Posts by Nathan Pettijohn

  • Snitches Get Stitches: Why You Should Think Twice Before You Post

    This article was originally published on my Forbes column here. On June 30, 2017, the New Jersey rapper Tay-K (born Taymor McIntyre and also known as Tay-K 47) uploaded a music video called “The Race” to YouTube. Wanted for murder in connection to a crime committed when he was just 16 years old, Tay-K had been…

  • Why You Will Be Happier If You Unplug

    This article was originally published on my Forbes column here. In 2017, Sarah Solomon woke up in a hostel in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. Days earlier, she’d left her life as a high-flying New York publicist to travel the world. Now, she was on the greatest adventure of her life, using freelance PR work to make ends meet…

  • Why Every Company Is A Media Company

    This article was originally published on my Forbes column here. Picture yourself preparing for a vacation to Sedona, Arizona. As you search for the best tips on where to eat, hike or spend a day at the spa, you’ll probably find yourself flipping the pages of a travel magazine or scrolling through articles online. Sure enough,…

  • Why You Should Automate Your Social Media

    This article was originally published on my Forbes column here. Technology makes it easy to automate or delegate certain tasks in your life. Some people start their mornings by cueing Alexa to turn on the lights and make a pot of coffee. Others set their bills to autopay or outsource and automate email, calendars and other rote tasks….

  • Google And Amazon’s Competition Is A Win For Smaller E-Commerce Companies

    This article was originally published on my Forbes column here. E-commerce is booming, and one player is leading the charge. Amazon is expected to drive 80% of all e-commerce growth this year. That is tough market domination for anyone to crack. Enter Google, Amazon’s long-time rival, which has recently begun pouring resources into its alternative e-commerce platform, Google Shopping….

  • How Blockchain Could Put An End To Fake Online Identities

    This article was originally published on my Forbes column here. If you are in Birmingham, United Kingdom, you might check Yelp to find a good Argentinian-style restaurant. You might even see a review that Ivan Stravensky wrote about his favorite restaurant, and decide to eat there based on his glowing recommendation. There’s only one problem: the…

  • Why You Need To Outsource Your Administrative Work

    The following is an edited excerpt from the book, Zen and the Art of Admin Tasks, by Nic De Castro and Nathan Pettijohn. “Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it…

  • How Do I Google Myself

    Recently I was invited for an evening smoke at an upscale, private cigar lounge, and the owner told me with pride how adverse he is to anything digital. He has a flip phone. No email, no social, no frills, no nonsense. Can’t even find him online, he says. Just the flip phone. You can call…

  • Intro to Influencer Marketing

    Wendell Berry once wrote that, “It is, in fact, the nature of the electronic media to blur and finally destroy all distinctions between public and community.” I’ve written numerous times over the years about why brands shouldn’t treat social media as a passing fad; that brands should move away from thirty second spots and move…