I would like to say I am a newbie at that, and when I consulted a friend the other day, I worked on things before I thought it out. Here are a few questions I have:

How much money should I allot for ads
Where specifically can I start
Are there places for small companies that are on a budget?

those are just a few questions

Yes there are many places you can start, i'd suggest search engine rankings:

try:

www.goto.com
www.google.com
www.findwhat.com

if you want banner + popup related advertising, try:
www.fastclick.com