Bottom line is that the biggest factor is you and what your skills and talents are - I am just going to tell you what to be aware of in PPC managment. In the process, hopefully I can save you some money and money too!

If you want to manage your own PPC campaign, here are a few things you should to take into consideration:

Time --> Do you have enough free time in your business schedule? Managing a PPC campaign can be very time-consuming, depending upon your industry.

Experience --> How much do you already know about PPC marketing? Most of the bigger companies have someone with at least several years of PPC experience. If you do not have much experience, there are a few ways to get it.

One way is to spend lots of time reading the marketing and PPC forums (this way is free). Secondly, just go ahead and open your own PPC accounts and dive in head first (this is what I did, and it was very expensive). Nevertheless, both are good ways to gain experience, and both can put you on track to make a profit.

Competitiveness --> How many other bidders are there? How much are the bids going for spots on the first page of results for a specific keyword?

Keywords --> How many keywords will you be managing? Keep in mind that if you are in a competitive industry, you will probably be going up against other advertisers who are using expensive bid management software.

Ad Copy --> Do you know how to write good "copy"? The difference can be the deciding factor between your site making a profit or a loss - a lesson I've learned first-hand - many times!

Budget --> How much do you have to spend? If you are new to PPC and plan on spending more then $500 per month, I recommend you start off hiring someone to manage your PPC ads or to act as a consultant. It will be well worth the money if you shop around for the right person or company to help.

Learning new strategies and tactics - PPC marketing is constantly changing and evolving. Staying up-to-date involves reading newsletters and forums regularly, consistently, and carefully.

If you decide to hire someone to manage your PPC campaign, here are a few things you should take into consideration:

1) Knowledge & Experience:

What type of experience do they have? Do their current clients recommend them unconditionally? Are their current clients getting good results?

2) Cost:

Shop around - you can always find a good deal on the internet. Just watch out for the ones that are TOO good. Remember the saying that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Talk to at least three different companies and compare them carefully before making your choice.

3) Bid monitoring:

How often do they check your bid positioning?

4) Service:

You are going to be communicating (via email or phone) a lot with the person running your PPC ads. You should like talking with them and find them easy to talk to.

5) Response time:

How soon will your calls or emails be returned?

6) Support:

Do they offer phone support or only email support?

7) ROI tracking:

It is not essential to have ROI tracking, but in today's market, it drastically increases your chances of having a profitable PPC ad.

All in all, for most people, hiring a professional and knowledgeable person to manage your ppc accounts is the way to go! Unless you have the time, patience and money to burn on getting past the learning curve can be pretty painful. Hire someone to help you get going today, and you won't ever regret it!