1.) Store your bitcoins locally unless cashing out or making some sort of quick trade.  Exchanges are notorious for being 'hacked' or going down for one reason or another basically losing everybody's coins.  MintPal and Viacoin a perfect recent example.

2.) Don't invest in mining equipment and expect to make your money back +some, it won't happen

3.) Don't trust anybody in this forum without researching them for yourself. 

4.) Don't invest in cloud-hashing mining operations...ever!

5.) Don't panic if the day after you purchase your bitcoin it drops by 12%, if your purchasing bitcoin with the expectation of earning something more than you put into it more than likely you will have to hold your coin for at least 12-18 months at this point imho given all the crap regarding BitLicense in NY.  If this actually passes in it's present form I actually expect to see bitcoin prices suffer for at least the next year or so before the rest of the world picks up the proverbial slack.

Hope you find these tips useful.  Welcome to the fascinating world of crypto-currencies!