles apply in YouTube. If you partner with other YouTube creators, you can use each other's audience to promote your channel.

If you do this, make sure you choose channels that align with your audience's interests, wants, and needs. It might not make sense, for instance, for a B2B company to parter with a B2C company. Your audiences should be similar enough that someone who subscribes to their channel might also be interested in your channel.

11. Make an engaging channel trailer.

After watching an engaging or interesting YouTube video, a viewer might click on your profile to see what your channel is about. In this short time period, you need to close the sale. One of the first things viewers see when they click on a channel is the trailer video. That's why it's important to create an engaging, fun channel trailer.

With this trailer, you can get a viewer to go from a casual viewer to a subscriber. In your trailer video, make sure you give your elevator pitch. Why should someone subscribe to your channel? What kind of content will they see?

12. Run YouTube advertising campaigns.

An oldie but a goodie. To promote your YouTube channel, run paid advertising campaigns. You can run banner or display ads promoting your channel across platforms. This will help you get the word out about your channel, get more views, rank higher, and hopefully get a few subscribers as well.

13. Produce subscriber only content.

You know how marketers create lead magnets to entice readers or viewers to download a piece of content? To get more YouTube subscribers, apply the same principle here. You can create specific lead magnetics to get people to subscribe.

For instance, perhaps every subscriber gets a free ebook. Or maybe it's a template. Whatever it is, think of what will be helpful to your audience and might get them to subscribe to get it.

14. Pick a niche.

As with all content you produce, your YouTube videos should be highly targeted toward your audience. Pick a niche and a theme, and stick with it. While you might have a broad theme, you can create smaller subtopics and create several videos for those topics. Think of it like the pillar/cluster model for blog writing. While your blog will focus on one niche, like marketing, there are several pillar topics that you cover and cluster topics as well.

Using this model will help you create valuable content consistently. It'll be easier to come up with targeted, personalized video ideas for your audience if you know what they want to see.

15. Know your audience.

Again, this is a classic marketing tip. On any channel you're creating content on, you need to know your audience. For YouTube, think about whether your audience wants to watch long or short videos. This might vary by industry, so do some research to see what type of YouTube videos and what format your audience is looking for.

How to See Your Subscribers on YouTube

To see your YouTube subscribers, all you need to do is log on to your account, click your profile photo in the top right, and click "Your Channel." From there, you should be able to see how many subscribers you have underneath your channel name.

It's important to continue tracking this number as you're trying to grow your YouTube channel. Now, let's get into the discussion about buying YouTube subscribers and why you should never do it.

Buying YouTube Subscribers

First and foremost, let's start with the fact that you should never buy YouTube subscribers. To start, it's against the Terms of Service with YouTube, so your account will likely be suspended or terminated if you're caught.

Second, buying YouTube subscribers will ultimately end up hurting your channel regardless of if you're caught or not. Bought subscribers aren't going to engage with your content, and after maybe one video, they won't watch it either. Having a million subscribers doesn't matter if only 50 people are actually watching the videos and engaging with your content. Those types of numbers are major red flags both for YouTube, but also for your average viewer.

Similar to the best SaaS companies, the top YouTube channels focus on building a subscriber base that can't get enough of their videos and watches them on a consistent basis. Retaining attention has always been imperative to successful content marketing. Now, it's time we actually prioritize it over acquiring as many darting eyeballs as possible.

15 Strategies To Get YouTube Subscribers was originally posted by Local Sign Company Irvine, Ca. https://goo.gl/4NmUQV https://goo.gl/bQ1zHR http://www.pearltrees.com/anaheimsigns