Getting into the world of trading is not as easy as it first seems. While the variety of platforms and educational tools in 2025 have streamlined the process and opened the door to new traders, it isn’t as simple as signing up with one of those platforms and immediately starting a portfolio.
If you’re an amateur trader yourself, there are a few things you need to learn before you can do that. Starting with the basics.
Basic Market Terminology
When you’re browsing one of those platforms we just mentioned, you’re going to come across a lot of key terms. Bullish, bearish, liquidity, volatility, market orders. The list goes on. But if you haven’t taken the time to learn basic market terminology, you’re not exactly going to have an easy time understanding what on earth they’re talking about.
These terms aren’t just jargon – they’re the language of the market, and knowing them is essential if you want to avoid any mistakes. This is also true when it comes to your trading strategies. Some investors follow day trading, while others take a long-term approach like buy-and-hold. Before getting started, you’ll need to know what both of these strategies – and the others available to you – really mean, and that brings us nicely on to our next point.
Choosing a Strategy
No amateur trader should trade randomly. If you want to build a portfolio that works, you’ll not only need to define the range of trading plans out there, but determine which one works for you and fits in with your personal goals. For instance, what’s your risk tolerance? Some traders with a higher budget are happy to take bigger risks for the chance of higher returns, while others prefer a more conservative approach – something like dividend investing – that focuses on stability and growing at a steady rate.
It doesn’t have to be the same across your portfolio, either. One of the other things you’ll have to learn to be successful in the market is how to diversify your portfolio and spread your investments across different asset classes, and this can allow for varied trading plans. For example, you might want to allocate a portion of your capital to long-term index funds on one hand, while using a smaller amount to experiment with short-term trades on the other. This kind of strategic balance is not just smart risk management; it can be highly beneficial for growing your capital over time and exploring multiple opportunities for higher returns.
Outsource to Specialists
As much as you might be able to put into your marketing yourself, it’s always worth considering outsourcing your marketing to specialists. It offers more than a few benefits right off the bat. You’ll get instant access to expertise and be able to work with people with years of experience without needing to spend too much on it. Focus on ones with experience in your niche. If you run a law firm, for example, go with options that specialise in digital marketing for lawyers.
Trading Psychology
Last but not least, the psychology of trading. Of course, there are some obvious things to learn that you don’t need us to tell you about here. The mechanics of your chosen trading platform, how to use charts, indicators, and price patterns, understanding the differences between stocks, ETFs, options, Forex, etcetera. You’re likely going to do all of this anyway, but what you might not do is take time to look into the psychology of investing and familiarise yourself with how emotions like fear, greed, and impatience can influence your decisions. Understanding these psychological factors – and learning how to manage them – can be just as important as mastering all the technical skills.
After all, successful traders are the ones who develop discipline, control over impulsive reactions, and stick to their plans even when the market grows volatile. The non-successful traders are the ones that do the opposite – and they tend to do the opposite because they’re not aware of how their mental state can influence their investments and take things downhill.
Before you can even think about starting your portfolio, you need to first consider whether this is even the right path to you – in other words, whether you want to save instead of invest, or maybe explore less hands-on options. You then need to consider how you’ll maintain emotional discipline throughout your trading journey, and this means setting clear rules for yourself. Be prepared for inevitable losses, and develop strategies to stay calm if the markets start moving unpredictably. Make sure you don’t invest in anything that’s outside of your understanding or risk tolerance. If you do this, there’s every chance you can keep a cool head and ensure you’re always driven by clear thoughts, rather than muddied emotions.
