My advice based on my own successes and failures...
1. Join Net54 and look at the monthly pick-up threads... continually. Get to know what is in the markets, the players, the types, the interest level, etc.
2. Any card type you don't know about, if you can get a cheap beater of it, get one. Get to know the shape and feel and look of it in hand.
3. Learn your vices. Recognize any addictive or obsessive tendencies and do the work to manage them early.
4. Develop a focus you can have conviction about. Are you a collector? what type of collector? what end? where is your joy and is it proportional to what you are putting into it? Are you a collector/investor? Are you an investor? Are you in the business of it? There is too much one can do, and too much out there to not have an identity and a plan, and a plan that you truly care about (or else the plan goes out the window).
5. Meet and get to know many other collectors in person. This is rare for me, most of the people I "know" are my virtual friends. But the few I have got to know even a little bit in person make the hobby better for me. It also seems true that in-person connections open up possibilities for buying, selling, or trading that you otherwise wouldn't have.
6. At the beginning, set a goal for something modest in price but somewhat challenging in how long it might take to complete. Chasing a pre-war goal often provides an expansive education beyond just the scope of the goal.
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