The early results are in for Q1 2007. Internet Marketing budgets have increased by over 40% from the same period one year ago. Internet Marketing is the most increased area of overall marketing spend, outpacing areas such as PR, advertising, branding, direct mail, and metric/data analysis. According to eMarketer, Internet advertisers in the US will spend about $23.8 billion in 2008. This is up from $16.4 billion in 2006.

So with all this money flowing in, what segment of Internet Marketing do you want to be in? Below are my top 3 areas.

SEM/SEO
Companies are still jockeying for top positions on Google, Yahoo, and Live. Search is still the dominant method to attract repeat visitors and call to action. Search Engine Marketing techniques such as keyword campaigns and paid advertising rule this game. Organic search ofcourse has its place through creative Search Engine Optimization methods.

Sponsored Advertising
It is well known that the most lucrative ad revenue is generated by sponsored advertisements. Though Ad Sense and partnering with an ad network can bring in a good chunk of change, all serious money is made with direct deals and co-branding opportunities. Though this role can get into a bit of biz dev, anyone who can produce strategic sponsored ad agreements is on the fast track to becoming the marketing MVP of the company.

Affiliate Management
Web 2.0 is all about web APIs. The last two years has seen most new web players come out with APIs. And many of these APIs are built with affiliate programs in mind. Amazon is the granddaddy on the block, but with the ease of creating a web service architecture, expect more companies to offer easy to integrate affiliate content.