Does anyone here know anything about online marketing?

[danadamkof]

A family friend, knowing that I'm a computer nerd, wants to pay me to promote his car dealership online. I suppose he means targeted banner ads, sponsored search listings, and stuff like that. He hasn't really given me any details, but I think he pretty much expects me to meet his needs without much of his guidance.

I think I'd be capable of doing this, but I don't really know where to start. I get the impression that most of what I'm going to do is buying adspace from the right companies, associating the ads with good keywords, and things like that, but I have no ideas about any of the specifics.

What do most businesses do to market themselves online? Are there well-known methods of getting a business's word out online?

Any advice is appreciated.