Being smart about business means knowing what to expect. That means thinking ahead and preparing for the inevitable changes that will affect the way business is done. This allows businesses to be resilient and thrive in a changing environment. Digital marketing is no different. In fact, author Josh Kaufman discusses the value of comparison in his book The Personal MBA. It means imagining possible futures and then preparing for them. Let's say you have a large company that does well in a certain niche. Maybe you own a business that sells whey protein shakes. The mistake some big companies make is thinking they are too big to fail and sticking with it. But what if another company comes along and makes a better protein shake for less money? What if a new protein source is discovered? What if a study showed whey protein was bad for us? All of these things can happen and can seriously disrupt even the most established business. However, smart companies are already considering and preparing for these possibilities. It's a comparative simulation: you think about what's going to happen and then prepare for that eventuality. As a digital marketer, this means thinking about things that might change the face of marketing. And the one thing that probably had the biggest impact of all? AI AI and machine learning have the potential to completely change the face of internet marketing and even make many old strategies obsolete. Only by preparing for these changes can you ensure that your website can maintain its position in the SERPs, your ad campaigns remain profitable, and your services remain relevant. And a lot of this stuff isn't just speculation: it's happening right now. AI is already making waves, though you may not have noticed it yet.