I saw this on Clientside SEM’s website this morning:
SEO up to now has been mainly technical (and tactical) in orientation. But as basic SEO skills become increasingly commoditized, SEO will require more than just technical ability to grow brands and companies on the Web — it will require a keen understanding of business, marketing, risk management, resource allocation, and creative problem solving.
This is bad news for SEO professionals who are simply technical, blackhat, or who have come in from the quasi-developer side. It’s great news for traditional marketing firms who have understood these things for decades … but only if they can also pick up new skills and techniques.