Being a beginner is never easy, whether we are talking about trading, sport, job, or any other thing. A beginner goes through a whole lot of emotions, fear of making errors, confusion, lack of self confidence, but at the same time there is also all the excitement of learning something new and the satisfaction of achieving new goals.
Are You a Beginner Trader?
As we introduced in the Your Path to Make Money Trading Forex guide, you are a beginner trader if you match with some of the following:
- You have never traded before.
- You have some trading experience but you are losing money.
- You have been trading for less than 6 months.
- You have a trading capital of up to $1,000.
If you identify yourself as a beginner, please keep reading, you will find some useful information. If you don't think you are one, then try to check if you fall in another category in our guide on Your Path to Make Money Trading Forex.
What Does It Mean?
In the world of trading, being a beginner can be scary. You are likely to lose money at the beginning and you should be prepared for some losses. Don't take this in a bad way — these losses are just a price to pay for your education and to gain more experience and if you are serious about trading, you will recover and make money in the long run.
You can prepare yourself and limit the initial losses with better education and training. This cannot replace the experience of trading with real money, but it can give you more knowledge and tools to speed up your learning.
What to Do If You Are a Beginner
1. Invest in Education!
If you are a beginner, the first thing you should do is to spend time (and in some cases, money) educating yourself. Learn what Forex is and how it works.
In the article How to Learn Forex Trading we introduced a few ways of learning Forex. As a beginner, the good suggestions for you are:
- Read books — go to your local library or buy, or download books. If you want some titles aimed specifically on new traders, you can check out our Best Forex Books for Beginners section.
- Watch videos — go to our YouTube channel and check out some free videos about FX trading.
- Go through a Forex course — our free Forex course will help you with most concept you need to understand to become a profitable trader.
2. Find a Mentor
One of the best ways of learning is to have a mentor. A mentor is an expert that can teach you directly what to do, what are the mistakes you are making and how to do better.
Finding a mentor is not always easy and can also be expensive. You can find a mentor in your area or online. Browse the forums or search the Internet and you will find one if you want.
Don't forget to do your due diligence before paying someone for FX mentorship.
3. Consider Participating in Social Trading
Social trading is like social media — you join a group of people, follow, share, like, and so on. In this case, you do it with other traders.
You can find out more about social trading in our guide on What Is Social Trading and How Does It Work, and if you are interested in joining a social trading platform, you can try Exness.
A social trading platform is beneficial for a complete beginner because you can follow and copy other successful traders. This will give help you somewhat in learning.
4. Consider Subscribing to Trading Signals
This is very similar to social trading but instead of many traders, you subscribe to one system or one service. It has the same benefits of a social trading platforms, but it may come with a subscription fee.
5. Choose a Broker
Without a broker, you cannot trade, so you need to choose a broker to use. The process is thoroughly explained in the guide on How to Choose the Best Forex Broker for You and you can also browse our list of Forex brokers for detailed information about each brokerage company.
Remember that you can open a free demo account with almost any broker.
6. EXPERIMENT!
Last but very VERY important, you have to EXPERIMENT! There is no point studying and never putting into practice what you learn.
You need to put yourself on the line and start trading. This is the only way to build up your experience. With Forex, there is the great advantage of having free demo accounts, so you don't even need to deposit real money and risk losing it.
7. Do start
You know what you have to do, so just do it! Start learning with a book or a course, look for a mentor, choose a broker, open a free demo account, and start trading. The sooner you will start, the sooner you will improve your skills.
