I discovered pay per click marketing in late 2001, launching my first campaign with Google Adwords. At the time, I was managing a search engine optimization (SEO) project for an industrial controls manufacturer and immediately recognized the potential of this new channel.

I opened a Google Adwords account, compiled a list of keywords, and developed a small group of text ads. Within five minutes of my campaign going live, the four lines of text that I had crafted into an advertisement were appearing on the right side of Google