Keeping Your Mouth Shut
The most important lesson a trader learns is discretion. In the Eve Isk universe, trade routes are not just idle things to brag about with friends and whoever else is within hearing range. Large scale wars are fought by corporations over the control of profitable routes. There are times when even tight lipped and secretive traders get themselves in a fix when new competitors learn about your territory.

Eyes Wide Open
It is always important to know the level of risk you can take on a particular commodity. If you are earning low profits in a low security area, you'd be wiser to consider another profession than trading. A trader has to be smart and calculating, if you can't match your results with the risks you take then there is no hope of your getting ahead in Eve.

It is a purely logical fact that the low security areas have a high demand, high priced market. So if you are game enough, and your ship is worthy of chancing the route, then low security areas will earn better profits than any other part of Eve Isk. However, if you try this, it would be well advised to pay close attention to your ship's insurance policy and your own clone. In case you do bump into a pirate, there should be some backup to keep you going without losing skills and your ship. Plus, to avoid being podded, keep a close eye on your scanner and always give yourself at least 30 km to make a safe escape from the prowling pirates.

Be Swift, Be Efficient
When choosing a trade route, try to make sure that your destinations are within a reasonable distance each other. The longer you take moving between points, the slower your capital will grow.

Once you are well enough established, with a safe cushion of money in the bank, you can always try putting in automated 'buy orders' at NPC stations where you can get a good price. This will give you time to concentrate some other interesting aspects of Eve Isk.

The Right Skills
Successful traders are charmers by birth, but you can work on your skills to gain the two most significant characteristics of a thriving trader, willpower and charisma. Make sure you set these attributes high.

For the not-so-scrupulous people, the shortcut to some big ISK deals lies on the darker side of the law. Get a good grip over Underhanded Trading Practices as a skill from the very beginning and cash in later when you have made yourself .