My Blue Robot is looking for creative talent.

Are you a local freelance designer or developer? My Blue Robot wants to know you! We have occasional needs for short to longer-term contract resources in graphic design, videography, and post production. If this sounds like you, please take a moment and send us your resume and portfolio. In addition to a resume and portfolio (preferably online), let us know what your schedule looks like in the next three months, and your preferences around hours and project duration. We may want to say hello and keep you on our short list of go-to resources for future projects.

My Blue Robot and Partners Give LESS A Whole Lot More

When the founders of Tampa’s new Lawn Equipment Superstore (LESS) wanted to launch their new location in a big way, they turned to My Blue Robot and our partner Magpie Communications. Together we created a complete branding platform for the grand opening including: a custom logo, in-store signage, postcards, brochures and a state-of-the-art website that makes this one-location operation look like a national chain.

At LESS, their professional lawn care clients can experience the difference they offer in their dedication to customer service, advanced technology, and best-in-class products. And with Magpie, LESS experienced our difference, too!

Check out the brand new website produced by My Blue Robot and our Partner, Magpie Communications.  www.LESStampabay.com

What’s in a name?

This is something we thought long and hard about.
My Blue Robot: 3 little words, 2 big ideas, 1 creative agency

My Blue Robot is three little words that create a lot of questions. “What does it mean?” “How did you come up with that?”
We couldn’t be happier with this reaction! We are a creative agency that’s driven by curiosity and conversation, and if our name does that, we’ve fulfilled our mission.

But for those who want the story behind the name, My Blue Robot was created to capture two big ideas. #1 – We are an agency that fosters blue-sky creativity with endless possibilities. And #2 – we’re an agency that delivers our creative through the latest technology solutions (and when we tech geeks think technology, we think Robots!)

As for the word My – well, when you’re our client, we want you to think of the agency as your personal partner. When you need a creative idea, executed with compelling graphics and state-of-the-art technology, we hope you’ll think, I need My Blue Robot!

6 Key Shifts in Thinking About Social Media

Do you ever wonder how your fellow marketers and business owners are using social media to grow their business? Whether they are concerned about declining Facebook reach? What platforms and strategies they intend to invest their time in?Wonder no more. Social Media Examiner has just released its annual Social Media Marketing Industry Report after surveying more than 2,800 marketers.

The one undeniable message from the report is that marketers continue to place high value on social media with 92 percent of marketers (up from 86 percent last year) indicating that social media was important for their business.

The report also revealed a number of shifts in focus, as marketers try to stand out from all the noise to get noticed and get results online. Related: 7 Super Tips for Creating Powerful Infographics 

Here are six key shifts in thinking that are highlighted by this year’s industry report:

1. A return to blogging: When asked how they will change their future social-media activities, blogging topped the charts with 68 percent of marketers planning to increase their efforts. Not since 2010 has blogging been the focus for increased activity for marketers, according to the report.

2. Facebook is losing its shine: The report indicates that we’re seeing the beginning of a decline in the use of Facebook by marketers, despite it remaining the most important social network overall. Seven percent of marketers plan to decrease their use of Facebook in 2014, and only 43 percent think their Facebook efforts are effective.

3. B2B vs. B2C requires a shift in focus: The report reveals interesting differences in the focus of B2B and B2C marketers. When it comes to B2C, Facebook dominates (with 68 percent of marketers choosing Facebook as their No. 1 choice of social platform) followed by YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram. For B2B marketers, LinkedIn surpassed Facebook as the platform of choice, with blogging and Twitter also playing a more prominent role.

Related: As Social Media Becomes More Visual, a Tool for Analyzing Image Engagement

4. A greater fascination with Google+: Marketers want to learn most about Google+. “While 54 percent of marketers are using Google+, 65 percent want to learn more about it and 61 percent plan on increasing Google+ activities in 2014,” the report states.

5. Podcasting is on a growth trajectory: Although only 6 percent of marketers are involved with podcasting, 21 percent plan to increase their podcasting activities this year. This is more than a three-fold increase. With 28 percent of marketers wanting to learn more about podcasting, this is a major shift in priorities and, according to Social Media Examiner is likely fueled by:

the global adoption of smartphones

  • the introduction of Apple’s CarPlay (an in-car system to allow the playing of podcasts via car dashboards)
  • major auto manufacturers integrating dashboards with 3rd party apps.

6. Eyes are now on visual content: When it comes to content, visual assets top the list of content forms that marketers want to learn more about. Sixty-eight percent of marketers want to know about how to create original images and infographics, followed closely by an interest in learning how to produce original videos.

It is becoming harder to reach your ideal audience while they filter out the noise. As indicated in the report, clever marketers are considering a shift in their approach to reach consumers.

Whether this shift is to be flexible in the platforms you focus on, to include more visual content, or to embrace emerging mediums like podcasting, the end result is to provide quality content that catches the attention of consumers and provides them with value.

Article by Donna Moritz

Tampa Bay Skating Academy Chooses My Blue Robot for Website Redesign

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tampa Bay Skating Academy Chooses My Blue Robot for Website Redesign

Safety Harbor-Based Design Agency to Bring Hot Design to Cool Rink

 Safety Harbor, Fla. – My Blue Robot today announced that Tampa Bay Skating Academy (TBSA) has chosen their agency to redesign the TBSA website. The new website will reflect the high caliber of the coaching staff and the state-of-the-art facilities that TBSA has to offer.

“For anyone who wants to learn to skate, TBSA is an icy gem in the Tampa Bay sun,” said Chris Nesci, President of My Blue Robot. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to redesign the TBSA website so that more people can discover all that this Tampa Bay institution has to offer.”

TBSA chose My Blue Robot for their combination of creative graphic design and technological knowhow that they bring to every website project.

For more on My Blue Robot, please visit www.MyBlueRobot.com

About My Blue Robot

My Blue Robot is a collaboration of creative talents that come together to deliver memorable work through identity, print and digital experiences for business across the country.

Based in Safety Harbor, Fla., My Blue Robot specializes in responsive website development, interactive design, video production, and creative for marketing materials, conventions and tradeshows. Visit us at www.MyBlueRobot.com

About Tampa Bay Skating Academy

With locations in Oldsmar and Countryside, Florida, Tampa Bay Skating Academy (TBSA) provides best-in-class skating instruction. From learn to skate classes and birthday parties to hockey leagues and competitive figure skating, TBSA has served the Tampa Bay area since 1992.  At TBSA, children and adults can learn from former Olympic and World competitors and train with USA Hockey certified coaches to maximize their skating potential. For more information, please visit www.TBSA.com

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Contact:Kim Francis  Media Relations/Spokesperson  813.528.2252  Kim@MagpieLLC.com

My Blue Robot “What We Do”

My Blue Robot is a collaboration of creative talents who come together to deliver memorable work while helping clients achieve marketing goals. Our team of creative professionals offers a flexible structure that allows us to bring the right talent to every job while keeping costs in check.

Hiving: Good for Bees, Better for Business

A new trend in small business is taking flight. It’s called hiving: an organizational structure where small business owners and freelancers with complimentary services come together as needed to provide services to clients under one company name.

These hives give clients a one-stop shop experience with professional experts on their team, and the hives give individual business owners the freedom to pursue projects without the support of traditional employees and unnecessary overhead. When new business is won, the individual goes to the hive to pick the right people for the job.

This practice is getting a lot of buzz. In fact, a recent Wall Street Journal article touted the innovative approach that creative freelancers are bringing to delivering outstanding work to clients.

My Blue Robot was founded on the principals of hiving, long before hiving was a term. To us, it just made sense: bring the best talent to each job, eliminate overhead fees, deliver great work, and keep costs in check. To learn more, contact us today!

Four Reasons to Quit Your Job

What criteria can you use to determine if you have been with the same company too long? We’ve all been there, for me it was recently and I haven’t looked back.

A friend of ours, an investment manager at a highly regarded company in the Midwest, who drove to work one morning, parked his car in the usual spot, and then found he simply could not bring himself to get out of the car. “I guess I stayed on the farm one day too long,” he joked later. When we asked him what went wrong, he answered, “It wasn’t one thing. It was everything.” No wonder he drove home and called in his resignation. Continue to article>

Building a home and constructing a website are not that different.

 

Start with a blueprint:

While blueprints are designed for the functional layout of a home, information architecture, content strategy and user experience converge to form blueprints that guide and structure digital applications. As digital architects, we strive to avoid the types of experience pitfalls that are evident in many home constructions. Doorways that are in the wrong place, floor plans that don’t seem to flow and kitchens that are separated from the main living area.

To build the digital blueprints of a website or application, we begin by devising an information architecture (IA) that facilitates the path of our users to conversion – each page of a website being comparable to the room of a home. Starting with a site map is a critical first step in building a website that will encourage users to spend time exploring, rather than leaving in frustration.

Next comes the wireframe, which illustrates the design of the rooms within the site. The wireframe allows our clients to see the skeleton of the site before we begin the design process.

Carry in the furnishings

Next, we implement an engaging content strategy that is relevant and valuable to our users – copy, images and video fill up the pages of a website like furnishings filling up the rooms of a home.

Finally, we produce an intuitive, responsive and accessible user experience (UX) design. The intention of strategic UX is to establish the hierarchy and functionality of content – optimizing its relevancy and impact.

All of these components come together to build a website that is UX optimized and easily updatable by our clients.

My Blue Robot is Official Creative Sponsor of Pinellas-Pasco Heart Gallery Event

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

My Blue Robot is Official Sponsor of Pinellas-Pasco Heart Gallery Event

Safety Harbor-based agency to provide creative for the “Celebrate Me Home” event,

 May 15th at Tropicana Field

Safety Harbor, Fla. – My Blue Robot today announced that they will be an official sponsor of Pinellas-Pasco Heart Gallery’s “Celebrate Me Home,” an event dedicated to helping the organization fulfill its mission of finding children their forever families. The event will be held on Thursday, May 15, 2014, at Tropicana Field.

“Raising awareness of children who are available for adoption and seeking their forever families is a cause that is very personal to me and to our team,” said Chris Nesci, Creative Director and Founder of My Blue Robot. “We are inspired by the work that the Pinellas-Pasco Heart Gallery does every day to help children find loving families, and we are honored to be a part of the ‘Celebrate Me Home’ event.”

My Blue Robot will be the lead creative agency for the event, and will produce all of the materials including: Website, Invitation, Program and event graphics.

For more information about “Celebrate Me Home” and the Pinellas-Pasco Heart Gallery, please visit www.celebratemehome.org

For more on My Blue Robot, please visit www.MyBlueRobot.com

About My Blue Robot

My Blue Robot is a collaboration of creative talents who come together to deliver memorable work while helping clients achieve marketing goals. Our team of creative professionals offers a flexible structure that allows us to bring the right talent to every job while keeping costs in check. Our creative talent has worked with professional sports teams, national restaurant chains, theme parks, financial institutions, and other world-class businesses. At the same time, we are wired for entrepreneurial endeavors and we enjoy building creative solutions for small businesses.

Based in Safety Harbor, Fla., My Blue Robot specializes in website development, interactive design, video production, and creative for marketing materials, conventions and tradeshows. Visit us at www.MyBlueRobot.com

About Pinellas-Pasco Heart Gallery

The Progress Energy Heart Gallery of Pinellas & Pasco was launched in June of 2006. Modeled after many other successful Heart Galleries throughout the US, it includes portraits of local foster children available for adoption. Unlike many Heart Galleries that are part of a state child protection agency, the Heart Gallery of Pinellas & Pasco is an independent, charitable organization that began as a grass-roots, community initiative. Our partners include Eckerd Community Alternatives, Bay Area professional photographers, a host of committed volunteers and big-hearted sponsors.

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