The Google AdWords advertising program is a very good small business advertising option when employed correctly – even for local small businesses. One of the keys is to learn as much as you can about how the program works. It can be a bit overwhelming when you get started.
Here’s my suggestion: Find about two hours some weekend or evening and go through a very nice set of multimedia tutorials created by Google. Once you have completed this step you will find that you know most of what you need to get started right.
Now, once you decided that you want to know the finer points you can move on to Andrew Goodman’s or Perry Marshall’s books on pay per click advertising.