anallawalla - 4:33 am on Mar 14, 2005 (gmt 0)

I don't believe that you can be a good SEM unless you have studied Marketing and worked as a marketer. You also need technical skills related to building web sites, but I can't think of marketing courses that would cover this. Therefore, you can try to cover one side (I suggest Marketing) with formal training and work experience, and get the other side through self-learning and part-time experience. You will emerge ahead of those who did it the other way around.

SEM in 5-10 years' time is bound to look quite different, just as SEO articles written in 1999 look so funny now.