Well for me I began playing at $2NL and still am. Up until adopting a very tight-strategy as of late I was a break even player but I now feel I'm a winning player. I've been playing for 6 months. For me at my level I try to aim for 30BB/100 but then again I'm playing with crack addicts. I think one of the most important things to for being a beginning player is to learn to develop patience and to be able to lay down mediocre hands. I try to alternate my play between tight agressive and counterplay(tight-passive till river by Aok). Poker tracker is also always good. Other than that just read a lot and you should yourself, and your bankroll impove rapidly.