There are many small guides to running a Google Adwords campaign, and if you're just looking for the basics, something along the lines of the following will tell you what to think about and what you should do to get best results:
http://ezinearticles.com/?5-Steps-to...aign&id=219134
There is a little more information on this site, which is basically an expansion on what is outlined in the above article:
http://www.isitebuild.com/google-adwords.htm
There are a lot of articles around, so tap "Adwords campaign" into a search engine and look at a few articles. Compare them and see what tips are coming up time and time again - these are the ones to follow.
Essentially, research is the most important step. Make sure you know what you hope to achieve and what keywords you are targetting. Choosing something a little more niche can yield far better results than the most competative keywords.