We’re approaching the last bits in this series of conversations where Chris Beck, founder of 26dottwo (@26dottwo) and I examine the state and future of social media.

In this installment we review the various aspects and formalities of bringing a brand alive, truly alive in social media. Everything begins with establishing the rules of engagement in order to define the boundaries, context, and objectives for conversations. Guidelines such as “don’t be stupid,” “use common sense,” “stay positive,” are not the most useful approach to steering representatives or consumer experiences.

While brands now possess a brand style guide, many have yet to adapt it to the social Web. In chapter 12 of Engage, I introduce “The Brand Reflection Cycle,”an exercise inspired by personality cycles used in psychology. This is intended to help brand managers design the persona, voice, characteristics, and “soul” of the brand within these very human networks. These attributes are then embodied by those on the front lines of social networks to personify the brand and reinforce intended qualities.

This series was filmed at the new video studio at KickLabs SF where I spend time as an entrepreneur in residence.

Connect with Brian Solis on Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Facebook
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Please consider reading, Engage!: It will help you find answers to your questions…

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Get Putting the Public Back in Public Relations and The Conversation Prism:

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Recently I wrote about Pinger and how it was a useful tool for using your voice to send “voicemail-based” text messages to individuals as well as different groups. I still use it for very specific messaging with my various teams.

In addition to Pinger, there’s a new service which I can’t seem to stop using. And, since I’m on the road quite a bit these days, it is helping me keep pace with my workflow as if I were in the office.

I have to confess, I “was” a compulsive text and drive kind of person. And, using the iPhone, I must admit, it was no easy task. But I’m happy to report that I’ve since retired the dangerous practice thanks to Jott and Pinger.

The truth is that in order to keep up with today’s social economy and the break-neck speed of innovation and the business of news, texting, emailing, twittering, and calls consume a greater part of my day. Using Jott, I can now make one call and dictate a blog post, record my ideas and tasks, create reminders, and also share my thoughts with one or many people via text, email as well as microblogs.

Jott is a voice services company that translates your voice into text, aka Jotts, across a myriad of useful applications. Simply make Jott’s dial-in number a short-cut on your phone and it will recognize your account through caller ID and then rest is a painless and simple process of following instructions. After a few calls, you get the hang of it and are able to vocalize instructions without waiting for prompts.

For example, I’ve been using Jott to send reminders to myself, which post on Jott.com as well as sending an email reminder of my action. This comes in handy especially since the iphone doesn’t yet offer a voice recorder option for notes, reminders, and tasks. Jott as replaced my task list Outlook and is keeping my on top of my game not only at Jott.com but also at 30boxes.

But it’s much more than a simple list of action items and reminders. Jott offers the ability to create folders to save and organize information for future reference and simplified accessibility. For example, I create reminders and tasks across my folders for client work, bub.blicio.us as well as PR 2.0.

Jott not only helps me stay organized, remember events, and tasks, it also improves how I communicate with those around me.

Similar to Pinger, you can create groups to update specific people without having to individually text or call everyone. I’ve created groups for project teams, writers, friends and family, so that I can phone-in one message and have it sent simultaneously to those I need to reach. I can also text individuals anywhere, anytime, by pressing “Jott” on my favorites list and saying the person’s name I want to reach.

One of the more interesting uses though, is the ability to phone-in updates to Twitter or Jaiku from the road. Similar to Dave Winer‘s Twittergram, I can simply call Jott and say “Twitter” or “Jaiku” and then record my message. Within moments, my voice message is converted into text and then posted onto Twitter. With Twittergram, my friends can hear my voice recording direct from a link that is posted on Twitter. I would love to see support for Tumblr. And from what I understand, there is a kit to help developers connect their apps to Jott.

Examples:

briansolis Testing Jotts ability to convert voice to text. from Jott

Testing Jott on Jaiku

Jott supports many popular external “Jott Links,” which I’m sure will expand over time. In addition to Jaiku and Twitter, Jott also connects directly to Yahoo Groups, Zillow, and 30 Boxes.

As I mentioned earlier, Jott provides the ability for you to dictate blog posts for those times when you need to share a thought with the world but don’t have the ability to type. Jott already supports the more popular blogging services including Blogger, WordPress, LiveJournal, and TypePad, covering a fair share of the potential services for bloggers. In fact, this entire post was phoned in while I was driving earlier today. OK, not really. But according to several friends, Jott is pretty good at getting a first draft out there.

Up until this point, Jott was a very interesting, productive and fun tool to use – beyond experimenting with it for an article. After checking out the Jott Labs tab on my online dashboard, I found a link to Jott Express. Using Adobe’s Air, Jott provides a desktop-based applet that duplicates the online experience, making it easy for me to create, review and organize Jotts.

So far, I have noticed that Jott struggles with small accuracy issue. The first handful of phoned-in Tweets were published at about 90% recognition. Of the 10 or so I phoned in, for both Twitter and Jaiku, about 50% of them wouldn’t publish at all, simply sending a note reading “Instant Jott” but providing a link to my recorded message. I’m not sure if this was an issue on Jott’s behalf or simply because of the mic on the iPhone.

I can tell you this however, Jott likes the Jawbone, which in my opinion is the highest performing headset I’ve ever used, as it obstructs outside interference and channels your voice in a much clearer and focused stream.

Jawbone + iPhone + Jott = Productivity

jquig99 @briansolis been using Jott for a couple of months and love it. Can even post to my blogs! Jane Quigley

sandrafdzh @briansolis I have Jott on my “to test” list, love the idea of voice-to-text functionality. Have heard it’s not foolproof. Need to find out. Sandra Fernandez

mikefj40 @briansolis – I love jott. It correctly spelled ciao when i messaged someone. It’s the only way to sms while driving!

Connect on Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce or Facebook.

Text messaging has many business advantages, and unlike Trix, texting is not just for kids.

The only frustrating thing I think we can all attest to however, is that most of the time, texting isn’t the fastest form of communication, even these days with shortcuts or mini qwerty keyboards – especially when we’re driving. What? Texting while driving? Come on, you know you do it too…

OK, so to communicate faster, and do our part to keep the roads safe, new voice applications are starting to hit the mobile market. That’s right, say the name, your message, and hit send. That’s the promise anyway, and some companies are actually worth trying today.

For example, Nuance’s Dragon Mobile offer the most sophisticated application on the market, but I’m waiting until I can experience it with the iPhone until I can comment on the experience. SpinVox is also worth a look at as well. It converts voice messages, from any phone, to any screen: making messaging natural and accessible for everyone. SpinVox Voice-to-Screen Messaging converts your voice into text-based messages for use voice-to-text memos, voicemails, group communications, and also blog posts. I’ve signed up for this service (although the process doesn’t mention anything about the iPhone or AT&T; as a service provider, so we’ll see.)

Today I stumbled upon an interesting free service and decided to give it a try.

Pinger lets you send text messages using your voice, to anyone in your contact list. Yes, it’s that easy, but it does require a small time investment upfront before you can send your first voice text. When you register, you receive a dedicated phone number for calling in your texts. Also, your Pinger profile is the main hub for managing your contacts. Pinger does make it easy to import your address books and is compatible with Yahoo, Gmail, Palm, Outlook, Hotmail, .Mac among others.

First, let’s talk about what Pinger isn’t. I say this, because some of the marketing material I reviewed left me with a different impression…you can say a contact name, vocalize your message, and then have your words automatically converted to text so that your friends see a regular text message from you. For example, if you use Guy Kawasaki’s Truemor’s phone-in service, the software converts your words into text to post directly in the Truemors comment river. I believe this capability is enabled through SpinVox.

Instead, with Pinger you say a name, verbalize your text, and then your friends receive a text from Pinger that lets them know they have a new voice message from you. But, they have to dial the number in the text box to hear it. And, they can’t reply to it via text…for example, “10x, got ur msg.” But, then can reply via voice over SMS…which is cool, but it really starts to mimic voice mail tag in some ways.

So, once you understand how the process works, you may or may not find Pinger ideal for one-to-one text messaging. If you look a bit deeper into the service capabilities though, you’ll discover a powerful feature for enabling one-to-many communications. Pinger Groups allows you to record one message and have it sent to an entire group of people instantly.

Now this is cool.

You can easily create groups in your account at Pinger.com. For example, I can create a group of my top blogger and press contacts who prefer early or breaking news announcements via text to let them know that something is about to drop. Please note, I prefer direct communications and relationships with important contacts. I am not condoning or promoting spam blasts here, nor should you.

When I travel to events, meetings, briefings, etc., I can use client specific Pinger groups to update everyone on the latest activity, simultaneously.

I can also create various lists of chapters and organizations that I belong to for the times I need to share a quick message or thought with them or call a last-minute meeting while I’m on the road without having to manually group text everyone.

Or, if I’m out of the office, one voice text message, alerts the managers back at the office so they know where I am or what I’m doing.

I think you get the picture.

One call. Say the name or names of people or the group you want to reach. Voice your message. Hang up.

It’s very cool indeed. I just need to figure out how to have people acknowledge the receipt, without having to first establish a Pinger account. I also hope Pinger explores the possibility of using voice-to-text software to extend the capabilities of the service.

OK, while I’m on the topic of voice, I’ve been also meaning to cover Dave Winer’s TwitterGram application.

TwitterGram is a neat little service that allows you to record and upload voice messages to share directly with your Twitter friends. Or, you can also call them in using BlogTalkRadio (link) to send TwitterGrams instantly from anywhere you have access to a phone.

Both services place an update for you in the Twitter stream with a link to your voice message for your friends and followers to enjoy. I’m pretty sure that if Dave felt so inclined, he could easily adapt this application to work with those using Jaiku and Pownce.

Connect on Twitter, Jaiku, Pownce or Facebook.

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